More good news for ‘The 13^th’

I received this message yesterday:
“We have been (against all odds!) officially selected the prestigious 12^th Cyprus International Film Festivals which is in the top 100 film festivals out of a possible 5,500.

This is really excellent news and there is a great deal to organise. The festival was started by the government in Cyprus and they put a lot of effort into getting lots of publicity. It’s held from 14-24 June at Paphos. As it happens, Paphos is this year’s capital of European Culture and so the festival is included as part of the EU’s programme of major cultural events. This year’s festival selection panel is headed by Bill Bulter, the legendary cinematographer of Jaws and many other great movies of the period. They are definitely expecting a presence from us and they have accommodation arranged at specially reduced prices of 35 euros single and 50 euros double per night for those going.”

Sadly, I can’t afford to go, but I will keep you posted on any news. Meanwhile, what I can do is give you some Saturday Symi photos!

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Symi shopping: Vapori, Yialos

The boys are back. I think. I didn’t see them get off the boat, but that’s because I got fed up with waiting for all tourists to pile out. (Not complaining, it was good to see so many.) But, the football teams should now be back from their away matches at Camber Sands.

The warm weather is also back, with the temperature climbing as the wind changed from the north to come from some other, warner, direction. I have been working at home, as you know, though I have popped out for a couple of glasses in the late afternoon, to recover. And that’s about all my news for today so I’ll pop up some photos for you and let you get on. Oh, these photos are of Mary’s shop at Vapori. If you’re not sure where that is, it’s near the bottom of the Kali Strata, next door to Bella Napoli, and between there and… Well, everyone knows where the Vapori Bar is, surely? As you can see, there are plenty of wonderful things on offer here. I asked to pop in and take a few snaps, so you can see.

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May is NOT strong and stable

Back to Symi updates and some photos of recent activity: a dinner at Haritomeni, and some rain.

For those who don’t know, Haritomeni is above the harbour, towards Petini, and overlooks Yialos and the bay. Seating is outside, with some under cover if the weather is bad, it’s traditional Greek food, with some specialities (pork with vegetables was rather tasty) and it’s your classic home cooking. It’s also a venue that has been used for wedding parties and feasts and has a top terrace with one large table, plus many tables on the lower terrace. We’ve been there in the winter in the past, when everyone sits inside by the roaring fire and you eat whatever Yaya has cooked for that day. We spent a New Years’ Eve there once and were given flares to set off at midnight. We were either early or late though, as our flares went off at an entirely different time to everyone else’s.

We were there on a slightly cold and overcast evening, but that was nothing compared to the rain on Tuesday morning. It didn’t last long, we had a thunderstorm around eleven and then the skies cleared. The breeze is still from the north though, so although the sun is hot, the shade can be chilly, especially in the evenings. According to various inaccurate weather forecast sites I use, this is supposed to change later in the week. The wind will change direction, and things will warm up… again. We had a heatwave a couple of weeks ago and now we are back to the usual up and down temperatures of May, even though it is now June – and Kalo mina, by the way (happy month) – which just goes to prove that May is not strong and stable, more like changeable and cold. (Couldn’t resist.)

I am pleased to report that my bestselling book last month was ‘The Saddling’, closely followed by ‘Symi 85600’. The links are over there on the right if you’ve not got a copy of either yet. I am currently talking to a friend of mine about a Danish translation of ‘Symi 85600’, which is great news. I’ll let you know more when there is more to know.

And so, back to the writing. I am currently working on a short ‘Miss P’ story – if you have read ‘Remotely’ you will know who she is; if you haven’t, then you won’t need to know who she is, but you’ll get more fun out of it if you read ‘Remotely’ first.

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Of Angels And Men

Here’s an unusual blog post for you. Unusual because it’s not about Symi, but it does tie in with the Symi Dream blog because it is about a book (four, actually) and that book has a link to Greece – a fantasy one. I know readers are always on the lookout for books about living in Greece and books about the country and its people, but I also have readers who like to read fantasy stories, and this one looks like a great read.

I am talking about ‘Of Angels And Men’ by Jonathan Yanez. This book is part one of a series that takes place, in part, at some of the ancient wonders of Greece. The book blurb reads: “The Colossus of Rhodes, The Temple of Artemis, and The Statue of Zeus aren’t what we thought they were. Join an adventure with angels and demons and discover the true purpose behind these ancient wonders.”

I like the line on Amazon that reads, ‘Fight evil with us,’ they said. ‘It will be fun, they said.’ That’s enough to get me tempted, and I have downloaded the Kindle version of the book, though the paperback is also on sale, and there’s an audio version as well. There are also over 40 reviews on Amazon, so you can take a look at the book page and read up on what other readers have said.

I reckon Jonathan and I share a similar sense of humour, even though his work is clearly fantasy and alt-universe material, and not at all similar to mine. I can tell we’re on the same wavelength from his author bio, part of which reads, ‘His hobbies include archery, mud runs, collecting the skulls of his enemies and baking cupcakes. He lives in Southern California with his wife and three pets where he stays highly caffeinated 24/7.’

If you like this book, then you might like to expand the series with the other three parts to the series:

Of Angels And Demons

Of Angels And Gods

Of Angels And Legends

By the way, if you find yourself following those links and come to Amazon.com, you will be able to redirect to your local Amazon to pace your order.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some Symi related thoughts and photos.

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Third out of 16 groups

That was the Symi placement in the European tournament where our under 12s and under 11s played at the weekend over in Camber Sands. I picked the news up from Facebook posts so don’t know all the details, but for those who read me here and don’t do FB, I thought I’d pass that on. On Monday, the boys were off to the Chelsea ground to have a look round (that will come as a surprise after our small pitch here on Symi) and then to see some other sights before starting the journey home. Not sure when they are back, but I bet there will be another big welcome like we saw when they won the local league a few weeks ago.

The local paper over there in Romney Marsh (*) have asked me to do another short piece about the event, from a Symi perspective, so I must get on with that in a moment; strike while the iron is hot and all that.

So, not a long post today as I also have some other things on the to-do list; lots of writing, which now includes a new ‘Miss P short.’ I’ve had this idea that I will try a few short stories featuring the protagonist from ‘Remotely’, the enigmatic Miss P. She has turned out to be one of my most endearing characters and so here’s the plan: I’ll start with one Miss P short story (around 10,000 words, so a decent length) where she does her ‘thing’, as she does in Remotely; and then make it available on Kindle for as cheap as they will let me. The idea is that it might drive people towards buying Remotely. The other drive is to give fans of Remotely (and I know who you both are) some more of Miss P without me having to construct another full novel. If the idea takes off and I can keep it going, I could then do, say, five or six shorts and eventually put them into one full collection. Just a thought. Will see how it goes.

If you’ve not read Remotely yet and fancy a gay/straight, body-swap, comedy that also takes the fun out of British dumb-down reality TV talent shows and the like, then you can find the Kindle and paperback versions here.

(*) For anyone who thought ‘over there in Romney Marsh’ is incorrect, I agree, it does sound wrong, but those who are born in the marsh say they are from ‘in’ Marsh and not ‘on’ the marsh. It should be ‘marshes’ anyway, as there are three of them. And if that tickles you, you should try reading ‘The Saddling.’ Gosh, I’m full on with book-selling today.

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