The launch day for Journey to Casablanca is now official. It’s the last day of this month – September 30th.
Here is the blurb:
The Great Ernesto is brutally attacked while rehearsing on stage for his next performance. Graham finds the dying man and becomes the prime suspect for his murder. Can Amanda cut through the intrigue, solve the enigma of the magician’s past and track down the culprit before her husband is arrested? No one on the ship has a good word to say for Ernesto, but who has sufficient motive to want him dead?
As I mentioned in last month’s blog, the itinerary in the novel follows that of the cruise we did in January. My first shore excursion was called the Flowers of Madeira, and this photo is one of those I took during the amazing orchid workshop in the grounds of a very exclusive hotel.
The hustle and bustle of a Moroccan market is a sensory experience like no other with glorious colours, exotic smells and a cacophony of noisy stall holders advertising their wares and chiming brass swinging in the breeze.
The Berber Show in Agadir was a photographer’s paradise with bands and dances from several different tribes, acrobats, a snake charmer all leading up to the highlight of the show – the horse race.
In all three of the Moroccan ports we visited, I had plenty of time to indulge my obsession with Moorish architecture, but the highlight for me had to be in the hotel in Tangier where we stopped for mint tea and a Moroccan pastry on our walking tour of the town.
As one of the last to be served, there was no room for me to sit on the small balcony overlooking the lower slopes of the town down to our ship below. I was sent upstairs to the balcony above. However, when I reached the top of the stairs, I decided to explore the corridors, admiring the spectacular glazed tilework.
I even took a rare video. I managed to get lost, and it was only by following the distant sounds of chatter from the rest of the party that I managed to get back before we were due to leave.
From the balcony of that same hotel we had a magnificent view over the town below. We could see the ship lying in the port plus the beautiful Syrian Mosque which has a tall tapered mineret which id unnique in Morocco.
On the sail back home, the ship called in at Lisbon. My husband and I decided to take a ship’s tour to Sintra, a small village in the hills were the Royal family built a summer palace. Another enjoyable day, where once again we were in dire danger of being left behind when we explored the palace in our free time.
Our final port was Leixoes, but rather than visit Oporto which we had done several times in the past, we took another tour together to the little port of Aviero for a canal ride to admire the Art Nuevo architecture for which the town is famous.
If you fancy learning more about these trips, why not take a vicarious cruise with Amanda and pre-order Journey to Casablanca at the discount price of £2.99. Less than a cup of coffee! (Or the equivalent sum in your own currency as shown on your Amazon store.) The day after launch day, the price will increase to £4.99.
Alternatively, if you would like to read it for FREE, I’d be happy to send you an advanced reader’s copy in a couple of weeks’ time in return for a review put up on your Amazon store on launch day. Please don’t request a free copy if you do not have time to read and write a review in the last two weeks of September.
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