Los idus de marzo con Steven Saylor

Ya estamos en los Idus de marzo. Y con ese motivo estos días he leído (he disfrutado) la novela "El trono de César", de Steven Saylor (Esfera de los Libros, enero 2019), la última de la saga del indagador romano Gordiano el Sabueso, quien con 66 años vive su última aventura en el momento de mayor gloria de Julio César, y de mayor tragedia.

De nuevo he encontrado en la narrativa de Saylor una prosa absorbente, y una ambientación simplemente perfecta de quien domina todos los detalles de la época, y además los presenta de forma creíble. Roma, presentada siempre como escenario de violencias y de intrigas, es mostrada por Saylor de otra forma totalmente diferente, con Gordiano, humano y cercano. Lo recomiendo.

Con este motivo, de los Idus, Steven Saylor ha respondido a algunas preguntas sobre su libro. Las pongo aquí, en español y en inglés.

("El trono de César", por Steven Saylor. Entrevista en español)

1.- Has logrado lo imposible: crear una novela nueva y fresca sobre un hecho muy conocido del pasado, el final de Julio César. Tu novela trata su final casi como si fuera una informe forense. ¿De verdad hay tanta información en los autores del pasado, describiendo el asesinato de César? ¿O algunos pasajes se deben únicamente a tu imaginación?

 

Sólo conozco dos hechos del mundo antiguo de los que tengamos documentación día a día, hora a hora incluso: el asesinato de Clodio (objeto de mi novela "Un asesinato en la Vía Apia), y el asesinato de Julio César. Creo que mi recreación de los días previos a los asesinatoss, el propio asesinato y los días inmediatamente se acercan mucho a la verdad histórica.

2.- La descripción del poema "Zmyrna", del poeta Cina, es tan emocionante que debe preguntar si este poeta era tan bien considerado en el pasado como narras en tu libro.

 Cinna fue posiblemente el poeta más respetado de Roma después de la muerte de Catulo, y sin embargo casi no ha perdurado nada de su obra. Pero los historiadores han hecho un gran trabajo buscando las trazas de su influencia en otros poetas.

3.- ¿"Orfeo y Penteo" fue un poema real, escrito por Cina, o es una invención tuya en el libro? Felicidades por esas páginas, ¡muy impresionantes!

 Eso poema es obra de mi imaginación. Tras sorprender a toda Roma con su gran poema Zmyrna (tardó diez años en escribirlo), es seguro que Cinna trabajó en otra obra más. Este poema inventado fue mi manera de introducir a Orfeo y Penteo en el argumento, junto con la violencia que representan.

4.- Baco y su mitología aparece en el libro impresionante y terrible. ¿Está documentado el terrible rito de las ménades y el canibalismo en algún pasaje histórico literario?

Sí, las ménades en su locura ritual se convertían literalmente en comedores de hombres. Es difícil para una persona actual imaginar la clase de éxtasis y de violencia que la religión antigua podía provocar. El Cristianismo tiene sus ritos propios, incluso parecidos, como comer el cuerpo de Cristo y beber su sangre.

5.- ¿Ha descubierto algún lector al misterioso poeta escondido en las páginas de tu novela, que mencionas en el epílogo de tu libro?

 

Nadie ha descubierto aún este secreto de la novela. Pero fue un escritor que inspiró buena parte del libro, en especial mi retrato de CInna. Es invisible pero está siempre presente en el libro.

6.-Por último, ¿te presiona tu editor para que continúes las aventuras de Gordiano, ya en época del Imperio? ¿Pueden ser Davos y Diana un final abierto a la saga de Gordiano? ¿Has pensado en iniciar una nueva saga con ellos dentro de la época imperial?

De momento, dejo a Gordiano y a su familia a un lado para terminar mi próxim novela, una secuela de las novelas "Roma" e "Imperio", esta vez en la época comprendida desde Marco Aurelio hasta Constantino. Después de mucha investigación estoy totalmente dedicado a este nuevo libro. Y sobre el regreso de Gordiano y su familia, yo nunca digo "nunca".

For now, I retreat from Gordianus and his family to finish my next novel, a sequel to the family saga novels Rome and Empire,  this time spanning from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine the Great. After much research I am now well into that book. As for a return to Gordianus and his family, I never say never.

("The throne of Cesar", by Steven Saylor. Interview in English)

1.- You have made possible the impossible: to create a now and fresh novel about a very known fact of the past, the end of Julius Caesar. Your novel treats his end almost like a forensic report. Is there really so much data in the authors of the past, describing the murdering of Caesar? Or some passages are due to your only imagination?

 I know of only two events from the ancient world for which we have a day-by-day, even hour-by-hour report: the murder of Clodius (subject of my novel A Murder on the Appian Way), and the murder of Julius Caesar. I think my recreation of the days leading up to the assassination, the murder itself, and the days immediately after are very true to history.

2.- The description of the poem Zmyrna from Cina is so emotive, that I must ask you if it was really well consider in the past.

 Cinna was probably the more respected poet in Rome after the death of Catullus, yet we have almost nothing of his work. But historians have done great work in tracing his influence on other poets.

3.- Was Orpheo and Penteo's Poem real from Cina, or was it a full creation of your own? Congratulation for those pages: really impressive!

 That poem is from my own imagination. After amazing all Rome with his great poem Zmyrna (which took ten years to write), surely Cinna was at work on another magnum opus. That invented poem was my way of bringing Orpheus and Pentheus into the story, along with the violence they represent.

4.- Baco and his mythology appears here son impressive and terrible. Is it documented the terrible rite of maenads and cannibalism in some historical passages?

Yes, The maenads in their frenzy could literally become man-eaters. It is hard for the modern person to imagine the kind of ecstatic and violent states that could be produced by ancient religion. Of course, Christianity as has the rite eating the body of Christ and drinking his blood.

5.- Have some reader discovered the mysterious poet hidden in the pages of the novel, as you announced in your epilog?

No one has yet to discover that secret of the novel. But there was a writer to inspired very much of the book, especially my portrait of Cinna. He is invisible but ever-present in the book.

6.- Finally, is your editor pressing you to continue again the Gordianus' adventures, now in the Empire times? May Davos and Diana be an open end to Gordianus' saga? Have you thought to initiate a new saga in the Empire period with them?

For now, I retreat from Gordianus and his family to finish my next novel, a sequel to the family saga novels Rome and Empire,  this time spanning from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine the Great. After much research I am now well into that book. As for a return to Gordianus and his family, I never say never.

Steven Saylor: nueva entrevista (Spanish & English)

Hola, amigos.
Hoy os traigo una nueva entrevista a Steven Saylor, publicada hoy día 11 de julio en el Blog XXSiglos.

El enlace de la entrevista en español es este:
https://blogs.20minutos.es/xx-siglos/2018/07/11/steven-saylor-nunca-hay-una-buena-razon-para-falsear-deliberadamente-la-historia/

Y aquí en mi Blog os dejo la entrevista en inglés, cortesía tanto de David Yagüe (20 Minutos) como del propio autor.

Interview with Steven Saylor (by David Yagüe, "20 Minutos")

After ten years and three prequels of Gordianus, you return to the main story of Roma Sub-Rosa with The Throne of Caesar. Why have you waited for this novel so long time? Has “The Ides of March” been an special challenge for a historical fiction writer?

After The Triumph of Caesar, the next logical step in the series, the next big event, was the assassination of Julius Caesar—but how could I write a murder mystery about one of the most famous murders in history? I did not have an answer yet, so I turned to something I had wanted to do for a long time, which was to take the young Gordianus to see the Seven Wonders of the World. After that prequel, The Seven Wonders, I stayed with young Gordianus for two more prequels, Raiders of the Nile and The Wrath of the Furies. Then I had a new book contract and my American editor said, “it’s time to write that Ides of March novel!” And at the same time, an American Classicist names James O’Hara whispered a single word in my ear and gave me the idea of how to write the book—a secret plot that would run through the novel, even as I wrote a thriller about Caesar’s assassination. And so I finally wrote The Throne of Caesar, which I call the capstone of the Gordianus series—perhaps the final novel of the series.

 Do you know when this novel will be published in Spain?

Like my most recent novels, The Throne of Caesar will be published in Spain by Los Esfera de los Libros next November.

 

After so many years, novels and tales, Who is Gordianus for Steven Saylor?

The two of us have grown old together. At first I was older—in the first novel, Roman Blood, he is about thirty and I was about thirty-five when I wrote it. Then in the novels that followed, he grew older faster than I did, so he gave me a preview of what might come—that is to say, I had to imagine what it would be like to become slower, more cautious, more weary of the wicked ways of the world, but also, perhaps, a bit wiser. When I wrote the first prequel, The Seven Wonders, I had the opposite challenge—to think back and find the voice of a 17-year-old Roman youth, when I myself had reached my fifties. I rather enjoyed being 17 again! So Gordianus has been my alter-ego—not only my imaginary life as an ancient Rome, but an exploration of the various stages of my own life.

I don’t think of Gordianus as a person separate from myself. Perhaps I should do an interview with him. But would Gordianus ask questions of me, or would I ask questions of him?

 Your novels show a very deep knowledge about ancient world, Do you think that historical fiction writer have more responsibilities with the reader than others who write fantasy or contemporary fiction?

Absolutely. There is never a good reason to deliberately falsify history simply to create a story. And there is no excuse for being careless with research, especially when writing about ancient Rome, where the historical material is so abundant. There is a bond of trust between the reader of historical fiction and the author. I take that responsibility seriously.

 

Is historical fiction an educational genre?

It should be. I hope that readers of my novels have a better understanding of the ancient world because they have read my books.

 Mystery stories set in History may present some problems: if you try to seem so historical, maybe the reader don´t enjoy the thriller; but, if you write a very modern mystery, you can result anachronistic. I think, you and Gordianus achieve a very natural balance, but what do you think about that question anyway?

I always begin with the history—with some big event, like the slave revolt of Spartacus (in Arms of Nemesis)—and then I look for a way to create a mystery plot (because I love a murder mystery), using actual places and people as well as fictional characters. The history and the thriller plot should work together, as should the psychological themes of the novel. If it is all in balance, it should seem very real to the reader—exotic but somehow familiar, far away in time but still compelling and alive. The dead past seems to live again, transcending time and death—what could be more wonderful than that?

 When you write these kinds of novels, Is Umberto Eco and his Name of the Rose the main guide?

Certainly, The Name of the Rose was a direct inspiration when I wrote the first novel, Roman Blood. Umberto Eco did not create the historical mystery, but such books were not common at that time, and his book was very successful both artistically and financially, and in many countries. When I began Roman Blood, inspired by an actual murder trial with Cicero for the defense, no one else had written a murder mystery set in ancient Rome, so I hoped not only to follow Eco’s inspiration but also to do something new. At almost exactly the same time, Lindsey Davis wrote the first of her Falco novels, which became very successful in England.

 Do you read other authors similar to you? What do you think about the novels of Lindsey Davis or David Wishart?

I actually do not read my fellow novelists who set stories in ancient Rome, for two reasons. First, I do not want to unconsciously steal ideas, or pick up any inaccurate ideas that might be in their books. And second, at the end a working day writing about Rome, I want to relax with a story far from Rome, like a good Scandinavian mystery. Rome is my job during the day, so for entertainment I go elsewhere.

 

Don’t you think that the ancient Rome novels have or a very Christian view about sexuality, or, on the contrary, too modern? Probably your characters are an exception…

It is not an accident that the Gordianus series is set in an era before Christianity, so I do not have to deal with Christian morality at all—it does not yet exist. As much as possible, I want the characters to think and act from a pre-Christian psychology. It is always interesting to see how they are like us, or unlike us. For example, they accept slavery without question, which is appalling to us, but they also accept homosexuality without question, a subject of so much controversy in my lifetime.

 

Are Roma and Empire your best and most ambitious works?

In many ways, yes. It has been a great challenge to weave a story that follows a family through the first 1000 years of Roman history (in Roma), and then through the era of the first emperors, from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius (in Empire). But now I am dealing with an even greater challenge, working on the third novel in that series, because that book will span the time from Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor, to Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor. This is a time of much chaos and enormous change. How and why did the Pagan world end, and the Christian world begin? What was it like for the people who lived through such a time? But, after writing so many novels over so many years, I enjoy a new challenge, and this book will require all my skills as a researcher and as a novelist.

 Why do you decide to write this two novels?

It was my publisher in England, a wonderful man named Nick Robinson (who is no longer alive), who invited me to his flat in London and over cocktails suggested I write a “big book”—something one a much larger scale than the Gordianus novels. I thought of the genre created by James Michener and continued by Edward Rutherfurd, where a certain place or a great city itself is the main character of a story that spans many lifetimes, and realized that no one had written such a novel about Rome. Thus the idea for Roma was born.

I read you saying that J. R.R. Tolkien influence you as a writer. He is not a very usual election for historical fiction writer…

No story was more important to me when I was young than The Lord of the Rings. I love it so much, and Tolkien’s achievement was so great, that I never thought to write fantasy myself—Tolkien has already done it. But when I came to write historical fiction, I wanted to do the same sort of “world building” that Tolkien did, creating large stories with an enormous background—but my background is the actual world of ancient Rome, with its myths and legends.

 As an American, Do you think that you have a different vision of Ancient Roma than, for example, Europeans writers?

Almost certainly. Anyone who writes historical fiction is seeing the past through a certain lens, influenced by his own place and time. I grew up during the height of the American empire, so that must have an influence on me, which is different from a writer who grew up, for example, in Communist Hungary, or modern Italy, or Spain.

Do you read any Spanish writers?

Some of the greatest Roman writers were born in Spain, of course—Seneca, Martial, Lucan. I’m afraid I don’t know much about current Spanish literature, though in my university days I read García Lorca, Santayana, and of course Cervantes and what we call in English “The Lay of the Cid.” Also, one of the most interesting historians of the ancient world today is a Spaniard, Leonardo de Arrizabalaga y Prado, who also writes in English. His book The Emperor Elagabalus: Fact or Fiction, published in 2014, is a revolutionary approach to one of the most mysterious Roman emperors, absolutely brilliant.

 Are you sure there wont be more Gordianus the Finder novels? And, if it is true, What are your plans for future?

As we say in English, “Never say never!” Perhaps I will return to the younger Gordianus, because  I think he visited Jerusalem after the events of The Wrath of the Furies, and there must be in interesting story there. But for now all my energy is focused on the next novel in the Roma and Empire series.

Twitter: @StevenSaylor_Sp

Web: www.stevensaylor.com

Steven Saylor - The Throne of Caesar / El trono de César

Quien me conozca sabe que marzo es un mes importante para mí (días 24 y 29 de marzo; ya os lo recordaré). Ahora además como estoy en el proceso de escritura de una novela en la Roma imperial, también tengo que subrayar el día 15, que corresponde a los Idus de Marzo.

¿Quién no conoce que en los Idus de Marzo fue asesinado Cayo Julio César? Es posiblemente el crimen más conocido de la historia, se sabe quién, cómo, por qué... o eso se cree. Porque hoy, fecha de ese magnicidio, sale a la venta la nueva novela del autor estadounidense Steven Saylor, "The Throne of Caesar" ("El trono de César"), donde nos ofrece una nueva visión y una nueva aventura de Gordiano el Sabueso. Afortunados los lectores de habla inglesa, que ya hoy la tienen disponible en las librerías. En España aún tendremos que esperar unas semanas para tenerla traducida.

Y con motivo de su publicación, en estos Idus sangrientos, Steven Saylor aceptó ayer que le entrevistara por email. Os dejo con la entrevista (en Inglés y Español)

 (Interview in English)

1. This book close a cycle of your life and writing. The first time you visited Rome inspired you to write Roman Blood. Did you think 'Some day I will write one novel about Caesar's Death' in that moment?

 Absolutely not. I thought that Roman Blood would be a single novel. I did imagine writing a series. But my American publisher wanted more, so I thought perhaps a trilogy. Eventually I realized what a marvelous opportunity I had been given, to write an open-ended series of crime novels set in the dying Roman Republic, with no end of murders, trials, conspiracies, espionage, warfare, and other mayhem, all from such a rich supply of sources. Now there are.

2. The HBO production Rome was a great series, released ten years ago, about last days of the Roman Republic and Caesar. Now everybody knows who Caesar was and how he died. Why you dare to write another book about these last days?

The challenge of writing a murder mystery about the most famous murder in history drew close and closer. After The Triumph of Caesar I avoided the logical next book, about the assassination, by writing a trilogy of novels about the younger days of Gordianus. At last, at a scholarly conference in (off all places!) Waco, Texas, a professor whispered a single word in my ear (“Make it about…”), and I had the idea for The Throne of Caesar. But of course, I cannot say what that word was, or I would spoil the surprise.

3. Do you travel to investigate the places of your stories? How many times have you visited Rome? What did you discover last time?

Believe it or not, I have been to Rome only a handful of times. Most of my more recent visit to Europe have been to other cities, always on book tour (including once to Madrid and twice to Lisbon). Most of my research now is literary, although there are also many remarkable virtual reality models and maps of ancient Rome easily available to everyone.

4. Are your publishers getting nervous because the end of your books about Gordianus? And the readers?

Could Gordianus return? I never say never! But The Throne of Caesar does provide a logical and, I hope, a satisfying conclusion.

5. How much of you is in Gordianus, now that he is reaching an old age?

At the beginning, with Roman Blood, Gordianus and I were about the same age, young men in the prime of life. Then he grew older faster than I did, and I had to imagine the mind and the voice of an older man. Then I wrote the trilogy of prequels, and had to remember the mindset of a youth in his late teens and early twenties. So, as my alter ego, he has been a useful psychology tool, helping me both to look ahead, and to look back at the stages of life.

6. In your book Catilina’s Riddle you wrote one scene of war with two epic pages, full of emotions. Will the readers find more scenes of war in The Throne of Caesar?

No. Caesar is planning the next great war, an invasion of Parthia, with the hope of becoming the next Alexander the Great. But as we know, that did not happen. But I think there is tremendous drama and suspense in the book, as we experience the tension and intrigue of Rome on the verge of the assassination, then the gruesome act itself, and then the turmoil of the city afterwards, in a world suddenly turned upside-down. And there is another shocking crime that occurs after Caesar’s murder.

7. Gordianus is a decent man, very close and human, one among anonymous people trying to survive in difficult times. I think that is one key of his success as character. Will you dare to focus in famous people as main character in next book (i.e. Nero, Tiberius, Caligula ...), or you prefer anonymous people to fiction?

My next novel is a third book to follow my family sagas Roma and Empire, about the fortunes of an aristocratic family from the earliest beginning of Rome to the height of empire. This new book will span the period from Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus to Constantine, the first Christian emperor. It will be a very interesting journey. The lives of common people will be included, but also some larger-than-life royal figures, like Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, and Elagabalus, the teenaged transvestite emperor. He had a very short reign, but he made a big impression.

8. When did you realize you could earn your living as a professional writer?

Very gradually, because all through my twenties I did editorial and writing jobs for small newspapers and magazines and made very little money. It was only well into my thirties, after my fourth novel, The Venus Throw, that I finally found an agent and I began to get well-paid contracts from my publisher.

9. How your daily routines as a writer are?

I get lazier as I get older. I get up a bit late, spend a couple of hours on facebook and email doing business and promoting my books, then, if the sun is out, I go to a swimming pool, sometimes on the University of California campus, and I swim for an hour. Then I like to sit by the pool in the shade, and either read for research, or if I am writing a book, I write on my laptop for two or three hours. Then I do some errands on the way home, dinner, and then a few hours watching Scandinavian crime shows on TV. I do my best writing by the swimming pool. It’s a very California lifestyle.

10. Is this book the real end of Gordianus?

Who can say? Some readers keep reminding me that I have never revealed his Roman praenomen. Perhaps I need to write a short story that includes that detail. Or, since I did a research trip to Israel a few years ago, perhaps we will discover that Gordianus went to Jerusalem as a young man, after the events of Wrath of The Furies. He may yet appear in print again.

11. Will you promote your book outside United States?

Alas, I have no plans for any travel to the UK or Europe now. But I do try to let readers know when a book is published in their country. Readers should sent an email to steven@stevensaylor.com and I will put them on my email list.

12. Thank you for your attention. Add anything you may consider. Can you give one piece of advice to people who want to write his first book and is afraid of it?  

The book you should write is the book you are longing to read that no on else has written yet. You must have a great desire to see this story told, because it will demand so much of your time and effort. Write a book you would love to read.

 

(Entrevista en Español)

     1.- Este libro cierra un ciclo en tu vida y en tu escritura. La primera vez que visitaste Roma te inspiró a escribir Sangre Romana. ¿Pensaste en aquel momento ‘Algún día escribiré un libro sobre la muerte de César’? 

    De ninguna manera. Pensé que Sangre Romana sería una novela sin continuación. Imaginé sobre escribir una serie. Pero mi editor americano deseaba más, así que pensé en escribir quizás una trilogía. Poco a poco me di cuenta de la maravillosa oportunidad que se me había concedido, escribir una serie de novelas de crímenes ambientadas en la agonizante República Romana, con un sinfín de asesinatos, juicios, conspiraciones, espionajes, guerra y otras desgracias, todas escritas con todos esos jugosos recursos. Y así han llegado hasta ahora.

     2.- La serie Roma, producida por la HBO, fue una gran serie, estrenada hace diez años, sobre los últimos días de la República y de César. Ahora todo el mundo sabe quién fue César y cómo murió. ¿Por qué te atreviste a escribir otro libro sobre estos últimos días?

     El desafío de escribir una novela de asesinato y misterio sobre el asesinato más famoso de la historia se fue perfilando más y más. Después de El triunfo de César evité continuar con el siguiente libro que era lógico, sobre su asesinato, escribiendo una trilogía sobre los días de juventud de Gordiano. Al final, en una conferencia universitaria (¡vaya un lugar!) en Waco, Texas, un profesor murmuró una única palabra en mi oído (“Piensa en esto: …”) y de ahí tuve la idea para El Trono de César. Pero claro, no quiero decir qué palabra fue, o arruinaré la sorpresa.

     3.- ¿Viajas para investigar los lugares de tus historias? ¿Cuántas veces has visitado Roma?¿Qué descubriste en ella la última vez?

     Lo creas o no, sólo he estado en Roma un puñado de veces. La mayoría de mis recientes visitas a Europa han sido a otras ciudades, siempre en giras de promoción  literaria (incluyendo una vez a Madrid y dos a Lisboa. La mayor parte de mi investigación es literaria, aunque hay muchos modelos destacables de realidad virtual y mapas de la antigua Roma al alcance de todos con facilidad.

     4.- ¿Están tus editores nerviosos por el final de tus libros sobre Gordiano? ¿Y tus lectores?

   ¿Podría Gordiano regresar? ¡Nunca digas nunca jamás! Pero El Trono de César proporciona un final lógico, y espero que satisfactorio, a la serie.

     5.- ¿Cuánto hay de ti en Gordiano, ahora que el personaje se acerca a la vejez?

    Al principio, en Sangre Romana, Gordiano y yo éramos de la misma edad, hombres jóvenes en lo mejor de la vida. Entonces él envejeció más rápido que yo, y eso me obligó a imaginar la mentalidad y la voz de un hombre más mayor que yo. Entonces escribí la trilogía de precuelas, y tuve que recordar la mentalidad de un joven en el final de su adolescencia y principio de sus veinte. Así que, como mi alter ego, él ha sido una útil herramienta psicológica, ayudándome a mirar hacia adelante y hacia atrás en las etapas de la vida.  

    6.- En tu libro El Enigma de Catilina escribiste una escena de guerra en dos páginas épicas, llena de emociones. ¿Los lectores encontrarán más escenas de guerra en El Trono de César?

     No. César está planeando la siguiente gran guerra, una invasión de Partia, con la esperanza de convertirse en el nuevo Alejandro el Grande. Pero como sabemos, eso no sucedió. Pero creo que hay tremendo drama y suspense en el libro, cuando experimentamos la tensión y la intriga de Roma en el instante de su asesinato, en el tremendo acto, y en las revueltas de la ciudad después, en un mundo vuelto de repente del revés. Y hay otro crimen intrigante que sucede después de la muerte de César.

     7.- Gordiano es un hombre decente, muy cercano y humano, uno entre la gente anónima que lucha por sobrevivir en tiempos difíciles. Creo que es una de las claves de su éxito como personaje. ¿Te atreverás a centrarte en gente famosa como personaje principal en tu próxima novela (Nerón, Tiberio, Calígula…) o prefieres ficcionar desde personajes anónimos?

     Mi próxima novela es el tercer libro de una trilogía que continúa mi saga familiar Roma e Imperio sobre suerte de una familia aristocrática desde los inicios tempranos de Roma hasta la cumbre del Imperio. Este nuevo libro abarcará el periodo desde Marco Aurelio y su hijo Cómodo hasta Constantino, el primer emperador cristiano. Será un viaje interesante. Las vidas de la gente común también estarán, pero también algunos grandes personajes de la realeza, como la reina Zenobia de Palmira, y Elagabalus, el emperador adolescente travestido. Tuvo un reinado muy corto, pero me impresionó mucho.

     8.- ¿Cuándo te diste cuenta de que podía ganarte la vida como escritor profesional?

    Muy poco a poco, porque a lo largo de mis veinte hice trabajos editoriales y de escritura para pequeños periódicos y revistas y gané muy poco dinero. Fue bien entrado en mis treinta, después de mi cuarta novela, La suerte de Venus, cuando finalmente encontré un agente y comencé a conseguir contratos bien pagados desde mi editor.

     9.- ¿Cuáles son tus rutinas diarias como escritor?

    Me vuelvo más perezoso con los años. Me levanto algo tarde, paso un par de horas en facebook y en el correo haciendo negocios y promocionando mis libros, entonces, si hay sol, voy a la piscina, a veces al campus de la Universidad de California, y nado una hora. Luego me siento junto a la piscina a la sombra y leo para documentarme o si estoy escribiendo un libro, escribo en mi portátil dos o tres horas. Luego ando un poco camino a casa, ceno y veo unas horas programas sobre crímenes en Escandinavia en la televisión. Donde mejor escribo es en la piscina. Muy del estilo de vida en California.

     10.- ¿Es este libro el final real de Gordiano?

    ¿Quién sabe? Algunos lectores me siguen recordando que nunca he revelado su preanomen romano. Tal vez necesite escribir una pequeña historia que trate ese detalle. O, ya que hice un viaje de investigación a Israel hace unos años, a lo mejor descubriremos que Gordianos fue a Israel cuando era un hombre joven, después de los hechos de La ira de las Furias. Quizás pueda regresar de nuevo.

    11.- ¿Promocionarás tu libro fuera de los Estados Unidos?

     De momento no tengo planeado viajar al Reino Unido ni a Europa. Pero me esfuerzo en dar a conocer a mis lectores cuándo se publican mis libros en sus países. Los lectores pueden enviarme un correo a Steven@stevensaylor.com y les pondré en mi lista de correo.

    12.- Gracias por tu atención. Añade cualquier cosa que desees. ¿Puedes dar un consejo a aquellos que desean escribir su primer libro pero aún tienen miedo?

    Debes escribir el libro que estés deseando leer y que no ha sido escrito todavía. Debes tener un gran deseo de ver esa historia contada, porque te exigirá mucho tiempo y esfuerzo. Escribe el libro que te encantaría leer.

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