Capital and cats
The second book in the Kismet series has gone to the editor. I also have a cover for it, which I will put on my Facebook page when I am a little nearer to publishing. I had a rough idea of what I wanted, but as with the cover of the first book, the designer has taken that and made it into something wonderful! Once the editor has done her stuff, and assuming I get the ISBN number through soon, I should be ready to publish in late November – a bit of Turkish sunshine to light up the dark winter days (at least for readers in the UK)!
At the beginning of the month, I went to Bodrum. Positioned on a peninsula that stretches into the Aegean Sea, Bodrum was once such a small, remote town that the government used to send dissidents there as a punishment. Things have changed a lot since then! From the 1960s, Bodrum became a holiday town, popular particularly with the Turkish elite, who loved to party there. Holiday villages and beach clubs popped up all along the peninsula and for a while Bodrum boasted the largest open-air disco in Europe (so they claimed), with a capacity for over five thousand people.
But, like everywhere in Turkey, Bodrum also has plenty of history. It is the site of the ancient city of Halicarnassus (also, incidentally, the name of the huge disco!), capital of the province of Caria, where in the 4th century BC, a 45m tomb was built for the ruler, Mausolus. Though little remains of the tomb, there are enough descriptions of its splendour for it to have been chosen as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is also where we get the word mausoleum from. Bodrum also has a castle, built in the 15th century by the Knights of St John and housing the Museum of Underwater Archaeology, which contains artefacts recovered from various shipwrecks, including the Uluburun wreck which sank in the 14th century BC carrying a cargo of copper, tin, glass and other trade items.
I spent the last two weeks of October in Ankara. At the start of the Turkish Republic, this small town was chosen as the capital city, to represent a new beginning and to help develop the area of central Anatolia. Since then, it has grown into an ultra-modern city full of skyscrapers and shopping centres. It is home to another mausoleum – that of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of the Republic. It is an impressive tomb, with a fascinating museum attached and is well worth a visit.
Ankara is also, incidentally, the origin of a breed of cat, as well as Angora rabbits and goats. All three are known for their silky fur – the goat being the source of mohair wool.
My travels have not stopped me reading; here are a couple of the books I’ve enjoyed this month:
You Are Here – David Nicholls
I love David Nicholl’s book One Day and this is another unconventional romance. It follows the main characters as they walk across the north of England, struggling up hills and through bad weather and staying in a variety of weird and wonderful hotels and guest houses. Along the way, their feelings for each other grow and although they do not manage to get together immediately, it doesn’t take them anywhere near as long as Dexter and Emma in One Day!
Jackpot Jetty – Marissa de Luna
This is the third book I have read in the Chupplejeep Mysteries series. I love them for the wonderful picture they paint of Indian people, culture and cuisine. In this book, Detective Chupplejeep is actually on holiday and is supposed to be rescuing his relationship with the girlfriend. But when a man is found dead and the local force want to dismiss it as a heart attack, Chupplejeep, convinced the man was murdered, risks his career and his relationship to investigate.
Hope you had a good October and a hair-raising Halloween!
Melanie