About the Book
TIME TRAVEL. ANCIENT ROME. PROPHECY. SLAVERY. POWER.
In 2045, three Australians are torn from their world and cast into Rome in AD 40.
Nate wakes naked beneath a brutal sun with a hangover to find Jane standing over him with a knife, while Amanda lies quietly beside them wearing only red heels and her beloved crucifix.
Above them, strange beings watch from the sky and speak of prophecy.
Around them Rome rises on the ambitions of the high-born, carried upon the backs of slaves: a world of senators and merchants, courtesans and gladiators, philosophers and soldiers, noble thoughts and base desires.
At its centre sits Caligula, measuring loyalty to Rome by devotion to himself, rewarding those who please him as extravagantly as he punishes those who do not.
Within the grandeur surrounding them, the three quickly discover that their lives are no longer their own. They belong to someone else.
Time travel strips away the world they knew. Wealth, status, relationships, ambitions, even their understanding of what freedom means must now be reconsidered.
Nate had always been reaching for something more: to be a good man, with a good wife and family, and a future built on his own terms. Rome does not take those ambitions from him. It thrusts new ones upon him. As relationships become opportunities and knowledge becomes leverage, the future Nate has always wanted begins to acquire possibilities he had never imagined.
Jane had long ago fought her way out of poverty and powerlessness. Rome dumps her back into both. Intelligent, ruthless and endlessly adaptable, she sees opportunity in a world where influence can be bought with beauty, secrets and favours—and discovers that Roman power has the same weaknesses she understands very well.
Amanda enters Rome timid, abused and beautiful. For her slavery will prove far more complicated than simply losing her freedom.
But is Rome the only force shaping their futures?
Who are the strange beings, and what is their purpose?
Their new world will change all three of them.
Will they succeed in changing Rome?
Vegas Then Rome is an adult time-travel and historical fantasy novel blending Ancient Roman history, speculative fiction and political intrigue. Set primarily in Rome in AD 40 under Caligula, it follows morally grey characters confronting slavery, power, sexuality, ambition, survival and the collision between modern values and the ancient world.
History shows the glory of Rome.
Vegas Then Rome remembers the jagged edges.
.jpg)
November 26'
Ashes of the Wicked
Nate is drawn to Judea, away from his new love, and into danger alongside Spartacus in siege of Jerusalem.
Jane continues her ruthless rise through Roman society, while Amanda’s journey of growth may see her one day challenge Jane for dominance.
Full synopsis to come.
Join the mailing list to be the first to learn of new developments.
Coming Soon
The
Fast Drive Home
Before Jane and Nate are transported to ancient Rome and sold into slavery they share a winding road, Jane changes gears, no hands, while Nate pushes the pedal to the metal.
This short story is an outtake from Vegas Then Rome, Book 1 of the Sex, Blood & Glory series.
March 27'
Book II
Coming Soon
Deleted Scenes
July 27'
The
Confessional
before Nate is transported to ancient Rome and sold into slavery, Nate enjoys his time as a lothario with Betty who confesses her sins while committing them.
an outtake from
'Vegas Then Rome' book 1 of the 'Sex, Blood & Glory' trilogy.
Join the Mailing List
Nate
Charming in his innocence, adaptable yet stubborn, Nate learns to make the best of the world he finds himself in, doing what he must without completely surrendering the principles that matter most to him.
Adversity does not create character; it reveals it.
Jane
Born into poverty and shaped by depravity, Jane clawed her way out of her beginnings only to be flung back down to them by Rome.
Power belongs to those willing to seize it, and the powerful can always be controlled through their weaknesses.
Intelligent, determined and endlessly adaptable, Jane refuses to become a victim of circumstance.
Rome may have stripped away everything she worked for, but the path to recovery does not daunt her, and the cost to others does not matter.
Amanda
A devout Christian, Amanda enters Rome frightened, uncertain and painfully aware of her own vulnerabilities.
From the first day, however, she begins to draw strength from the warm eyes that greet her.
As time passes, she discovers confidence, independence and an unexpected freedom within the boundaries that Rome imposes upon her.
Glade
Gentle, thoughtful and deeply loyal, Glade possesses many admirable qualities, yet few of the virtues his people value most in a mate and father.
Different in mind from those around him, he nevertheless possesses the courage to challenge convention itself in order to protect the woman he loves.
Julia
A Vestal Virgin bound by duty, Julia finds herself torn between the life Rome and her family expect of her and the life she longs for, suppressing personal desires for the good of Rome.
When duty and desire collide, Julia must decide whether obedience is more important than happiness and whether status is more important than love.
Aub
The illegitimate son of a Germanic chieftain, Aub has devoted his life to avenging the wrongs committed against his people and the wrongs his people committed against his father.
Proud, ruthless and fiercely loyal, Aub finds his convictions increasingly tested by time, proximity and distance as he discovers that honour and betrayal are not the exclusive preserve of friend or foe.
Hornia
Intelligent, inquisitive and endlessly curious, Hornia values conversation more than beauty and pursues knowledge wherever she can find it.
Yet, in a profession in which beauty is prized above both intelligence and conversation, she often finds herself listening carefully while others talk freely, gathering fragments of knowledge that many simply overlook.
Pomponia
Pomponia presents a hard exterior to the world, revealing little of herself to those around her.
Beneath that façade lies a generous and affectionate heart, together with a longing to be valued for who she is rather than for what others require from her.
Spartacus
A friend, a warrior and a hero, Spartacus has earned fame through courage, skill and determination.
Yet he understands better than most that glory comes at a cost, and that the companion of triumph is sacrifice.
Aliens in Ancient Rome?
HIGH ABOVE ANCIENT ROME, THE LELUUWAHN ARE WATCHING.
THEY TRAVEL THROUGH THE SKY ON TRANSPARENT CRYSTAL SHIELDS.
AND AMONG THEM IS A GREY-HAIRED ELDER NATE HAS SEEN BEFORE.
BUT THAT WAS IN 2042.
WHO ARE THE LELUUWAHN?
AND what the hell are they doing IN ANCIENT ROME?
Meet the Author
Elijah Wingnut
I was in high school when The Hobbit gave me my first taste of fantasy. Years later, while on business in Sydney, I wandered into a bookshop and happened across The Lord of the Rings. Something about those hobbits rang a familiar bell, so I bought it. I've since read that copy so many times its spine is falling apart—although none of the pages are dog-eared.
Other favourites followed: Dune, The Magician, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and The Wheel of Time. At the other end of my reading spectrum were the novels of Jackie Collins, whose bitches, bastards, humour and complicated relationships entertained millions.
Eventually I wondered: what would happen if I put the two together?
The answer ultimately became Sex, Blood & Glory.
Although not in the way I expected.
I originally planned a fantasy set in a brutal world inspired by Ancient Rome. I plotted the story from beginning to end and started writing.
Then I wondered what it would be like to actually visit a world like this—to sit on the sidelines and watch it all happening.
So I introduced a man from the future. He didn't know how he'd arrived there or how to get home. I didn't even give him a name. He lived in a cave overlooking the city, foraged for food and watched. He wasn't supposed to change anything. He was just an observer.
Then, because I'm terrible at drawing maps, I borrowed a map of Ancient Rome rather than create my own. My imaginary Roman world promptly became Ancient Rome.
That caused a problem.
My original world contained the Leluuwahn—small beings who fly on crystal shields and interfere in human affairs. Inconveniently, history records remarkably few of them in Ancient Rome!
After wrestling with the problem for about a week I decided to keep both the Leluuwahn and Rome. At this point I threw the original plot out the window. My unnamed observer became Nate. Because he came from the future he needed a past. Creating that past brought Jane and Amanda into the story. Those two were only supposed to be part of Nate's backstory.
Jane and Amanda had other ideas. Both women proved far too interesting to remain in the background and steadily gave themselves much larger roles than I'd intended.
Roman history began colliding with fantasy, prophecy and people from 2045. Characters multiplied, storylines intersected and villains refused to behave themselves. At one point my editor asked where the story was going.
It was a good question. I didn't know.
Eventually the chaos became organised chaos, and that became Vegas then Rome. I now know where the series is going – including the final line of the trilogy - but I still allow the characters to take the story on unexpected detours.
I live about an hour north of Sydney, Australia, and write as Elijah Wingnut because the idea of a fictitious world written by a fictitious author appeals to me. I have never wanted to know about the authors of the fantasy worlds I read. It makes their worlds feel less real to me. I’m not a fruit loop who believes their worlds are real, I just want to believe their worlds are real.
