Bruised and battered, he crawls out of the raging river. He is alone and unarmed, without money or friends, trapped in a deadly conspiracy at the heart of the Empire. The City Watch has orders to take him alive; other, more sinister, forces want him dead. As the day dies, he realises he has only 24 hours to expose the conspirators, and save the leader of the world. If the Emperor dies, chaos and violence will ensue. If the Emperor dies, every single person he loves will die.
He must run, bluff, hide and fight his way across the Seven Hills.
He must reach the Colosseum, and the Emperor.
He must make it to The Last Hour.
My Writing
Day by Harry
Sidebottom
“It must be
wonderful being a
writer. You just sit
at home reading
books you want
to read, and when
inspiration strikes, you do
some writing.” A stranger
once said to
me without a
hint of irony. If
only his impression
were true!
The alarm goes
off at 6.30am. While
mainly asleep, I feed
the cats and
the dog, make the
tea, and cut out
breakfast for our
two sons. By the
time I am back in
bed, drinking the tea, I
am just about
awake.
Lisa takes the
boys to school. I
start the laptop, and, as it
hums and whirs
into life, go out
and check the
horses (Yes, I know bits
of my life
sound like a
character in a
Cormac McCarthy or
James Lee Burks
novel; although usually without
the imminent threat
of violence). Back in
the house, I drink
coffee, eat breakfast, and answer
emails. It is odd that so
many Banks select
my account for
`extra security measures`, and that
so many people
think an Oxford
Don could benefit
from fake Viagra. Nowadays I
spend quite a
bit of time
talking to readers
on Facebook. Most are
very pleasant. A few
clearly are insane.
When I really
can`t find anymore
reasons not to, I
take the laptop
out to where
I work. My office
is a converted
foaling box – a big
stable – and its kitchen
and bathroom are
the old sitting-up
room for the
stable lads. I love
my office. I always
wanted a room
that was lined
with books from
floor to ceiling
on all four
walls. Being a man, the
first things I
bought were a
huge leather sofa
and an enormous
screen TV. Often my wife and
children find me
stretched out on
the sofa watching
box sets. They always
fail to understand
that whatever I
am watching is
research! For example my
new novel, The Last Hour, is
set in the
underworld of the
city of Rome. The
hero has twenty
four hours to
get across the
eternal city and
prevent the assassination
of the Emperor. Obviously, for atmosphere, I
had to watch
all the Italian
series Romanzo Criminale.
If I am
researching a novel, when
not watching DVDs, I
read and take
notes. When writing, I sit
and write. I go
back to the
house for lunch, then
carry on working
until about 6.30pm, when
I go and
eat with Lisa
and the boys. In
the last stages
of writing, when the
deadline is looming, I
go back to
work after dinner. Although I
seldom work much
beyond ten. Some novels, and
The Last
Hour was one, are
a joy to
write. But they remain
hard work, demanding long hours
and total concentration.
A couple of
years ago I
received a charming
letter from a
teenage boy asking
if he could
job shadow me. I
had to disappoint
him. There seemed little
he would gain watching a
middle aged man
muttering and running
his hands through
his hair as
he tap-tap-tapped endlessly
at a computer. Besides he
might have offered
to make cups
of tea, which would
have only left me staring
out of the
window, and pacing about, as
displacement activities.
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