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!

SOME EXCITING NEWS ABOUT 'SHADOW OF THE LION'

 

Yesterday I got a wonderful surprise when my publisher MediaAria-CDM posted an announcement on Facebook about the forthcoming publication of my novel 'SHADOW OF THE LION'.  It is due to be published this year in two parts. The first part subtitled 'BLOOD ON THE MOON' will be released in August 2014.  The second part subtitled 'THE FIELDS OF HADES' will be out in 2016.

They have sent the promotional information to their publicists and you can view it on the links below. You can also link to the blog I have for SHADOW on which I am posting various stories about the research, the characters and other interesting aspects of the novel
http://shadowofthelion.com

As well, you can download the publisher's ezine and see an article I wrote for them about how I  became inspired and researched the book.

 

SHADOW OF THE LION - W. Ruth Kozak’s forthcoming debut historical novel, SHADOW OF THE LION, is due out this SUMMER 2014 and MEDIAARIA CDM are very pleased to announce that this epic work will be released in two parts. To read the Press Release and learn more, visit: https://www.prbuzz.com/books-publishing-literature/197472-shadow-of-the-lion-books-i-and-ii-titles-announced.html.

 

 

In addition, someone posted a very interesting article about how an archaeologist is investigating the cause of Alexander's death and attributes it to having been a poisonous plant added to his wine. This is exactly the theory I have pursued in the novel - that a potion was made of a poison plant and added to his wine while he was on a binge. His enemy, Kassandros, is allegedly suspected of doing this.

I found this fascinating and it also adds to the interest of the novel.

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11184474

 

I'll be posting more information on the progress of the publishing as the months go by. This is a very exciting time for me and I want to share every moment with you, my faithful blog followers.

 

PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE, AND UNWAVERING TRUST

"There is nothing impossible for him who will try!"  These are words written on a card a friend gave me when I had my wrap party to celebrate completion of my manuscript of SHADOW OF THE LION.  Of course there was more work ahead. And for the next year my mantra was "Epimoni (persistence)" and "Ipomoni - patience" .  The final editing took a good six months, and then came the months of sending out queries and playing the waiting game. But I trusted. I had Alexander on my side and he never lost a battle!  In fact, on my tack-board I had this: ALEXANDER IS THE BEACON, THE LIGHT THROUGH WHICH I SHALL ACHIEVE SUCCESS. So I have to say "Thank you, Alexander. Evharisto poli. Because you have been with me for the long years of research and writing, stopping and starting again, writing pages and pages of your story. Twenty years in all. And I never gave up. So now, it's just a matter of time until SHADOW OF THE LION will finally make its debut into the literary world. And I feel sure it will be a success.

Here's my advice to novel writers. Don't give up. Be patient, persistent and have unwavering trust that you will get the book written and it will be published.

Contract signing day!

 

Meanwhile, DRAGONS IN THE SKY lies languishing on my table. I haven't done any new writing on it since before my vacation, although I did sit down the other day and sort out some time-lines.

 

This novel also has a long history. I actually began it back in the early 80's, typing on a manual typewriter as this Celtic girl, Olwen, began to tell me her story. I worked on it on-and-off, even during the time I went to live in Greece from 1983. However I got jumbled up with it, because a writer teacher I had at the time insisted I should be writing it in third person. So I kept switching back and forth and it simply didn't work. And also, some of the critiques I was getting for it from a group I belonged to were not that encouraging. So I shelved it.



 After SHADOW OF THE LION was finished and I had started pitching it to agents and publishers, I got a good bit of advice from writer Steven Pressfield. "Start working on something new."  So I took out my old manuscript of Dragons, and started to retype it into the computer. As I typed and the voice came back to me I realized that all along this was meant to be a first person narrative. It is almost like a past-life regression story and I think the roots of it were when long ago people started asking me how I knew so much about Greece and the people. (I had written an Alexander themed novel in my last year of high school). And in 1979 when I first visited Greece I had so many deja vus experiences I really began to believe I HAD been there before. Olwen's voice came loud and clear, telling me her story, how she had been brought up by the Druids, trained to be a healer and was an acolyte priestess, and after a great tragedy descended on her village was kidnapped by a renegade chieftain, taken across the Narrow Sea and across the Celtic lands as far as Macedonia where she is rescued by a young hunter (Alexander). 

When I did the time-lines yesterday I realize that I am about half done this first draft and so far whenever I workshop it my writing group (The Scribblers) loves it.  Some of the chapters are written as bardic verse, the rest in a lyrical prose style. Well, I think that just by writing this blog I have 'unstuck' myself from the writer's block that has plagued me lately. So look for most postings soon about Olwen and her adventures.

A DREAM COME TRUE: PRELIMINARY PUBLICITY

I was thrilled this morning to receive an email from my publisher with a link to a bio page for their website and another link to a page promoting my novel SHADOW OF THE LION.

https://www.prbuzz.com/books-publishing-literature/154822-introducing-w-ruth-kozak-s-epic-historical-novel-shadow-of-the-lion.html.

Alexander's Funeral Carriage

Things happen so fast!  And my dream really IS coming true. Now I am planning all the preliminary publicity I can do myself, plus what I'll do once the book is on the market next August 2014.
Already I have a list of possible sources for book readings and for sure I will ask the Hellenic Community Centre if I can do my book launch there.

Three people have already offered to write book reviews for me. One is my writer friend Dr. John (Jack) Dempsey, another is another Greek/Canadian friend who teaches at a local college, and the third is a new facebook friend introduced to me by my other writer friend Scott Oden.  I am so appreciative of all this help and advance support.

I've been sent a questionnaire to fill out where I will outline what I plan to do for my own publicity campaign and I've already got lots of ideas.  Another published writer who is having a book out around the same time mine is scheduled has asked if I'd like to do joint book readings with her. This is another huge boost as she is a well known local writer.

So for now I am sailing on a silver cloud of euphoria, hardly believing all this is happening so quickly. And I know Alexander has been right there all along. So I'm certain this will all be a huge success!

 Alexander wearing his lion helmet

Painting: Roxana and Alexander IV (Iskander) with the court secretary, Eumenes.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

It's all official now. The co-signed contract has been returned to me and a few instructions including a Getting Started as A Hybrid Author document.  Pretty soon I'll get a questionnaire to fill out and will send it and photos of myself to be used on the Media Aria-CDM publishers pages.  I am impressed on how they try to promote their writers. Of course, the writer has to promote themselves too. So you can expect more blogs on the subject of SHADOW OF THE LION.

I'm so excited now as it has all become a reality. So remember this, you novice writers, DON'T GIVE UP. Keep on writing, marketing, and sending out queries. Because one day, like me, you'll  hit "BINGO" and you'll find yourself a published writer.  (And what's good about this is, it's not self-publishing which, though popular these days, is something I didn't want to do with a novel like SHADOW OF THE LION.)  www.mediaaria-cdm.com

I'll keep you posted. I'm even going to start a blog specifically about the book. So watch for it.

VICTORY!



It's been a long journey and an arduous battle but at last, we are victorious!  All those years of persistence and dedication to telling the story of the fall of Alexander the Great's dynasty has finally come to fruition. I HAVE A CONTRACT FOR PUBLICATION!!!

Yes, the Media Arias Publisher in UK have sent me a contract which will be signed and delivered within the next few days. I've gone over it with a knowledgeable friend and will go over it again with information from the Writers' Union, but it looks very good.

I was a bit reluctant when they suggested they would like to make it into two books, because of its length. But after consulting with them and with my friends who know the story, I've decided this may be the best way to go. And it means TWO books instead of one.  The first book will hopefully be published by August 2014 and the second volume a bit later than that (not too much later, I hope!)

This 'victory' was accomplished because I wouldn't give up. Though I'd sent out many queries (most of which didn't even get a reply), just before I left on my journey to UK and Greece in June, I had decided to send out a couple more queries. Two days later Media Arias replied asking to see the full manuscript. I had a good feeling about them -- not only because of their promptness, but because evidently their director is a fan of Mary Renault and other writers about this history.  Meanwhile, when I was away I got three other requests for the MSS but had to wait til I returned. And then the news came that they wanted to publish it and just a couple of weeks later the contract arrived!

The lesson here for other writers is, DON'T GIVE UP! Because eventually someone will recognize the worth of you story. I am more than thrilled. But I won't start to really celebrate until next week when I ink my name onto the last page of the contract and send it off to the publishers. Then it's a done deal. And after all these years I'll be a published author. Not only that, but my novel, which I spent so many years to write, will finally be made available to the public.

Alexander was with me all the way. And when I was in Greece this summer I knew he was there, giving me courage. I am proud of this accomplishment and dedicate this in his memory.

THE LONG, ARDUOUS JOURNEY

I'm really feeling as though I'm living Olwen's life at the moment:  that long, arduous journey she was taken on, far from her home, across Europe to Macedonia. This journey of publishing is like that - charting unknown territories, hoping for a 'friendly' interaction, wondering when and if it will come to a satisfactory end. IPOMONI: Patience, is my mantra.  So far, I've sent out dozens of queries to publishers and agents and have received very few responses most of them, til now, negatives. Although I did have a moment of excitement a few weeks ago when one published sent me a contract. Turns out it wasn't a good choice. In fact, they hadn't even read my manuscript. And after thoroughly examining the fine print, I decided it was definitely not one to accept.

Then, this weekend when I was feeling down about it and actually had to force myself to send more queries out, I was surprised to receive and immediate reply from a UK publisher requesting to see the whole manuscript. This is a big plus. A foot in the door, at least. And the bonus was, in the letter they sent me, it said that the director of the company is fond of that same history and has read many of the books I used for research or enjoy reading on the subject, such as Mary Renault's books.  So, at the moment I am again feeling more 'hopeful'. Of course, I won't know anything for sure for about 3 more months!  That's the way it goes in this business. Meanwhile, it's coming up for the anniversary of Alexander's death (June 10) so I am hoping he'll send me some luck!

ALEXANDER, as a youth

 

At the moment I haven't been working on "Dragons in the Sky" as I have felt a bit out-of-steam with the writing. For a couple of weeks my computer was in the shop being fixed and I sort of lost my enthusiasm for writing. And since getting it back in running order I've been catching up on travel stories for EuropeUpClose.  But I am trying to get myself back in the mood for Olwen's story again. This is a picture of Alexander as he would have looked at the time she meets him, when he was a young teen-ager.

 

 

This is the coin with the engraving of Philip on the back (and that is Apollo, I think) like the one that Teag gives Olwen when he finds her dancing in the stone circle early in the book.  She carries this coin with her, always wondering who the 'god' is. And when she first meets Alexander she thinks it is him. 

I have actually written the part where she does meet Philip but that's as far as I have written so far. Perhaps I'll take a break from it until after my holidays. I'm heading for England & Wales on June 8 and then going on to Greece June 14. I'm sure I'll get lots of inspiration along the way, do a bit more research for the novel and for more travel stories. And maybe I'll even write some more blogs!



WAITING

Penelope

Poor Penelope waited patiently for years for her husband, Odysseus, to return from his long journey. But her patience paid off, and eventually he return.

I'm kind of like Penelope now— playing the waiting game for news about my novel "Shadow of the Lion"  I've sent it out to several publisher, some in UK and others in US and it takes months to get any responses. The frustrating part is also that every submission guideline is different so I have to alter the queries and enclosures with each submission. This can be confusing and time consuming.

So, though I haven't been writing much on my blog these days, it's because I've been occupied with this other task. As well, I am working on the other novel "Dragons in the Sky"  I've done a little bit of new writing for it, but mostly I've been making notes and editing from suggestions made by my Scribblers writer's group.

Then there's the travel writing. I try to keep up with the two stories a month I like to submit to EuropeUpClose (on-line) and still have a list of stories to prepare for other freelance markets. Oh, if only I had the time!

These days I am still instructing classes. (Today I had an all-day class in memoir writing, just the same as I did last weekend.) And I have Write from the Heart groups Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings plus a creative writing class Tuesday nights. Next month I'm thinking of launching an in-home writing group again but I'm waiting for these others to wind down. I also attend my faithful and inspiring writing critique group, The Scribblers, every Monday night.

Somewhere in between I squeeze in some pleasure and leisure time. I love going to listen to jazz or the blues and hang out with my friends. This is Oscar weekend so I'm having a little party tomorrow, formal and classy, with my girlfriends.

Then I'll be back at the writing and editing again. And hopefully I'll post a few more blogs soon.
Meanwhile, thanks for reading!

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Mural, "Battle of Issus" Alexander the Great vs Darius, king of Persia.

 

When I first sent off my manuscript of SHADOW OF THE LION, the writer, Steven Pressfield, had some very astute advice for me.  In part, this is what he said:

 

I happened to have been talking to some fighter pilots recently and they told me one of the axioms of air-to-air combat. The most dangerous moment in a dogfight, they say, is immediately after you've shot down an enemy plane. Because in that moment, you may let your concentration lapse. And that's when someone jumps you and shoots you down.

 

I would say the same is true for writers. The dangerous moment is just after you finish a book and ship it off. My own ironclad principle is to IMMEDIATELY start another book.

 

When you're immersed in a new project, you're not as apt of obsess over the fate of the one you just finished. You don't check your mailbox or your Inbox compulsively. You resist the temptation to measure your worth and the worth of your work by the opinions of others.

 

The other thing I have found is that when you start Book #2, whether you realize it immediately or not, you are already working at a higher level than you were on Book #1. This helps too, when publishers, editors and agents (who are notoriously slow to respond, sometimes taking MONTHS) don't get back to you with the lavish praise you were so hoping to hear IMMEDIATELY.

Listen only to your own heart. Hang onto your emotions. The next weeks and months will be a trial, so be ready for it.  "Start the next one tomorrow."

 

I have carefully followed Steven's suggestions all the way through.  In fact, I actually hid away my manuscript of "Shadow" so I wouldn't obsess on it. And yes, I started that new novel. Well, actually it was the one I had started before I decided to write "Shadow" so I brought it out of the archives, dusted off my research files and started to retype it into the computer (it had been written on a manual typewriter).  So far so good. My writer's group loves it and I am having a great time renewing the research and getting to know the characters again. 'Dragons in the Sky" is a Celtic tale set in the 4th century BC with an Alexander connection told in the first person by a young Celtic girl, almost a past-life regression kind of story.

 

Meanwhile "Shadow" has been in the hands of an agent for several months.  But finally, in spite of saying how much he'd enjoyed reading it and that it was a 'wonderful' story, he decided against signing me on.  What to do next?  I knew this was the way things go with submissions so I did have a list of possible publisher to pitch it to. Immediately my mentor Scott Oden suggested I send to the assistant publisher of a publisher company he is familiar with. So I did. And that's where it is now.  And if that try fails, I'll go for another, and another.  Because what is required when you are trying to publish a book is PATIENCE and DETERMINATION. 

 

Detail from the mural: Alexander showing his determination.

 

Alexander the Great and, before him,  his father, the formidable warrior, King Philip of Macedonia, went fearlessly into battle and never had one defeat. Their bravery and determination and skill as strategists made Macedonia the ruler of the world, dominating Greece and defeating even the mighty forces of Persia who had dominated the Asian world.

I am lucky to have an army of supportive friends and admirers who are cheering me on and backing me up.  So I will keep on pursuing my dream until it is realized. I KNOW "Shadow of the Lion" is a worthy cause.  I put my whole heart into it and gave it my best.  So in the end, if I persevere, I know I'll eventually win the gold.

16-pointed Star, Emblem of the Macedonian Royalty.