OPAL Writers Magazine Features Me and SHADOW OF THE LION.

I've been busy doing readings, including one in Victoria at the public library, and more to come in November at the Vancouver Public Library reading series for authors.

 I also appeared on a panel for CARPediem (Zoomer Magazine) Joy TV, discussing staycations for senior travelers.

  But the BIG thrill this month is being featured in OPAL WRITERS MAGAZINE.
 

Available For Downloading

PDF: https://www.opalpublishing.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OWM-NOVEMBER-SV.pdf

I am grateful for this opportunity to publicize my two-volume novel SHADOW OF THE LION
Its seems as if lately my stars are aligning and I am looking forward to more events in the future.

THREE CONTRACTS IN THREE YEARS!

I'm feeling very proud of my writing accomplishments these days. I've just signed about contract which means it's the third one in three years!  This is a contract for an ebook about the Greek Islands, to be published by Hunter Publishing,US. I'm really looking forward to the adventures this is going to lead me on. I've already visited 25 of the hundreds of Greek Islands, and written many stories about these visits. But there are several, namely Crete and Thassos, that I'd like to revisit and also several I'd like to visit for the first time. So it looks like my next trip to Greece will be Island Hopping.  Should be great fun! Like ATHENS AND BEYOND it will not only contain tourist information but stories about the various islands that I have visited.

Signing the contract for the Greek Island e-book, December 2015

A few months ago my second e-book was published,  ATHENS AND BEYOND published on KINDLE, Amazon by Hunter Publisher. I signed the contract for that one December 2014. It is available following this link:  http://www.amazon.com/Athens-Beyond-W-Ruth-Kozak-ebook/dp/B017PKSQZ8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450742135&sr=8-2&keywords=ATHENS+AND+BEYOND

I had fun doing this book too. Of course I have lived in Athens and travel there almost every year so I already had a lot of background stories about the city and surrounding areas. The ebook contains not only tourist information but stories about various places I have visited in the city or for daytrips.

Signing the contract for ATHENS AND BEYOND, December 2014

My first and biggest book signing agreement was in August 2013 when I signed the contract for my two-part novel SHADOW OF THE LION.  Because of the novel's length the published MediaAria-CDM from Bristol England, chose to divide it into two book. So in fact, I was signing a two-book contract.  

The first edition was out in July 2014  SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON and the second volume will be produced in 2016 SHADOW OF THE LION: THE FIELDS OF HADES

This is a historical fiction novel based on a historical time-line that is about the fall of Alexander the Great's dynasty. I did a lot of traveling in Greece and Asia Minor while researching this book and it took a long time to write it with the help of the Greek Ministry of Culture and many academics and archaeological Institutes in Greece.

Signing the contract for SHADOW OF THE LION, August 2013

Available on Amazon or at high street book stores, Barnes & Noble, Chapters, etc. 

So I'd say as we enter 2016 I've gathered a pretty good track record. Meantime I've got another historical novel on the go and hopefully will have it finished before long. Who knows, maybe I'll have another book contract to sign in 2016?

SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON IS LAUNCHED!

After a fifteen year journey SHADOW OF THE LION is finally launched into the world.  The first volume of two, SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON was introduced at a very successful book launch sponsored by the Greek Consul at Vancouver's Hellenic Community Centre on January 14,2015.  I couldn't have even dreamed of the reception I got, with a packed house, standing-room-only crowd of fans and supporters.

Mr. Ilias Kremmydas, the Greek Consul spoke highly of the book. He calls it "Greek's answer to Game of Thrones, only it's a true story!"  I have to thank the Greek community, especially the Consulate, for all the support they have given me going back to 1993 when they sent me to Greece to do research.

Mr. Ilias Kremmydas, Consul of Greece 

Here is the opening speech I made, thanking them and to my friends who have supported me and participated in this wonderful event:

THANKS TO MR KREMMYDAS FOR SPONSORING THIS EVENT & THANKS ELENI KERASIOTIS AND THE STAFF OF THE HELLENIC COMMUNITY CENTRE. A WELCOME TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO THE LAUNCH.

MY APPRECIATION TO THE GREEKS WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ME IN THE WRITING OF ‘SHADOW OF THE LION’.

My relationship with the Consulate of Greece began in February 1991 after a letter I had written to the Vancouver Sun was published defending the Greek’s Macedonian history. The consulate sent me a book about Macedonia as a way of thanks. Following the letter, a story I wrote, “Macedonia, Greece: The Spirit of Alexander” was published in the Vancouver Province.  This story further piqued the interest of the Greek Consul, Helen Sourani-Potamianos, and she invited me for coffee. During this meeting she expressed thanks that a non-Greek person should support the Greek cause reading the Macedonian question. She was a Greek Macedonian herself and appreciated that I would support this through my writing. I explained that I had studied this history since I was a teen-ager and was just beginning to research and write my novel SHADOW OF THE LION. I had also lived in Greece from 1983 – 87 and had intended to return to Greece when the first Gulf War broke out.  Mrs Sourani-Potamionos suggested that the Consulate would help me return to Greece so I could do further research and she arranged this with the Director for Canada of the Greek National Tourism.

Once I arrived back in Athens, a Greek journalist friend got me an appointment with the Ministry of Culture and in turn, they arranged for me to go to Thessaloniki to meet with the Society of Macedonian Studies. I had an interview with Dr. Prof. Theresa Peutzopoulou who was the secretary at the time and she also arranged for me to meet with a professor from the Aristotle University regarding the history surrounding Alexander the Great. However, he was unavailable, but kindly sent me a bibliography list of book I could use for research.

For most of the ‘90’s I lived in Greece for six months at a time doing research with the help of various Classical scholars, the Finnish Institute who arranged for me to have a museum pass, the Norwegian Institute and the British School library and Gennadius Library where I did some research.

Through the years I’ve kept in touch with the Consulate here in Vancouver to inform them of the progress of the novel, finally its completion and acceptance by MediaAria-CDM publishers. When Mr. Kremmydas received my letter he immediately contacted me and suggested that we meet.  He has taken a genuine interest in my work, both the novel and travel writing about Greece and links have been posted on the Facebook page of Greece in Canada. I have even been invited, if possible, to do some readings back East while the current exhibit “From Agamemmnon to Alexander the Great” is on display.

I have always appreciated the help, encouragement and enthusiastic response for my writing that the Greek people have shown and the generosity of the Greek Consulate in helping me forward my dream, assisting with my research and promoting my novel.

When I was in Greece this past September I was invited to read from SHADOW at the Athens Centre and they provided a reception in the courtyard. I was also invited to Larissa to present my book at a conference for World Poetry, and when I returned to Vancouver, the World Poetry organization here awarded me with an ‘empowered writer’ award.  I also read to two classes of grade 9 students at the Athens Community College. The Greek people have warmly welcomed me to their country which I consider my ‘second home’ and for this I am grateful. Thank you, Greece. This book is for you!

THANKS TO MY SUPPORTERS: 

To my 2 children, Alexandrea Evans and Steven Kozak to whom the book is dedicated and my late friend Roberto Hallberg who was such a great support while I was writing and researching in Athens.

To my Scribblers Writers Critique group some of whom, like my friend Susan Lundhal who spoke on my behalf tonight, were with me from the beginning of this 15 yr journey

To my Critique readers:  Ingrid Klassen and Renate Ford who meticulously plowed through the whole 1700 page of the original manuscript and helped me see where I could correct and cut.

To my editor, Joyce Gram, who is the best editor in the Lower Mainland and whose excellent skills were noted by my publisher, MediaAria-CDM of Bristol England to whom I am also so grateful. When the publisher first read the novel he fell in love with it, being a huge fan of Mary Renault. Because it was such a long novel he suggested we split it into two parts. Blood on the Moon is the first part of the story and the second half, The Fields of Hades will be published in 2016. You will also note in the book my acknowledgments to writers Steven Pressfield, Scott Oden and Dr. Jack Dempsey who were my mentors.

Thanks also to my friend, and talented artist PATRICK MCFARLANE who worked diligently on the artwork which unfortunately wasn’t used to its advantage other than the back cover, much to his and my disappointment.

Thanks to my brother-in-law JIM NIELSEN who kindly offered to be my publicist.  And my writer friends MARI KANE who agreed to handle the slide show for me, and DIANNE MAGUIRE for her introduction. And PETER PRONTZOS who generously offered to write a review on SHADOW for the Vancouver Sun and participate in this launch.

And thanks to all the writing community including our guest reader, award-winning poet MANOLIS ALIGIZAKIS. I had the privilege of attending a book launch for Manolis in Thessaloniki last September.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR COMING TO THIS EXCITING EVENT.

My son Steve Kozak and me 

When I was in Greece last September, I purchased a Grecian style gown to wear for this important occasion. I also bought some gold Greek patterned earrings to go with the expensive Macedonian style gold necklace that I had bought previously. My hair stylist, Jackie Love, even did my hair for me (free!) that day.  So I really felt like a kind of 'celebrity' and especially with the grand reception I got and the lineup of people later wanting to buy a signed copy of my book. (I could have sold three times as many as I had on hand!)

So now the launch is over, I am busy promoting the book, lining up book readings and other events. It required dedication to get it all done but it's worth every minute of my time!  I can't express how happy I am about the book finally getting published, and I look forward to volume two THE FIELDS OF HADES which will come out in 2016.  Then we get to do this all over again!

2014: An Amazing Year of Accomplishment!

 

Signing the contract for the Athens Guide e-book

 



Here we are at the end of the year and on the brink of new opportunities.  2014 has opened new doors for me and I know, as I enter the New Year that the way is cleared for me to follow. It’s going to be even more exciting than this year has been.

It all started last February when I received an unusual phone call from Montreal offering me a trip to Egypt (which at first I thought was a scam). It was true, though. I was offered a trip to Egypt by Egyptian tourism to write favorable travel stories.  None of it seemed ‘real’ right through until mid March when the dream trip came true and I found myself sailing down the Nile, crossing the Sahara, lounging by the Red Sea,  visiting the amazing pyramids of Giza and finally, a specially arranged trip to Alexandria.

Visiting the Temple of Hatshepsut



Me and Alexander at Alexandria

You can read my Egypt blogs here: http://travelthroughhistory.blogspot.com

I was barely catching my breath from that amazing adventure when, in August, my novel SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON was published. Wow! It had been a long, 15 year journey to finally see it in print. (Second volume comes out in 2016). And the incredible thing was, it came out at the same time the archaeologists in Greece announced the discovery of the huge tomb in Amphipolis, which happens to be the setting in part of my story. I was so excited to get my book that a friend drove me down to the States to pick up one she had ordered at Pt. Roberts. What an exciting day that was!

 

 

 The book has arrived!



My book, SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON!

 



By the end of August I set off for England and Wales, first to visit my relatives in Caerphilly and then to attend the Historical Novel Writer’s Conference in London. While at the conference, who should I run into but Margaret George, one of the famous historical writers who I had spoken to a couple of years ago at the Surrey International Writer’s Conference. At that time she had told me not to worry about the length of my novel, just to keep writing it. (Her books are at least 1000 pgs long!). So imagine how surprised she was when I spoke to her again and told her I ended up with a two-book contract because my book was too long. She was very pleased and we had a nice chat about our writing. (She said she is now being asked to keep her current work in progress down to 400 pages!)

 

The statue of Alexander in Thessaloniki

 

Relaxing on the beach at Asprovalta

 



After my stay in London I headed for Greece. First I headed up north to Thessaloniki to attend local poet/friend’s book launch (Manolis Aligazakis is a Greek/Can award winning poet and will be reading at my book launch in January). I spent a couple of days exploring Thessaloniki and then headed for a few days by the beach at Asprovalta. My purpose for going there was, it was close to Amphipolis and i wanted to see if I could visit the tomb. So I took a taxi and the driver showed me all around. I’d been there twice before but this time I was shown more archaeological sites including a distant view of the famed tomb. 

Distant view of the tomb, Amphipolis

Back in Athens I was warmly received by my friends as well as some of the Greek people who had heard about my book (thanks to my friends who had done some promo work for me!) So I was invited to do a reading at the Athens Centre which included a nice reception in the courtyard. A good crowd attended including people from the Canadian Archaeological Society.

 

At the Athens Centre.



After that I went up to Larissa where I had been invited to present my book at a World Poetry Peace Conference. That was another special event thanks to Ariadne Sawyer who had introduced me to Chryssa Velissariou who heads World Poetry in Greece.

 

Young musicians perform at Larissa World Poetry Peace Conference'

 



Then it was time for some leisure, although I had work to do for the Athens Guide e-book that I was working on so I spent a lot of time checking out new places around Athens including some nice restaurants and wine bars. Meanwhile also doing more book promo, going with my friend Dina to the New Acropolis Museum library, Finnish Institute and checking out other places that might be interested in my book.  My  hostess at the Villa Olympia (Carole) kindly purchased 10 books so there were some available to friends in Athens who wanted to purchase one.

My Friends in Athens

Dina and her family, the two Andreases and young A's girlfriend.



Zoe and me

Carola, Chris and Kim

 

The whole gang at To Kati Allo

 

 While in Greece I visited a few days on the island of Salamina (where the famous Battle of Salamis took place in the 5^th century BC between the Greek and Persian navy). Christina and I went explore to find some of the archaeological sites and one of the big thrills was coming upon a ‘dig’ and talking in length to the archaeologist who was very interested in hearing about my book.

 

Christina and me

The archaeology site, unearthing a memorial to Ajax.

Thanks to my friend Zoe, I was put in touch with the principal of the American Community School in Athens and he was happy to arrange a reading for me with the students. So I did two readings at the school for two double-sized Grade 9 kids who were very receptive and appreciative.

The students gave me a beautiful silk scarf

 



I returned to Canada in October after a few days stop in Germany to see my friend Patrick.  He arranged with his friends for us to go on a tour of the Rhine castles and we also went to the city of Worms so I could gather more travel story material.

Patrick, Juergen and me

Since returning I have done a couple of book readings thanks to my writer friend Eileen Kernaghan (we shared readings) and have made other contacts including that of the Consul of Greece, Ilias Kremmydas, who will sponsor my book launch in January.

After I returned I was also awarded an ‘inspired writer’s’ award from the World Poetry – a mini gold Oscar. That was another cause for celebration! And in December I was invited back on Ariadne Sawyer’s World Poetry radio show for another interview. (That was the second time this year!)

At the awards.

On the Air

My three morning classes “Write from the Heart” went well this past term and will begin again in January as well as (hopefully) a couple of night-school classes thru Langara. I am also doing one-on-one writing coaching and plan to do a travel writing workshop at home. And, I was just offered a job editing a non-fiction manuscript. So I enter the New Year with a lot of interesting things to look forward to.

This year I published 22 travel articles. Got my book published (volume one). Was elected president of the BC Assoc. of Travel Writers. I joined the Canadian Author’s Assoc. and was accepted as a ‘professional’ writer. ( I will soon join the Writers Union of Canada too. ) Finished the Athens Guide e-book for Hunter Publishing US and I look forward to lots more writing in 2015. Mainly I want to finish my current work-in-progress “Dragons in the Sky”.

You can order my book on Amazon.com or ask at your local bookstores

What I’m looking forward to most now is my official book launch on January 14 at the Hellenic Community Centre, sponsored by the Greek Consul. This is such an honour for me and very exciting!

Everyone is invited: 7 pm at the Hellenic Community Centre 4500 Arbutus behind the Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

Here’s to 2015!  The doors are opening wide! Let’s hope it’s another year of great opportunities and success!

POETRY & PUBLICATIONS

I have been totally immersed in the poetry world the past weekends.  Two weeks ago I went to the book launch for this poetry anthology "Sudden Thunder" which has 3 of my poems in it,  all thanks to Candice James who is the poet laureate of New Westminster BC.  She and her partner published this anthology.  It was quite a thrill to read from it, then sit and sign autographs with some of the other poets whose words were published in the book. 

Reading at Hyack Square, New Westminster BC

The following weekend I was invited to read poetry at Hyack Square in New Westminster for the annual Culture Crawl.  Again, this event was organized by Candice who has become my poet mentor.
This weekend I am one of the feature readers at Poetic Justice in NW and will read from the collection I am preparing for eventual publication,  "Songs for Erato" (Tragoudia yia Erato) - poems written in or about Greece.  Thanks to all this inspiration and encouragement I even wrote a new (long) poem for the collection this week, prompted by one line in a Yannis Ritsos poem.

Til now I've not taken my poetry that seriously although I've been writing it on occasions for some years.  I have the collection "Hymns for Gods and Heroes" which was a challenge by a Greek/American friend to write a collection with an Alexander theme some years ago. It was read with accompanying flute music with two voices, a long time ago at a writer's event in Burnaby.  And my old novel (which I am reviving now that Shadow is finished) has some chapters written in Bardic verse. (Amazing how I did that!)

So here I am - the poet who didn't know it!  And it's become a fun diversion while I prepare final edits on my novel.

Meanwhile, I am writing up a storm with travel stories and getting a lot of new ones published either in EuropeUpClose, two accepted by Off Beat Travel and two more for Senior Living in early 2012.  Also attempting to catch up with blogs and regain my readership here.  It's been a very productive summer!