I’m delighted to say that Spartacus: The Gladiator has entered the UK Bestseller charts at Number Four! HURRAH! Very very pleased. A huge thank you to all of you, who have parted with your hard-earned dosh to buy copies of it. I really appreciate your support. Cheers!
PLUS – watch the Spartacus trailer here. It’s very good, I think. Very Blood & Sand/300 style!
If you’re interested, you can listen to the programme here. There’s a little section that’s read out right at the beginning, and if you want to ‘fast-forward’ to hear me, go to about 12 minutes 25 seconds. Enjoy!
No. 1: Ian Martin, who will get a signed 1st edition of Spartacus and a Roman coin.
No. 2: Loris Gelso, who gets a signed first edition of Spartacus and the Veni, Vidi, Vici mug.
No. 3 @LynnRobertsPoet
No. 4 Peter Boyd
No. 5 levyarcher
No. 6 @janesgrapevine
No. 7 Alex Bebbington all of whom get a signed, large format Spartacus paperback.
No. 8: Graham Pegg, who gets a signed paperback of Hannibal and the steel gladius letter opener.
Nos. 9 to 12 all receive a signed paperback copy of Hannibal: Barry Lonsdale, Nd1959, stephan & Matthew Gilliland.
Congratulations all! Please contact me by email on ben@benkane.net with your mailing address. Thanks.
Having had but one appearance in a UK national newspaper (4 years ago), I was immensely chuffed last Friday (the 6th) to feature in not one, but two daily newspapers. First of all, the Daily Mail ran a glowing review of Spartacus; and secondly, The Independent featured me in the section ‘One Minute With…’
Best of all, I am to appear on BBC Radio 4’s influential arts programme, Open Book. It’s hosted by Mariella Frostrup, and I’ll be in the episode which airs this Sunday, the 15th of January. I’ll post a link to it after the event.
Hopefully, these features and mentions will all raise awareness for the Spartacus book. You’d never guess that I’m starting to get antsy about it, would you?
If you’re interested in my first appearance, it’s a travel piece on ancient Rome from the perpsective of a pedestrian. Read it here.
OK, it’s time for the big Spartacus competition to start:
Up for grabs:
2 x signed hardback first editions of Spartacus: The Gladiator;
5 x large format signed paperbacks of Spartacus;
5 x signed paperbacks of Hannibal: Enemy of Rome;
1 x silver Roman coin, from 47 B.C. (value in excess of £60/$90);
1 x steel Roman gladius letter opener; 1 x Roman mug with “Veni, Vidi, Vici” inscription.
Question: What was the name of Spartacus’ co-escapee from the ludus, a man who became his MAIN rival?
Answers (ONE per person) have to be posted on the website, received by email, Facebook or Twitter by midnight UK time on Sunday 15th January. [Read more…] about Competition!
Wishing you all, wherever you are, a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year for 2012. Thanks for all your comments, suggestions and links to interesting sites. But most of all, thank you for buying and reading my books – without you all, I’d still be stuck working as a veterinarian. Instead, I’m a full time writer, and I’m grateful for that every day. THANKS!
