This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Tom Haward will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
As an author, what scares me the most is…
The most contradictory fear as a writer is the fear no-one will read my books but also that everyone will read my books. I’m always scared about putting so much time, love and effort into these stories and then no-one ever reads them. I’ve learnt over the years not to care about what people think and not to be validated by other people. It’s taken a long time to get there but now I genuinely don’t care about how people view me. As long as I have integrity and stay consistent in that, then people liking or disliking me is their subjective thing. So, when it comes to writing I feel safe in myself and my own ability not to care if people don’t like my books. But there’s something different about people liking your books and actually reading your books!
And that’s my fear: having books no-one has read. But then then other fear I have is all of my local community reading my books. And it’s not because I worry if they will like it, but because I worry about them finding any grammatical mistakes and stopping me in the street to point then out.
Again, I’m not fearful of what people think; I’m fearful of realising my own mistakes via other people! It sounds silly but being a writer means most of our fears are probably contradictory and absurd! And on that note, I do hope all of you reading this pick up my books and give them a read.
With Grand Protector Faust missing and Caesar dead, Senator Frigus is trying to hold the fraying threads of the Empire together by keeping this information secret. The Empire is already fragile, and if the truth spills onto the streets of Rome and beyond, the Empire could crumble.
Faust is prisoner of the giant Bjorn Askå and his cellmate is the rebel leader, Boatman King. Abducted by Askå, they’re now part of his grand plan to rule the entire world, with the Empire his next target. Can Faust and Boatman forge an alliance or are their own ambitions stronger than any desire for a truce?
A continent away, Bella, Maverick and the other rebels have escaped to the RIA where they lick their wounds from the disaster of Faust and Askå’s attack on their underground headquarters. They believe they have covered their tracks and hope the 35, leaders of the RIA, will equip them to take the fight to Rome again, this time with the advantage of surprise.
Olivia King, though, she is tired of the fight. Traumatised from being tortured at the hands of Maximus Nero and conflicted about her husband’s relentless desire to crush Rome, she is unsure whether she has the energy to keep fighting those who have caused her so much pain.
With the world and its people in turmoil, one thing is for certain: chaos remains in a world needing redemption.
Enjoy an Excerpt
Southwark London 2030
Marcus flipped his eyepiece up and walked away from the vantage point he’d found for spying on what Maximus was doing. There were other crosses lining London Bridge, but in the cold January night, the bodies nailed to those crosses were quiet. If any were still alive, they were conserving energy, swapping between trying to breathe and trying to push themselves up on their nailed feet so their lungs were able to intake some life-saving oxygen. The orange glow of street lights showed the odd misty puff of breath feebly forming and then dispersing, like death swatting away the attempt at clinging on to life.
Indeed, the early morning, just before the arrival of dawn, was quiet. Quiet didn’t mean calm and he was feeling the pulse of adrenaline rushing through him. All the soldiers around him were because if they were guarding the son of Caesar then there was a good chance rebels would be appearing. It wasn’t guaranteed, but Maximus wanted to make a show of crucifying someone and he believed twenty-five soldiers as his protection was a necessary element to that.
When Marcus and his comrades were called up to be ready to go immediately, a few soldiers pulled out their phones and texted their loved ones saying they were going on a dangerous shift and to be prepared. Marcus scoffed at their fear and told them so. The response was that Marcus was new to this city and he should prepare himself for encountering Boatman King or The Beast, because that encounter would likely be his last on this earth.
About the Author: 
Tom was born in Essex and at 4 months old he and his identical twin were adopted into an oyster farming family. Tom now runs the business as generation eight of Haward oyster farmers. He has a fiancée, baby daughter and a cockapoo.
Tom has an MA in Creative Writing and has loved telling stories since he was a child, whether verbally or through prose.
The Path of Chaos was his debut novel. He is also working on a six episode comedy screenplay and tweets passionately about his family’s industry and the challenges it faces.
Buy the book at Amazon.
There’s a deer sorting Christmas decorations in Maura’s kitchen…
Christy Matheson writes award-winning fiction about friends, family, and finding one’s place in an ever-changing world. 
She’s in the most dangerous place in the world.
