Elin Gregory

And today A Summer’s Day, the anthology of Shakespearean tales with a twist is finally available. Buy links are at the bottom of the post.

Author Asta Idonea is here today to help me celebrate. Welcome Asta and thanks for answering my questions.

What led you to pick your source material for your story?

Tom Hiddleston. Just kidding… well, in part. I saw his marvellous Coriolanus during the cinema screenings.

I’d read the play once, but it wasn’t one of my favourites at the time. The Donmar production blew me away, however, and rocketed Coriolanus into my Shakespeare Top Five. (Anyone interested in my Shakespeare Top Ten, visit my Shakespeare 400 Blog Post). The Act IV, scene V episode between Coriolanus and Aufidius provided the spark for my story. I thought if the two men commenced a relationship, it would provide additional reasons for the eventual tragic conclusion of the piece. Therefore my story is set within the play, as if presenting missing scenes between the official onstage action.

Shakespeare definitely has a way with words. What is your favourite insult/endearment/inspiring passage/? Which bit do you wish you had written?

Well, I naturally wish I’d written all of it! *lol* Picking a favourite line is hard as there are so many. My number one Shakespeare play is Richard II, because of the beauty of the poetry in that piece. I love quoting huge chunks from it randomly around the house (I know, I’m weird), but here’s one to share with you:
One kiss shall stop our mouths, and dumbly part;
Thus give I mine, and thus take I thy heart.

What are you working on now?

Wow, so many things! I’ve had a bumper publishing year so far, with eleven releases including this one (one short story collection, two novellas, and the rest shorts). At present I am preparing promo for an MM contemporary short, Lick, that releases later this month; plus I am finishing edits and galley proofs for three September anthology releases. I recently signed contracts for two more MM novellas, so those will commence edits in the next month or so, and in the meantime I am finalising and submitting three MF/mainstream novellas to different publishers. Once those are done I will be looking ahead to any new open anthology calls and will return to writing short stories for a while before I commence any new longer works. That said, I already have ideas for several MM novellas, including some more Shakespeare-inspired work. As always, you can keep up with all my news on my blog and social media sites.

Could we please have an excerpt:

He had expected death.
Yes, now he thought about it, he realised it was true. Perhaps he had even longed for it. Deep down. A noble demise would obliterate the shame he had of late been forced to endure. What better way to die than by the hand of his greatest enemy? Yet, was that even correct anymore? Were the Volsces his enemy? Surely Rome was now the foe. And Tullus Aufidius, whom once he had longed to hunt, embraced him as a friend.
Or something else.
He brushed the thought aside. If Aufidius’ embrace had been too warm, his manner too passionate, the cause was like to be the wine, for he had interrupted him feasting. What was that to him in any case? All he needed to know was that his life was spared and revenge on those who’d wronged him lay within his grasp.
Caius Martius sank upon the bed and ran his hands over the rich velvet curtains. He wondered whose room he had been given. It seemed strange, such opulence in a bedchamber, and yet he supposed it was no more than inexperience of the finer things that made him think so. For years he had lived the soldier’s life, always on the move. His brief sojourns within the city walls had not been of long enough duration to allow him to dwell upon the comforts of home.
Home. There was no home for him. Not anymore. Mother, wife, and child were all perforce forsaken. And being robbed of them, he must not let his memories turn him from his path. He was a soldier, and servants of mighty Mars must needs set affection aside, or else their swords would bite naught but stale earth.

Author Bio & Links

Asta Idonea (aka Nicki J Markus) was born in England, but now lives in Adelaide, South Australia. She has loved both reading and writing from a young age and is also a keen linguist, having studied several foreign languages.
Asta launched her writing career in 2011 and divides her efforts not only between MM and mainstream works but also between traditional and indie publishing. Her works span the genres, from paranormal to historical and from contemporary to fantasy. It just depends what story and which characters spring into her mind!
As a day job, Asta works as a freelance editor and proofreader, and in her spare time she enjoys music, theatre, cinema, photography, and sketching. She also loves history, folklore and mythology, pen-palling, and travel; all of which have provided plenty of inspiration for her writing.

Blog: http://www.nickijmarkus.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NickiJMarkus
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NickiJMarkus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickijmarkus/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+NickiJMarkusAstaIdonea
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4567057.Nicki_J_Markus
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolamarkus
Amazon Author US: http://www.amazon.com/Asta-Idonea/e/B00RMGGVYO
Amazon Author UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asta-Idonea/e/B00RMGGVYO

 

Release Date: 12th of August

Cover Art: Jay Aheer Simply Defined Art

Genre: MM Mixed*

We have modern retelling of some plays, interpretations of others and one of the sonnets, and delightful referencing of anything Shakespeare.

There is gentle YA romance next to very hot 18+ stories and all kinds of relationships – first love, May/December, interracial, second chances, happy endings and even a tragic one.

We’re travelling from Ancient Rome through Renaissance England to modern day UK, Venice Beach and other places in USA, Vancouver and Havana.

There’s fun, drama, tears, angst, joy and, above all, lots of true love.

Note: All proceeds of this collection go to the It Gets Better Project™.

Buy Links:
amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.co.uk:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-English-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/655310