The year is 2025, following the Middle Eastern War which transformed the world stage. The United States has edged toward totalitarianism and has just finished the first single-party election in its history. On the day of the inauguration an event takes place that shakes the core of the country and reshapes the balance of power within. Following the actions of members of both sides, "Rome Burned In A Few Hours" is the story of what happens when an empire pushes too far and the actions that must be taken by both sides to protect or destroy. Whether it be the elusive and secret Exuro Intus Hora, or the President of the United States, or various other players that shape the outcome, in the end does it really matter who is right when the cost is so high?
About the Author: Joshua "Muddy" Rivers, is a student at the University of Central Florida studying Political Science and International Relations. As a student working a part-time job, president of a student organization, frequenter of local establishments, and typical crazy college male, he has limited time to squeeze in for his writing pursuits. Usually this means picking up the laptop in between classes, during breaks at work, or other moments of solitude that he makes time for at least twice a day. It's not much but it gets the job done. Josh began writing when he was a kid. Growing up in an Air Force home he had lots of time to devote to creative outlets. The two main outlets he found was music and of course, writing. The first he drew from his grandfather who passed on his musical passion to him and drove him to pursue playing the guitar which he has done since he was twelve. Writing, however, grew from just a desire to let out everything swirling around in his head. Always the imaginative one, his words began to flow and his stories took form. He began writing when he was eight years old, chronicling various adventures he would have with his friends, by high school his writing was influenced by things going on in his life and events that took place. In college, however, is when his writing really took off. Upon discovering the world of politics, he began combining his imaginative side with his passion for political issues and began writing various satire pieces. That then morphed into fiction with a political emphasis in various areas as well as dabbling in other genres just for fun. With such a broad mind his ideas and stories had limitless possibilities. He decided to write a novel in summer of 2011, after debating ideas for a while he found out about the National Novel Writing Month and thought what better chance. He went for the challenge to write fifty thousand words in one month. After dealing with setbacks, term papers, tests, and writer's block, he pulled off the final sprint on November 27th. After editing and finalizing the work he published it and now it's in your hand. Josh accredits much of his drive for all his pursuits to his family and friends that have supported him. From the family that supported him through college, to his friends that volunteered their names for characters, to his buddies that invited him downtown for a night of relieving the stress from writing, to...well let's not get too personal, they all helped him in some way or another.