Article by author Marie Basting
LARPe Diem!
The idea for My Family and Other Romans came to me in a dream. Red caped legionaries, glowing amber as they boarded a gleaming silver bullet train. It was too good a story seed not to plant. But it was historical right? I didn’t write historical fiction. I wrote fantasy, funny books that helped us escape the present rather than delve into our past. I couldn’t write a book set in Ancient Rome!
But what if I gave that Roman world a twist? Maybe then I could pull it off? That twist was LARP.
LARP (Live Action Role Play) is a role-playing game where players choose and develop a character, dress up like this character and, guided by a loose script and series of rules, essentially act out the game. It is sometimes described as a form of interactive storytelling, with the player fully immersed in the story world; a world that may have been established for some time, but where the characters and subplots have room to grow. There are lots of types of LARP, including high fantasy, horror, sci-fi or yes, even Ancient Rome.
As a writer who likes to mix things up, I thought it would be interesting to ask the question: what if a keen LARPer thought they were on the set of a major LARP event but had actually stumbled through a portal back to Ancient Rome? This is what happens to our protagonist Silvia. A resident of Once Brewed, a tiny village off Hadrian’s Wall, she’s no stranger to history – but nothing could prepare her for what she uncovers as she journeys into Romana.
One thing I was determined to do from the start was to challenge the stereotypical images of LARPers. LARP is not particularly well represented in books or film but when it is, often those depictions leave a lot to be desired. I wanted to challenge these images and show it as a family hobby that could be enjoyed by anyone. A form of escapism and release, yes, but one that is creative and challenging and most of all fun. I wanted to show the LARPers as multi-faceted and rounded. I wanted to give them the opportunity to shine.
And maybe after seeing Silvia embrace her differences and shine, young readers will embrace their differences too. Accept it is OK to not like the same things as everyone else and that one man’s geek is another woman’s hero. LARPe Diem!
My Family and Other Romans by Marie Basting is out now, priced £7.99. Follow Marie on Twitter: @riewriting
