What was your plan for the book ?
Apart from wanting to create a highly readable novel, I also wanted to try to recreate the most likely scenario for that part of the invasion campaign affecting Dorset, an area of which I had now acquired a great deal of special knowledge. I wanted to make an attempt to fill in some of the enormous gaps in our conventional wisdom as to how events in this important episode of British History transpired by telling a story as to how, in my view, the Roman campaign against the then occupants of Dorset would almost
certainly have unfolded.
In a sense therefore, the book, although classified as fiction, also has an educational purpose. With this in mind I decided to write it on the basis that it would be a suitable read for younger people. As a result, there is no bad language, no explicit sex, nor have I yielded to the temptation of gratuitously horrendous descriptions of death and violence. I preferred to let the book rest on what I thought were its own intrinsic merits without trying to shock people into reading it.
You’ve decided to self-publish ?
I came to acknowledge that there is a fixed pro-forma for a modern novel, for example...It should be shorter than my book. The story should be told from the point of view of the main protagonist, whilst the canvas I paint is often too broadly based in that I sometimes tell of an event from more than one point of view. My hero arrives too late on the scene and I probably have too many characters. There were all sorts of reasons why it was said not to match up to what the publishing profession considers the modern reader requires from a novel. Rather than do so much essential surgery that my story became unrecognisable, I decided to go it alone!
Finally, why have you gone into such detail on certain specialist aspects such as Roman parade ground discipline and a Court Martial ?
This is a matter of taste. Bearing in mind that the book is partly educational, and is therefore more likely to be read by people with an enquiring mind and a desire to extend their knowledge, I feel that these matters are relevant, interesting, and add to the story. The glossary also is a source of additional information supplementing the educational element of the work.
To read an extract from Keith’s Farewell Rome click here, to find out more or to order a copy visit Keith’s website here.
