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.)

  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.
  2. Out of over 50 titles, this is the only book I’ve written that contains no on-screen sex.
  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.
  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.
  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.
  7. I very nearly convinced my husband that this book justified a trip to Pompeii for research purposes.
  8. One character, who dies a gruesome death, has the Latin equivalent of an ex-boyfriend’s name.
  9. Researching this book was a “terrible hardship” that “forced” me to “suffer through” 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.
  10. The Left Hand of Calvus was written in two weeks.

So…which 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.’s 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 fortune’s 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 he’s spying. Worse, he’s now under the command of Drusus, a notoriously cruel—and yet strangely intriguing—lanista.

But Saevius’s ruse is the least of his worries. There’s more to the affair than a wife humiliating her prominent husband, and now Saevius is part of a dangerous game between dangerous men. He isn’t the only gladiator out to expose the Lady Verina’s transgressions, and her husband wants more than just the guilty man’s name.

When Saevius learns the truth about the affair, he’s left with no choice but to betray one of his masters: one he’s come to fear, one he’s 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 isn’t 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.