The little things add up

How to change the world

I confess I am under the influence. There is some mysterious algorithm in the universe that’s directing me to grow up at last.

No, I’m not going to come over all spiritual but I am going to confess.

It began when I tried to understand the word “thrutopia” as championed by the author Manda Scott. Are we born to just to pay the bills and die? Or can we writers make a difference with stories that help fashion a future to be proud of?

I didn’t know it back then, but the watershed for me came around two years ago when my (then) publisher dismissed my outline for a series based on Julius Caesar’s designs on Britain in the mid 1^st Century BC. I wanted to write from the Celts’ point of view; he wanted cut-and-thrust victorious Roman legions.

I’ve just finished the second book draft and the new publisher (Sapere Books) is mulling over a publication date for Book 1. These are borderline thrutopian with an emphasis on nature, innocent communities, druids and a cult priestess, but I’m learning slowly.

Firstly…

Recently, I listened to Rosie Garland talk about her novel The Fates at the Alderney Literary Festival – “I’m looking for the emotional heart in my novels; how to sustain love when surrounded by greed and devastation.” I wrote that down and had a brief chat with her afterwards about “thrutopias”.

Then I bought The Fates and devoured it, noting with some satisfaction that even the three Fates can find redemption and Zeus gets his comeuppance. It was not surprising that the visiting authors made frequent references to Donald Trump.

Zeus, by Lynda Adlington

Here’s a quote lifted from The Fates:

“Terror can only govern for so long before it collapses under its own weight.”

Secondly…

Another confession – for at least two years now, I have begun each day by reading the daily posts by Heather Cox Richardson, “Letters from an American”, initially to find answers to why on earth Donald Trump could possibly remain on the political scene as a felon, liar and sex pest. Then more recently to find out how long he might be able to get away with such shameful behaviour as president.

Richardson excels as a historian translating America’s past into what’s happening today under Trump’s Maga chaos. Her latest post, ‘April 18’, is a classic example of how our seemingly “little actions” add up to the greater good.

You see, April 18^th 2025 was the 250^th anniversary of the “two if by sea” (as opposed to “one if by land”) lantern signal from a Boston church’s steeple on the eve of the American Revolution. Two years after the exalted Boston Tea Party in the harbour, the British redcoats were moving on the local Sons of Liberty militia to stamp out their opposition to stifling British taxes with violent overkill.

The lanterns were lit by Robert Newman and John Pulling to spark the night ride of Paul Revere to alert the “minutemen” militia of the approach by the British Army prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Richardson writes:

“It sounds like such a very little thing to do, and yet by doing it, they risked imprisonment or even death. It was such a little thing… but it was everything. And what they did, as with so many of the little steps that lead to profound change, was largely forgotten until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used their story to inspire a later generation to work to stop tyranny in his own time.

“What Newman and Pulling did was simply to honor their friendships and their principles and to do the next right thing, even if it risked their lives, even if no one ever knew. And that is all anyone can do as we work to preserve the concept of human self-determination. In that heroic struggle, most of us will be lost to history, but we will, nonetheless, move the story forward, even if just a little bit.

“And once in a great while, someone will light a lantern—or even two—that will shine forth for democratic principles that are under siege, and set the world ablaze.”

You can read the full post here.

And thirdly…

Fiona Forsyth has just seen the launch of the second book in her series about the 1st century Latin poet Ovid, as Death and the Poet wings its way into the world. I asked her for some background to the series and its message:

“I wanted to write this story against the background of the failing health of the Emperor Augustus, because it must have been a tense time for the Roman Empire. Augustus was the first Emperor – how was the transfer of power going to work out? I did, however, wonder how much this really impinged on the lives of ordinary people living in Gaul or Spain, or Egypt – did they care that much about Emperors or did they feel it was all out of their hands?

“Ovid was living in exile in the far-flung town of Tomis on the Black Sea, and I set out to use this to show the huge gap between Rome and vast majority of the people living in her empire. In honour of this, my story begins with the murder of a vegetable seller – after all a vegetable seller is as human as an Emperor! Like the range of characters I’ve created to inhabit Tomis: barmaids, shopkeepers, children and priests.

“Of course, the historical characters of the time have their place too – the nefarious Sejanus and the cunning Livia will play their parts. I am, however, most proud of Fabia, Ovid’s wife. It takes a special person to stay married to Ovid as he endures disgrace and exile, but as far as we know his real-life wife stuck by him, all power to her!

“Initial reviews are very good, with this from a beta reader in the USA: I love the affectionate tone your narration takes with the well intentioned but self-indulgent poet as he learns to value his wife, his friends and the world in which he finds himself. I love that the action unfolds through lively and believable conversations between three dimensional characters. The ending is perfectly satisfying but it leaves us with a hint of what’s to come. That evil genius, Sejanus. What’s he up to?”

Death and the Poet, the second in the Publius Ovidius mysteries, is available here.

I won’t be leaving it so long between Not In The Script posts this time as I have lots more to say about the writing experience, including a fascinating collaboration by 10 authors (including me) for the charity, The Reading Agency. Hope to see you then.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for an Easter historical fiction read in addition to those mentioned here, you’ll find my books listed on my website.