Let's welcome my guest author, Kaarina Parker
My guest this month is fellow Romaphile, Kaarina Parker. Born in Aotearoa, New Zealand, Kaarina has a BA Hons from the University of Melbourne in history and film, and a Master of Creative Writing from Auckland University of Technology. She has a particular love for the extraordinary, largely uncredited, women of the late Roman Republic. Kaarina also has an established career as a fashion model, and is a voice for diversity in the fashion industry in Australia and New Zealand. She is the author of the Fulvia duology consisting of Fulvia and To Rule a Ruler.
You can connect with Kaarina via Instagram and follow her on Amazon.
What or who inspired you to first write? Which authors have influenced you?
I’ve been writing almost as long as I can remember, it is how I process and make sense of my inner world and the world around me. My biggest authorial influences have been Donna Tartt, Madeline Miller, Conn Iggulden, Ursula K Le Guin, Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf.
What is the inspiration for your current book? Is there a particular theme you wished to explore?
Fulvia herself was my inspiration! I first stumbled upon her in a footnote, while researching for a paper at university. She was described as the ‘greedy and seditious wife of Antony’, and I was immediately curious about her. The more I learned, the more fascinated I became with this incredible woman who achieved so much beyond her station, but had been hidden away in history. I knew that I wanted to find a way to tell her story.
What period of history particularly inspires or interests you? Why?
I love the late Roman Republic, both because it’s a period so rich with political intrigue and scandal, and also because it is sometimes known as the ‘era of the political matron’ – the first time in Roman history when some women were able to step out of the shadows and become political players in their own right. They were the blueprint of the imperial women like Livia and Agrippina who came after.
What do you do if stuck for a word or a phrase?
I pace around my office and say it out loud, and if that doesn’t work to make the words come unstuck, then I move on. I have to be strict with myself, because if not, I will easily spend an entire day agonising over one sentence and getting nothing else done.
Is there anything unusual or even quirky that you would like to share about your writing?
I talk to myself. A lot. Often in my character’s voices, sometimes reciting the words, sometimes almost like an improv exercise. It works really well for me, but I do wonder how concerning it must sound to anyone who walks past my door
Do you use a program like Scrivener to create your novel? Do you ever write in long hand?
I’m a huge fan of Scrivener, I feel like every time I use it I discover some new trick that makes things even better. I tend to do my very early research and drafting by hand, I usually fill a notebook with scribbles and doodles and collages. Then once I have the loose scaffolding of a draft, I move to Scrivener and type everything up.
Is there a particular photo or piece of art that strikes a chord with you? Why?
My favourite piece of art is ‘Judith Beheading Holofernes’ by Artemisia Gentileschi. I had a visceral reaction the first time I saw, despite knowing nothing about it, when I was younger. Then, once I learned the story behind the painting and the painter, I was even more enthralled. Artemisia was a young female painter in Baroque Italy, notable both for her prodigious talent, and the fact that at just 18 she took her rapist to trial and won (which, in deeply Catholic 17th century Rome, was almost unheard of). She paints her female subjects with such empathy and dimension, and this painting in particular, the rage really bleeds through.
What advice would you give an aspiring author?
Love what you do. You have to love the creative process enough to carry you through the torturous slog of querying, submission, marketing, and ultimately having very little control over how your work is received. If you really genuinely love it, that will always be enough. Also, stay away from genAI.
Tell us about your next book.
I’ve been describing my current WIP to people as: a sapphic murder-mystery set in the cult of Vesta, ancient Rome’s most mysterious and powerful priestesshood. It’s historical fiction/fantasy, with romance elements, and I’m completely obsessed with it. I hope to have some more news to share about it soon, so watch this space…
Fulvia is the daughter of a wealthy but unimportant Roman family. Raised in the countryside, she longs for a life of intrigue and influence. When her father dies and her inheritance is threatened, Fulvia makes her way to the city of Rome to secure her future.
There she marries a young aristocrat named Clodius, who is more interested in partying with his hedonistic friends than politics. Fulvia is drawn into their world of debauchery, and learns just how precarious the balance of power in the Republic is. Her ambition drives them both to political power that draws the attention of the senate, and more seedy underworld opponents. But Rome is a dangerous place, and power can become notoriety overnight. Fulvia soon learns just how high the stakes really are, and that her ambitions may come at a terrible cost.
‘I am not a mere footnote in their stories. Mine is a history all its own.’
In this thrilling sequel to Fulvia, Fulvia is now a widow, with more than gold to her name. In the wake of her first husband’s death, she has captured the love and loyalty of the people. And with it, the power of the Aventine gangs.
When civil war erupts in Rome, the clever and ambitious Fulvia takes advantage of the unrest to establish her own power. There are those who fear her and those, like Julius Caesar, who see her potential.
When she is reunited with Marcus Antonius, an old friend who has now become Caesar’s general, she sees his potential. She sees a man who could rule all of Rome, with her help. They marry and, when Caesar is assassinated, together begin a perilous game of playing for the ultimate power. Love of the people. Control of an empire. Their opponents are legion; Caesar’s killers, Brutus and Cassius; the wily young queen Cleopatra; the great orator Cicero, and the cold and calculating Octavian. Fulvia must face down these formidable players, protect her children, and fight to keep the loyalty and attention of her new husband. But Fulvia has endured tragedy and condescension, and she will fight for the power and the legacy that she knows she deserves.
Whatever the cost.
