Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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Up all night writing

And so I’ve been up all night, and for once not because of my insomnia.
I have been writing a lot, in the last weeks and months.
The Pro Se Thriller of the Week stories, AMARNA and its spin-offs, the revision of House of the Gods, various translations and a number of articles. Setting up my courses too, preparing the articles and the lesson notes. And as I think I mentioned once in the past, writing is the best job around as long as it does not feel like a job.
And the last weeks in particular, it was a job.
So yesterday afternoon, I opened a fresh Scrivener file, and started writing a story for the sheer fun of writing it.

pulp_writer

By the time I stopped to prepare dinner, I had one thousand good words. Continue reading →


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Ghosts from the East

nightbird coverLet’s leave Egypt behind for a while.
Last week my friend Lucy published her new novel, the first with Acheron Books. It’s called Nightbird and it’s a ghost story1.
So we had the opportunity of talking a lot about ghost stories, and our favorite novels, movies and what not. It was fun. It also turned out that Lucy would love to write a vampire novel, while I’d love to write a few ghost stories. And as we talked about books, I realized that while I love Peter Straub’s Ghost Story or James Herbert’s David Ash books, what I really like is ghostly short stories. The sort you can read in one sitting, and be scared and entertained.
And so I started compiling a list of my favorite collections of ghost stories. Continue reading →


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The Breakfast Club in the Jungle

Two nights ago I was so desperate I watched Jumanji – Welcome to the Jungle.
Now, first things first: I don’t like to original Jumanji.
OK, Robin Williams, great special effects, fun premise and all that but I guess I was too old when it first came out.
When the new movie came out, I saw the usual hue and cry on Facebook, people tearing their hair off because someone was killing their childhood, and other people complaining about the female lead’s costume.

jumanji-welcome-to-the-jungle-trailer-reaction-video-cinemacon-2017-social

Business as usual on Facebook1.

So, what’s this thing I’m talking about? Continue reading →


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Join the mailing list

First-time visitors to Karavansara get a big fat popup inviting them to join our mailing list. Now there is also a big fat button on the sidebar, that looks just like the one below.

mailing-list-button

And so, if you have not signed up yet, why not give it a try?
The Karavansara Mailing List is low-traffic, non-intrusive, and bring news of my new projects, my books and my promotions.
And to further bribe you, subscribers to my mailing list get a free, exclusive ebook.

Click the button.
You’ll like it.


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AMARNA on Amazon

Amarna preview smallMore oompa-loopa shenanigans: last night, Amazon informed me that the first episode of AMARNA is now live.
And what about the disappearance of my files and the long silence afterwards?
Nothing – this will remain a mystery forever.
And it’s somewhat fitting, don’t you think?

But let’s look at the bright side: AMARNA is available on Amazon, too.
More choice for my readers, hopefully more sales.
Everyone’s happy.
Possibly Jeff Bezos’ oompa-loompa’s too.