Travel Writing discussion

Hi - I'm the author of one travel book, Even the Dead are Coming, and will publish a second one, The Nine Horizons, in spring 2014. Meanwhile I've been blogging my 25-odd years' travelling here: http://mikerobbinsnyc.blogspot.com/
All visitors to the blog are welcome!

Hi Mike, and welcome. I see that you posted this a couple of months ago. I don't know how I managed to miss it till now. I too have written about Sudan. One book already published and the other being serialised as a work in progress on my website. More details there.

Yes, I saw that with interest - I am quite keen to read Seeking Sanctuary, it's been on my to-read list for some weeks.

One of the nice things about Sudan books is that they really are different; relatively few people go there and all for highly individual reasons, and they all have their own take. This fascinated me: In Search of the Forty Days Road- you are likely to have seen it, though. I also liked this: The Other Nile: Journeys in Egypt, The Sudan and Ethiopia - more of a classic traveller's book, but enjoyabhle.

For about six months in the mid-80s I worked as assistant to ---Deng (I've forgotten his first name), the former Canadian ambassador to Sudan and the son of a tribal chief who'd had something like 100 wives. He'd grown up there. He himself had just one wife, an American, and four sons. The household was chaotic, and he expected me to do all sorts of very un-assistant-like tasks. He and his wife would leave the house without telling me, leaving the four boys home with me, expecting I'd take care of them (and they were all under 12). When I quit and we had it out, he told me he came from a culture where women did whatever needed to be done, that's why he'd simply expected it of me. He said this as if his way was superior and I was a mean uptight American. It was one of my more nightmarish jobs.

Marcy wrote: "For about six months in the mid-80s I worked as assistant to ---Deng (I've forgotten his first name), the former Canadian ambassador to Sudan and the son of a tribal chief who'd had something like ..."

Good grief, Marcy. I think I would have thumped him one! I wonder how he got to be an ambassador...

Here is an odd story. I am English but lived for a year in Ottawa when I was in sixth grade, in the late 1960s. My father had this enormous electric-blue Meteor Rideau that kept going wrong. 20 years later I was walking down the street in Khartoum and there it was. It was the same damn car - there was a hole in the rear seat I remembered. I wonder how on earth it got from Ottawa to Khartoum. Maybe it was Deng's.

Marcy wrote: "For about six months in the mid-80s I worked as assistant to ---Deng (I've forgotten his first name), the former Canadian ambassador to Sudan and the son of a tribal chief who'd had something like ..."

I've tracked him down for you, Marcy. Francis Deng. He was Sudanese Ambassador to Canada and a number of other countries. Full details on Wikepedia. It must be the same person. He has four sons, whose names all begin with D. He's had a very distinguished career and still going strong.

What a great title, Even the Dead are Coming. I almost want to read it just because of that... The problem is that it's not available on Kindle. :-( Any idea if and when that's going to happen?

Thanks!

Patrick wrote: "What a great title, Even the Dead are Coming. I almost want to read it just because of that... The problem is that it's not available on Kindle. :-( Any idea if and when that's going to happen?..."

Hi Patrick. I'm pleased to tell you it should be available in about two weeks. (It's already available for iTunes and Nook.) The Kindle edition will be a lot cheaper than the paperback!

I have another book,The Nine Horizons: Travels in Sundry Places, that covers many countries - the first chapter, though, is adapted from Even the Dead are Coming. It's available on Kindle now for $2.99 (£2.47 UK). Thanks for your interest!

Mike wrote: "Here is an odd story..."

That's a very odd story indeed! What were the chances!

Lance wrote: "Mike wrote: "Here is an odd story..."

That's a very odd story indeed! What were the chances!"

Pretty much nil. The car was a Canadian-built version of a US Mercury but was rare even in Canada, and the colour was rarer still. The story was so strange I didn't even include it in the book.

That's a familiar experience, Mike - incidents which you don't dare include because you think readers will think you're making things up.

Patrick wrote: "What a great title, Even the Dead are Coming. I almost want to read it just because of that... The problem is that it's not available on Kindle. :-( Any idea if and when that's going to happen?..."

Here we are Patrick!
http://www.amazon.com/Even-Dead-Are-C...