Author Interview with Andrew Frediani

• How long have you been writing?

I started writing a long time ago, before I graduated. I’m also a musician, so I started to write for music magazines in Italy. Then I wrote for history magazines and finally, in 1997, I started to write and publish books. In 2007 I published my first novel.

• What is your favorite genre to write?

I normally write about history, but I would like to write a thriller, and maybe one day I will.

• Which genre have you never tried before, but would you like to try out?

See above

• Please tell us about your book.

It’s about the story of the young and ambitious Caesar’s heir, Octavian, who fights for power and to revenge Caesar’s death, with the help of his close friends, Maecenas and Agrippa, and the germanic mercenaries Ortwin and Veleda.

• Which character was your favorite, and why? Which character was your least favorite, and why?

I love Agrippa, a brave, loyal and strong man, and a great general who chooses to serve his friend instead to use his talents for himself. I dislike Rufus, an ambitious and unscrupulous man who envies even his friends when they are able to do something better than him

• What was the hardest part about writing your book?

The hardest part is to choose the characters to insert and the ones to exclude from the story, because in that period (I century b.C.) there were many important characters who contributed to changing the story of the world

• What is your writing routine? Are there things you absolutely need to start writing?

I used to write in my studio, with my drums to play between a chapter and the other, TV beside my pc to follow tennis tournaments at every hour of the day, my library to consult and my stereo to listen tp music while I’m writing…

• How long did it take you to write your book from start to finish?

I agree with Stephen King’s theory: to realize a good novel, you have to write it in three of four months

• Can you tell us about your editing process?

When I write an historic novel, before to start I study the period and the characters, of course, then I choose the goal and the ambitions of every character, mixing real and invented characters; finally I create the storyboard. When I write, I try to write at least 8 pages a day.

• Is this book part of a series? If so, how many installments do you have planned?

This book is part one of four, already published in Italy.

• Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

 You need three things to become a writer: First of all, willpower: You need to write everyday, even during the night if you work during the day, no matter how tired you are. Then luck, to meet a publisher who believes in you. Finally, talent, to communicate your ideas and stories

• Why should everyone read your book?

Because, despite it is set in ancient times, It tells about well known challenges, passions, ambitions, desires, love and hate. There is both war and love, friendship and betrayal, in the pages of this book

• If you could meet three authors, dead or alive, which authors would you choose?

Ken Follett, Colleen McCullough, Stephen King

• What inspired you to write your book?

I wrote this book to answer to a question I used to ask myself: how could the 19 years old Octavian, a coward and sickly man, have defeated skilled generals and politicians like Marcus Anthony, Brutus and Cassius, Cicero, Pompey and many others and have became consul and then emperor in just a few years?

• Are you working on something at the moment? If so, can you tell us more about it?

I’ve just ended to write a trilogy about Constantine the Great and his enemies, the praetorians, with the controversial rise of Christianity in the background. And now, I’m writing a history of Rome, from the origins to the decline and fall.

SURVIVAL • ANDREW FREDIANI

Caesar is dead. Revenge has armed his hand.
His name is Octavian.

THE FIRST IN A FOUR-PART SERIES

Though little more than a boy, Octavian, Ceasar’s heir is determined to avenge his adoptive father’s death.

Battling against some of Rome’s most imposing political figures, Octavian surrounds himself with a group of loyal allies who are as determined as himself to success: Maecenas, Agrippa and Rufus.

They become known and feared as the ‘Invincibles’, dedicated to vengeance, with the aim of punishing, one by one, all those who have Caesar’s blood on their hands. Octavian has resolved to overturn the established order, and to finish what Caesar had begun…

Survival is the first instalment in a four-part series.

Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane.