This is me drinking a mango and papaya smoothie just arrived in Mekelle (Tigray, Ethiopia), 5 years ago.
I was at the beginning of one of the most beautiful trips of my life, and Paola – my wife, a doctor – had already been there for months working alongside extraordinary people.
Today there are tanks there and in recent days the city has even been bombed.
We have no news of our friends, because every communication in the region has been cut off.
Thousands of families have been forced to flee, walking for days to take refuge in Sudan (!)
When I turn on the TV here, I’m sad to see no Italian news broadcast spent a minute talking about it. Only on Al Jazeera I was able to see (chilling) reports.
Yet we Italians have a long history in those lands.
Being a writer, what I can do is to tell what I saw, studied and lived – as well as what inspired and stimulated my imagination. The best way is to do it in a novel, which in fact will be the next novel in the Larry H series.
P.S.
Speaking of places where people are fighting, MACHSOM – set between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – is in the home stretch. I received my proof copy and it is fantastic. These days the team is putting the finishing touches to the English edition.
If you have pre-ordered, you will receive your ebook copy on December 15th as promised. The paperback copies will take a few more days to arrive.
To those who asked me about the final length of the novel: it is over 300 pages.
All pages full of entertainment and adventure, but I’m sure you’ll find them thought-provoking too.
EYES TO SEE 