A Writer's Journal--On the Road to Istanbul

I've worked in the airline industry since late 1999. On March 25, I finally qualified for lifetime flight benefits, so I retired from the airlines and--before I begin new endeavors--I'm going to do some traveling. First to New York, then on to Istanbul.

I wouldn't be surprised if this adventure stirs new stories. Not only will I visit Istanbul, the heart of the Byzantine Empire, but I'll be traveling to the legendary site of the ancient city of Troy, the land Homer wrote about in the Iliad and the Odyssey. 

Troy

I'll also be visiting the ancient Roman City of Ephesus...

Artist's rendition of Ephesus

 where it's said the Virgin Mary died in this stone house that still stands there:

Mary's House

I can already feel the history, and I can't wait to see the caves in Cappadocia where early Christians lived, and where their frescoes still exist. 

Cappadocia

I hope to post photos and thoughts on my blog, but internet access may be limited. So here's a video of the tour I'm taking with Gate1 Travel.  

Shalom...happy Easter, Oester, Spring.

5 Stars for Rosy from Big Al's Books & Pals

The banter about Amazon's acquisition of Goodreads propelled me to that site this evening, and there I found a fabulous review for my recent release,Rosy: A Novel from Big Al of Big Al's Books and Pals. The review really made my day, especially since Al really "got" the importance of the music to the story. Every chapter is named (and linked) to a song from the 1970's--check out Rosy's Playlist on this blog to hear them all.

Anyway, thanks Al, for taking the time to read and review my book. You rock! 

Okay, I'm gonna brag now, and republish the review:

At its heart, Rosy is a tense tale of how one easy decision can set us down a path that is hard to reverse. Rosy is easy to like and I quickly became invested in seeing her meet and overcome the challenges she faced. It’s a great coming-of-age story with widespread appeal.

However, for this child of the seventies, the setting made this story even more enjoyable. Tyrpak captured the attitude and climate of the decade perfectly. A nice little touch were the chapter headings, each a song title or a snippet of lyric that summarized the chapter while evoking some musical nostalgia. As a music geek, a link to the song on Amazon made me happy, as 

I was able to quickly answer the question “who sung that” when I was stumped. Those who read the book on a suitable device should even be able to stop for a short musical interlude between chapters while listening to a sample of each song.

 Rating: ***** Five stars