Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/L. A. Witt blog tour for The Left Hand of Calvus, part of the Warriors of Rome collection and available November 5th. The entire collection is available here for pre-order as a group or individually, and all pre-orders enter you in a drawing to win a Nook Simple Touch.
Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding The Left Hand of Calvus) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on November 12th, and winners will be announced on November 13th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.
Fact or Crap: The Left Hand of Calvus
Eight of the following facts are true. Two of them are crap. Leave a comment with the two facts you think are crap. From those who submit at least one correct answer, I will draw a name to win a copy of any eBook title off my backlist. Anyone who gets both correct automatically wins two eBook titles off my backlist. Contest closes November 12th at midnight, Eastern time, and winners will be announced November 13th. (Note: This is separate from the Blog Tour contest; all comments on this post, regardless of whether the answers are correct, are entered in that contest.)
- The Left Hand of Calvus was partly inspired by the fact that Aleksandr Voinov (the editor who put together the Warriors of Rome) and I are both left-handed fencers.
- Out of over 50 titles, this is the only book Iâve written that contains no on-screen sex.
- The Left Hand of Calvus is one of two transgender books in the Warriors of Rome collection. The other is The City War by Sam Starbuck.
- The names of the main characters, Drusus and Saevius, are a hat tip to an obscure German-language film about Pompeii that I watched a few years ago.
- Roman naming conventions are ridiculously complex, and resulted in a lot of swearing on my part.
- The Left Hand of Calvus is my first foray into historical fiction.
- I very nearly convinced my husband that this book justified a trip to Pompeii for research purposes.
- One character, who dies a gruesome death, has the Latin equivalent of an ex-boyfriendâs name.
- Researching this book was a âterrible hardshipâ that âforcedâ me to âsuffer throughâ re-watching Gladiator and both seasons of Rome. For, like, the seventh time. And maybe an eighth, just to make sure I picked up all the details. And stuff.
- The Left Hand of Calvus was written in two weeks.
SoâŚwhich of the above are facts, and which are crap? Leave your answers below, and also feel free to ask questions or make random comments. I will respond!
Bio
L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who, after three years in Okinawa, Japan, has recently relocated to Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a three-headed clairvoyant parakeet named Fred. There is some speculation that this move was not actually because of her husband’s military orders, but to help L. A. close in on her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who has also recently transferred to Omaha. So, don’t anyone tell Lauren. She’s not getting away this time…
L. A.âs backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).
The Left Hand of Calvus Blurb
Former gladiator Saevius is certain fortuneâs smiling on him when a Pompeiian politician buys him to be his bodyguard. But then his new master, Laurea Calvus, orders Saevius to discover the gladiator with whom his wife is having an affair. In order to do that, Saevius must return to the arena, training alongside the very men on whom heâs spying. Worse, heâs now under the command of Drusus, a notoriously cruelâand yet strangely intriguingâlanista.
But Saeviusâs ruse is the least of his worries. Thereâs more to the affair than a wife humiliating her prominent husband, and now Saevius is part of a dangerous game between dangerous men. He isnât the only gladiator out to expose the Lady Verinaâs transgressions, and her husband wants more than just the guilty manâs name.
When Saevius learns the truth about the affair, heâs left with no choice but to betray one of his masters: one heâs come to fear, one heâs come to respect, and both of whom could have him killed without repercussion. For the first time in his life, the most dangerous place for this gladiator isnât the arena.
You can pre-order The Left Hand of Calvus here, and read an excerpt here.
Giveaway
Don’t forget there are two great giveaways going on here.
- Leave a comment here or on any post on the blog tour for a chance to win two L.A. Witt backlist books and a $10 Riptide store credit.
- Leave a comment here with the two facts you think are crap for a chance to win additional books off L.A. Witt’s backlist.  Anyone who gets at least one correct answer, will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of any eBook title off her backlist. Anyone who gets both correct automatically wins two eBook titles off her backlist.
lol – I stopped to take a break while making veg soup so I’m reading this with sore eyes (onions!) and tired (lots of chopping)…I have no idea if the two false facts should be obvious or not, my brain is just about coping with sentences… đ
Although I’m going to guess that ‘written in two weeks’ is false…and now I’m going to go back to drinking my mug of tea and trying not to think about the rest of the veg I still need to chop (I like veg soup, it’s just bloody hard work!) đ
Number 3 and 10 are not true.
I think 1 and 10 are not true.Â
Number 10 is definitely untrue, but this is hard. (I know *Voinov* is a left-handed fencer, but…) Since the IMDB and Google are giving me nothing about German versions of the Pompeii story, I’ll go with 4 as the other untruth, just to mix it up a bit.
I can’t seem to e-mail you, Trix, but you won! Â Please e-mail me at thethinker42(at)gmail and let me know your chosen title and file format. Â Thanks for playing, and congrats!
Thanks to everyone who’s guessed so far! And don’t be shy — even wrong answers put you in the running for the blog tour prize. Â
L. A. Witt
2 and 6 are incorrect
I guess 1 and 7 are crap.
My guess is that numbers 2 and 7 are crap.
#10 seems so unbelievable I think it just might be true. XD
Hmmm… After consulting with my Oracle I say #2 and #6 are crap. đ
I’m guessing #2 and #10 even though I have no real clue except  I am certain # 1 is correct. This has inspired me to read this title, but only after I’ve read everything Aleksandr Voinov has written that I can get a hold of. đ
So here’s my question…. which ones are crap? LoL! Hoping #2 is the only one, the rest are fun to contemplate.
;P
Three 3 and ten 10 sound wrong, sound crappy I’m guessing!
I’m going with #2 & @10 as being incorrect.
Great guesses so far!Â
L. A.
I’ll go with # 4 and # 7 as being the fibs!
6 and 10? Gah. đ
3 and 6
3 and 7
Maybe #7 and #10?
Hmmm…. I think 3 & 10 are crap…… ?
I hope so. LOL….Â
Enjoyed the post! XD
Judi
arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com
I say 2 and 4 are crap! As a history minor I know number 5 has to be true! It is painful to take a test on Roman history! Thanks for the contest!
OceanAkers @ aol.com
So….the answers!Â
1. The Left Hand of Calvus was partly inspired by the fact that Aleksandr Voinov (the editor who put together the Warriors of Rome) and I are both left-handed fencers. — FACT (Aleks mentioned it around the time I started researching the book, and that sent me down the path of looking up left-handed gladiators for my Warriors of Rome story)
2. Out of over 50 titles, this is the only book Iâve written that contains no on-screen sex. — FACT (I’m a dirty, dirty author…except with this book.)
3. The Left Hand of Calvus is one of two transgender books in the Warriors of Rome collection. The other is The City War by Sam Starbuck. — FACT (It wasn’t planned that way, but indeed, there are two transgender books in the collection.)
4. The names of the main characters, Drusus and Saevius, are a hat tip to an obscure German-language film about Pompeii that I watched a few years ago. — CRAP!!! (I found the names while researching Roman names. Random factoid: The names were originally switched, with Saevius as the lanista and Drusus as the gladiator. I’m not sure why they switched, but it worked.)Â
5. Roman naming conventions are ridiculously complex, and resulted in a lot of swearing on my part.
6. The Left Hand of Calvus is my first foray into historical fiction. — FACT (OMG. Enough said.)
7. I very nearly convinced my husband that this book justified a trip to Pompeii for research purposes. — FACT (We even looked into tickets and hotels, but due to the pressing deadline, didn’t have time to go.)
8. One character, who dies a gruesome death, has the Latin equivalent of an ex-boyfriendâs name. — CRAP!!! (If I ever kill an ex-boyfriend or someone in a book, I will keep that little factoid to myself!)
9. Researching this book was a âterrible hardshipâ that âforcedâ me to âsuffer throughâ re-watching Gladiator and both seasons of Rome. For, like, the seventh time. And maybe an eighth, just to make sure I picked up all the details. And stuff. — FACT (mmm, Joaquin Phoenix and James Purefoy…God, I love research…)
10. The Left Hand of Calvus was written in two weeks. — FACT Â (Pressing deadline was pressing!)
SO…three people correctly selected at least one CRAPTOID, and the winner of their choice of a title off my backlist is…TRIX! Â (I’ll e-mail you off-site)
Thank you for playing, everyone! Â I’ll be doing FACT OR CRAP with future releases, too, so stay tuned. Â Also, tomorrow I’ll be drawing a winner for the overall blog tour. Â So…um…stay tuned for that too!
L. A. Witt
Sorry for the late announcement, folks! I wanted to thank you all again for stopping by during The Left Hand of Calvus blog tour, and announce that the winner of 2 ebooks off my backlist and a $10 Riptide store credit is…URB, who commented on the “Ten Things You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know About Me at Chicks & Dicks! Â I’ll e-mail you shortly with details.
Thanks again, everyone!
L.A. Witt