Saturday, April 7, 2012

Back Home Again


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

That’s my way of letting you know I’m back on Mykonos, safe and sound as of late Thursday.  It’s early Friday morning and I’m sitting on my front porch taking in the view.  And what a view it is. I’m on a rise behind the seven windmills symbolic of my island, looking across the old port toward the much larger neighboring island of Tinos, a half dozen miles away.

It’s been a hectic week, starting off with chores on a farm in western New Jersey (that’s my forest fire fighter buddy’s new truck in front of the barn) and a few days in New York City to tidy things up a bit before flying off from JFK—no doubt passing Stan headed in the opposite direction somewhere midway across the Atlantic.  But I made it, and the photo at the top of this article is the start of my first Aegean sunset of 2012.  Glad I could share it with you. 
Park Avenue
JFK Delta Lounge
My trans-Atlantic view

I know it’s time to start writing the new book.  But for this morning, at least, I prefer reminiscing about the last one, and what got me to write it.  After all, it all started here, on this porch.

Have you ever wondered how many times a day your eyes see something that your mind never gives a second thought?  Birds, for instance, or the color of the floor in your apartment building’s halls.  That’s sort of the way I’d always looked at Tinos.  It was just a high-ridged, mountainous island backdrop for whatever what was happening on Mykonos. 
Tinos' Church of Panagia Evangelistria

I knew of Tinos’ Church of the Annunciation (Panagia Evangelistria) and of the more than one million pilgrims who flocked there each year seeking to invoke the healing powers of its Miraculous Icon of the Virgin Mary (the Megalochari).  It’s perhaps the most revered religious shrine in Greece and is known as the “Lourdes of Greece.”  I also knew that every August 15th Tinos was overrun with gypsies coming to pay their respects to the Virgin during the annual religious festival celebrating her assumption into heaven. 

Many times I’d stood on the deck of a ferry stopped in Tinos’ port and watched pilgrims head off to begin a half-mile crawl up the steep hill from the harbor to the Church.  But I never had much interest in visiting there.  It seemed too close to bother, much like the Statue of Liberty is to New Yorkers.
Path crawled by pilgrims

About two years ago I was having morning coffee on my front porch with an American friend.  Her late husband had been a jeweler on Mykonos.  We were talking about a new book I was working on and she said, “You should write one about Tinos.”

When I asked why, she said, “It has all that hidden treasure.”

She sure knew how to get my attention.  That’s when I learned that her husband had been one of the few jewelers entrusted to restore and maintain hidden caches of gold, silver, and precious gems given as gifts to the Church of the Annunciation by grateful pilgrims.  Not long after that I learned that all this wealth was not controlled by the Greek Church, but by a two-hundred-year-old private foundation so rich and powerful that some referred to it as “The Vatican of Greece.”

A miraculous icon, vast hidden treasures, a mysterious foundation, and gypsies.  How could I not be inspired?  Still, it took until last spring before I got around to seriously exploring Tinos.  Now it’s one of my favorite places in Greece.

Most who come to Tinos are only aware of the Church and its surrounding harbor town.  But for those who venture out onto the island, there are serious surprises in store.  Fifty villages as quiet and undisturbed as a dreamer’s quaint fantasy of Greece; brilliant vistas at every turn; a meandering two-hundred-mile network of cobblestone trails and old farm paths running from hillside to hillside and dipping into valleys in between; and a history of fabled marble quarries and artisans linked to some of Greece’s greatest artistic achievements.

And unlike other Aegean islands, Tinos successfully resisted Ottoman rule for most of Greece’s occupation, making it a Christian oasis amid Turkish domination and the Cycladic island chain’s economic center and most populated island, earning it the nickname “Little Paris.”

What a setting for a story. 

And it will be out this June.


For those interested in a peak at the tale, here’s Publishers Weekly’s starred review of Target: Tinos.  Dare I need say it began my week on as glorious a note as that resolving first sunset!

Set on the Aegean pilgrimage island of Tinos, Siger’s superb fourth procedural featuring Chief Insp. Andreas Kaldis (after 2011’s Prey on Patmos) cleverly integrates the ancient with the modern. When Andreas looks into the mysterious immolation of two gypsies on Tinos, apparently a hate crime against immigrants, he faces formidable pressures from his fiery fiancée, Lila, whom he’s to marry in six days on nearby Mykonos—and from his wily boss, Spiros Renatis, who abruptly orders him to close the investigation. While the Greek government can’t afford bad publicity during the country’s current financial crisis, Andreas, aided by his feisty chief assistant, Yianni Kouros, and his friend Tassos Stamatos, chief homicide investigator for the Cyclades, pursues this eerie case, which soon involves ruthless Albanian mobsters, the history of Greek independence from Turkey, and a Tinos-based esoteric cult. A likable, compassionate lead; appealing Greek atmosphere; and a well-crafted plot help make this a winner. (June)—Publishers Weekly (starred review) 3/30/2012
Jeff—Saturday

32 comments:

  1. PS. Happy Easter to my non-Orthodox friends (Greek Easter is next week) and a Good Pesach to all.

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  2. I'm drooling! But at least I only have to wait until June!

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  3. Happy Passover and Happy Easter, Jeff. Welcome back to the island. I am so glad you could tidy up New York City before you left for Greece. Looking forward to seeing you in another week, and to reading Target:Tinos in June!
    P.S: Am shocked to hear that Target got to Tinos before Wal-Mart!

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  4. Lovely descriptions of your discoveries, so inviting! Amazing photos.
    Really excited for your new book to come out!
    Bravo!

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  5. Kalimera to you back in Greece! We are envious but it has only strengthened our resolve to get back there next year. And now we have a new island to add to the 'bucket list'.
    Gotta tell you that I just finished "Murder in Mykonos' - lucky for me that we had cold weather on the cruise and in Vegas, it gave me a great excuse to hunker down in the room and not leave Mykonos until the crime was solved.

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    1. If part of that hunkering involved Vegas, MiM undoubtedly helped save you a bundle:) Hurry back, J&J, Greece misses you.

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  6. Michael and Anna you sure do know how to make a fella smile. Thank you!

    And Susan, thank you for taking time off from creating some of the most wonderful, celebrated hats in the world to say such kind things. I'm honored.

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  7. congratulations Jeffrey raise that ouzo hi over the sea and celebrate well deserved!

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    1. Thanks, Cara, and in your honor I'll add pain chocolat to the ouzo festivities.

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  8. I bought and just finished your novel, "murder in Mykonos." Have so many questions. How did you imagine the scenes where the victim is trapped? Did you physically pace off a room and try and put yourself in her situation? Thanks for a compelling read. Brought back being in Mykonos many years ago.

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    1. Thank you lover of words. As for the room, I spent what then seemed an eternity living in that space within my mind, imagining what it would be like imprisoned naked amid the textures, clime and fear of such a place. And yes, measuring out every inch to be sure that what I imagined could truly be.

      By the way, I hope that's not the part that brought back your memories of Mykonos:)

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    2. We only spent a day there,a-do-it-yourself-day from the cruise ship. Not knowing the protocol of the beaches, we took the little bus to a beach, not knowing it was the topless beach--I only brought my one piece suit :) Later we got lost in the labyrinth of the streets and finally caught the last bus to the ship. But the ship's crew was on the bus. They were feeling no pain, singing, having a wonderful time and we did as well. We knew the ship would not leave without them. Happy memories.

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    3. You've just described the archetypal Mykonos experience! The island's Chamber of Commerce might just use you as a reference.

      Now, if you'll excuse me it's almost one in the morning here. Time to get ready to go to town. After all, one must do one's research.:)

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  9. Your posts always make me wish to be in Greece.

    Spent morning wishing Happy Easter to all and sundry but reserving festivities for next week, as you are. Kronya Pola.

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    1. Thanks, Liz, I shall pass along your kind endorsement of my tactics to the Greek National Tourist Organization:) Kalo Paska!

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  10. Your book sounds excellent and I look forward to reading it.

    I wonder what the flashlight fastened to the wall in the airplane is for? Who is going to find it in the dark? Or need it now that everyone has a cell phone that does the same job and is handy. But I digress. Enjoy the sun.

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    1. Thank, Yrsa, and enjoy the ... ice?

      Oh, yes, the flashlight. In the ten hours or so we spent flying together, I imagined many uses for that little gizmo, and concluded its most likely purpose was to beat senseless any fellow passenger who wouldn't shut up when everyone else was trying to sleep. Trouble is, on a flight to Greece one flashlight is not nearly enough (I'm sure I'll get a letter or two on that one:)).

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  11. Almost forgot, Happy Orthodox Easter--next Sunday.

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  12. Jeff--

    Can't imagine how much that PW rave cost you, but it was worth every penny.

    Congratulations!

    --Lenny

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  13. Lenny, think Drachmas.

    Thanks and love to she who must be obeyed.

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  14. Thank you once more for the lovely pictures and the heralding of your new book, and welcome home-how lovely that sounds :) You really have brought us into your world.

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    1. And, Lil, you've become the world to us on MIE!

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  15. Ho ho ho ho ho. I've had the privilege of reading TARGET: TINOS, and guess what? It's killer. Got me, shook me, and put me down again feeling much better.

    Tremendous book, Jeffrey. And that "Ahhhhhh," when you get home, like something is unlocking in the center of your chest? Does ANYTHING feel much better than that?

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  16. The only thing to rival that feeling is knowing I can call you "friend." Thanks for everything and more.

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  17. Jeff--congratulations on the fabulous starred review from PW. What a thrill!

    I'm curious about the front porch. Do you live in a house or an apartment? It sounds so peaceful!

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    1. Thanks, Charlotte. As a matter of fact I live in a hotel on the outskirts of the old town, next to the sea. It's the perfect place, just a hundred footsteps into the craziness and and two hundred stumbles back.

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  18. Welcome home, Jeff.
    May many more stars follow this one.
    And may wise men ever follow them.

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    1. I think that's the wrong holiday for this time of the year, but I'll still take it:) Thanks, my friend.

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  19. This is fantastic..all of it. Thank you...and cannot wait to read this!

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    1. Thanks, Hank, that's so very nice of you to say. Hope you're having a Happy Easter and look forward to seeing you at Bouchercon.

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