Back In Braga, for Good This Time. And Some Book-Related Shares . . .

 

     It's great to be back. It's raining here, which Portugal needs, although the drought areas are mainly in the south and Braga is in the North. But the first few days of rain, it was a warmish springlike rain, and it's always so pretty to see what rain does to the colors everywhere. In the top left picture, the beautiful gardened area of Avenida da Liberdad near the Praça República is sporting begonias. (They plant different plants each season, and each year, so it never seems redundant.) The picture on the right is on Avenida Central, near the hotel where we stayed.

Then the Saturday after arrival, we went to Monforte in Galicia, Spain, where we rent a small apartment, to get some dishes, pots and pans, and some grains and spices we had stored there, as well as the car we had in a garage. We traveled up to Monforte — about 2 & 1/2 hours north of us by car, but we traveled by bus and train and then drove back after a few days, resting up and visiting only a couple of friends, saving our social visits for the future. 

While we were there, the teacher at the Escola da Idiomas EOI Monforte invited me to talk about my books, especially the mysteries set in Braga, and about the writing process. She did a beautiful job of displaying all my published books and especially the Braga mysteries.  

 

I enjoyed the experience so much. All the students were adult, learning English (and many were quite fluent). I always loved teaching the elementary grades when I was a full time teacher, but this experience made me realize I might well have enjoyed teaching adults. It's a very different experience.

For one thing, one of the students took notes! (That doesn't tend to happen in 6th grade, lol.)

But I also had a nice writerly experience before we left Sacramento. A woman we met at one of our open mic nights at Fox and Goose - no, not Karioke, but musicians showing up with their guitars to play and sing blues and folk and rock and country every Monday night. We were listeners only.

Anyway, a week before we left Sacramento I was interviewed by Donnella Fraser Fradkin (a terrific singer of country and blues) for her Vlog, BookMeUp. You can see it at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-2XcvMJg9I 

YOUTUBE.COM

Elizabeth Varadan - What Makes A Writer Write?

I enjoyed this interview so much because it was so relaxed and in such a conversational style. Donnella is an excellent interviewer. I hope you will go take a peek and leave a comment. Meanwhile, it makes for a very happy memory before departure. 

But - we are here to stay. Whew! What a year. What a two years, in fact! 

So Here Is What Has Been Happening . . ..

So here is what has been happening that has kept me too busy to post, but not too busy to read and relax from all the hustle and bustle: One big thrill is my book signing coming up. But here is bigger thrill (for us):

Rajan and I are moving back to Portugal. I know this is a surprise, but we find we miss the European lifestyle and the slower pace of life, and we would like to finish our days in Braga. Life here in the states is too intense, too stressful, way too expensive (for us). And, since we aren't downtown anymore, to go anywhere for any reason (grocery shopping, bank, doctor appointments, coffee with friends, eating out, whatever) requires lots of driving. When we were in Braga, we could walk to all of these things. (Luckily, we still have our flat there, as we canceled the sale.) 

True, we worried earlier that in the future one of us may have to have medical procedures that take one to a different city and there might be transportation problems. Well, since we now are in a suburb and not in Midtown or downtown, we are in the same plight here: It's a sweet neighborhood with nice neighbors, AND . . . it's a suburb. Once we can no longer drive, we'll be stranded. Our other worry had been whether we can become fluent in Portuguese: Well, that's on us. We have the time if we take the time, and we had (and will have again) a very good tutor.

One good thing is that we've been able to visit some family and several friends - something we couldn't do when we left California before, because everything was still in lockdown. Now that we have gotten some very important visits in, I think we'll be able to "let go".  I was able to attend some poetry group meetings and I have the book signing coming up on October 8th, but . . . our hearts really are in Portugal. 

We are leaving on November 3rd. I'll be posting before then because a lot of things have been taken care of. Meanwhile, wish me luck for a good book reading/signing on October 8th (2 pm, The Avid Reader on Broaday, 1945 Broadays,  if you are in Sacramento. And if you are not, you can learn more aout the book HERE.)

Question: Have you ever decided to reverse a poor decision? Or did you just stick with it and hope you would soon adjust to it? 

Galicia - Timeless in Our Hearts.

We are in Galicia right now, "resting up" from all the last intense days of preparing for the shippers to come and pack up in Braga and to prepare for the move itself (i.e., clean the flat, say our goodbyes for now, etc.). We came up to the little apartment we rent in Monforte, a charming small town with a castle, no less, and we have been visiting friends here - saying more goodbyes until next spring.

Why next spring? We had really hoped to come back in October, but the tentative date for the shipping to arrive in Oakland is September 28, and then it will take a few more days for it to reach Sacramento, so that wipes out any fall trip. We'll need the time to place furniture, unpack things, find new places for pots and pans and dishes. Whew! I hope this is our last move ever!

Meanwhile, it's lovely to be in Galicia again. Above are pictures showing what a walk by the river looks like at night. And while the heat has been suffocating, in the evening it does cool down enough with a soft breeze that the air is quite pleasant. So we took a walk to the park that edges thte river and then sat on a bench and talked for a while.

We just finished having the perfect week-end, too. Saturday we went back to our beloved village of Trasulfe where we had a house for so many years and grew so fond of our neighbors. Many of them are gone now - one by one, they have passed on. Earlier in the week we had met out previous neighbor Miguel at the Feria in Escairon for pulpo - our first Feria in three years. Here are two picture from earlier days: They drizzle the pulpo bites  with olive oil, give you a loaf of bread already slashed for tearing into bits to dip in the juice and a bottle of red wine. Heaven.

  

Miguel was our immediate neighbor across the lane and used to bring us coke bottles full of his home made wine and sometimes full of aguardiente. The feria was just as remembered in a poem I wrote - so much community! Everyone greeting everyone and catching up on news. And the two daughters (and one of their husbands) of our dear neighbors, Manolo and Eva were there, so we caught up a little with their news, too.

Then Saturday we returned to visit neighbors at the farm down the road - Maria Elena and Antonio. Neighbors from afar, as we used to call each other. (Even though we were in Sacramento, they were still our neighbors.) Maria Elena has health problems now, and walks with a cane but her personality is as sweet as ever. And Antonio is as full of life as ever. It did our hearts good to see them again. 

Here is a picture from a few years ago — when I was still taking pictures of everyone. 

After our visit with them, we went across the road and visited a with other neighbors, Jesus and Milagros —  whom we met again yesterday in Monforte for lunch at a pulpo restaurant. (They have a flat in town where the spend evenings, and then they stay at their original home in Trasulfe during the day. They have quite a large farm and a dog to take care of.)

After we left them, we drove into Tuiriz, planning to go to Escairon for lunch. But we passed the home of Julio and spied him in the yard, so we stopped to visit with him - and his neighbor, Pepe. Before we knew it, we were in the bodega, enjoying a glass of homemade wine, a slice of terrific cheese, and a slice of bread. (So we considered that lunch!) But it was so great to see them all again. What wonderful memories the day brought back - days of walking the dusty roads and taking pictures, stopping to talk with those we encountered. A lovely day altogether.

On another note, here is a link to the trailer for my new mystery, Deadly Verse, set in Braga, Portugal, as was the first book. Just click on the title. This is a promotional video my publisher put together, and I think they did a really good job. Deadly Verse will be released August 4th (the very day we are flying home! Isn't that weird?)   Enjoy. Comments about the video are welcome, and if you are motivated to buy the book when it comes out, reviews are always welcome, as are opportunities to guest post or be interviewed. 😍 Right now, a blog friend has a nice shoutout on her blog, Vicki Lane Mysteries. She is a mystery writer, teaches writing, wrote a terrific historical novel, And the Crows Took Their Eyes, and shares good photos of the countryside where she and her husband live in western North Carolina. Well worth a visit. 

Meanwhile, how about you? Do you have a favorite food that you only have now and then in special settings? Are you nostalgic about places you've lived? Do you keep in touch with neighbors even after you move? 

My Own Cozy News

 My other news is that my new cozy, Deadly Verse, will be released in June. The build up begins this month, but my publisher told me to feel free about splashing the cover around, so here you are:

Who is this man dressed up in Renaissance garb who looks like he is winking? Luís Vaz de Camões, a Portuguese renaissance poet and some say Portugal's greatest poet, who is famous for  Os Lusíadas, his  epic poem about Vasco da Gama's voyage to India. 

Why does he look like he's winking? He lost an eye when, as a soldier, he fought the Moors. As was not uncommon, back in the day, he was a soldier and wrote poetry. His sonnets are considered on a par with Shakespeare's, Dante's, etc.

What does Camões have to do with a cozy mystery? Well, someone in Braga, Portugal, claims to have an original manuscript of one of his sonnets, possession of which leaves a trail of death. And, you guessed it: Carla is a suspect. 

How the heck do you pronounce Camões? Hah! When the book comes out, you'll have to read it to find out. 😊

Gave you read any cozies lately? If you do enjoy cozies, do you prefer mysteries with a travel angle? Historic? Contemporary?

Today I have a "School Visit" via Zoom with a class iin Monforte de Lemos

   This afternoon, even though I'm in Braga, Portugal, I have a "School Visit" via Zoom with a class in Monforte de Lemos, Galicia, Spain. How cool is that! (The "visit" is to the Escola de Idiomas Eoi Monforte). The class's teacher is a friend of ours, and she teaches English to adult learners. She actually ordered copies of my mystery for students earlier in the year in high hopes that by now Covid 19 would be under control and everything would open up and I would visit in person. (Monforte is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Braga.) Well, things are opening up, but only gradually, and in Galicia classes aren't meeting face to face yet. 

Still, I'm happy to meet her students via Zoom. It's for an hour. I'll be curious about what questions they ask. She has formed a "reading club" with some of her students, and here is the flyer:

    About Monforte de Lemos: Many of you who have followed this blog know my husband and I in pre-Covid days used to go to Galicia twice a year. We started going there in spring of 2014 and even had a house in a small village about twenty minutes away from the town of Monforte (as the locals refer to it).  The "de Lemos" comes from the fact that the town grew up around a castle owned by Conde de Lemos. It's on a hill and overlooks the rather large town that developed since then through the centuries. At times part of it has been a monastery. And there's a cathdral at one side. But now the whole edifice is part of the Parador system and it houses a hotel, a restaurant, and a café/bar. Everyone in town refers to it as "The Parador."

The Parador

The Old Roman Bridge in town

     A walkway in the park in town.

    It gives my heart a twinge to see these old pictures of Monforte. We haven't been there since fall of 2019. Once the borders open up again, we'll look forward to driving up to visit Galicia friends. Until then, we feel very lucky to be in Braga and able to see our Braga friends, whom we've started meeting in the allowable open air spaces outside cafés. 

    Just mentioning the virus at all reminds me that the pandemic is still here for a while. So many countries are suffering from too many cases and not enough vaccines. 

May all of you stay safe and well, and may next year bring happy news for us all. 

Happy New Year!

               

Time has been flying, so I'm wishing you a Happy New Year sooner than later, since "later" could turn into "way late," the way life has been rushing by.

I had two exciting pieces of news in 2019 - my poetry book, Saudade, was accepted for publication and will be released in February, and my cosy mystery, Deadly Vintage, set in Portugal was published. The poetry book had a lot of work attached to it, and I have a book signing for the mystery coming up January 19th at Time Tested Books (my favorite independent bookstore in Sacramento). But I expect spring to be a little calmer than recent months.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. We did, with our god family in the Bay Area, as we do every year. And three days before that, we celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary. Here are what is left of our flowers (the white mums and the lilies),  supplemented with some dianthus (the red and the red-edged ones) that we inserted last week to prolong the bouquet. (This is in our kitchen nook.)

Before our anniversary, we had a 9-day trip to the east coast to visit my niece and her husband in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and my husband's brother and his wife in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both places were cold for us poor, wimpy, central Californians. Pittsburgh was the coldest. It even snowed one night while we were there. But the visits were wonderful.

Then two days after Christmas, we and another couple celebrated the 50th anniversary of mutual friends in the home of some of their friends who gave them a  wonderful party that went all afternoon. A really lovely celebration.

And yesterday one of my writing groups met to critique manuscripts and then to exchange gently used books. That, too, was so enjoyable. But . . . see what I mean? Way busy!

 Now I expect to take it easy right up to New Year's Day. Reading is big on the agenda. We don't go out for NY Eve anymore but watch the ball drop from the comfort of our living room. We'll probably watch a good movie.

As for New Year resolutions — I do sort of make them. I have two main ones this year. One is finishing my next book and the other is working on my Spanish. I will keep you posted on how both of those turn out.

How about you? Are you ready for the New Year? How was your Christmas? Do you make resolutions?

Best wishes for all good things to happen for you in 2020.

                                                                      

Before Spain, Let's Go to Portugal; Here's Why

My new book, a cozy mystery,

set in Braga, Portugal. 

My new book, a cozy mystery, set in Braga, Portugal, was released Thanksgiving Day (while I was busy cooking). If you click on the link, you can go check it out HERE.

This book is near and dear to my heart. I got the idea for it before I ever went to Braga. I just liked the idea of setting a mystery in Portugal, and that was the closest city to our area in Spain (Galicia). I felt I could go to Braga and do first-hand research.


When we actually went to Braga, we met wonderful people who became our friends, and now every time we go to Galicia, we take a few days in Braga for further research — and to see our friends.

What is Deadly Vintage about?

Carla Bass, an interior designer has accompanied her husband, Owen, while he oversees a hotel remodel for his employer's new chain. They rent an apartment in the historical part of Braga, where most of the story takes place. (As you can see from pictures below, it's a picturesque and charming area.) When a wine seller gives Carla a mysterious bottle of Port by mistake (she thinks) she returns to his shop to give it back to him and finds him dead. The last to see him alive, she's now a suspect.

Here are a few scenes from Carla's Braga:

This is Carla's favorite bookstore:
Centésima Página ("Hundredth Page"
in English. See the "100" on the glass?)
Carla and Owen often eat lunch there,
as there is a food bar and small tables
 inside toward the back.

The lobby of the same building.
That's a cardboard cut-out of the
poet Pessoa lurking by the lamp.

And Carla often sees this woman
playing her violin on the streets
near the music college.

This  fountain, a defining landmark
of the historic Praça da República, has
colored lights playing on the jets each
 evening. The arcade is to the left, and
a MacDonald's that you can't see is
to the right. The corner building is the
National Bank. The red building is the
hotel Owen's employer is remodeling. 

Detective Fernandes is
investigating the finances
of someone (can't say who)
at the National Bank, and . . ..

   

Cafe Vianna has a long literary and
political history in Braga, although
now it is simply a favorite cafe/eatery
and is always busy. Carla and Owen
hang out here a lot, after hours. 

The last scene in the book
takes place here, as a matter
of fact. But first, there's a
mystery to solve . . ..

Carla has to talk to Maria about . . ., well, you'll find out. But Maria chooses the Jardim de Santa Barbara (Garden of Santa Barbara) for their discussion. 

A nice place to relax and talk
honestly, don't you think?

Well . . . it should be

And then there's the matter of Maria's boyfriend. This time Carla chooses the place to talk — the Museu Imagem (the Image Museum). You go right through the Arco da Porta Nova, then the museum is on your right, after a souvenir store. 

The Arco da Porta Nova (Arch
of the New Gate), designed by
André Soares, an architect of
Northern Portugal, famous for
his Baroque design.

The Museu Imagem: the modest-looking red building. It's a 

free museum, specializing in wonderful photography exhibits. 

If you go through the arch and turn left, on a corner a street away (not in the picture) is the house where Carla attends an estate auction and ruffles someone's feathers.

Before the auction, She and Owen dine at their favorite restaurant: Taberna do Félix (sometimes called Félix Taberna), and catch up on their news of the day. 

A romantic place, if your conversation isn't about dead bodies.

The next day, unexpectedly she has coffee with someone at A Brasileira (The Brazilian Woman) and the mystery deepens.

A Brasileira originally started in Lisbon (or
Lisboa), but it has a rich political history in
Braga. Its logo boasts that the best coffee is
that of the Brazilian Woman.

And the logo is printed on cups, napkins, even sugar packets!

I hope you've enjoyed this little taste of Portugal and the teasers that went with it as much as I enjoyed sharing them.  Your comments are always welcome.  Meanwhile, check out the book if you like cozies, HERE and have a great day. 

Saudade, Thirty Poems of Longing

That's the name of my poetry chapbook that was accepted by Finishing Line Press. The poems were inspired by our trips my husband and I took to Portugal and our introduction to the song form, Fado, which has been compared to the Blues in America.

I'm really so pleased. I've had children's novels published, and individual poems, but this is my first poetry collection. Finishing line Press is taking pre-orders now, and the book will be mailed out on February 14th. If you are interested, you can go to Finishing Line Press's website and scroll through the books. (They only publish books of poetry and art.) And here are some kind blurbs I've been given:

"Elizabeth Varadan‘s first book of poetry, Saudade, Thirty Poems of Longing, is aptly named.  The first saudade speaks eloquently of longing as “a yearning for what was, what could have been but was stillborn” and later in another poem she relates that in saudade there are no returns nor arrivals.  In this book, Portugal, a country she loves becomes a place we know as she brings us poems of fado—like the blues.  She speaks eloquently of our troubled land and of loss echoing my sadness for America.  The four saudades in this book frame a lovely unity.  Phantoms of promise in the third bring us to a place of keeping the heart dormant so that in the fourth we learn to trust again.  This first book is a beautiful read, not to be missed."
–Allegra Jostad Silberstein, Poet Laureate for the city of Davis 2010-2012

"In Saudade, Thirty Poems of Longing, Elizabeth Varadan reckons with an untranslatable Portuguese word, the title of this exquisite chapbook, in order to evoke a universal emotion: longing for what was lost, missing, never fully known, never truly experienced. Music, poetry, and travel offer her poignant glimpses of this evanescent but irrepressible condition, which comes close to love but escapes, sometimes into the thin air of memory. Yet once saudade has been evoked, other emotions emerge in Varadan’s poems: nostalgia, terror, sorrow, dread, and hope all appear and fade into a muted acceptance of fate. What lingers is the haunting echo of the fado, the quintessentially Portuguese blues that Varadan too sings, quietly, and with perfect phrasing."
–Bradley W. Buchanan, Professor Emeritus, Department of English, California State University, Sacramento.

"In this short, cohesive collection, Elizabeth Varadan steeps us in saudade, that peculiarly Portuguese feeling of regretful longing, and we emerge, ironically and gratefully, more hopeful for the immersion."
–Naomi J. Williams, Author of Landfalls (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2015)

I hope to post soon more about our travels to Spain. I took lots of pictures, but haven't had time to download them yet. Stay tuned.


Do you like to read poetry? If so, do you like anthologies or collections by one author? Do you write poetry? If so, have you put together any collections yet? And do you belong to any poetry groups? I've joined two and have found them so helpful. It's wonderful to be in the company of poets!

A Wonderful School Visit in Braga, Portugal

Time has been flying, while I've been focused on writing a draft of my next mystery, based in Braga, Portugal. But I finally got time to download pictures and my first Braga post is about a wonderful school visit I had.

The school is Escola básica e secundária vale d'este, Viatodos. The students, ages 13, are learning English. Their English teacher, Alice Faria, is the friend who invited me. (Some of these pictures were taken by her and/or the other teachers who were present.)

 First, a sharp young man introduced me. He had memorized all my bio and author information, and I think he only had consult his notes once. I was really impressed. Then, I had to be wired up with a microphone,  since I have a very soft voice that doesn't carry well in large gatherings. (Each of two classes had about 60 students!)

The young man who introduced me.

Wired for action.

Reading from one of the books

                                            After reading excerpts from Carnival of the Animals and Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, I took questions, circulating among the students. I always like to circulate among students at a reading. It brings you so much closer to them, and in my case, I hear the questions more clearly and can repeat them over the mike for the other students, who often can't hear them, either.

Their teacher, Senhora Alice Faria,
(in the front of the room) was so
helpful at every turn. 

Some of their questions really made
me think: Example: "What is the most
unethical practice in publishing, in your
opinion?" I finally came up with "Piracy."

I must say, would that I were as fluent in either Spanish or Portuguese as they already are in English! They asked some pretty cool questions, too!

This young man wrote a story with
a surprise twist at the end that made
me laugh out loud. (Rajan, too!) 

  The students were wonderful. At the very end, Senhora Faria gave me stories they had written and printed up in the form of scrolls (which you can see below). The stories were really good.

Stories on scrolls. I read every one of them and
have them in a special place in my writing area.

Other teachers came in to listen, one an art teacher, another a French teacher, both warm and welcoming. The school also presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Believe it or not, that bouquet made it all the way back to Monforte, Galicia in our car the next day and has become a beautiful "vase bouquet" in our apartment.

Rajan, me, Alice Faria, art teacher, French teacher.

The bouquet in a vase after a 2&1/2 hour drive
the next day.

To the school, and to  the teachers — especially Alice Faria, many thanks for the wonderful opportunity to visit your school, and read to your students. They were just terrific. I enjoyed the morning so much. 

How about you? For those of you who write, do you make school visits? If so, what do you enjoy most about them? What is your favorite age group to read to? 

Haunting Tales of Iberia

For some time, I have wanted to post about two intriguing novels — one takes place in Spain, and one takes place in Portugal.

Those of you who have followed my blog for some time know that my husband and I travel periodically to Galicia, in the northwest corner of Spain, and also to Braga, Portugal, where I've set my cozy mystery, Deadly Vintage. In truth, we are enamored of Spain and Portugal—partly for the sense of antiquity in old stone and tile; also the echoes of political history; but mainly for the embracing warmth of the people in both countries.


So I have read these books — devoured them, really — and reflected on the worlds they open up.

     I'll start with The Time In Between by María Dueñas, first. — a very long book (reader be warned), but worth every page It starts out like a love story, perhaps even a family saga, then swiftly moves into a spy story that takes a reader to Morocco and returns one to Madrid during the early Franco years in Spain.
     The protagonist, Sira Quiroja, makes a romantic mistake early on in the book, and it changes her entire future. The way she develops throughout the novel suggests that, looking back, it was the best mistake she could have made to escape a life of boredom and acceptance of Franco's coming regime. But, at the time of her tribulations, of course, how could she know? 
     The story is compelling as it unfolds, and the writing captures moments in a way that makes you want to return to them. It's a long book — 609 pages — but worth the read. And the re-read! I have no doubt that I will re-read this book more than once, partly for the delicious story, and partly for appreciation of what makes a good novel tick. And, incidentally, I learned quite a bit of history in a painless, engrossing way. 

Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier is a completely different kind of experience. It's a philosophical novel, one that gives you a mental massage and makes you think, page by page. To some readers, it could be upsetting or boring, but I loved it. 
     The protagonist, Raymond Gregorius, a lonely, divorced professor of classical languages at a Swiss lycée, encounters a woman on a bridge who seems about to leap and end her life. He learns she is Portuguese and becomes pulled into her mystery. Because of that, he becomes intrigued by the very idea of Portugal.      
     The discovery in a bookshop of an arcane book by a Portuguese writer, Amadeu de Prado, sets Gregorius off on a journey to Lisbon to learn more about Prado, as the book seems to speak to Gregorius's very soul. No doubt Gregorius is having a midlife crisis of sorts, but he takes the leap and takes a train to Lisbon, where he encounters those who knew the author and unravels Prado's personal tale. In the process, Gregorius unravels his own story.
     As I said, this is a philosophical novel. A reader journeys into both Gregorius's and Prado's self-doubts, doubts about God, probings of the layers of one's identity and value systems, and the questioning of existence and meaning. Some readers might find this tedious  but I was swept along into the questions and the earnest attempts of Gregorius (and Prado) to answer them. In that sense, this is a lovely book, and for the philosophically inclined, one that merits more than one reading.

The beauty of novels and most fiction, I think, is in the opportunity to enter someone else's reality and have your own world stretched beyond the familiar horizons. In this sense, both of these books excel. I can't wait to begin each one again — and maybe even again. The writing is lovely in both, and in both, worlds unfold.

Have you experienced special books like that? Books that enlarge your world, stretch your mind, open up history for you and make you think? Any good titles to share?