From the Desert

Stan is in Botswana enjoying a relaxing house boat ride on the Chobe River after a trip through Namibia and a pilgrimage to Tsodilo.  He was planning to post a blog on the trip from Maun last night, but the internet found the capitol of the Okavango Delta a bridge too far. No doubt we will hear about his experiences once he returns to digital civilisation. In the meanwhile I have been working on slide shows for our book tour and for the additional website that we are setting up for Death of the Mantis.  We would like readers of the book to have the opportunity to see some of the locations of the book for themselves, and to learn more about the environment and its people should they wish to do so.  Of course, the story stands on its own, but some readers might enjoy going a bit further into the Kalahari…

Aron Frankental is a great friend who is a superb photographer .  Until his recent retirement he practised as a doctor, but photography has always been a great passion for him.  He is responsible for the author photos on our books.  He has a wonderful eye for the natural world and has kindly allowed us to use some of his pictures on our new webpage.  I thought that in lieu of Stan’s travels, I would offer a preview today of the way Aron sees the Namaqualand and Kalahari deserts.

Crab spider

Incidentally, Aron has a bit part in A Carrion Death as a German geologist at Maboane Diamond mine.  I’m glad to say that, unlike his namesake in that book, Aron is in excellent health!

Sunset

Chanting Goshawk and young

On the move

Flowering succulents

Spreading pollen

Ground squirrel

Gemsbok on a calcrete ridge

A rare storm gathers over the Kalahari

Michael - Thursday

PS I almost forgot the winner of Best Aphorism: And the winner is our own Dan Waddell for:

Football is a game between two sides that lasts ninety minutes and at the end Germans win.

We'll be bringing you a copy of our book, Dan.  You can read it while the rest of us are having fun at Bouchercon!
Michael.