BooksChatter: ☀ Minotaur - Phillip W. Simpson

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Minotaur, a Young Adult Mythological Historical novel by Phillip W. Simpson (29 September 2015, Month9books, 278 pages).

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below. Don't miss out on our Q&A with the author on Friday 2nd October! Read various excerpts with Amazon Look Inside.

Author Phillip W. Simpson will be awarding one digital copy of Minotaur to five randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).

Synopsis | Teaser | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

“Where shall I start?” asked Minotaur.

Ovid made an expansive gesture with both hands. “Where else but the beginning of course.”

Minotaur nodded his huge head. “Yes,” he said. “Yes,” his eyes already glazing over with the weight of thousand year old memories. And then he began.

So begins the story of Asterion, later known as Minotaur, the supposed half bull creature of Greek legend. Recorded by the famous Roman poet, Ovid, Asterion tells of his boyhood in Crete under the cruel hand of his stepfather Minos, his adventures with his friend, Theseus, and his growing love for the beautiful Phaedra. And of course what really happened in the labyrinth.

This is the true story of the Minotaur.

Teaser: Excerpt

The ship swept into port Iraklion. Swaying slightly, Ovid stood at the rail and waited impatiently for it to dock, eager to see the sights and sounds of this island. Shipboard life, whilst vaguely entertaining, had begun to be a little monotonous.
Crete was a place he'd always been keen to visit, especially given his current work in progress. His most ambitious work to date. The Metamorphoses, his epic poem of Greek and Roman mythology, was almost complete. He considered it his magnum opus, his greatest work--something that he was immensely proud of. It would, he hoped, cement his place amongst the best Roman poets and live on long after his death. It was a monumental piece of work, comprising fifteen books and over two hundred and fifty Greek and Roman myths, painstakingly researched, rewritten and reinterpreted. It chronicled the history of the world from its creation all the way through to the reign of Julius Caesar. All that remained was a little editing and some fact checking and then it would be ready - he hoped. Ovid desperately needed it to be a success. Even poets with the Emperor's favor could not afford to waste years on an unpopular work.
After working for so long, he'd had a sudden desire to get out, to actually see some of the places he'd been writing about. To see where these events had taken place. Not that it was especially important -- most of his work had taken a decidedly creative approach to historical events -- but it was invigorating nonetheless. He was a poet after all, not an historian. That was why he was on Crete. To see for himself the fabled home of the Minotaur.

Minotaur - available NOW!

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About the Author

Phillip W. Simpson is the author of many novels, chapter books and other stories for children. His publishers include Macmillan, Penguin, Pearson, Cengage, Raintree and Oxford University Press. He received both his undergraduate degree in Ancient History and Archaeology and his Masters (Hons) degree in Archaeology from the University of Auckland. Before embarking on his writing career, he joined the army as an officer cadet, owned a comic shop and worked in recruitment in both the UK and Australia. His first young adult novel, Rapture (Rapture Trilogy #1), was shortlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for best Youth novel in 2012.

He is represented by Vicki Marsdon at Wordlink literary agency.

When not writing, he works as a school teacher. Phillip lives and writes in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Rose, their son, Jack and their two border terriers, Whiskey and Raffles. He loves fishing, reading, movies, football (soccer) and single malt Whiskeys.

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