Going Back to the Middle Ages

This weekend (June 16th & 17th) Alkmaar is celebrating Kaeskoppenstad, which I think translates as Cheese Head City. According to the local website (translated from Dutch) the city streets will revert to what it was like in the Middle Ages with sand and straw, sheep, chickens, shit, fish, fishwives, nobles, fishermen, beggars, plague, lots of music, whores, blacksmiths, shoe makers, cheese bearers, children, rope-makers, tins makers, haringkakers, potato peelings, coal, fire jugglers, town criers, fishermen, soldiers, pitch, the scaffold, Spanish soldiers, the famous Beggars in their boats in the Alkmaar canal and of course lots KAES.

Should be a good time for anyone interested.

Worst. Candy. EVER

...is called Salmiak knotsen. I bought it thinking it would be like salt-water taffy but it's hard and seems to be mostly salt with a hint of vanilla. After doing some research to see why the saline taste continued to linger an hour later, I discovered the main ingredient was ammonium chloride and the candy was classified as licorice.

I have to admit until I moved here I thought there were only two types of licorice, black (which makes me cringe) and strawberry (which I can pig out on). There are actually much more. There's brown and white, salty and sweet, all classified as "drops" and one of the most sought after products by Dutch people living outside the Netherlands.

From Barcelona 2nd Edition -- Coming Soon

Sorry for the non-existent posting. I've been busy working with a new publisher on the second edition of my short story collection, From Barcelona: Stories Behind the City. The good news is that it's due to be released this July and I now have a cover to share.

It's what I called "city-lit" with twelve stories set in the popular Mediterranean metropolis. There's a little bit of everything. The origin story behind the famed Caganer. Horror in the form of a haunted flat within shouting distance of a leafy square. Historical fiction starring Barcelona's most famous architect, Antoni Gaudí. Crime, romance, comedy etc. Initial reviews say it captures the essence of Barcelona from the perspectives of the locals and foreign residents living there alike, which is what I was aiming for.

The first volume was quite well received when it was released a few years ago, but I'm much more pleased with the second edition. Mostly because, as with all artistic endeavors, you become better with practice, which includes learning from your mistakes and the feedback of readers. Also, I was able to approach the stories with more objectivity now that I don't live there, allowing me to give a more well-rounded picture of the city, I think.

I'm hoping to have a .PDF version available before the actual roll out. If anyone would like a free copy to read, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send it over. I've put some excerpts on the side to give you an idea.