Ikaria - Avlakas, Monokampi
In mid-June, we walked down the gorge from Monokampi to Avlakas...
How and why was this wall built, where the waves crash in?
The beach must have been different at one time, perhaps...
And higher up the valley towards Monokampi, this old farmhouse, now inhabited by goats...
Ruins on the slopes of Koutsoumba, Tilos
In early June, we walked from Livadia to the abandoned village of Gera, then across to Koutsoumba and up and down to explore...
Italian edition - Incanto Remoto
In September 2023, I was in Olympos, Karpathos when I met up with my Italian friend Paola - who first came to Tilos after reading one of my books. She's a walking guide, and she invited me to talk to her group one evening while they were having dinner at the taverna Drosia with Evgenia and Sophia after a long day of hiking.
After dinner I got chatting with a woman called Cristina. She had recently retired, was caring for her elderly mum back home, and asked me if she could try translating my book Wild Abandon into Italian as a new project to keep her occupied. I said she was more than welcome.
Translating a book is a lot of work and I didn't expect to hear from her again. But the following summer, she wrote to say she had almost finished the first draft. In the autumn, she visited Tilos and we walked the footpath to the abandoned village of Gera together, getting to know one another.
With the help of some Italian friends on Facebook, I put together a proposal to show to publishers, but I knew it was more likely that I'd end up self-publishing. Since I don't speak Italian and this was Cristina's first translation project, I looked on LinkedIn to find someone who could read and edit the text.
That's how I re-connected with Anna Valsecchi, an Italian editor living in Seoul who had contacted me a few years ago about my book about Korea, Meeting Mr Kim. She took on the next stage of the translation, and came up with a title that works in Italian, Incanto Remoto.
When I mentioned this to my UK publisher, Bradt, the sales director Hugh said he'd started collaborating with an Italian travel publisher, Morellini, and could approach them. He did, and Morellini were interested in taking it on! It seemed a wonderful opportunity. What's more, they were able to publish very quickly.
The first print run's ready to go, and Morellini have a clever feature called Extended Book, which allows the reader to access photo albums and links and additional material. So we're busy uploading. Publication is in early June. Thanks to everyone involved. Here it is!
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