Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m excited to introduce the cover of my upcoming book:
The Retreat to Avalon
Book I of the series:
The Arthurian Age
I had a hard time coming up with that name, considering the theme of my series and the vast amount of Arthurian literature that already exists. I even went to Facebook and asked for suggestions. The constraints were that I didn’t want to use any of the themes that came from the Romances, so references to the Grail, Round Table, Camelot, etc. were all out. I want to focus on the series as historical fiction, so I need to steer away from titles suggesting “legend” or other fantasy elements. I also needed a title that encompassed more than just “Arthur”, since the series will cover time before, during, and after him.
My favorite idea was “The Ruin of Britain”, taken from the title of De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae by Gildas. It covered the entire period perfectly, from the point of view of the Britons. But it was pointed out that this title might have negative connotations due to current political happenings. So, the search continued. Finally, The Arthurian Age was found to be the most suitable. It has a nice ring to it, it includes “Arthurian” so that people unfamiliar with the book titles will understand the theme, and it is broad enough to cover the entire era that the books will encompass, before, during and after Arthur.
There are two more books planned, though I have ideas for others in the series. Here are the next two:
The Strife of Camlan deals with events following Book I, The Retreat to Avalon. It will be much darker, grittier and personal.
The Three Terrible Revelations takes us back to the era before Arthur and up through his rise. It will be written from the perspective of Merlin and will provide some surprising insights.
The concept cover art for The Retreat to Avalon, shown here, is better than I imagined. At the moment, the series title shown is not correct. That will be changed when the book layout is done.
I hope you’re looking forward to this as much as I am! As always, feel free to shoot me any questions. Also, there will be some freebies, such as background materials and short stories related to the books that will be available to anyone interested. More on that to come. Thanks!