Historical

Marcus from Liberty by @KimHeadlee #RLFblog #historical

Kim Iverson Headlee shares details about the creation of Marcus
Calpurnius Aquila in the book Liberty.

About the Book

Title Liberty
Genre historical romance
Author Kim Iverson Headlee
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
They hailed her “Liberty,” but she was free only to
obey–or die.
Betrayed by her father and sold as payment of a Roman tax debt
to fight in Londinium’s arena, gladiatrix-slave Rhyddes feels like a wild beast
in a gilded cage. Celtic warrior blood flows in her veins, but Roman masters own
her body. She clings to her vow that no man shall claim her soul, though Marcus
Calpurnius Aquila, son of the Roman governor, makes her yearn for a love she believes
impossible.
Groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps and trapped in a
politically advantageous betrothal, Aquila prefers the purity of combat on the amphitheater
sands to the sinister intrigues of imperial politics, and the raw power and athletic
grace of the flame-haired Libertas to the adoring deference of Rome’s noblewomen.
When a plot to overthrow Caesar ensnares them as pawns in the
dark design, Aquila must choose between the Celtic slave who has won his heart and
the empire to which they both owe allegiance. Trusting no man and knowing the opposite
of obedience is death, the only liberty offered to any slave, Rhyddes must embrace
her arena name–and the love of a man willing to sacrifice everything to forge a
future with her.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/VVtiNrBAC-0

Introducing Marcus Calpurnius Aquila

Name: Marcus Calpurnius Aquila
Age: mid-20s
Gender: male
Birthplace: Rome, Italia
Profession: politician in training
Ethnicity/Species (if not human):
Describe his/her body build, skin tone, height and weight. Include
any unique features such as dimples, freckles, or scars: Marcus has the body of
a football quarterback: muscular but not overly bulky. In present-day terms he tops
6′ in height, 220 pounds, and has a fading tan from having spent the past two years
living under the paler northern sun of Britannia Province. He has some minor scars
from his arena bouts, but nothing specifically mentioned in the book as being an
issue for him.
Who is the significant other in your character’s life?
The woman who empowers his soul is Rhyddes, a gladiatrix-slave
whom he knows by her arena name “Libertas.”
Tell us about this character, please.
Libertas is the first woman Marcus has ever known who does not
swoon over his wealth, charms, or looks. She sees him for who he is: a man struggling
to free himself from the bonds of duty, and he comes to appreciate that very much.
He recognizes in her a kindred spirit in that regard, for she is oath-bound to obey
her masters too. Although her beauty attracts him to her, it is her unconquerable
spirit that ultimately leads him to want to sacrifice everything to win her love.
How does your hero dress?
In a toga on the Senate floor, and in scanty armor on the arena
floor. He prefers the scanty armor, and so do his legions of female admirers.
Is the character book-smart, self-taught, widely-experienced?
Marcus has had all the educational privileges offered to Rome’s
aristocratic citizens, so in that regard he possesses a fair degree of “book
smarts,” but he is also widely experienced because of his arena exploits… and
the epic after parties.
What is your character’s viewpoint on wealth?
Unlike most Roman aristocrats, Marcus believes that his wealth
and status should be used to help people rather than to control and exploit them.
On what special skills does your character rely?
Although his being an aristocrat exempts him from fights to the
death, he is a highly skilled swordsman in his own right–and he would never have
believed that this skill would save his life and the life of the woman he loves.
Are any of his skills a source of pride or embarrassment,
and if so, which ones and why?
His predilection for arena combat is an extreme source of embarrassment
for his family, particularly his father, Governor Agricola. In fact, it becomes
a major point of contention between them, and Marcus’s desire to consort with Libertas
further widens the rift.
Is he close to family?
Marcus enjoys a very close relationship with his mother, Lady
Loreia, who in the way of all mothers understands him better than he understands
himself at times.
Can your hero keep a secret (why or why not)?
Marcus must keep his budding relationship with Libertas a secret,
for to do otherwise would cause him to be banned from polite Roman society. He doesn’t
care about that so much, but he knows it would stain his family too, and he has
no wish to inflict that pain upon them.
What is your character’s biggest need at the beginning of
the story?
Marcus needs his father to accept him for who he is, not for
how he can enhance Agricola’s political career.
If your character could make any one thing happen, what would
it be?
Once he decides that Libertas is the woman with whom he wants
to spend the rest of his life, he will stop at nothing–even sacrificing all of
his wealth and power–to make marriage with her possible.

About Your Writer

To honor the person who chose to share your story, please answer the following
questions.

Why do you think your writer chose to write about you?
She chose to write about Libertas–Rhyddes. I am merely a facet
of Rhyddes’s story.
What do you wish your writer had not told others about you?
I wish that she had not gone into such detail about my strained
relationship with my father; that is a highly personal matter for me, and one I
do not readily share with anyone.
What other character from your book do you think your writer
should write a book about, and why?
I would like to know more about Rhyddes’s brother Owen. Of all
her brothers, Owen is the closest to her in age and spirit, and I imagine his story
is a fine one too.
Why do you think your writer loves to write?
Who can say? But if I were to venture a guess, it would be that
she must love to entertain people with her words, much in the same way that I love
to entertain people with my swordplay.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your writer?
Thank you, Kim Iverson Headlee, for accepting the daunting challenge
of presenting the story of Rhyddes’s life in such a faithful and poignant manner.

Buy This Book

Amazon paperback http://www.amazon.com/dp/0990505545
Barnes and Noble Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/liberty-kim-iverson-headlee/1120850556?ean=2940149873050
Barnes and Noble paperback http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/liberty-kim-iverson-headlee/1120850556?ean=9780990505549

Author Bio

Kim Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her
family, cats, goats, Great Pyrenees goat guards, and assorted wildlife. People and
creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old house ruins–the latter
having been occupied as recently as the mid-twentieth century–seem to be sticking
around for a while yet.
Kim is a Seattle native and a direct descendent of twentieth-century
Russian nobility. Her grandmother was a childhood friend of the doomed Grand Duchess
Anastasia, and the romantic yet tragic story of how Lydia escaped Communist Russia
with the aid of her American husband will most certainly one day fuel one of Kim’s
novels. Another novel in the queue will involve her husband’s ancestor, the seventh-century
proto-Viking king of the Swedish colony in Russia.
For the time being, however, Kim has plenty of work to do in
creating her projected 8-book Arthurian series, The Dragon’s Dove Chronicles, and
other novels under her imprint, Pendragon Cove Press.

Author Social Media

Blog http://kimiversonheadlee.blogspot.com
Street team “Kim’s All-Stars” https://www.facebook.com/groups/705479912880602/
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/kimheadlee/
Triberr Profile http://triberr.com/KimHeadlee
Arthurverse Triberr Tribe http://triberr.com/pages/tribe-overview.php?tid=61110
YouTube video interview http://youtu.be/DV5iKrEIROk

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