The book is finished!

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gavilan
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The book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:39 pm

Firstly I would like to say thank you to members of this forum who have put up with my endless questions these last 2 years and who responded with many helpful and interesting comments. (Apologies to the newbies who dont know what I am talking about!) Also thanks to Admin for allowing me to write about the book on this forum: The book is called:

La Axarquía: ‘Land to the East’ of Málaga ... a guide to the history and traditions of the region. It is in English; A5 size with 240 pages including maps, diagrams and photographs (some by grouser) and the front cover design is by grouser too.

The book briefly describes the geography/geology of the region which shows that there are 4 distinct areas to the Axarquía: the mountainous lands around the Sierras Tejeda and Almijara; the rolling hills from Periana to Colmenar where wheat is grown; the vineyards of Almáchar, Cútar, Comares, Totalán etc and the coastal plain from Rincon to Vélez-Málaga and along to Maro. The book then gives the history of each area and details of each village from pre-historic times through to the Civil War and Franco years. There are also directions so that you can find/see for yourself ancient cave paintings; Phoenician tombs and fish factories; Roman roads, bridges and baths; Muslim minarets and fountains; the silk route through the Sierras; the ice house on La Maroma; old oil mills and flour mills, sugar and paper mills; threshing floors and bread ovens; road-menders’ cottages and railway stations ... and some interesting places to have lunch.

Each chapter also includes some oral history from local people born here during the last 50/60 years.

Finally there is a substantial section which gives more details about a number of activities and events in the region mentioned briefly in earlier chapters eg ... the agriculture and gastronomy of the Muslims ... the centuries old crafts and skills of the region (lime & charcoal burning; snow gathering; esparto & hemp weaving; pine resin & juniper processing and the production of silk) ... the history of the trade routes through the Sierras and the ventas/inns there ... the yellow fever epidemic in Vélez-Málaga 1804 ... the earthquake of 1884 ... with more stories about the Maquis; the ‘hungry years’ and the blackmarket of the 1940s ... et al.


Cost 16 euros or 13 pounds (plus post and packing tba when the correos open again on Friday! )

If you are interested or have any questions, pm me

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Colinm
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Postby Colinm » Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:21 pm

Look forward to reading it!
pm on way!

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Chrissie
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The book is finished

Postby Chrissie » Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:38 pm

Congratulations Gavilan - it sounds very interesting and I know from your posts on this forum that a huge amount of research was involved. I hope to see it in the best-seller list shortly :D Good luck.
The past cannot be changed, but the present can be spoilt by worrying about the future

gavilan
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The book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:51 pm

Chrissie: thanks you for your good wishes ... vamos a ver ...

JAKE M
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Postby JAKE M » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:11 pm

excellent Gavilan. may it be as popular as "driving over lemons"etc :D
Have pm'd you
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costakid
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Postby costakid » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:37 pm

Gavillan (Hillary), I look forward to buying a copy.

katy
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Postby katy » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:41 pm

Brilliant, have we got our own A.Com celeb. When is it on sale?

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hillybilly
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Postby hillybilly » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:44 pm

Congratulations on the arrival of your new book..you are an author!

gavilan
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The book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:21 pm

thanks for all your good wishes ... the book is not in the bookshops yet but you can get/buy copies direct from me ... pm me if you are interested ...

mhic
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Postby mhic » Thu May 01, 2008 8:23 am

I'd like two copies please.

Mhic.

mirandamac
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Postby mirandamac » Thu May 01, 2008 8:33 am

Sounds good - I'll pm you to see if there's a way I can pick up a copy when we're over at the beginning of June. Congratulations.

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Postby peteroldracer » Thu May 01, 2008 10:39 am

Congrats gavilan - I will certainly have one!
Have you asked Peter in the Pasa Tiempo bookshop in Torre de Mar if he will stock some? You could even do a book-signing session with wine and nibbles, like all good authors do! :D
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gavilan
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The book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Thu May 01, 2008 11:49 am

not sure about the book signing thingy as am rather shy in public and at the moment very busy replying to individual enquiries!

olive
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Postby olive » Thu May 01, 2008 1:01 pm

Well done getting it finished.

I too would like to buy a copy direct. Do you take paypal?

olive

PS Can you do the Vega of Granada next please? :lol:

gavilan
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The book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Thu May 01, 2008 1:21 pm

oh olive give me a break! altho the Vega of Granada sounds fascinating I will have to have a good long break first before I try anything like this again! and sorry but do not do paypal

gavilan
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The book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Fri May 02, 2008 10:44 am

here are the details re post/packing costs: to UK: £9, within Spain: 4.40 € (sorry for high cost but the book is in good quality paper and weighs a lot!)
so the total for buying a book if you are in the UK is £22, if you are in Spain:20.40€.
You will need to send me a cheque either in pounds or euros and pm me for cheque details and my address
once again many thanks for your interest and support

Campo Kenny

Postby Campo Kenny » Fri May 02, 2008 10:51 am

Gavilan, out of interest did you self publish this book off your own bat or did you manage to get an agent to find a publisher to take it on?
Good luck with it either way.

Regards,
Kenny

PS What about seeing if Admin will allow you to post a couple of pages from it, just to give people on here the flavour of it?

gavilan
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The book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Fri May 02, 2008 1:03 pm

Campo Kenny: it is self published as I discovered publishers want either a history book or a guide book and mine has too much history for one and too many directions how to find places for the other! It was professionally designed and laid out by a young man in London and printed by a reputable company in East Anglia. I have suggested to Admin I send them a copy so maybe someone there will review it?!
My book is the only serious history/guide book in English I know of to date about the Axarquia (I would not have even attempted this project if someone else had done it!) There is one which is good: 'Guia Historico Artisticia de la Axarquia' but it is in Spanish and it does not tell you how to find things as I know to my cost! If you want a lightweight book about the Axarquia then I suggest 'East of Malaga' by David Baird, published by Santana but you will not find the cave paintings near Colmenar nor mention of the delightful museum at Riogordo, not any reference to Benagalbon (which has another great little museum and old working oil mill) or much about Mazmullar which is an intriguing hilltop Mozarab settlement near Comares ... nor details of all those amazing things that went on in the Sierras from snow gathering to the Maquis ...

gavilan
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the book is finished!

Postby gavilan » Fri May 02, 2008 5:09 pm

forgot to say that the David Baird book costs 16.90€ and the part re the Axarquia is only 89 pages (the other section deals with the Costa Tropical) ... mine is a bargain! and a major financial loss to me!

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Chrissie
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Re: the book is finished!

Postby Chrissie » Fri May 02, 2008 5:47 pm

gavilan wrote:... mine is a bargain! and a major financial loss to me!
Think about all the hours of innocent pleasure you've had compiling it though :D I also imagine you met some very interesting people while researching :!:
The past cannot be changed, but the present can be spoilt by worrying about the future


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