Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Michael Livingston?

I’m someone who wears a lot of hats.

In my day job, I wear the hat of being a professor of English at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. I teach courses mostly in medieval literature — Beowulf, Chaucer, and such — but I publish far more widely in literature and history. Most of my colleagues refer to me as a cultural historian specializing in the Middle Ages, and that fits well enough — except that I also publish a fair amount on the works of Tolkien and other modern fantasists.

And now, thanks to The Shards of Heaven, I get to add the Hat of Novel Writerness, much to my great astonishment and glee!

Your debut novel, The Shards of Heaven, will be published by Tor this month. It looks rather fabulous: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

The Shards of Heaven is the first novel in a trilogy of the same name. It’s the story of fantasy and history colliding at the rise of the Roman Empire, as the children of Caesar fight to find and control the legendary artifacts of gods both old and new, and a new myth is born in the struggle. Continue reading →