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Multi-volume, historical fiction author, B. K. Greenwood introduces us to the first volume in The Last Roman series, Exile: What if The Gladiator smashed into The Highlander, and then careened into Jason Bourne? You would get The Last Roman: Exile. Some debts you cannot repay, even if you live forever... Seasoned imperial officer Marcus Sempronius Gracchus leads the 9th Roman Legion into a bloody battle against a fierce barbarian tribe. It's a battle he won't survive. When he awakens three days later, clawing his way from a shallow grave, Marcus must face the reality of his new existence. He will never see the afterlife--but that won't stop him from dying time and again over the next 2,000 years. But Marcus is not the only one cursed with eternal life, and they are determined to bring the world crashing to its knees. Forced to confront the only brother he has ever known, can Marcus prevent the inevitable and find redemption? Follow the story of a man who should be dead, as he tries to save the world... and his soul. This story is marvelous storytelling! Taking a minor character from the most pivotal event in the New Testament and making him and other biblical characters the center of all the conflict is genius! This is A+ action. It is easy to picture the frequent action sequences in your mind's eye. The dialogue is good also, the characters come across as very real, they have feelings, hopes and goals. I guess there are some advantages to being immortal, after enjoying this story, the price seems too high for me. This book gets 4.8 stars from me! You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Roman-Exile-B-K-Greenwood-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/-exile https://www.barnesandnoble.com/the-last-roman-b-k-greenwood You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/bkgreenwood70 https://www.instagram.com/bkgreenwood70 https://www.facebook.com/BKGreenwood http://www.bkgreenwood.com I have reviewed the second book in the series here: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/the-last-roman-abyss I have reviewed the third book in the series here: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/the-last-roman-absolution tags: Christian fiction, action, adventure, spirituality, historical fiction, politics, conspiracy, prophecy Copyright © 2022 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction.
49 Comments
8/27/2022 01:18:52 pm
Thanks, Mark, for the review and opportunity to chat!
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Mark
8/27/2022 02:38:04 pm
Welcome to the Word Refiner channel, Brendan. You are welcome, I really enjoyed the story!
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8/27/2022 03:18:23 pm
Thanks, I am glad you did.
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Mark
8/27/2022 04:34:51 pm
Thanks. Our childhoods were somewhat similar. Yours was more extreme than mine, I only went to three elementary schools. I did have a hard time making new friends. I loved all of those genres also.
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8/27/2022 05:19:25 pm
I work in the manufacturing tech industry. And I would say it has very little influence over my writing. My work is very analytical, whereas creative writing is just about the opposite. I think that is good, as it helps me stay balanced.
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Mark
8/27/2022 07:34:52 pm
You work in the computer chip industry? I had a small part building several chip plants in Oregon when I was in construction. My mother worked for a chip manufacturer in Washington state, SEH America. I was able to attend an open house and see how 6" chips were made. It was fascinating.
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8/28/2022 09:17:58 am
Yes, the chip industry. I started right out of high school. The last two years have been very interesting. Lots of focus on our industry.
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Mark
8/28/2022 11:10:06 am
Casca sounds like an interesting series. I am surprised I missed it. I am sure I would have enjoyed it. Asimov was a favorite science fiction author, I read quite a few of his books and loved the Foundation series. During my middle school and high school years I read a large amount of sci-fi. I was introduced to high fantasy and Tolkien in the 8th grade. LOTR completely captured me, and I read the series 3 times before graduating from our small-town high school.
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8/28/2022 12:10:05 pm
Thanks, it is doing well across genres! I guess the only rule is there are no rules.
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Mark
8/28/2022 02:09:23 pm
He does nice work. I hope this helps him get more work.
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8/29/2022 11:24:14 am
Yeah, he is pretty good!
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Mark
8/29/2022 01:06:19 pm
Names are a big issue, just as you said. There are websites devoted to the most popular names by year or decade and area that many writers use. Some of them go back for more than a century. I didn't know that Marcus was such a popular name in the Roman times.
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8/29/2022 09:25:44 pm
The initial storyline is three books, and all three are complete.
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Mark
8/30/2022 07:07:19 am
Very nice. A lot of readers like reading a series. I do also, it permits greater development of characters and plot.
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8/30/2022 10:18:57 am
My real-world job requires a ton of public speaking. I have been doing it for many years, with audiences up to 1,000 or more. Pre-covid in person, post-covid on Teams or Zoom. I have also done one live TV interview (I attached the link below) for a local station in Austin.
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Mark
8/30/2022 11:47:52 am
Not many people have a job that requires a lot of public speaking. Very few authors do and fewer still look forward to the experience. It's not that surprising also, for many people, public speaking is one to the top fears in their life.
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8/30/2022 12:00:23 pm
Ah, the writing contest question. I have entered a few, but I have not won anything. I am tempted to enter more, but I'll be 100% honest. I prefer to use that budget for marketing and advertising.
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Mark
8/30/2022 02:00:24 pm
There are a lot of contests, and they are not all created equal. Some good contests provide feedback on their entries, some don't. Some are downright crooked and seek to empty your wallet. The worst ones try to steal your intellectual property rights.
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8/30/2022 03:56:47 pm
Thanks, I will check that out.
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Mark
8/30/2022 05:55:31 pm
That is some great information. Thank you, I hope other authors can take advantage of some of that. If I understand, you can have your e-book on KU and place the paperback on other platforms. That is brilliant!
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8/30/2022 06:24:36 pm
I will pull the book when I am ready to go "wide" to shoot for the best seller list (USA Today or Wall Street Journal. New York Times is almost exclusively traditional published books). Then try and hit a bookbub deal for book one in the series. Marry that up with a ton of advertising and other activities.
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Mark
8/30/2022 07:18:16 pm
That is quite a process. Lots of variables and little control. All you can do is all you can do.
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8/30/2022 07:36:03 pm
I did, many years ago. Probably 100+ agents. I had two request a full chapter, one the full manuscript. The work was not worthy at that time. Too heavy, ponderous. As mentioned previously, it was 100K+ and needed to be cut by 20%.
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Mark
8/31/2022 08:28:23 am
You had better luck than most authors. Many spend over a year querying and never get an agent. Then those authors proceed to self-publish or use a hybrid publisher if they have the money.
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8/31/2022 02:56:07 pm
All good point. I see three major issues with not going traditional. One, you have limited to no access to brick and mortar. As popular as ebooks are, not selling in physical stores is a major drawback. Two, award and best seller list access You just have no access. Three, major author reviews and endorsements. Unless you personally know James Patterson, it is super difficult to get a "famous" author to endorse your work.
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Mark
8/31/2022 04:21:38 pm
Those are excellent points. Although sometimes an independent, brick-and-mortar bookstore will stock a book that they like, the biggies buy in bulk to stock all or most of their stores from a wholesaler or maybe direct from the publisher. They don't often buy from indie authors, as far as I know.
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9/1/2022 06:25:17 pm
I did for a minute. But they lack the benefits of traditional (they can’t guarantee brick and mortar distribution). And, honestly, I didn’t need them to pay for my editing or cover. So, I saw no benefit.
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Mark
9/1/2022 06:44:40 pm
I think that is a wise move, protect your profits and your intellectual property rights. Your IP rights could be worth a bundle to your heirs after you are gone.
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9/1/2022 07:17:05 pm
I think I am on par with traditional. I am confident my covers are. Editing wise, I think we are close (especially after your last inputs). I think there may have been a few things in the story they would have asked to change. But hard to tell.
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Mark
9/1/2022 08:04:54 pm
I think your book is on par also. The last several traditionally published books I read had spelling errors in them also.
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9/2/2022 08:12:28 am
Hmmmm. Interesting question. I guess as a kid any books with animals was super impactful to me. Black beauty. Call of the wild.
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Mark
9/2/2022 09:27:37 am
I read Call of the Wild and at least one other Jack London book, as a kid. I didn't read Black Beauty because it seemed like a girl's book in my childish mind. I grew up on a small hobby farm in a very small town, population around 1300 people. I did a lot of rereading also because getting books was not easy, though I did have a library card for the public library in our town. I was proud of my library card and loved hanging out there.
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B. K. Greenwood
9/3/2022 11:05:55 am
I think book two is my favorite. It’s a bit of Clive Cussler and a bit Indiana Jones. Plus, Isabella takes a much more central role, and the plot thickens as Thomas continues revealing his plan. And the ending always gets positive comments.
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Mark
9/3/2022 11:11:18 am
Book two sounds good, A shift of character focus sounds like a good idea also.
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9/3/2022 08:08:06 pm
It depends. If I’m on a self imposed deadline, writing can be draining. Be forced to write it terrible. I once signed up for a writing challenge and it was miserable. I hate writing for writings sake. I don’t write and throw away. I’m super efficient and almost 100% of what I write ends up in a book or short story. If I am super efficient during a session, then I am not really energized, but more motivated for later sessions.
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Mark
9/3/2022 08:59:45 pm
Every writer is different, many write a lot and have to trim sections, descriptions, dialogue or whatever to make the desired wordcount. Most genres have a pretty well defined wordcount. Too few words and the reader might feel cheated, too many words and they might feel overwhelmed. If you don't have to delete a lot of what you write, then you are an efficient writer.
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9/4/2022 03:31:52 pm
Yes, I think so. I think each one of my characters has as is initially based off people I know, have seen in TV/Movies, or read about in books. They might even be a combination of several personalities. Finding ways to make our characters unique, yet relatable, is a very fine balance.
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Mark
9/4/2022 04:01:40 pm
I should have recognized that you had a daughter because her dialogue with Marcus was very realistic. I have two younger sisters and two adult daughters. The dialogue really resonated with me.
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9/4/2022 07:15:02 pm
Since I never wrote much as a kid or young adult, I really didn't see the impact of my writing on others very early on. After I published book one and complete strangers left reviews on my books, I began to realize that maybe I had a talent for entertaining and connecting with people. When someone halfway around globe says they binge read your trilogy in three days and cannot wait for another book, that really boosts your confidence. When dozens or hundreds say that, it reaffirms you as an author.
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Mark
9/4/2022 09:06:23 pm
Without a doubt that kind of affirmation goes a long way.
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9/5/2022 08:48:01 am
Ah, bad reviews. I have plenty of 1 & 2 star reviews. And I read every one. Some are genre mismatch. Some have valid points (lots of violence or cursing). But I think if you read the blurb, that should not be unexpected (it is about a Roman soldier, after all). Sometimes I wonder if they really read the book (one said it was boring, which I find hard to believe... but hey, tastes very!).
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Mark
9/5/2022 09:51:05 am
I think every author reads their bad reviews. It's hard not to perseverate over the bad reviews also. I think it's important to read the other reviews more, especially if there is something to learn from them or just to balance out the bad reviews, so they don't weigh you down too much. I have said many times, a bad review is a good thing, it validates the writing because you can't please everyone, and it proves that the good reviews are coming from more than your relatives.
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9/5/2022 10:10:15 am
Thanks, I tried to make him the most interesting character!
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Mark
9/5/2022 01:29:40 pm
You definitely succeeded! I am reminded of another character and series titled, "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" by Stephen R. Donaldson. The title character is the protagonist and he had leprosy when he was on earth. He fell and struck his head losing consciousness. He awoke in another land and dimension and was considered the savior of that world against a great evil because he wore a white-gold ring. He had no idea how to use it and struggled with believing he had traveled and that his leprosy was not in evidence at all. Fantastic premise and I enjoyed the story so much, I read several volumes, but not all of them. Something shiny and different attracted my attention.
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9/5/2022 01:35:16 pm
I try to get in 30 mins of writing a day. Not always possible with my real world job.
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Mark
9/5/2022 02:19:41 pm
Very good. Many writers aim for a daily writing session, not all achieve it all the time. We do live in a real world.
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9/5/2022 02:25:32 pm
I am going to cheat and paste something that I shared on Facebook and Twitter a few weeks back. Top 5 things that worked and did not work:
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Mark
9/5/2022 02:52:32 pm
That is a great list. Thanks for sharing that. I am certain your experience will help other authors use their advertising budget effectively.
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9/5/2022 06:45:41 pm
Thanks Mark, it has been a pleasure. Have a great rest of the week!
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Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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