The Speculatores: The Men Who Spied for Rome

Over recent decades, scholars of ancient Roman history have begun to peel back the veils on the realm of intelligence within the Roman State, exploring its integral role in shaping Rome’s defensive grand strategy. While the consensus posits a noticeable shift from indifference during the Republic era (509-27 BCE) to a more engaged stance in the imperial epoch post 27 BCE, it particularly highlights the Dominate period (284-476 CE) as the ‘Golden Age’ of Roman intelligence endeavors.

However, a veil of ambiguity still shrouds Rome’s engagement in external or foreign intelligence operations, notably espionage. Amidst this scholarly dissonance, The Speculatores: The Men Who Spied for Rome embarks on an exploratory voyage to unearth the roots of this disagreement. With a keen eye on the historical narrative and a robust analysis, this book endeavors to bridge the gap in understanding, delving into the very rationale that questions the existence and extent of Roman espionage activities

As you traverse through the pages, The Speculatores unveils the clandestine world of those who might have operated in the shadows for the glory of Rome, offering a fresh lens through which to understand the unseen sinews that perhaps bolstered the mighty Roman machinery of statecraft and defense.

The Stable Boy

The Stable Boy is historical fiction. It is a love story, a rags-to-riches story, an anti-racist story and a triumph over injustice story. Taking place in the antebellum South, it tells the tale of how a lowly slave... a hidden genius... defies all odds and becomes one of the richest men in America. In Pygmalion* style, the young slave is taught proper elocution and English grammar, a gift that takes him from picking cotton to dealing with some of the wealthiest and most powerful men in America. It’s also a touching, tender... if unlikely... love story between two young men... one a slave, the other his owner. It takes the reader from the rural South to New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and London. It makes the incredible, credible.

*Pygmalion is the George Bernard Shaw play on which the movie "MY Fair Lady" was based. It shows how the gift of language can change a guttersnipe into a princess.

The Story of Walks with Bear and Bro'Ken

Spanning two quests across generations, this tale begins in the 1700s with Kenthaki, a Shawnee youth later known as Walks-With-Bear, who embarks on a journey with his father’s obsidian knife, a pouch of medicinal herbs, and a staff to find his life’s purpose. His confrontation with a bear and the subsequent adoption of its cub, alongside the transformative relationship with a Christian captive, shapes his future. Years later, his grandson, Bro’Ken, undertakes his own quest to locate his missing father, leading to profound changes. Inspired by the 2003-2006 Lewis and Clark re-enactment, this narrative explores life-altering quests and the impact of cultural intersections.

The Story of Words

The Story of Words intricately weaves the tale of Nathaniel Brand’s journey - intellectual, spiritual, and geographical. A deep dive into his life reveals a poignant discovery: the woman he believed was his soulmate, Stephanie Haller, is in reality a stranger. His PhD dissertation challenges decades of literary criticism but fails to bring him professional recognition. Nathaniel’s spiritual exploration, fuelled by marijuana and acid-rock from the 60s, results in seventy-five ‘messages from the beyond’, which he hopes will revolutionize society but are instead seen as negative by his peers. His quest, marked by trials and introspection, takes readers on a transformative path, hinting at an unexpected resolution that reshapes his understanding of life. This novel offers a unique glimpse into the complexities of pursuing dreams and truths.

The Sweet Revenge of Marcus Aurelius

The Sweet Revenge of Marcus Aurelius is based on the true story of a talented and ingenious slave who sold his master. When he was still a young house boy, Marcus Aurelius was taught to read and write by the plantation owner’s rebellious twelve-year-old daughter, who also instilled in him a passionate desire for freedom. She even encouraged him to escape, which he did – three different times – thus setting in motion his ultimate and sweetest revenge. His story, even without fictionalizing, is a wide-ranging, swash-buckling tale of a fittingly just revenge set against many venues: the cruelties and dehumanizing effects of plantation life, a year in a unique community of escaped slaves in the Great Dismal Swamp, Paris high society in the Second Republic, duels, an enduring love affair, bad dogs and violent slave catchers, crime-ridden New Orleans street life, and even a stint as a passenger on a pirate ship.

The Things He Lost There

Vietnam. The word still resonates with powerful emotions: death, lost souls, devastation – both human and material – shattered men, and a country equally broken and horribly divided.

Into this turbulent backdrop steps Jack Houston, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina. Thrust into the heart of the conflict, Jack’s journey encapsulates the grim realities of the Vietnam War and the crucial role of the surface Navy. After fierce combat in places like Phu Quoc, Rach Gia, and Hue during the Tet Offensive, Jack’s ship, the highly-decorated Black River, faces a new challenge. A new commanding officer, Cork, takes over, driving – what the crew calls ‘corkscrewing’ – the ship into both operational and morale disasters.

This narrative explores the impact of Captain Cork’s leadership on Jack and the crew, filled with moments of profound sadness and unexpected hilarity. The climax comes with the Black River, now under Jack’s command, confronting six Chinese gunboats in the Taiwan Straits: a hopelessly mismatched battle, given the ship’s unsuitability for naval combat. The survival of Jack and his ship hangs in the balance as they navigate this deadly encounter.

Parallel to the war story is Jack’s poignant love affair with Melanie Lawton, a spirited graduate student back in Carolina. Through her perspective, we witness the defining events of 1968 and 1969: antiwar demonstrations, the chaotic 1968 Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, Woodstock, drug culture, and political assassinations. One devastating decision made in the midst of war shatters Jack and Melanie’s relationship, leaving Jack to question if he can ever reclaim what he lost in Vietnam – his love, his peace, his future.

The Three Americans

It is 1917. Janet Defoe never planned for the day German biplanes would appear and blow her world away. With her French home in shambles and only a derringer for protection, she finds her way across the war-torn town. She meets a band of tattered French survivors and together they form a plan for escape. Before they can reach their rendezvous point, they are overtaken by German guards. With blood on her hands, Janet sets out on her own. She doesn’t know what lies around the corner, perhaps death perhaps another chance at life.

Meanwhile, three Americans named Douglas, Teddy, and Burke, fresh from the trenches, pursue the Germans across the scorched French landscape. They have one goal and that is to kill the enemy. When they are overcome and taken prisoner, they take the matter of their rescue into their own hands. Ultimately, Douglas and Teddy make away with German guard uniforms and return with rifles to retrieve their companion. Upon their escape, they run into a French youth who was drafted by the German army named Jeannot. Together they patrol the town in search of food, ammunition, and shelter against the German presence.

Bianca, a French girl who has lost everything to the Germans, soon finds her way into the lives of the four soldiers… and young Teddy’s heart. With their band complete, the only thing for the five of them to do is survive the occupation. Days pass, perhaps weeks. Jeannot reveals a shocking secret to the others. Planes appear in the sky, but they are not German planes. The liberation of Beau Chateau is at hand. Janet and the three Americans hit the streets in their “grays” and clear a path for the allies with their rifles and grenades. The war for them is about to be over.

The Timeless Love of Billy B for Scheherazade

Balthazar dreams of the perfect woman, one he can summon or dismiss at will on his computer screen. But as time passes, he becomes ensnared in his own creation, consumed by an obsession with this non-existent figure. As Balthazar spirals downward, losing everything from his identity to the use of his body, reduced to just his mind and the fingers tapping at the keyboard, she, in contrast, rises. She transforms into a modern-day Scheherazade, learning to command her prince.

Baltha B was unaware,
No more sits he upon the chair.
The relics of his body’s ruin,
Are the one last bastion
Of his undoing.
Death beckons when the hands they clap,
To say, ‘Enough! Your time is up’

The Truth Is in the Words

The Truth Is in the Words holds within its pages two novellas, Noula’s Prayer & The House That Called Me Home. The House that Called Me Home begins with a dream, a haunting dream that comes true in steps to reveal the power of prayer, the patience of love and the healing from life controlling shame. It’s a story that touches your heart and maybe even your own story.  It shows you that you’re never too old to find out that you have been loved all along. That is what Celine finds out when her dreams come to an end in reality.

Noula’s Prayer takes you on a journey through many lives which all end up in the same church. When God asks Noula for one prayer and one prayer only, she searches her heart and examines her life, she then seeks guidance in God’s Word. Noula finally prays her one prayer. Will God answer..?

The Two Sides of Yourself

If you find yourself as a main character in any of these stories, you are only human.

If you don’t, you are in denial.

This intriguing and powerful collection of prose reflects on the many complex facets of the human experience. The diverse narratives, perspectives, and characters in the stories touch on a number of experiences and emotions that everyone will relate to at one point or another in their lives, which is what makes the stories so captivating.

From family to love to loss to religion, the stories are sure to draw readers in and allow them to truly contemplate about what it means to be human, and the many shared experiences and emotions we have that make us so.

The Well of the Golden Heart

The world is in trouble: the curtain of meaninglessness has engulfed it, and people live a life of dullness and suffering.

Isabella is a young princess who doesn’t fit in with her royal family. Her cruel mother throws her in the dungeon and declares that the princess has been sent to finishing school – indefinitely. Isabella starts digging her way out and finds a well. She dives in, and deep in the water she finds a half of a golden heart that fills her with energy and life: the antidote to the illness consuming the world. She sets on a quest to find the other half of the golden heart, and with the help of friends in the forest she gets close to her goal – when trouble hits. A wizard entraps her and aims to steal the golden heart for himself. He makes her forget who she is and keeps her in his castle engaged to marry him.

Will the owner of the other half of the golden heart succeed in waking up the princess from her stupor on time? Will the united golden heart liberate the world from the curtain of meaninglessness, or will the wizard succeed at keeping the populace entrapped?

The Well of the Golden Heart is a tale of self-discovery, finding true love and the perils that are found along the way.

The Witch and The Wiseman

This novel unfolds in the homeland of the Haisla people during the 1940s, where a disturbing mystery begins to unfold. Without explanation, children of the Haisla community start to vanish, plunging the people into fear and confusion. In response to their plight, the R.C.M.P. in Victoria, B.C. dispatches an officer to Haisla territory for investigation. Accompanying him are a tracking dog and a formidable fighting dog. However, this mission takes a tragic turn when they are later found deceased in the forests surrounding Haisla land.

The narrative then follows my grandfather, known in English as James Clarkson and in our native tongue as Uhbadee, and my son, William. Together, they unravel the chilling truth: a witch has been abducting the Haisla children. Through courage and determination, my son and grandfather locate where the children are being held. Leading a group of brave men, they embark on a daring rescue mission to save the children and confront the malevolent force threatening their community.