FIVE STAR REVIEW

After Goya, now has a 5-star review over at Amazon US.


"A Gripping Read.

After Goya is engaging from page one and takes you on a thrilling journey throughout Spain and across time. Its a wonderful mix of Art History, Spanish Civil War politics, International espionage and conspiracy theory. Haarlson Phillipps is a great writer who skillfully pulls you into the intrigue and twists and turns the plot keeping you riveted. A great read! "

Blimey.

Paperback edition now available

Now available online in paperback through:

• Blackwell's
• Waterstone's
• WH Smith
• The Book Depository 
• Barnes & Noble 
• Powell's
• Amazon UK
• Amazon US 
• Amazon Germany
• Amazon France 
• Amazon Canada 

• Amazon Japan. 

However, it is not yet available at Amazon Italy and Amazon China. I'm working on it.

Food & Drink: 2 - Salmorejo

When taking lunch in Córdoba, Jordi Cotelo, the main character of After Goya, opts for salmorejo as a first course.

Salmorejo is a simple, though fabulous, dish from Córdoba - with its origins in Moorish Spain - perfect for  summer afternoons.

Many people describe it as like gazpacho - cold tomato soup - only thicker. Unfair description I think, as it has a flavour quite its own. It's more like a tomato flavoured hummus, or tomato baba ghanoush.

I've become quite adept at making salmorejo. Try my recipe, I'll think you'll like it. No cooking involved.
If organised it takes about twenty minutes, and then one hour minimum cooling time in the fridge.
Good dish for vegetarians - just omit ham garnish when serving.

What you'll need:

• A good, sharp knife.
• A chopping board.
• A deep bowl.
• A couple of small bowls. 
• A small pan for boiling eggs.
• A spoon. 
• A spatula.
• A conical sieve.  
• A blender.
• A fridge

Ingredients (for 4):

• 500g of good quality fresh plum tomatoes (or pear tomatoes as they're known in Spain) NOT tinned.
• A stale French or Spanish stick of bread (preferably NOT a baguette, and certainly NOT stale sliced white).
• 2 cloves of garlic.
• A red (or green - but NOT yellow) capiscum (or bell) pepper.
• 2 free-range eggs.
• A few slices of, or packet of ready-diced, serrano ham.
• 2 dessert spoons of good quality vinegar (preferably apple, or sherry, but NOT balsamico).
• 2 dessert spoons of good quality olive oil (preferably extra virgin, and preferably from Córdoba province - the Carbonell brand is often the most easy to find in UK and US stores).
• Boiling water to peel tomatoes.

Method:
Put the kettle on for boiling water. Hard boil the eggs.

I prefer to peel the tomatoes - others don't bother. It's not really very difficult (especially if they are good quality tomatoes). Take the knife and put a small cross at the crown of each tomato and place in the bowl. Pour on boiling water, making sure to cover the tomatoes, and let rest while you break up the bread and put through the blender to make fine breadcrumbs. Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl and set aside. Chop the pepper, remove the seeds and white pithy bits, and chop the garlic.

After eggs have boiled place in cold water to cool. Return to tomatoes and drain hot water and pour on cold water and drain again. Then take each tomato and nip skin at the crown between thumb and forefinger and gently remove skin. Easy isn't it? Discard skin. Chop each tomato in half and place in blender, add chopped garlic and pepper into the blender. Give the mixture a good blast.

Now, I prefer to strain the tomato seeds - others don't. To strain, pour the tomato pulp from the blender through the conical sieve into the bowl the tomatoes were in. Run the spoon around the sieve to extract as much good juice as you can. Discard seeds.

Put the breadcrumbs into the blender and pour on the tomato, pepper and garlic juice, add the oil and vinegar (though others insist, I don't think you'll need salt - add if you prefer.). Pulse the blender a few times to mix the breadcrumbs and juice then give it a good blast.

Pour mixture, which should be of porridge-like consistency, back into the bowl. If too runny add more breadcrumbs. If too clumpy add more fruit. Put bowl in the fridge for a minimum of one hour.

Peel the hard boiled eggs. Gently separate the whites and yolks and finely chop the white. If using slices of ham, instead of ready-diced, dice the ham.

To serve, put a few ladles of the mixture into serving bowls and sprinkle a good measure of egg white, and a heaped teaspoon of diced ham onto the mixture.

Try a spoonful. Yum. Think of Andalucia. Think of Cotelo negotiating a rapprochement with his assistant. Acknowledge hearty thanks from happy family and friends.

Four Star Review on Amazon UK

Received a first review on Amazon UK. Four stars no less. 

"... original in its theme, coherent in its writing, with good descriptions of place and character and delivers appealingly cinematic action scenes."

You can read the full, and fairly lengthy review HERE.

I'm very pleased, and feeling a little humbled, that the reader took the time and trouble to post a review. 

If you're still dithering about whether to splash out £2.06/€2,32 or $2.99 on the Kindle version go check out the review. 

Or, if you don't have a Kindle, go to Barnes & Noble and buy the Nook version HERE. 

Or, if you have an i-Pad, (yes, I mean you, Sumner) go to the Apple Store HERE, download the FREE i-book app and go to the i-bookstore.

Or, visit the Diesel store HERE.

Or, you could venture over to Smashwords HERE.

And, if you don't have any of these gadgets you'll have to wait for the print version priced at £7.99 in the UK.

SMASHWORDS PREMIUM CATALOG

After Goya is now in the Smashwords Premium Catalog.

Big deal. 


Yes, it is a big deal.


Smashwords is a distributor of ebooks. They have distribution agreements with ... well, just about everyone who's anyone in ebook retail - Apple i-Tunes, Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Kobo, Sony,  etc, etc, etc. 

Inclusion in the catalog means Goya is accessible to readers in Australia and New Zealand as well as the States and Europe and the U.K. (via Kindle).



So, it is a big deal.



The ebook as formatted by ebookation and distributed by Smashwords:

ISBN: 978-1-4581-2596-5

Well, here it is - the revised cover for After Goya - now available as a Kindle ebook.

Yes, that's right, the Kindle edition went live on Sant Jordi (Saint George's Day).

If you want to buy it in Euroland for only €2,32 inc. tax, go HERE (the Amazon Germany site).

If you'd like to buy it in Poundland for only £2.06 inc. VAT then go HERE (the Amazon UK site).

And, if you'd like to purchase this "intelligent literary thriller" for only $2.99 in U.S. currency then go HERE (the Amazon U.S. Kindle store ).


I had hoped to be able to offer you a FREE copy of the ebook, by way of celebrating Sant Jordi, in all popular ebook reader formats (e.g. Nook, EPub, Sony reader, Kobo etc), via Smashwords, however, such was not possible.

The print version is on schedule to be available in the U.K. during the first week of June, priced at ₤7.99.  I'll let you know as soon as I know.

Within four hours of going live in the States I'd sold a copy. The reader downloaded it to their i-Pad via the kindle app. The reader, from Durham in North Carolina very kindly sent me a message:
"I stayed up too late reading last night, really enjoyed it so far and got quickly sucked into the plot, well done! As for format issues on the kindle, none encountered so far. I am reading it on an iPad with the Kindle app."

Not owning a Kindle, nor an iPad, I cannot download a copy myself so I was relieved, and pleased, to learn that there appear (so far) to be no formatting issues.

So, there you go, what are you waiting for? Head over to your preferred Amazon store and sample a few pages before you buy.

REAL LIFE IMITATES ART?

After Goya's core premise is built around the re-emergence of two miniature paintings by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
74 years after having been presumed destroyed or looted following an air-raid on Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

You may scoff, or be unconvinced, at the conceit.

However, the air-raid, on November 19^th, 1936, really did happen (SEE Antony Beevor's The Battle for Spain page 203), and did cause extensive damage to the Duke of Alba's Palacio de Liria, and artworks were destroyed, damaged and went missing.

In 2008 three drawings by Goya re-emerged after 130 years of being presumed lost.

In 2010 the three drawings on paper fetched a total of £4,010,150 at auction in London.
Go HERE to read the background on how the three drawings, last seen in a Paris exhibition in 1877, re-appeared in 2008.

And, just last week, (no, I'm not making this up) a painting by Goya (and a painting by El Greco) was discovered in a house in Alicante, 14 years after disappearing during transit from the United States to Spain after an exhibition in New York. The UK Independent covered the story HERE and, for more detail, go  HERE.

I find it uncanny how not only was the Goya re-discovered at this time, while review copies of After Goya are being distributed to magazines and blogs, but how there is a Barcelona connection. Yes, the re-discovered Goya once belonged to Catalan businessman, Julio Muñoz Ramonet, who owned properties on Carrer Muntaner and Carrer Avenir. Muñoz Ramonet's surviving family are currently involved in litigation with Barcelona City Council over ownership. Go HERE to read the background.

This story of re-discovery, happening as it does, combined with the spooky coincidence of After Goya being published on Goya's birthday, would be mannah for an adept and able book publicist. But, other than tell you about it, I'm  really not sure how best to exploit these coincidences.

I didn't know of either instance of re-discovery during the writing of After Goya. I first came across mention of the Alicante Goya on William Newton's fascinating blog - go HERE and scroll down.

The FORD MADOX FORD TEST

The novelist, critic and editor, Ford Madox Ford once famously said, “Open a book to page ninety-nine, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you.”

Well, at the risk of public humiliation, but in the spirit of transparency and sharing, here is Page 99 of After Goya:

     ‘Asking you to interview the bank manager in Madrid was not a little errand.’ Cotelo tapped the table with an emphatic finger. ‘And the reports? Well, that’s just bullshit isn’t it? Didn’t think you’d be interested in the paperwork. Thought you wanted action. Thought you wanted to be out there, on the streets, tracking our man. And, as for belittling your suggestions, well, we’re here aren’t we? You said they were heading for Córdoba and here we are – in Córdoba.’
     He looked at Cotelo, trying to read his expression. He couldn’t tell whether he was being sincere or not. He hesitated, wavering on the edge of feeling chastened. He allowed him the benefit of his doubt and continued eating his soup.
     ‘For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a good job.’ Cotelo wiped his chin with a napkin. ‘These surveillance jobs are never easy. They’re frustrating. You just want to get in there and get your man, or woman. S’only natural. We all want to do what we’re paid to do – catch crooks and lock ’em up. But, well, when there’s a bigger catch, and it means taking time, watching, waiting, laying a trap, then ...’ Cotelo shrugged, pushed his empty dish aside and poured himself a glass of red wine.
     ‘So, what do you think he’s up to?’ he asked.
     ‘As I’ve said before, that’s not our job. We watch, we observe, we allow our observations–’
     ‘Yes, I understand that, but you must be curious. You’re a detective!’
     ‘I have my ideas, of course, but–’
     ‘I don’t think the Boss would have sent you to just watch. Sooner or later he’s going to ask you to close in and close it down, whatever it is.’
     ‘Maybe. But maybe the Boss is just keeping me out of the way, sending me on a little errand.’
     ‘And, why would he do that?’
     ‘Stop me following up a case I’ve been working on.’
     The waiter arrived at the table with their second courses.
     ‘Which case?’
 .....

So, what do you think?

There are a couple of little niggly things in there that I'd change if writing it again. And, it's a bit dialogue heavy and light on speech tags, but ... I think it's fairly clear what's going on and who is talking to who. And, there's some intrigue:  "... close in and close it down, whatever it is." What is the it that is being referred to?
And, why would Cotelo's boss prevent him from following up a case he's been working on?
Well, you'll have to turn the page to find out. 

What do you think? All comments gratefully received.

GOYA'S BIRTHDAY

Incredible - but true! 
The very same day I received news that my novel AFTER GOYA is now published was the anniversary of Goya's birth. 
Goya was born on March 30th, 1746.
Spooky or what?

And, no, this is not an April Fools stunt.

Food & Drink: 1 - Soberano

A good many readers enjoy the mentions of food and drink in After Goya.

They say they add not only colour, but also a certain depth to the experience of reading an adventure set in modern-day Spain.


Good, that's as it should be.


The main character, Jordi Cotelo, drinks coñac, and, more specifically, Soberano. A few readers have asked, 'Why Soberano and not, say, Veterano, or Magno, or Terry, or Mascaró?'  All very popular brands of brandy in Spain.

Well, setting aside popular associations of class (for example, Mascaró is considered a luxury brand when really it's not) there's a double-edged play on words going on, and an allusion to a missing fragment of the jigsaw that is modern-day Spain.

In castellano Soberano means the equivalent of sovereign. In  Spanglish Soberano echoes sober (sobrio) plus año - year; implying age.
This sober-older association with Cotelo's choice of drink infers he is older, more sober - he's no eager young naif.

And the allusion to a missing part of the jigsaw?

Well, much of After Goya is taken up with characters asking and placing who was where when?
Passing reference is made to the 'Monarchists' - but it's not stated which monarchists.
Passing reference is made to the 23rd of February, 1981 (23-F in Spanish history), when King Juan Carlos stayed up through the night, hustling between factions and broadcasting calls for calm, unity and, ultimately, the surrender of patsy Coronel Tejero's gang of Boschistas.

The King (and, interestingly, the medium of radio), and the institution of constitutional monarchy, came out winners of the debacle. The monarch's subsequent approval ratings prompted the old Stalinist butcher, Santiago Carillo (then posing as a Euro-communist), to say, "God save the king. Today, we are all monarchists."

Juan Carlos had proved to be a steadying, sober influence.

He may not be mentioned by name in After Goya - but Juan Carlos is there in spirit.