I’m delighted to be welcoming Alison Morton to the blog today, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Inceptio!
“It’s about Roman blood, survival and money. Mostly yours.”
In an alternative New York, Karen Brown is running for her life. She makes a snap decision to flee to Roma Nova – her dead mother’s homeland, the last remnant of the Roman Empire in the 21st century. But can Karen tough it out in such an alien culture? And with a crazy killer determined to terminate her for a very personal reason?
Stifled by the protective cocoon of her Roma Novan family, deceived by her new lover, she propels herself into a dangerous mission. But then the killer sets a trap – she must sacrifice herself for another – and she sees no escape.
A thriller laced with romance and coming of age, this first in series is Roman fiction brought into the 21st century through the lens of alternative history and driven by a female protagonist with heart and courage.
This 10thAnniversary hardback edition includes bonus content: Three character ‘conversations’, two short stories and the story behind INCEPTIO.
Buy links:
INCEPTIO 10th Anniversary special edition hardback:
International Buy Link: https://mybook.to/INCEPTIOHardback
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BTXR81DZ
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXR81DZ
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BTXR81DZ
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BTXR81DZ
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inceptio-alison-morton/1143030797
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Inceptio/9791097310363
Your local bookshop or library
All other formats (ebook, paperback, audio)
https://www.alison-morton.com/books-2/inceptio/where-to-buy-inceptio/
Excerpt
‘The punitive damages claim is to make Renschman back off, to show we’re serious. I really don’t see why we should be reasonable in these circumstances.’
Steven Smith’s matter-of-fact lawyer tone made his words sound so much more ruthless. He looked at Conrad who nodded.
‘I discussed the situation before us last night with Conradus Tellus and your grandmother. I think it would be useful to outline your options for the future.’
‘My options?’
‘You turn twenty-five in August. Because you have two nationalities, this Economy Security Department is concerned that you may take control of Brown Industries abroad with you should you ever decide to exercise your right to go and live in Roma Nova. As of now, they have not quite fifty days to get you to assign the company into their control.’
‘Wait a minute, what do you mean: “two nationalities”?’
The lawyer frowned. ‘How long have you been in New York, Miss Brown?’
‘A little under seven years. Why?’
‘The Roma Nova legation in Washington will have sent you a letter when you were eighteen, inviting you to contact the legation to reconfirm your identity as a Roma Novan and discuss your automatic right of residence. It will have gone to your last known address in Nebraska. Didn’t you receive it?’
‘No, no, I didn’t.’
‘Or the reminders?’
I shook my head.
‘Did you maintain contact with your cousins after you came to New York?’
After their refusal to let me go to college, I’d run off to New York on the interstate bus the day after I graduated from high school, paying the fare with money scrimped from carrying out other students’ homework assignments. I couldn’t meet his eyes. ‘Not very often,’ I mumbled. ‘We…we fell out.’
‘Do they forward mail?’
‘One or two letters from school friends at first, but nothing for years.’
I’d gone back once, three years ago; even had a cab drive me between the featureless stubbled fields, through clouds of dust to the farm front door. I’d gazed at the faded paint for five minutes, and then told him to take me back to the railroad station.
‘I see,’ Steven Smith said, and waited a few moments. ‘Well, I think we can conclude that, for whatever reason, these letters did not reach you. Your grandmother inferred that you didn’t want to make contact. She was concerned that you should receive your mother’s inheritance, even if you didn’t want anything to do with your Roma Novan family. Conradus Tellus was sent as a final attempt to find you.’
Damn Aunt and Uncle Brown. No, it was probably him – I knew how much of a bigot he was; he hated ‘foreigners’. Could he have been envious, deep down?
‘How much do you know about the set-up in Roma Novan families?’ Steven Smith asked, interrupting my irritation.
‘I know my grandmother heads up the family – that’s about it.’
‘’Well, very simply, extended families form the basic social structure; property and family names descend through the female line. Aurelia Mitela would naturally wish to welcome home not only her granddaughter but also her direct heir.’
‘So you’re saying that I have a Roma Novan identity, and my grandmother would accept me into her family, even now?’
‘I think she would be ecstatic,’ he replied with a half-smile.
‘Okay, tell me about my options, Mr Smith.’
‘If you stay here, Renschman will pursue you by any means possible, including legal or administrative loopholes. A former classmate of mine in the External Affairs Department made some discreet enquiries. Mr Renschman is, let us say, very focused on achieving his goals, to the point of ignoring structures and frameworks. I would do my absolute utmost to protect you legally, but I can’t prevent your physical seizure.’
He paused, looking at me, waiting for some reaction, I guessed. I couldn’t say anything but nodded at him to continue.
‘Conradus Tellus and his people can’t stay and guard you indefinitely; their duties and the cost to the imperial public purse would rule it out. A private security firm is an option, but it could be easily infiltrated by Renschman’s people.’
A wave of cold washed through me.
‘However, if you chose to make your home with your grandmother in Roma Nova, you would be out of their jurisdiction. No extradition treaty exists at present with the EUS. Apart from belonging to the European Economic Federation, Roma Nova has few treaties with anyone. All you need do is reconfirm your Roma Novan citizenship and renounce your EUS one.’
What was he suggesting? That I emigrate to Roma Nova? Permanently? He couldn’t be serious. But there seemed to be no way out of this. He was convinced it would be unsafe for me to walk along the street. That I would be in danger of getting snatched again by a government spook agency and ‘disappearing’. I didn’t see a trace of humour in his face. A week ago, I would have thought he was insane. Now, he made a macabre kind of sense. The hell of a decision to make. Strange – my mother had made her choice the other way around, out of love. She hadn’t been threatened by maniacs sponsored by her own government.
About Alison
Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her ten-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the ancient Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but with a sharp line in dialogue. INCEPTIO starts the adventure…
She blends her fascination for Ancient Rome with six years’ military service and a life of reading historical, crime and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.
Six full-length Roma Nova novels, including INCEPTIO, have won the BRAG Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in its inaugural indie review. The Historical Novel Society recently selected JULIA PRIMA, the first Foundation story set in the 4th century, the accolade of Editors’ Choice.
Alison lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity and Double Pursuit. Oh, and she’s writing the next Roma Nova story.
Social media links:
Connect with Alison on her Roma Nova site: https://alison-morton.com
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alison_morton
Alison’s writing blog: https://alisonmortonauthor.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonmortonauthor/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton
Alison’s Amazon page: https://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon
Newsletter sign-up: https://www.alison-morton.com/newsletter/
Jennifer C. Wilson 
Thank you so much, Jennifer, for hosting INCEPTIO on its 10th anniversary tour.
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