Riptide Publishing has bought a 2-book novel pair from me about Alexander before he became The Great.
It should appear in late 2018 or early 2019 (depending on edits, timing, my work schedule, etc.). The tentative title of the series is Dancing with the Lion: Becoming & Rise. Whether it will stay that remains to be seen.
This is, to my knowledge, the first time a publishing house has optioned a novel about Alexander written by a Macedonian specialist. Obviously a fair bit of research went into the novels, and not just about ancient Macedonia. I spent a couple of days on my butt in the PSU library researching ancient glass-making techniques for a single line in a chapter...then subsequently cut it. LOL!
Some of the "perks" -- Hephaistion is a character, not a side-show. Philip isn't an idiot, and Olympias is not dancing with snakes, even if Alex is dancing with lions. Kleopatra is a POV character, as is Kampaspe, so women actually figure, and the sisters matter. And as always, the view is looking in from the North, not looking at Macedon through Greek eyes. Everybody gets their 15 minutes of stupidity (e.g., perfect characters are damn boring), except *maybe* Kleopatra. Ha.
Are they the historical figures? Of course not. They're fictional characters, and ultimately fiction is about who we are now and what it's possible for us to become. But I did build them from a firm historical base. And if I wouldn't suggest this to most readers, to those familiar with Alexander, I'd advise reading the Historical Note in the back *first*, just so you know what decisions I made in terms of the various controversies in Philip's rule and ATG's early life. It's not like any of it will be a "spoiler."
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
From the very end of the Historical Note:
"In the end, whatever approach one takes to Alexander, whatever theories one subscribes to—more or less hostile to the conqueror—we are left with the man himself in all his complexity and contradiction. The phenomenon called "Alexander the Great" has evoked vastly different interpretations from his era to ours. It's tempting to seek some internal consistency for his behavior, or to force it when it can't be found. Yet no one is consistent.
Alexander was neither demon nor god, whatever he wanted to believe about himself. He was a man, capable of cruelty and sympathy, brilliance and blindness, paranoia and an open-handed generosity.
As remarkable as he was, he was human.
And that's what makes him interesting."