At long last, the Judean/Roman novel is complete. I didn't hesitate, sending it off to my agent the moment the final spell-check was complete. It's done.

In the course of the last two years, I actually wrote two novels. I spent 2009 writing what I thought would be a stand-alone novel. But my agent read it and said, "You have to start earlier." So I wrote a new prologue set 6 years before my novel started, and worked forward from there. The novel I just finished starts in 64 AD, just after Nero's Fire, and ends in 70 with the fall of Jerusalem. The second novel picks up in 71 AD, at the Triumph of Vespasian and Titus.

I don't want to talk too much about the story now. As it's now a trilogy (what isn't a trilogy these days?), I'm wary of holding forth too much, lest I give away my "Wow" finish. With THE MASTER OF VERONA, everyone knows the ending – it's Romeo & Juliet. So I could talk about that without fear of giving anything away. But here my end is an obscure footnote in Roman history, and I'm gonna hold it close.

But there are certain elements that a Judean/Roman book of this period will of necessity contain. Josephus is a prominent character, as are Nero, Vespasian, and Titus. The major events are Nero's Fire, the Battle of Beth Horon, the Siege of Jotapata, the Year of the Four Emperors, and the Siege of Jerusalem. Yeah, not ambitious at all.

The good news is that I've already got a draft of the second novel. It needs retooling – many new story elements cropped up in the first novel - but it will serve as excellent bones. Two more drafts of that, I imagine, then I can move on to the final novel in the series. But that's for the future. I'm cheerfully moving along to other projects now.

Yes, there's some news on the Verona series, but until the paperwork is finished I don't want to talk out of school. With this massive puppy done, I'm off to my next two projects – a WWII novel, and a return to HER MAJESTY'S WILL. And in three weeks I head off to Michigan for the summer, as my wife embarks onto her first season as Artistic Director of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival. I'll doubtless be holding forth on some Shakespeare thoughts this summer. So stay tuned!

– DB