After quite a long gestation period, the latest novel, entitled "The Boys from Eburacum" is now available on Amazon Kindle. It's taken over a year to get it from concept to completion which is a lot longer than normal. I hope you find the wait worthwhile. I am certainly pleased it is ready for reading.

This novel is separate from the 'Soldiers of The Boar" series and features new and different characters. 

The book is set during the period of emperor Septimius Severus' visit to Britannia and his determination to wipe out the troublesome tribes of old Caledonia. You will find links to the Amazon pages on the Novels tab of the Loch Ard Fiction website.   www.lochardfiction.co.uk

I hope you enjoy it.

It's been a quiet time recently. A bit of tendonitis slowing down the development of the fifth novel, frustrating, but on the mend.

Then out of the blue, two pieces of good news arrived. First, the Loch Ard Fiction site page on Goodreads registered its 100th review. Very satisfying.

Then the second piece was better. Since the Loch Ard Fiction website was set up there have been visitors from all over the world, not every country but most of the geographic zones. Up until now the range of these site visitors has not translated into orders. The United Kingdom had been by far and away the key area for readers. Not too surprising perhaps given the fact the novels are basically UK based.

Until the USA suddenly began registering on Kindle during the last two weeks.

Hey, I thought, America has discovered Loch Ard Fiction. Things are looking up. So, a message to my fledgling readership in the US of A. If you like the stories of the Twentieth legion of Rome, tell your friends. Spread the word. One day when I've cracked the States I'll come over and do a tour, like the Rolling Stones. 

Rock on 'Soldiers of The Boar'.

An author's photograph of Hadrian's original turf wall has been added to the Loch Ard Fiction website.

A short taster from the new novel, "The Boys from Eburacum," is available on the website. Click the Homepage tab for the link.  Since Blog 61 was posted the first draft of this new book is coming along. Publication will be later this year I hope.

Meanwhile, I have also reduced the prices on all Loch Ard Fiction novels to the lowest practical price possible, for the next few weeks. Please do take advantage of this opportunity as it will not last indefinitely. Happy reading. :)

2024 arrived with a difficult decision to park the opening 30,000 words of a new Viking novel I had begun in the autumn of '23, in place of a return to Roman Britain. 

It's not easy to sit back and critically assess a project and decide "hmmm, I'm not so sure about this." Believe me. The cost of research as well as creative time invested mounts up in the mental ledger, but 'parking' a project is not the same as binning it entirely so better to make the hard decision and move on.

My Viking heroes may set sail for the Dalriada kingdom of Skye another time.

The Soldiers of The Boar series has come to its natural conclusion, but the Roman presence in Scotland has not. The year moves forward to AD 207/8 and the emperorship of Septimius Severus who determined to solve the problem of the northern tribes forever.

The first draft is now under way and features entirely new characters (and perhaps a nod to the past, but only that).

No Velio or Gallus.

Further updates will follow.

January 24 also saw a press release about a Roman 'armour sleeve' from Trimontium, originally discovered by the principal excavator James Curle a hundred years ago, circa 1911. The armour has lain in pieces in a box for decades and has only recently been jigsawed back together for inclusion in a forthcoming exhibition by the British Museum. The press coverage was very interesting and only goes to show treasure can be found in boxes even after all this time. 

I am delighted to announce that Wine of The Boar- which is Book 4 of the Soldiers of The Boar series  - is now available on Amazon Kindle.

For all followers of Velio Pinneius, here is the final adventure.

To buy, please follow any of the  www.lochardfiction.co.uk Homepage links from any of the first three books in the series

Legionaries of The Boar.

Sword of The Boar.

Centurion of The Boar.

I'm very happy to post that Book 4 of the  'Soldiers of The Boar' series, titled Wine of The Boar, has been completed and is now with trusted reviewers and proof readers. I hope to release it shortly on Amazon Kindle. 

This is the final story about my Roman soldier Velio Pinneius and his mates and it's been a five year road. I'm slightly sad it has come to an end. We have marched a fair way together. However, new characters and stories await.

As it's the fourth book it does have references to the earlier stories so to get the best understanding you might want to read those first. Either way, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Thanks.

This week the British press announced a discovery from the Roman/Germannic battlefield of Kalkriese in Germany - see blog 40 and the wonderful work done by Tony Clunn.

It was not the discovery itself that rocked my morning coffee, it was the repercussions of it, in a historical cum archaeological sense. In case you have not seen it, the article talks about what is believed to be the first full set of Roman army  lorica segmentata ever found.

Lorica segmentata is the body armour that you, quite likely, will picture Roman legionaries wearing. This is a full, complete set of the various metal strips that went to make up the armour of chest, belly and those massive shoulder coverings..

Grisly details were a vicarious extra. Chemical analysis of the severely rusted armour showed the chemical residue of its last wearer. In other words he died in his armour and he was probably an ordinary legionary. The "Tomasius Atkinius" of his day.

The newspaper article speculated that he might have been a post battle sacrifice.  The helmet was not to hand so his head may have decorated a nearby tree in true Germanic tribal tradition.

And the point of all this is?

Well just this. Aside from the speculative thought that some poor legionary endured not only three or four days of a running battle through the German forests, and got chopped at the end of it all in a bloody sacrifice, it's the idea that in all of the Roman Empire, throughout the hundreds of years it ruled, only one single set of full body armour has ever been found. Remnants of chain mail and bits of segmentata have been found in Britain but nothing so complete. Cavalry helmets abound, Roman shoes, swords, spear heads, ladies letters from Vindolanda, but the staple bit of kit that defined the Roman army? Just one example.

It's probably me, but by comparison you can visit the Western Front and pick up sobering souvenirs from a hundred years ago. They are relatively cheap and plentiful. No licence required. 

Yet hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers served and died on campaigns and in battles. And there is ( allegedly ) only one complete set of lorica segmentata recovered - in the entire area that comprised the Roman world.

What if it turns out to be  the only one "we" ever find? Soil conditions and the passage of time do terrible things to metal artefacts. 

"Tomasius Atkinius" left his armour to posterity, He left the last glimpse of more than just a battle. 

The fourth part of the "Soldiers of The Boar" series now has a finalised title. 'Wine of The Boar.'  The action moves to Germania in the time of the famous emperor Marcus Aurelius.

The first full draft of the novel has now been completed and the planned release date of Summer 2023 is on course. 

The blog has suffered a bit from the time required to get this novel to a first full draft. It's take longer than I anticipated. I hope to return to blogging about the historical things that catch my eye.

After Wine of The Boar is released I have plans for a change of historical period. Possibly Ancient Greek or Viking. If you have a preference please feel free to contact the website. I would be happy to hear your opinions. Options are open.

Happy 2023 to everyone who follows Loch Ard Fiction. Thank you for your continuing support. I hope my 'Soldiers of The Boar' stories have whetted your appetite for another one. As mentioned in Blog No. 55 a fourth story  - a follow on to the trilogy - is now being written.

The provisional working title is "The Ides of Hanno Glaccus," although that may change. The main character, Velio Pinneius has retired to the wine trade in Gaul. Years have passed and he has been living reasonably peacefully and raising a family. In far off Germania the new emperor Marcus Aurelius is fighting the tribes. Velio senses an opportunity to make the vineyard famous.

30,000 words in, and hopefully a completion/release date sometime in summer 2023.

After a bit of mental 'to-ing' and 'fro-ing' the beginnings of the next novel has raised its head tentatively up above the parapets. It was going to be a cavalry story beginning in Gaul and heading toward the battle of Mons Graupius (AD 84). A backward step in time from the 'Soldiers of The Boar' trilogy. However after a bit of consideration it did not feel as though this story was going to have enough legs to make it to a full novel despite the attractions of creating an entirely new set of characters etc.

The first two books of Soldiers of The Boar were set against known historical events. The concluding part was a natural spinoff. So the problem was, if there is a return to the character of Velio Pinneius, what historical event(s) could be used as a backdrop? Almost by serendipity, within the reasonable span of Velio and Gallus' lifetimes the emperor Marcus Aurelius came to power.

If you watched Russell Crowe in Gladiator you will know Marcus Aurelius spent years fighting in Germania. 

And as Velio Pinneius has seen Britannia, he's seen Gaul, I think there is scope for him to see Germania. So that is where we are planning to go. Should be fun. It already feels better than Mons Graupius.

Since the launch of Centurion of The Boar as the third part of the Soldiers of The Boar trilogy, I have been wondering what to blog about next. Readers of the blog will know I like the quirky links of history. And though it's been a while since I posted a blog I have come across another little "co-incidence" - call it what you will.

I am considered a cavalry story as a possible follow up to the trilogy and as part of my research bought a copy of "The Roman Cavalry" by Karen R. Dixon and Pat Southern. 

At the time the book was published (1992) Dixon and Southern were working on Ph.Ds at Newcastle University and their book is an archaeologically based account of how the Romans organised this part of their armies. 

One of their quoted sources is "Cavalry: its History and Tactics." Published in 1853. Author, Captain L.E.Nolan." (Lewis Edward Nolan.) This was one of two books he authored, the other being Nolan's System for Training Cavalry Horses. He is worth an entire post in his own right. One to follow in the future, I think.

However, his name caught my eyes because it was Captain Nolan, officer in the 15th Hussars.

Fast forward from Roman times to The Crimea, Battle of Balaclava, 25th October 1854.

Nolan delivers a message/order from British commander Lord Raglan that the Russian enemy is to be prevented from removing captured artillery pieces from the battlefield. He uses Nolan as a gifted horseman to deliver his order to his sub commander, Lord Lucan who passes it on to Lord Cardigan, commander of the Light Horse Brigade. Unfortunately, Lucan and Cardigan hate each other with a vengeance. Not a good working relationship in a battle.

Further misfortune beckons, there are two valleys, the North valley and the South valley. Nolan points at the wrong one - the North valley, heavily defended and not a place for unsupported Light Cavalry to venture, which Lord Cardigan undoubtedly must have suspected was a mistake. Hence the need for Captain Nolan to positively identify the target to Lord Cardigan.

"There is the Enemy and there are the Guns." 

Thereby sending the Light Brigade to its destruction. Infamous words of intended clarification.

How tragic for Nolan that for all his knowledge and skill as a man and as a teacher of horses, his name is remembered for a mistake made in the heat of war. But his written words of advice and instruction have stood the test of time and added much to Dixon and Southern's book.

"The charge must be decided promptly, and executed vigorously; always met, and carried out at speed."

How prophetic.

I think the next one is going to have to be a cavalry story.