THE HEAT IS ON IN SAIGON

by | Apr 19, 2010 | Travels

Whee! This is the start of a series that’ll take us from Ho Chi Minh City (still known as Saigon to most people who live there) up to Hanoi and over to the 11th century temples of Angor Watt, Cambodia. Watch out for the mopeds.There’s not a heckuva lot to...

FUN AT THE VIETNAM BOOK FAIR!

by | Apr 13, 2010 | News, Travels, Writing

Well, if you’re going to visit a foreign country, what better time to go than during its national book fair? Especially if one’s book is at the fair and one’s publisher is the gracious and generous Mr. Ton Quang Toan, or simply Ton as he likes to be...

MY SANTERÍAN RITUAL IN FICTION

by | Apr 6, 2010 | Travels, Writing

Hi there, Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve written and showed pix from Cuba: of Varadero, the duPont estate, and my experience with santería. These have been mixed in with two excerpts from my first novel, The Phoenix Lottery. In those you read about our hero...

CUBA: MY PURIFICATION RITUAL

by | Apr 2, 2010 | Travels

So anyway… the santerían purification ritual. The photo was taken by the cab driver who then left us.I was in the shed with Isabel and her sister-in-law. It was night. Pretty quiet except for the occasional dog bark. Isabel channels an early slave by the name...

CUBA: SANTERÍA

by | Mar 30, 2010 | Travels, X-tra Stuff

Hi there,Today begins a couple of posts about santería and the purification ritual I had with a santera in the countryside outside Guardalavaca in north-eastern Cuba. This is a statue to Babablú-Ayé, otherwise known as Santo Lazaro or Saint Lazarus. I took it inside...