Title confirmed for my latest novel on Mongolia

The title for my latest novel on Mongolia has taken many iterations and variations. I can now announce that the title is THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE: A MONGOLIAN LAMENT.

The Mongolian novel is a fictional portrait of strength and resilience in the country's longest and harshest winter on record. A flu epidemic takes hold. Hospitals can't cope with the influx of patients, predominantly young children, and families take extreme measures to protect their loved ones. Cattle, crops, and children are dying.

For readers familiar with my previous novels (The Sudan Curse - 2009, Kashmir on a Knife-Edge - 2010, and Liberia's Deadest Ends - 2012) this is the return of Jorja Himmermann, Australian aid specialist, working in Ulaanbaatar. A synopsis will be posted in due course.

I estimate that the title changed up to 30 times during the three years of writing. Working titles for the manuscript included the obscure and ridiculous - Dancing in Silence, Moon Cuckoo, Devoid of Hue, Bone Marrow Stew, Ying Yang Yak, and Seventy One Parrots - to the reasonable - Mongolian Medicine, Mongolian Milkmade, and A State of Stillness. I didn't mind Wool Winters, Silk Summers, but the novel wasn't about summer. Supreme Ultimate Heroes didn't quite fit either.

The next stage in the production process is an editorial assessment and line editing, as well as a cover, back page, and dust jacket design. No release date has been issued yet, but it is likely to be released near the end of the year. I'll keep you posted.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog