Today I'm pleased to welcome Barbara Bonfigli, author of Café Tempest. Her guest post here today is part of this book's virtual tour, courtesy http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com.
I began writing ”Café Tempest: Adventures on a Small Greek Island” while I was living in London producing theater. I'd written before -- actually, I can't remember a time when I wasn't writing. I started with crayons on pretty much any available surface, then I moved on to things like the end of semester skit, the high school newspaper, term papers for friends, ads for the plays I was producing, and writing lyrics for musicals. Lyrics were the most fun. Not just writing them, but sitting in the theater day after night after day during rehearsals cutting, shaping, fitting the music into the show.
I happen to be a Pisces, with restless fins. Whenever I didn't have a play in production, I traveled. It was the high fashion maven Diana Vreeland who said the best thing about living in London is Paris. It's true. You can get from there to everywhere else in Europe in less than a day. I explored the mountains of Andorra, the coasts of France, Spain and Italy, the Rhine Valley, Vienna (for the pastries), the vineyards of Portugal, the unbearably beautiful peaceful hills and meadows of Cornwall, Scotland, and Southern Ireland. But when I stepped off a ferry on the western Greek island of Corfu, I knew I'd found my native land.
I've been exploring it ever since, and finally built a house on a Greek ruin, where I spend a few months each year. Greece -- its stunning countryside, its food, its music, its fiercely life loving people are the ingredients of my story. The characters are imaginary portraits of my neighbors.
The plot revolves around an American theater producer who, while getting over a love affair, decamps to a very small island, where she's asked to direct the islanders in their annual summer play. What follows is a hilarious adventure that becomes a feast in four acts. Along the way there's a love affair that leads the protagonist to unwrap her deepest self. Ouzo, retsina, baklava and the island cats all have bit parts. I was sorry to bring down the curtain on opening night. Greece and the theater - what else could I write about with such love and enthusiasm?
~ BB
I happen to be a Pisces, with restless fins. Whenever I didn't have a play in production, I traveled. It was the high fashion maven Diana Vreeland who said the best thing about living in London is Paris. It's true. You can get from there to everywhere else in Europe in less than a day. I explored the mountains of Andorra, the coasts of France, Spain and Italy, the Rhine Valley, Vienna (for the pastries), the vineyards of Portugal, the unbearably beautiful peaceful hills and meadows of Cornwall, Scotland, and Southern Ireland. But when I stepped off a ferry on the western Greek island of Corfu, I knew I'd found my native land.
I've been exploring it ever since, and finally built a house on a Greek ruin, where I spend a few months each year. Greece -- its stunning countryside, its food, its music, its fiercely life loving people are the ingredients of my story. The characters are imaginary portraits of my neighbors.
The plot revolves around an American theater producer who, while getting over a love affair, decamps to a very small island, where she's asked to direct the islanders in their annual summer play. What follows is a hilarious adventure that becomes a feast in four acts. Along the way there's a love affair that leads the protagonist to unwrap her deepest self. Ouzo, retsina, baklava and the island cats all have bit parts. I was sorry to bring down the curtain on opening night. Greece and the theater - what else could I write about with such love and enthusiasm?
~ BB
Thank you for that entertaining post, dear Author! Readers, your thoughts / comments are most welcome. Thanks for making A Book Blogger's Diary one of the tour stops!
To learn about Barbara Bonfigli and Café Tempest, feel free to visit any of these sites.
- Barbara Bonfigli's website - www.cafetempest.com
- Order Café Tempest directly from the publisher - http://www.tellmepress.com/pub_ct.php or from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Café-Tempest-Adventures-Small-Island/dp/0981645313
- To see the complete tour schedule visit http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/05/cafe-tempest-by-barbara-bonfigli-summer.html
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Thank you for sharing information from Barbara about her trip toward publication :) We each have interesting stories about how we go from that idea to the completed book. I've always enjoyed hearing how each author makes that journey :)
ReplyDeleteNikki Leigh
Thanks Rashmi and Good morning all, not from a Greek island but from a small pristine lake in Wisconsin where the loons are singing and a blue heron flaps by the dock where my kayak is tied up waiting for the clouds and chill to disappear.
ReplyDeleteA little Café Tempest on a cold summer morning may be even better than on a hot beach. Escape! it cries.
for more about the book and the author and an excerpt visit www.cafetempest.com Opa! bb