The Ancients are not forgotten in Corinth

Dear Reader, the outside world seems to continue on its alarming road to self-destruction but, I have to admit, I've had an exciting and at times wonderful few months.  I managed to get both Books 1 and 2 published as e-books on Kindle in early May. Then the rest of May and most of June were spent in Greece with a complex agenda including a family wedding and visits to locations that come into An Ancient Connection. The former was deep in the Mani countryside, the latter around Corinth and the Peloponnese, some of which I have visited before and posted about.

As you may know, the ancient city of Corinth (Korinthos) was a short distance inland on its plain, linked to its two ports of Lechaion to the north on the Gulf of Corinth, and Kenchreai to the south on the Saronic Gulf, by a network of roads. It was much changed by the Romans. Its acropolis, Akrokorinthos, on the high, rocky hill further back from the coast, was always a strong natural fortress. It dominates the skyline and, throughout its history, often contained a small town within its walls. At its highest point, a famous temple to Aphrodite was built in 5th century BCE, now utterly ruined and almost invisible.                                                                                                            

View from the entrance gate to the fortress of Akrokorinthos.

Remains of the Temple to Aphrodite

Modern Corinth is on the sea a little to the east of ancient Lechaion. It has been badly damaged by earthquakes, particularly in the last couple of centuries and has been rebuilt many times. But the Ancients are not forgotten. Pegasus flies above the wide square between the pedestrian shopping area and the wharfs. Aphrodite patrols a broad street of cafes and eateries. Heracles rests after his labours in a seaside carpark. 

As for the actual book in which these places feature, I’m revising the text ready for readers to comment. 

I have also started to send out press releases and put posts on my social media platforms. I find I need to discipline myself to spending just one hour per working day on this. Longer, and the writing doesn't get done!

The paperbacks of Books 1 and 2 are now available for order from all good bookshops, while e-books and paperbacks are available from Amazon. However, at present, Amazon is selling-off very cheaply a previous print edition (The Boy in Two Heads as opposed to The Boy in Two Minds) with the old cover. Getting it withdrawn seems to be impossible, so a buyer who wants paperbacks that look like a set would do better to obtain them from elsewhere. There is no problem with Amazon’s e-books. 

But it's summer!! And with swathes of colourful flowers and wide clear views, friends to meet, and/or walks to take in the long evenings after a day at my desk, it's the very best time of year for me!

     

I hope it is for you, too, dear reader, however much we fear for the future in so many ways.

All photographs © Julia M Newsome unless otherwise credited.

Sunflowers and snowdrops

Further to my post just before Christmas, The Girl in Two Worlds - Time travel to Ancient Athens, came out on March 1st, 2022, 10 years to the day from the publication date of The Boy with Two Heads, as it was then titled, on February 29th, 2012. 

However, there was no fanfare, partly because the print version still seems to be unavailable from the usual outlets (it will probably take another week or two) and also because the e-book is not ready. But it was one step in my slow progress towards having both print and revised e-books on sale. I've made a start on the necessary text 'translations' of The Boy and The Girl into ePub files for the ebooks and yet another revision of Book 3 is in train.

The covers have been refined, though the Book 3 cover is still a draft. My thanks to Kate (design) and Fliss (art) for creating such gorgeous results!

     

My present blurb for the whole trilogy is this:

"The precarious connection between Themistokles, son of Kallistos of ancient Athens and Suzanne Short of Penrith in modern Cumbria UK, was the result of freak accidents. It seemed to begin and end in 432 BCE / 2010 CE when Suzanne experienced so much of Themistocles' visit to Olympia. But now, in 418 BCE / 2017 CE, the connection is back. Athens is threatened by Sparta from without and traitors from within. Suzanne, now a student and athlete at Lancaster University, is a fascinated by helpless witness as Themistokles tries to save his city and his family."

But now our own world of 2022 CE has convulsed again - far more violently in the last few weeks than it did with the first Covid-19 lockdown two years ago. Covid isolation was what brought me back to this project, but now I often find it impossible to concentrate on what seems to have become an inconsequential hobby. The horrors of Putin's invasion of non-aggressive Ukraine, and the uncertainty of where the resulting world-wide turmoil will lead, claim my (and most others', it seems) attention as often as I let them.

At present, of course, here in the UK, my life is not directly threatened. In 1944 my father's was, though. He was in southern China with his Red Cross unit, 'walking out' ahead of the Japanese invasion. He wrote in his journal of the need to keep to the usual routines and standards wherever possible, however chaotic things get. So that's what I'm trying to do, whether The Connection Trilogy turns out to be inconsequential or not. 

At least Spring has now arrived with energy and hope. The courage and determination of Ukraine's extraordinary president, Volodymyr Zalenskyy, and his kick-ass compatriots is infectious. They are our buffer against unthinkable destruction and casualties, and their resolve seems to be bringing together other previously, and possibly dangerously, divided nations. Thank you, Ukraine.

All photographs © Julia M Newsome unless otherwise credited