Thank you to readers of The Sudan Curse

As an author, it's always a pleasure when a reader contacts me, especially to tell me that they have read, or are currently reading, my book, The Sudan Curse.

My thanks go to the teacher of Modesto Junior College in California who added The Sudan Curse to the English course list and to the students who are preparing their research papers on my novel. Good luck with your assignment.

A common question asked by my readers is: how much of The Sudan Curse is true? It is based upon my time working there in 2005 and 2006 after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between north and south Sudan, and the establishment of the government and its ministries in Southern Sudan. Part of the CPA was that after 6 years, there must be a referendum to determine whether Southern Sudan splits with the north or not. The referendum will be held on January 9, 2011. I worked on several assignments there - in both the north (in Khartoum and in the Red Sea State) and in the south - and also across the borders in Uganda and Ethiopia. So I would say that about 75% of the book is true (names changed, of course).

The photograph shows the tent I lived in, on the banks of The Nile, while I was in Juba in Southern Sudan. The complex, called the AFEX camp (after a company called African Expeditions), is still there (greatly renovated and up-graded). In Juba, there are more hotels and accommodation sites than in 2005. And many restaurants! I was there in 2008 and hardly recognized the place! I was also in Darfur in western Sudan last year (2009).

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