Jennifer S. Alderson's Blog, page 6

New author interview and article about Nepal

Amsterdam's experiencing an unexpected yet welcome heat wave, which means I've been on the beach more than behind my computer :)

Many thanks to Lucia N. Davis and Andrew Cairns for featuring me on their blogs these past two weeks!

I feel honored to be the first person Lucia N. Davis interviewed for her blog. It was lovely to revisit the places which inspired my novels. Thanks, Lucia!
You can read the entire interview here: https://luciadavis.com/2017/05/15/aut...

Andrew Cairns invited me to write about one of my bloodiest memories of my trip to Nepal. Find out why 1008 animals are sacrificed each year to the goddess Kali here on his blog:
http://thewitchslist.blogspot.nl/2017...

Have a great week, everyone!

Congratulations winners!

Many thanks to the 1532 lovely readers who entered The Lover's Portrait Goodreads Giveaway!
Unfortunately there can only be one winner - congratulations Candias!

And to all who entered my eBook giveaway for Notes of a Naive Traveler - I really appreciate your interest!
Congratulations Eva and Angelica!

All of your books are on the way.

Have a wonderful day, everyone.

Women Writers, Women's Books April Recommended Reads: The Lover's Portrait

I am thrilled to see The Lover's Portrait: An Art Mystery is one of Women Writers, Women’s Books Recommended Reads for April 2017!

Read more about my art mystery and the other nine recommendations on their website now: http://booksbywomen.org/recommended-r...

‘Fiction and Memoirs by Expats and Travelers month’ wrap up

April is upon us which means ‘Fiction and Memoirs by Expats and Travelers month’ is now officially over. Many thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog in March to read the seven wonderful articles and interviews by Melissa Burovac, Jill Dobbe, Anne Hamilton, myself (Jennifer S. Alderson), Beth Green, Pamela Allegretto and Annika Milisic-Stanley.

It was an honor for me to feature their posts and I enjoyed learning more about all of their stories!

If you missed any of the articles, here is a quick linked list:

Introduction to Fiction and Memoirs by Expats and Travelers Month

How Traveling Abroad Turned Me Into A Writer By Melissa Burovac

Write What You Know By Jill Dobbe

A Blonde Bengali Wife And Me By Anne Hamilton

Staying ‘In The Moment’: One Author’s Adventure In Travel Writing By Jennifer S. Alderson

Stories Everywhere By Beth Green

The Birth of a Novel by Pamela Allegretto

Interview with Expat Fiction Author Annika Milisic-Stanley

Until next time, happy travels! Jennifer

LINK TO THE ARTICLES VIA MY BLOG: http://jennifersalderson.com/2017/04/...

Interview with Expat Fiction author Annika Milisic-Stanley

I stumbled across Annika Milisic-Stanley’s debut novel, The Disobedient Wife here on Goodreads while searching for ‘Expat Fiction’. After I had posted my 5 star review of her gorgeous novel, we came into contact via social media. I am glad she was able to take time away from her work as a fundraiser for a refugees center in Rome to share this fascinating interview with us.

Interview with Expat Fiction author Annika Milisic-Stanley

What is your background?

I originate from Dorset, a green, pleasant county of the UK, abundant in country pubs, scones with jam and cream, delphinium beds and pony clubs. I attended the School of Oriental and African Studies, majoring in Social Anthropology. I have worked all over the world, as a social/ behavioural studies sociologist, project writer, fundraiser and programme manager for non-governmental organisations. Now, I have children and work as a program fundraiser for a small non-profit day centre for refugees in Rome (www.jnrc.it). I started writing creatively in my early twenties, venting my rage at the world’s injustices through fictional short stories.

Read the rest on my website now: http://jennifersalderson.com/2017/03/...

The Birth of a Novel by Pamela Allegretto

Pamela Allegretto is the author of my favorite historical fiction novel of 2016, Bridge of Sighs and Dreams, a captivating story set in Italy during World War Two. Her own experiences as an exchange student and expat living in the country of her forefathers inspired the characters, plot and beautifully described setting for her debut novel. It is a pleasure to learn more about its inception.

The Birth of a Novel by Pamela Allegretto
The tutelage of my Italian family launched my love for the Italian language the moment the first trilled “R” danced on my tongue and tickled my teeth. Animated conversations around the supper table often veered from current events to life in Italy during World War 2 and the impact the War had on our family. These conversations piqued my curiosity and planted a seed that nagged me to learn more.

I was 17-years-old when I took my first trip back to Italy with my parents. The moment the airplane touched ground, I had this overwhelming feeling of “home.” Meeting my Italian aunts and uncles in their Southern Italian village of Faicchio and listening to their personal accounts of the War sprouted that seed and it began to grow. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.

Read the rest of this article now: http://jennifersalderson.com/2017/03/...

Stories Everywhere by Beth Green

When I published my first novel, Down and Out in Kathmandu, one of the first ‘reviewers’ I emailed the good news to was Beth Green, Book Editor of The Displaced Nation, a global community of creative expats. Even though she politely informed me that she didn’t do straight up book reviews, we kept in touch and I have had the pleasure of contributing to two of her columns.

Ever since our first email conversation, I’ve been fascinated with her TCK (Third Culture Kid) background and jealous of her current hometown of Prague. While she’s shopping for an agent for her first novel, her first short story has been published in an anthology, Fish Out of Water. I am thrilled to be one of the first to let the world know about her publication debut!

Stories Everywhere by Beth Green

You know what I like most about traveling? Meeting new people. Finding out where they are from. What they do. Why they are doing it. Basically, what’s their story?

In my life, I’ve met a lot of people, in a lot of places.

As a kid, in 27 countries. As an adult, in 30 plus more.

People ask what it was like growing up on a sailboat, but it’s hard to explain. Your childhood is always just your childhood; it seems normal to you.

Meeting all these people, and deflecting that “what’s it like” question, I’ve coaxed people into telling me a lot of stories. It’s always seemed natural to me that I’d tell some myself—though maybe not the same ones that people first thought I’d write...

Read the rest of the post now:
http://jennifersalderson.com/2017/03/...

Staying ‘In The Moment’: One Author’s Adventure in Travel Writing By Jennifer S. Alderson

Today I want to share my own story about how I came to write a travelogue. I hope you enjoy learning more about why I decided to take a break from fiction and publish excerpts from the travel journals I kept while traveling through Notes of a Naive Traveler: Nepal and Thailand.

Staying ‘In The Moment’: One Author’s Adventure in Travel Writing
By Jennifer S. Alderson

My travels around this crazy planet have directly inspired the settings, plot twists and several of the characters in my Adventures of Zelda Richardson series. While writing these novels, my journals, emails to friends, and postcards sent home served as memory aids when describing the landscape and people I’d met on the road.

Before making the plunge into fiction, I did try to use these same journals and emails as the basis for a full-blow travel memoir, yet failed miserably. My attempts to write about the events I had experienced after the fact in non-fiction story form, lost all of their spontaneity and (in my mind) their appeal. So I concentrated on writing fiction and regulated my travel journals to sources of background information about the settings of my travel thrillers and mysteries.



My soon-to-be-released travelogue, Notes of a Naive Traveler: Nepal and Thailand, only exists because I recycle. After cleaning out an overflowing closet, I stumbled upon a box full of old printouts, copies of the emails I’d sent to friends and family while in Nepal and Thailand. Most of the pages were crisscrossed with circles and notes I’d made while writing the first draft of Down and Out in Kathmandu.



These printouts were reference material I no longer needed. Because they’d only been printed on one side, I threw the lot onto our family ‘scrap paper pile’ which we use to make grocery shopping lists, or draw and paint on. While folding paper airplanes with my five-year-old son, my husband began reading the back sides of the pages, my old emails. When I got home that night, he asked why I had never published them. Just as many friends and family members have asked me over the years.

After much waffling, I re-read all of the emails and realized I could publish most them; only a few paragraphs were too personal. But the emails alone were about ten pages long; not much of a book!



So I went back through my journals and realized there was a lot of material I hadn’t used in Down and Out in Kathmandu that could be interesting to others who wanted to travel to Nepal and Thailand or volunteer abroad. I threw together the first ten pages and sent it off to trusted beta readers. To my surprise, they were all quite positive and strongly recommended I finish it.

So I spent most of last winter piecing together excerpts from my journal and emails, then editing the mishmash of styles into one cohesive manuscript. By using direct, unaltered excerpts, I finally managed to keep the text ‘in the moment’, something I was unable to achieve the first-time around.



Honestly, I am incredibly nervous about having these excerpts from my personal journal out there. I admire travel writers who are able to unabashedly describe their stupid decisions, strange actions, and sometimes horrid behavior that the stress of long-term travel can bring out in a rational person.

Yet, I am also heartened by early readers’ (and even reviewer’s) positive remarks and interest in my journey. I hope those who read it are able to put themselves in my former self’s shoes and enjoy their time as a volunteer, as well as their trip around Nepal and Thailand.

May it inspire you to buy a backpack and see more of the world!

Read the rest of the posts in this series on my blog: http://jennifersalderson.com/2017/03/...

A Blonde Bengali Wife and Me by Anne Hamilton

I came across Anne Hamilton’s memoir A Blonde Bengali Wife a few months ago via an amazing Facebook group, Women Writers, Women’s Books. At the time, I was editing together Notes of a Naive Traveler: Nepal and Thailand and recall being quite pleased to find another travel memoir writer in the group!



Reading her posts and the description of her novel, I was immediately struck by the similarities to the start of our first trips abroad, and in awe of her decision to found a charity based in Bangladesh.

Though I haven’t yet had the pleasure, I hope to read A Blonde Bengali Wife soon. Did you know all of the proceeds benefit her charity, Bhola’s Children?

Read the full post here: http://jennifersalderson.com/2017/03/...

Write What You Know by Jill Dobbe

This month on my website/blog, I am featuring articles by six amazing expats and travelers; this is the second post:

Jill Dobbe’s extensive experience as an international educator enriches her fascinating travel memoir, KIDS, CAMELS, & CAIRO, a book I highly recommend to those considering taking the plunge and working overseas. It is quite an insightful read, as is this article ‘Write What You Know’.



Hemingway said it and I write by it.

It’s the advice I remember receiving, and the reason I became a published author in my fifties. Upon returning to the U.S. after living and working as an international educator in India, where our circumstances were more topsy-turvy than ever, my husband proposed the idea of writing a book. “You should,” he remarked offhandedly. “You know a lot about working abroad in international schools and we have survived many crazy adventures for you to write about.” He planted the seed that day and I have been writing memoirs and travel articles, ever since....

Read the rest of Jill Dobbe's fascinating post here:
http://jennifersalderson.com/2017/03/...