The novel I said such disparaging things about a few Blogs back is, believe it or not, right up there with the top ten in the best sellers list. It really is very strange. I think it is a case of, if people are told unequivocally that something is good, then it simply has to be good and they better believe it.
Have just finished going through the list of publishers (2008) in order to think of one to whom we should send “Enter Anthony”. Came up with sixteen possibles, all of whom I have no doubt will turn it down. It’s such a waste of heavy postage really if experience is anything to go by but you have to at least try. The publishers range from megalo – 400 or more books published in a year to minuscule – none: relying on Imprint. It is quite amazing how many of the hundreds of publishers listed specialise in “Academic and Scholarly”, “Biography & Autobiography”, “Religion and Theology”, and not a few now “Gay & Lesbian Studies”. Obviously the pink pound is still hale and hearty and brings in the readies.
A bit of a domestic Blog today. Our visitors, Stuart and Jenny, are back in the UK and I am pleased to say the weather for their stay could not have been better. This being Stuart’s first visit to Crete we had to take him to at least a couple of our favourite places we thought would be different to anything he had experienced and which we felt he would enjoy. Firstly for dinner up into the mountains, to Manousis and Marianne’s taverna, a sparse unadorned building (we used to call it a shack before they tarted it up a little). It consists of one long room and eating there is rather like having a meal in a friend’s house. Warm weather of course you can eat out on a terrace on the opposite side of the road. That is if you are willing to put up with all the tourist buses returning with walkers from the Samaria gorge. Marianne did us proud with pork in egg/lemon sauce, lamb, and beef, together with a Greek salad, and the local wine was excellent. Secondly we went to the wells for Sunday lunch. We call it the wells as it is a wooded area of waterfalls with a half a dozen tavernas situated below the ancient town of Lappa, now called Agriopoli, and is a great favourite with Greeks for Sunday lunch. All that’s left of Lappa are a few old stones and some Roman floors. You have to get to the wells early unless you’re prepared to park a mile away and be served at the busiest time. We always use the same restaurant where we are now well known as we so often take visitors there. Their two specialities are trout – choose your trout fresh – and souvlas, that is whole lamb cooked on the spit and served by the kilo. It certainly seemed that Stuart was greatly taken with both these establishments. Jenny of course had been before on previous visits. Then for the last night, we chose Peperies, another of our favourites where we are known. This is right on the edge of the beach at Kalyves so you look out to sea and Souda Bay from where you can watch the ferry putting out for Athens. You also look towards the Akrotiri where the airport is situated and normally during the course of an evening one would see at least half a dozen planes, if not more, flying in but this evening there was not a single one which goes to show I suppose how the recession is taking its toll on holiday making. Two planes did take off but even that was a low count as we are well into the season now.
Two Norwegian friends have gone against the trend and bought a 28 room hotel in Georgopoli and, at the last count, had not a single booking. I sincerely hope that situation changes and quickly because they have spent a great deal of money, not just in buying the place but in getting it ready for visitors.
Douglas and I have been through “Just In Case” yet again and hopefully got rid of all the typos etc. It should now go out in a couple of weeks.
Would you say that “pedantic” and “dry wit” go together? According to Stuart I have a dry wit but I am also pedantic. Strange all the various aspects of one’s character people come up with!