As I’ve been working on A Time of Gladiators and Fate (ATOGAF for short), I’ve had a lot of deep thoughts. Yes, this book starts out humorous, has banter and funny situations throughout because that’s me and my style, but it also covers some serious, dark topics. The primary one is what life was like as a slave in 1st-century Rome. Gladiators had no rights or bodily autonomy. Their lives were fully controlled by those who owned them, and that often translated to terrible things happening to them.

I’ve tried to navigate these elements carefully while also not shying totally away from them. They deserve to be told, and it’s a unique perspective when the main character is a modern 21st-century woman stepping into this setting. She has to think about the loss of her freedom and what that costs her.

My favorite book as a child was Black Beauty. I read it so many times. It’s a tricky thing as a writer trying to get into the headspace of a character with whom you have little in common. Anna Sewell did a masterful job portraying the life of a horse. Those difficult moments Black Beauty faced felt real and made the animal so much more relatable than people ever thought before the book’s publication.

For A Time of Gladiators and Fate, I’ve done my best to get into the headspace of my main character, Grace. She sees and experiences things most people in the modern world couldn’t imagine. While I take some creative license for the story, so much of the history is real and did happen. I’ve sprinkled historical facts throughout the book that add to its depth. I majored in history, so that was inevitable.

For instance, the way many people ended up as slaves under the Roman Empire was tragic. It could have been because soldiers conquered their land and took them to sell, or because a person owed debts they failed to pay. A parent in Rome who couldn’t afford to feed their children could sell one or more of them to take care of the rest. Literally anyone, anywhere, at any age, could end up losing their freedom. It’s unfathomable to our modern society.

It was gut-wrenching writing some of the character backstories. A part of me wanted to apologize to them for creating such a difficult background for them, even if it was true to the period, but I also enjoy showing their resilience and how they coped with the life they were given. I’ve done my best to honor their stories and portray them as well as I can without having had the experience myself.

For all the books I’ve written (ATOGAF being my 21st!), this has been a story that took a piece of my soul and has owned me so completely as I have worked on it. There have been times I stood washing dishes, crying as I played out the scenes in my head to write or improve upon if I’d already done them. My sons would be asking what was wrong, and how could I explain?

Keep in mind that I served in Iraq twice and lost friends in that war. I learned how to sleep through random explosions every night and hardly flinch at them during the day. I’m not exactly a softie, but this was such a unique experience as a writer. I have done my absolute best to send the reader into this time and place nearly two thousand years ago, so they can feel like they’re there with Grace, experiencing all the sights, scents, and sounds as she does.

I truly look forward to sharing this book with all of you and hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve loved writing it. If you have concerns about its content, I have posted the content warnings on this website (see link below). Read through them, and if any of them are triggering for you, then, for your own mental health, avoid this novel. That’s completely understandable.

Content warnings | Susan Illene