Synagogues without Jews – Trnava

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Originally posted on Not a migrant:
I was not planning a visit but an accidental stop-over on the way to spa Town…

Award Ceremony for Short Story and Drawing Competition

AFRICAN AUGUST – Uganda, Dog shelters and THE ART OF WAAR

I was asked to clarify the situation about my latest work-in-progress, so here is the blurb, followed by explanations about the project and the release:

African August

When Timothy, a budding author, puts his lucrative banking career on hold for the chance to go on the adventure of a lifetime in Africa, he gets far more than even he had bargained for. He teams up with a host of intriguing characters, from gay air stewards to beautiful, adventure-seeking women on his journey to self-fulfillment and self-discovery.

Risking his life negotiating white-water rapids and encountering some unanticipated jungle dangers, Timothy has his eyes opened to harsh realities, worlds away from the cossetted life he’d been living back in London. Soon, he and his companions find themselves caught up in deadly civil unrest. 

This is a tale of love, loss and growing up on a continent where the political situation is even more volatile than the weather, and where adventure and tragedy are only a heartbeat away. The wind can change very quickly in an African August…

The novel is an adventure story, a part thriller, part drop-out fantasy and is also very close to my heart. I wrote it in 2011 while still working for an airline, using a lot of my travel experiences in Africa.

The book is a step into yet another genre and I had not planned on releasing it for that reason. It’s hard enough to keep a foot in two and a half ‘markets’ as it is.
But then I was approached by the wonderful Wanda Hartzenberg about an e-book charity box set in aid of the Santa Paula No Kill Animal Rescue Center in California http://www.santapaulaarc.org/

You all know how much I love dogs and the box set will include work by the amazing Nathan Squiers, DeAnn Townes, Gillian Joy , Aaron Paul Lazar, Uvi Poznansky, Ted Krever, Duncan McGonall and Robert Warr.
Some of these writers I’ve already worked with and I feel honoured to be included and to be able to contribute to this worthy cause. The project requires a lot of coordination, so we’re still waiting for a release date.

Since the box set isn’t scheduled to be released as paperback at all, I will now release the paperback version separately and launch it at the Llandeilo Lit Fest.

Saturday 29th of April at 3pm at the Fountain Fine Art Gallery
  Admission is Free – Book launch and reading from “African August” by Llandeilo resident author Christoph Fischer

All proceeds of the paperback will go to M-Lisada Org Kampala, a charity supporting former street children in Kampala, Uganda. https://mlisada.org

UGANDA

Uganda is located in northeast Africa and was once called the Pearl of Africa. It is known for its lakes and mountainous landscapes, tea plantations, healthy populations of most wild beasts, as well as a large group of endangered silverback mountain gorillas. 

But Kampala, the largest city in Uganda, presents another picture. Wars, AIDS, terrorists, a high birth rate, corrupt government, and unplanned urbanization have all contributed to the collapse of the country’s covenant with its children.

Out of a total population of 40 million people in Uganda, more than 7 million are orphans and vulnerable children. Many of these abandoned, homeless, sick, war-ravaged, addicted, hungry, terrified children come from their villages to Kampala, hoping to find work or relief from the deplorable conditions they’ve left behind. But soon the harsh realities become clear, as very young children, left to their resources, have to forage for food and keep themselves safe from drugs, disease, and predators. 

M-Lisada’s mission is to reduce the number of children living on the streets in Uganda, by providing them with a home, an education, and protection.

M-Lisada strives to restore dignity and self-confidence through the teaching of life skills, music, and the arts, thereby improving the lives of vulnerable children, and their chances for the future. 

On my travels around the globe I was never quite as deeply touched as I was when visiting an orphanage in Uganda. 

Closing Ceremony in the Civic Hall with the Llandeilo Town Band

Sesiwn Stori i blant yn siop Igam Ogam

#LlandeiloLitFest featured in the CRA Newsletter and on Literature Wales website

The Crime Writer’s Association has honoured the Llandeilo Lit Fest with a feature in its newsletters, and you can also find information about the festival at the Literature Wales website http://www.literaturewales.org/lw-event/gwyl-llen-llandeilo-2017/
Meanwhile, the programme booklets have become available and bookings are taking off. Remember some of our venues are small, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Tickets are available now via the website and https://www.eventbrite.com/

	March 2017

Hwyl Llandeilo LitFest – 27-30 April The Hwyl Llandeilo LitFest boasts a terrific programme, set in different venues in Llandeilo, a lovely setting in rural Carmarthenshire. CWA members include Sherlockian expert David Stuart Davies, with his ‘The Game’s Afoot,’ Rob Gittins and also Sally Spedding on the Welsh Noir panel. Other authors include Jasper Fforde, Niall Griffiths and many, many more, amongst historians, poets, performers, together with events and competitions for children. Not to be missed! https://llandeilolitfest.org llandeilolitfest@mail.com

Llandeilo Lit Fest 2017

The festival is a four day programme of literary events running from 27-30 April. During the festival readings, discussions, workshops and literary talks will take place across Llandeilo: The Angel Inn, the Horeb Chapel of the Cawdor Hotel, Eve’s Toy Shop, the Fountain Fine Art Gallery, Igam Ogam and the Civic Hall.

A book / treasure hunt through town will take place on Saturday. There are children’s drawing and writing competitions and a two day book fair in the Civic Hall, Sat and Sun, 11am-4pm.

Tickets are available now via the website and https://www.eventbrite.com/

Find their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/LlandeiloLitFest/ and their website here: https://llandeilolitfest.org/programme-details/

@LlandeiloLitFest

Confirmed artists:

Jasper Fforde, Fflur Dafydd , Aneirin Karadog, DT Davies, Jo Mazelis, Lisa Fearn, Phil Carradice, David Ebsworth, David Stuart Davies, Kate Glanville, Sion Tomos Owen, Jen Jones, Jodi Taylor, Alun Gibbard, Alun Wyn Bevan, Neill Griffiths, Karla Brading, Christoph Fischer, Philippa Davis, Wendy White, Dr D Huw Owen, Dafydd Wyn, Pete Akinwunmi, Graham Watkins, Dominic Williams, Will MacMillan Jones, Anthony Jones, Eloise Williams, Phil Cope, Julian Dutton, Marc Mordey, Mel Perry, Fiddlebox, Tim ap Hywel, Sally Spedding, Judith Barrow, Thorne Moore, Cheryl Reese-Price, Sarah Reynolds, Alys Einion, Jean Gill, JA Corrigna, David Evans, Kate Murray, Angela Fish.

Poetry Reading with Dominic Williams and Anthony Jones

Ash: A modern folk tale.

willmacmillanjones

As a few of you may recall, I’ve a gig at the Llandeilo Literary Festival on 29 April. So yes, I am preparing some new material that might be suitable, and here as a taster is something that I might perform as part of the set. Or maybe not, if the mood takes me, we artists are capricious people, are we not?

Anyway, here it is.

There was a widow with two pretty and sweet tempered daughters in their late teens (we will skip over the obvious logical impossibility) who remarried. Her new husband was a duke, also a widower, who was in possession of a large fortune and a daughter in her early teenage years who was called Ash. Actually she possessed a long and rather beautiful and exotic African Tribal name, granted to her at birth by her father who at the time was off his face on…

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Mystery Mondays Review: “Murder at the Star” by Steve Adams

I’ve become aware of Steve Adams while scouting talent for the Llandeilo LitFest in April. Although it didn’t work out for Steve to be part of this year’s festival, I have to share my thoughts on his amazing book.

If you’re a fan of “The Suspicions of Mr Whicher” (like I am) then you will no doubt love this one. In the tradition of a post-morten examination of a clsoed case it examines an intriguing, yet unsolved murder case in Carmarthenshire, in the 1920s. For us in Llandeilo this is particularly interesting as we’re not far from the scene of the crime. The local flavour works for residents, but also for those who know Carmarthenshire.
The author’s background as journalist comes in handy, making for a very smooth and compelling reading of the case and court details. Giving enough detail and facts but knowing where to summarise to not lose the reader.

Before I continue, here is the blurb:
“The murder of God-fearing, bible-quoting, partially deaf Thomas Thomas at the branch of Star Stores he managed in Garnant, South Wales has remained an unsolved mystery since it happened in 1921. His body was found on the morning of Sunday February 13th, his head smashed, his throat cut and with a stab wound to the stomach, any of which could have killed him. Over £126 was missing from the store safe, yet there were oddities about the attack which suggested this was more than a robbery that went tragically wrong: Thomas had been gagged with cheese, and there was no tear in his trousers, shirt and waistcoat above the stab wound. What circumstances could explain these things? Garnant was in shock, and Scotland Yard arrived in the form of DI George Nicholls. A number of suspects were identified but none seemed to have the telling combination of motive and opportunity. Despite the expertise of Nicholls the case was eventually abandoned and the killer’s secret died with him. Until now. In classic cold case fashion journalist Steve Adams’s extensive researches have finally identified the killer, who is revealed at the end of the book, after a thorough reconstruction of the murder and the subsequent investigation. This is the story of a terrible crime in an almost archetypal Welsh mining town. It was a crime symbolic of a turning point in early twentieth century Wales, as the coal industry declined and its recently assembled townships came to terms with their uncertain futures and sought new identities”

As is often the case with criminal investigations, some important information can only be obtained or comes out after the trial, which is the big selling point of this book to me.
Despite this being non-fiction, there is a marvellous sense of suspense and mystery permeating the book. Even though we follow the court proceedings with the eyes of someone with a distance, there is an intimacy with the case that is very skillfully done. Accurate research and thought-through presentation thereof guide the reader through the complex case and its many flaws and uneven parts. You can often see things clearer in hindsight, and that is what the book benefits from.

Unlike many other books in the sub-genre, this one feeds only relevant information, not overloading us with showy details of research that intends to reassure us that all is as written. With Steve Adams, you never doubt that. This is a great writer with a top story that also manages to give an authentic feel of time and place, making it an important piece of history and heritage writing also. Highly recommended.

Get the book at Seren https://www.serenbooks.com/productdisplay/murder-star-who-killed-thomas-thomas 

 

 

Welsh Legends and Myths for Children – Reading by Graham Watkins