Pekin’s public schools and the Pekin Public Library were early influences in the life of author Brian Disney.
His family moved to Pekin in 1967 when his father, Bill, took a job as a counselor at Pekin Community High School. His mother, Connie, later took a job with Pekin Public Schools District 108.
“Growing up as the son of two educators, I was always surrounded by books,” Disney said. “My mom’s tastes ran toward sci-fi while my dad, a Korean War U.S. Navy vet, was heavily into history. I read voraciously and visited the Pekin library regularly.”
While Disney has had a lifelong affinity for reading, he said he did not know he had ability as a writer until he was in college. He attended the University of Houston but returned to central Illinois after graduating in 1990 to marry Lisa Dudley, his high school sweetheart. They have lived in Peoria for more than three decades.
Disney, now 59, further honed his writing ability while working on his master’s degree in history at Illinois State University from 2010 to 2015. The numerous research papers he wrote during his course of study helped him develop creative ways of self-expression, he said.
Working under the pen name B.P. Disney, he began writing his Imperial Archives series in 2020. While the origin stories focus on two different characters, the protagonist for his novels is Claudius Numidius, a teacher, ex-soldier and mystery solver.
“He is widowed, in his late thirties, and resides in Terina, a small city near the toe of Italy on the western coast,” Disney said. “His reputation as a problem solver has led other citizens to come to him and it is this skill that brings him to the attention of Caesar.”
Set in ancient Rome, the Imperial Archives series consists of three novels and two origin stories. Disney completed the third Imperial Archives novel, “A Promise to Keep,” last year. He is working on a fourth Imperial Archives novel and has written about 100 pages. He hopes to complete the book by the end of the year.
The Imperial Archives series consists of: “Death Will Follow,” “A Night of Tears,” and “A Promise to Keep,” as well as the origin stories “Julia” and “Liesel,” which explore the backgrounds of key characters.
Disney urged new readers to his work to tackle the Imperial Archives novels in order.
“’Death Will Follow’” really needs to be the first novel to read,” he said. “So much of the alternative history world that I created is explained and a lot of characters are introduced.”
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria author takes readers on a trip to ancient Rome
Reporting by Mike Kramer, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
