Trying to prove a radical theory about celestial movements and getting caught up in a dangerous world of magic and mystery along the way!
Well, I finally wrote another book. You can all thank Liv for roping me into encouraging me to take part in another shared world project, and this time a historical! The God’s Guardian is part of the multi-author series The Pharaoh’s Promise—a historical paranormal romance project spanning multiple time periods and places. My story takes place in ancient Alexandria, where scholars and pharaohs walked side by side, and magic might not be just a myth.
To be honest, I’ve always been terrified of writing historical because (shhhh – I don’t actually know much history). That being the case, you might be wondering why I chose ancient Alexandria for a setting.
Over-compensation?
I mean, I actually knew less about this time and place than most. I don’t even know how I got there. I knew I wanted one of my heroes to be related (distantly) to Sarasija Mishra from Hours of the Night. The premise of the series starts with a tomb in ancient Egypt. I took those two facts and somehow wound up in ancient Greece.
Once there, I was hooked! Alexandria was a major, major metropolitan city of the day. Think New York, Paris, London – any of the major cities. The Great Library was there, which is fascinating all on it’s own. The Ptolemies lived there. And if, like me, you aren’t sure who the Ptolemies were- they were the Greeks who declared themselves pharaohs – yes, the line of Cleopatra! The city was very modern and cosmopolitan drawing scholars from all over the world. There was a lot of blending of Egyptian and Greek culture – you’ll notice in the book that Bhaskar learns both Greek and Egyptian in preparation for his trip.
Anyway, I could go on, and on (and on) about Alexandria – but you would be better served by diving into some podcasts if interested. I think one of the first I listened to was The Ancients – The Great Library.
I won’t pretend I didn’t take some liberties with time and space (and geography). So if any of you are really into accuracy in those things – sorry? There are some anachronisms and I may have played fast and loose with the landscape of Alexandria. Don’t forget – we’re in an alternate (fictional) universe.
Hey, am I forgetting to talk about the actual book? (Bad Author!)
Getting back to Sarasija’s great-great-so many greats – uncle. Bhaskar is a young astronomer growing up in a remote town in the Himalayas, and he dreams of studying at the Great Library. He has this radical theory he wants to prove – maybe the sun (and everything else) does not actually revolve around the earth! And there you go – my first anachronism! “Astronomer” isn’t actually a title that would have translated easily into the parlance of 219 BCE. It is, however, succinct and readily relatable for modern readers.
So off Bhaskar heads to the big city where (surprise!) our starry-eyed scholar immediately lands in trouble. Thankfully, he’s also captured the interest of a very athletic and mysterious Alexandrian who comes to his rescue. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe Anu has his own agenda.
And for those of you following along from Hours of the Night, like Sara, Bhaskar is a little more than he seems.
The God’s Guardian is available now, and the best part is that you don’t have to read the other books in The Pharaoh’s Promise series in order—each book stands alone. You can dive right into Bhaskar and Anu’s adventure.
I’d love to know what you think of my first historical romantasy!
Drop in to After Hours and let me know!
