Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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In Egypt with Sax Rohmer

saxrohmer1Let’s kill two birds with a stone: today’s the birthday of Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, better known to the world at large by his pen name Sax Rohmer – the man who created the original Yellow Peril, Dr Fu Manchu.
A lower-class child that started a career as a civil servant before he turned to writing for a living and claimed to be part of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Rohmer would be 135 today.

His most famous creation, Dr Fu Manchu, first appeared in The Mystery of Dr Fu Manchu, as a serial, in 1912. Two other novels followed,and then the character went on hiatus for about fifteen years, only to return with The Daughter of Fu Manchu in 1928. Continue reading →


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St. Valentine’s Day Self-Present

Is there anything sadder than buying ourselves presents on St. Valentine’s Day?
Probably not, but what the heck, I’m living a solitary existence in the hills of Astigianistan, I’m just a poor boy, nobody loves me… might as well put down a few bucks and give myself a present.
After all, St. Valentine’s Day is the sort of celebration that can really get you depressed, with all your friends that post pictures of their significant others and offer compassionate support to you, usually with the effect of making you feel even more sad and lonely.

downloadSo I decided to throw myself a party, with chocolate and a good book – and the good book is the paperback edition of Emily Hahn’s No Hurry to Get Home, Hahn’s memoir of her adventures between Africa and China, that was published originally in 1970.
Amazon still carries the 2000 Seal Press edition – and now there’s also a new ebook version available via Open Road Media.

It’s a fitting choice, I think, for a self-Valentine: I love Emily Hahn, her style and her attitude and her adventures, and this memoir will be a fine addition to my collection.
I’ll take a day off, curl up under a blanket, eat chocolate and read about this wonderful woman.
It will be great.


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Singing Sweethearts Blogathon: The Merry Widow (1934)

Jeanette MacDonald -1937I’ve been invited to contribute to The Singing Sweethearts Blogathon, dedicated to the movies of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.
The blogathon was set up by Rebekah Brennan, co-founder of the Pure Entertainment Preservation Society blog, and you can point your browsers in that direction to check out the full list of participants and read a number of great articles on the movies of MacDonald & Eddy, both together and on their own.

And once you’re done, come back here, because we are about to take a waltz with The Merry Widow. Continue reading →


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Stories out of nowhere

One day I will have to find someone good with brains – a neuro-shrink or something – and try and get a final answer to the great question:

How come that when I am overloaded with work, with my hands aching for too much typing and half a dozen deadlines looming closer… how come that then, and just then, I get an idea for a new story and I end up spending one whole afternoon outlining it and looking for resources?

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Anyway, I’m in a mood for fantasy, and I’ve done just that – spent the best part of the day outlining an idea that might develop into a novella, and who knows what else. Continue reading →