Aquila et Noctua a historical novel - New Release

By P. J. Mann

There is a new release on Mann's house, and that doesn't just mean that I have written a new novel, but I have also experimented something new, a historical fiction.

Aquila et Noctua (The Eagle and the Owl) comes from a story I wrote many years ago and brings me back to one of my loves in life: History, and particularly the history of Ancient Rome. 

The story tells about a young slave, Saul, coming from Jerusalem, and the complicated relationship he will develop with his masters and with the other slaves, who will become a sort of surrogate family; the one he lost once he was enslaved.

Once again, like in my debut novel "A Tale of a Rough Diamond," we have the themes of envy, jealousy, conflictual relationships within the family, and wisdom.

Wisdom is depicted in this case like the Noctua (Owl), and like in nature happens, the owl is going to bring wisdom, with sudden chaos.

The Aquila, (Eagle) represents the Roman Empire and the family who will purchase Saul. 

There is going to be a Release party on my Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/2225782511045126/

It is scheduled for Sunday 1.9  at 10:00 AM EDT and there will be other authors to help me celebrate the release. If you have more questions about this new release this is the right time to have them answered.

EXCERPT:

​The sun shone brightly in the sky on that late summer day. The successful campaign in the territories of Palestine brought new glory to the Empire and filled every corner of the city with celebrations.
The massive military action, planned by Emperor Hadrian, had brought about the final defeat of the rebellious Jews in the third Jewish revolt.
Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina in honor of the victorious emperor and as an ultimate humiliation to the rebels. The prisoners were sent all over the Empire to be sold as slaves while the Roman generals and commanders were decorated in the public square of the Forum.
It was a joyful period throughout all of Rome, and it should have been no exception for Marcus Tiberius Numida. However, something weighed heavily on his mind and alienated his soul from the revelry.
He wandered through the streets of Rome, not paying attention to where he was going until he found himself in the slave market in the Forum.
Several specimens of males and females, crammed into cages, peered from between the bars, waiting to be yanked out and pushed to line up behind the merchant. Their eyes revealed fear and confusion
Each merchant touted the good properties of each slave they were selling, wildly gesticulating to underline their words to attract customers, as crowds of curious people and potential buyers gathered around.
The sobs of the waiting slaves and the clang of their chains against the bars, combined with the din of the curious onlookers and the raucous voices of the merchants. The stench of bodily fluids melded with the scent of food that was sold in the square.

To pre-order the novel, please follow this link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VXB2QFR

Author link: https://pjmann2016.wixsite.com/pjmann

Other books: https://pjmann2016.wixsite.com/pjmann/books

I hope I have attracted your attention and see you soon at the release party!

Stay tuned!

Happened today: something about the Pride month

June is called the Pride Month, where many cities worldwide are organizing marches and events to celebrate diversity not as something special, but as something that belong to human nature.
But why was the month of June chosen? Here in Helsinki the Gay Pride is scheduled for Saturday 29th (tomorrow).
The choice was indeed not randomly made, and those who have lived enough to remember the riots happened at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village, New York, know something about it.
The final years of the sixties were already on their own a period of societal turmoil, homosexuality wasn’t considered something acceptable, and the law condemned it.
It wasn’t an easy time for the LGBT community, and people felt the need to hide their nature for their own safety. The only places where they could get along in freedom were the gay bars, and one of the most popular was the Stonewall Inn.
The Stonewall Inn was an old horse stable and was once upon a time used as a restaurant, then it was turned into a gay bar in 1966.
Since it didn’t have any license to sell liquor, and it was generally in bad shape, the owners used to bribe Police officers to turn a blind eye on the business.
At 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, 1969, four plainclothes policemen in dark suits, and two patrol officers in uniform arrived at the Stonewall Inn and took over the place. Generally, they would have asked for the ID of those who were inside the bar, and those who were dressed as women were brought to the restroom to verify their gender. If they were male, they had to be arrested.
This procedure would have gone smoothly without any resistance act from anyone, but not that night.
That night, people refused to give their ID and refused to be identified as men or women. On that night people, although they were still scared of what could have happened to them, they felt it was more important to shout out their right to be, and within minutes, over 100 people gathered outside the Stonewall Inn.

Although the Police tried to restrain the crowd that was gathering to support those who were arrested, things started to escalate quickly, as the crowd soon outnumbered the Police officers who were forced to find shelter inside the bar.
The Tactical Patrol Force of the New York City Police Department arrived to free the Policemen trapped inside the Stonewall, and few officers were hurt by flying debris, thrown by the crowd.
The riot didn’t stop that night and continued for weeks, and many people sympathized with the rebellious, attending organizational meetings seizing the chance to take action.
Things were about to change, and the time was right, those who were feeling oppressed, now they were empowered. That was a day that marked an important date for gay rights, and it was going to leave a mark.
The following years, marches were organized to remember what happened on that day at the Stonewall Inn celebrating a milestone in the gay empowerment movement.
So, today we are celebrating that day, and try to shout out to those people living in countries where being gay is still a crime, in some cases punishable with a death sentence.

I will be off on Saturday, mixing with the crowd because although I am not gay, I do believe that it is nobody’s business who we love or how do we identify ourselves.
Have a great day!

Deadly Deception Book 1

By P. J. Mann

This has been the first series I have written in my short career of writing. At the moment I have published the first two books of what is supposed to be a trilogy, and quite soon I will be able to publish the final book.

So let’s start with the first one. Just like many times it happens, this was not supposed to be a series, rather it was just a way to experiment something new; a novella.

I found it quite challenging because I had to squeeze in a short amount of pages what I generally describe in a full novel.

As I was going to finish and making it ready for the editor, something strange happened, I wanted to know more about the story, and the characters got better ideas. It was then when I thought that since I was experimenting a novella, I could have also experimented a series, and so I modified it in a way to create the premises for a second book, at least.

But let’s talk about the story.

The first book is about a young man, Ethan Jackson, who had his life ruined by a compulsive lying disorder. He believes, and he wishes to tell the truth, but his brain is messing up facts and people when he tries to remember it.

He will seek for help at the studio of Dr. Wright, a psychiatrist who seems very interested in Ethan’s problem and offers him a very unusual therapy: traveling the world and keep records on a diary.

Everything seems to go as smooth as velvet when in the middle of the treatment, he finds himself in Georgia, he is accused of murder. As usual, the embassy helps him find a lawyer, and his family and friends will offer moral sustain. However, Ethan is sure he would never kill anyone, but he cannot remember anything about the previous night. Everything he remembers is that he was with the girl who had been murdered the night before.

With his freedom and sanity at stake, the truth seems to be further from Ethan’s grasp than ever. But then, if he wants to keep his freedom, perhaps lies are all he can depend on.

Excerpt:

I was agitated the whole night, and when someone knocked at my door the next morning, at 11:30 A.M., I felt like they drove over me with a truck.

It took me what it seemed an eternity to stand up on my feet, as whoever was on the other side of the door, knocking, already became my enemy number one.

“I am coming. Please, a bit of patience,” I said as I was dressing up.

I opened the door, and a man with two officers asked me if they could come in.

“Yes, of course. I just woke up, so it is a bit messy,” I said, welcoming them in.

“We are sorry for this inconvenience, I am Detective Giorgi Bochorishvili, and those are Officers Esadze and Kazbegi,” he said, coming in.

“I don’t understand. Is there anything wrong?” I asked, still wondering about that visit.

“You can say so. Between yesterday evening and this morning, a woman has been killed in this hotel,” he said, taking out a picture. “Have you ever seen her?”

I took the picture in my hand and looked at it carefully. She looked familiar, but my mind was still foggy.

“I don’t think so. I am not sure, though. Maybe I have seen her in this hotel,” I replied. “Is she a guest?”

“Not really. She is an escort and used to go around telling people that she works for this hotel - which is not true - offering a safe sexual service,” he explained as the other two officers looked around.

“A murder…” I mumbled to myself, trying to recall whatever happened the evening before, knowing anyway that my brain would have messed up some, if not all, the details. However, something I was sure about was that I hadn’t killed anyone, nor had I heard anything coming from the corridors.

If there had been a murder, the assassin must have been very cautious in not making any noise, I considered.

“Is there anyone else you are sharing this room with?” asked the Detective.

“No, I am alone.”

“Could you explain this, then?” he said, grabbing a lipstick from the floor. “It doesn’t seem to be your shade.”

I stared at it, not knowing what I should say.

“So?” he pursued.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

“Let’s put it this way,” he started to say, “I am not here to put someone in jail for having sex with a prostitute, but to nail a killer. Are you telling me the truth when you say you haven’t seen this woman?”

Links to the book:

Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079RN795D

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Deception-P-J-Mann/dp/1984990683

Follow the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paperpenandinkwell

Website: https://pjmann2016.wixsite.com/pjmann

amazon author page: www.amazon.com/author/pjmann

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/p-j-mann

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16064775.P_J_Mann

Blog: www.paperpenandinkwell.blogspot.com

Our Guest Today is Author Kristine Raymond #OurAuthorGang

 Please welcome Author Kristine Raymond to our blog today

Hi there! Nice to meet you. I'm Kristine Raymond, and I write books.

What kind, you ask? Well, I penned THE HIDDEN SPRINGS SERIES--eight historical Western romance suspense novels set in the late 1800's Arizona Territory. Then, there's WRITE WORDS--a short, anecdotal snapshot into my first year as an indie author. After that, I moved on to contemporary romance...sweet with just a hint of spice.

What's next on the agenda? A contemporary romance novella series titled SEASONS OF LOVE; a contemporary drama titled TEMPTED (be looking for that next year), and perhaps a mystery/thriller series.  The possibilities are endless!

Find out what I'm up to by subscribing to my newsletter or visiting my website. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks for dropping by...and happy reading!

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Website:      http://www.kristineraymond.com/
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https://books2read.com/underthemistletoe

Frankie Denton liked his life exactly the way it was. As the owner of a successful auto repair shop, the idea of adding a wife and kids to the mix never crossed his mind--until the day the sassy redhead he'd met at a friend's wedding informs him she's pregnant, a result of their one-night stand. Resolved to do the right thing, nonplussed when she denies his marriage proposal, he sets out to prove he's not only husband material, but father material as well.

After spending an exhilarating night in the arms of the sexy mechanic she met in Celebration, Roxie Malone discovers she's expecting. Embracing the prospect of motherhood, determined to raise the baby on her own, she's shocked when Frankie steps up, demonstrating time and again that he's eager to be part of their lives. But she has first-hand experience that fathers don't always keep the promises they make, and she's hesitant to put her trust in a man she hardly knows.

Frankie has a lot to contend with in order to win Roxie over; a jealous friend who wants to marry her himself, a complication with her pregnancy, and a misunderstanding that threatens to drive them apart permanently. Faced with the possibility of losing the family he never knew he wanted, he scrambles to find a way to convince her they should be together. With Christmas just around the corner, will he get the gift he wants most?

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