Spotlight on Justin Newland, author of The Coronation

 Two Year Celebration Tour

It is 1761. Prussia is at war with  Russia and Austria. As the Russian army occupies East Prussia, King Frederick the Great and his men fight hard to win back their homeland.

In Ludwigshain, a Junker estate in East Prussia, Countess Marion von Adler celebrates an exceptional harvest. But it is requisitioned by Russian troops. When Marion tries to stop them, a Russian captain strikes her. His lieutenant, Ian Fermor, defends Marion’s honour and is stabbed for his insubordination. Abandoned by the Russians, Fermor becomes a divisive figure on the estate.

Close to death, Fermor dreams of the Adler, a numinous eagle entity, whose territory extends across the lands of Northern Europe and which is mysteriously connected to the Enlightenment. What happens next will change the course of human history…

 

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 Justin Newland

Fun Facts
(Stuff you may or may not already know!)

The first thing that comes to mind is a bit about me. I was born three days before the end of the year. That makes me a Capricorn. Hey, someone has to be one. We’re renowned for hard work, persistence, and discipline. I mean, who could think of anything more unremittingly boring. So, I figured I needed to develop some qualities to offset this. Such as, a great sense of humour, which includes, or perhaps even starts with, a keen eye for self-ridicule. You have to have one anyway to survive in the world, otherwise, you’ll go mad, right? Capricorns are cusp people – the astrological sign starts at the end of one year and ends at the beginning of the next. The Ancient Romans had a neat description for this: the God who personified this time of year was Janus, who had a second face coming out of his neck, so he could look to the front and behind him at the same time. Which I guess gives a whole new meaning to the idea of ‘second sight.’

From that, you can tell I have a love of history. That started in my 20’s studying Ancient Greece. I read all the Greek tragedies, delved into Greek philosophy, and even visited the Greek Islands and the Acropolis in Athens. What a place is Greece. So much in the people there. The men sitting at the cafés drinking ouzo or retsina or a black coffee that was so strong and so sweet that the spoon could almost stand up in it.

The third fun thing for me in my life is a love of travel. I guess it’s born out of a need and a want to build a greater reference grid from which to compare and appreciate the world. What I mean is, it’s one thing to travel the world, but it’s what you do with the experience, how you add it up, that counts. See, I was born in England and have more or less lived there all my life, except for a short nine-month sojourn in France. This means I was brought up with a Euro-centric view of the world, although like many things about oneself, one doesn’t discover it until it’s challenged, or seen in a different context, or an unusual light. My first trip outside of Europe was to North Africa, and that was a culture shock. That was a challenge to my self-view, to my Euro-centric view of the world, and a good one at that. I remember one funny thing from that trip, and that was seeing goats up a tree nibbling on the buds. And now I think of it, my desire to go to North Africa came from reading Frank Herbert’s Dune because his novel had left me with an overwhelming desire to go to a desert.

Because I’m a writer, I love words, they’re fun things to me. I love language and languages. I speak English and French. And I love the meaning of words and their etymology. I even love anagrams, because they can often reveal hidden meanings in words. And another thing I love is discovering the hidden or the esoteric. How about an anagram of FUNERAL? It’s REAL FUN. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Or another – an anagram of REVELATION is I REVEAL NOT. Well, that’s no surprise, since no one seems to understand St. John’s Book of Revelations. Although I always find it odd that the original Greek meaning of the word apocalypse is to uncover or to reveal.

And for my fifth and final symphony, here’s another curiosity, again about Capricorn, the astrological sign. In Ancient Rome, they had a strange festival called SATURNALIA during which, for a period of five days at the end of each year, everything in society was turned upside down, so the slaves became the masters, and the masters became the slaves. Anyway, from the structure of the word, you can tell the festival was divinated to the Roman God Saturn, which of course is the main governing influence at that time of year. If you’ve ever wondered why Capricorns are such strange people, now you know. And I’ll leave you with a motto I repeated in my novel, The Coronation – and that’s ‘Suum Quique’, which means ‘To each his own.’ 

 Justin Newland 

Justin Newland is an author of historical fantasy and secret history thrillers - that’s history with a supernatural twist. His stories feature known events and real people from history which are re-told and examined through the lens of the supernatural. He gives author talks and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Bristol’s Thought for the Day. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

His Books

The Genes of Isis is a tale of love, destruction, and ephemeral power set under the skies of Ancient Egypt. A re-telling of the Biblical story of the flood, it reveals the mystery of the genes of Isis – or genesis – of mankind. ISBN 9781789014860.

“The novel is creative, sophisticated, and downright brilliant! I couldn’t ask more of an Egyptian-esque book!” – Lauren, Books Beyond the Story.

The Old Dragon’s Head is a historical fantasy and supernatural thriller set during the Ming Dynasty and played out in the shadows of the Great Wall of China. It explores the secret history of the influences that shaped the beginnings of modern times.  ISBN 9781789015829.

 ‘The author is an excellent storyteller.” – British Fantasy Society.

 Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation reveals the secret history of the Industrial Revolution. ISBN 9781838591885.

 “The novel explores the themes of belonging, outsiders… religion and war…  filtered through the lens of the other-worldly.” – A. Deane, Page Farer Book Blog.

 His latest, The Abdication (July, 2021), is a suspense thriller, a journey of destiny, wisdom, and self-discovery. ISBN 9781800463950. 

 “In Topeth, Tula confronts the truth, her faith in herself, faith in a higher purpose, and ultimately, what it means to abdicate that faith.”  V. Triola, Coast to Coast.

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