For the moment my book cover.

The King Jayavarman VII

Final page proofs

Well as I have said before when I read this book I love it, fall in love with the characters all over again. One of my friends in Cambodia, Pou Khlaing who is singer and entertainer and who has read the book from start to finish said one of the main characters reminded him of a French Cambodian with his speech and actions. I didn't even realize that was how I was portraying him. The main male character is very rich, from the royal family. Knows five languages. He is the type of man that all he has to do is look or speak one word and he has the whole army at his disposal. You will see he is multi faceted person.
I was just reading the scene of the first party of the Cambodian New year that is at his home and anyone who has been to any big party or wedding in Cambodia knows dancing is very important. After the traditional dancing comes more western dancing as the older guest leave. If you can picture gowns of every shade in the world. Real silks, satins, lace, sequins and sparkle. A swirl of color and add to that a very sensual dance so the couple have a chance to dance, getting to know one another. During that dance the aunt of one of the characters is talking to another guest, someone in the Gov. This guest seeing the two dance wonders aloud why the two main characters aren't together he knows who and what Nurung is. As my nephew said "Time travel is not going back in time so much but a parallel time that co-exist with the present."
So this dance that I created with the swirl of color, the movements, though clean, was to Usher's "Love in the Club" with Beyonc'e. It was the tune that helped me to create the scene.
Creating a contemporary character to go with Jayavarman VII who is on my cover was a joy. I fell in love with the king. He came to the throne at around the age of 60, was cousin to Suryavarman II who built Angkor Wat(The building). He was twenty years older then I will have my Jayavarman VII. He was the builder king adding on to make Angkor Wat the largest religious structure in the world that still stands. He kicked the butt of his enemies and then had a peaceful reign for the most part till in his 90s. His rein was at same time as King Richard the Lion the Hearted. He had two queens that reined and ruled with him at the same time, sisters. I dealt with that in a way that I could because this book and the next one are the story of this great king and 'his'Queen Indradevi. So enough said for now...

A quote from a Queen...

I thought I would give you all a quote that has come down through the ages from Queen Indradevi, queen to Jayavarman VII.
"His glory went from himself to the four points of space..."

photos of Angkor Thom

I am always on the lookout for new photos as I work on my 2nd book to keep me busy till my first book gets back from my editor. AndI am always researching and searching for photos to help me picture the time when my characters lived. I found this site with some fabulous photos that I hope you all enjoy. http://tripideas.org/angkor-thom-cambodia/

The link I found I had to copy and past but then after pasting it in the google search I was able to view. if I can figure how to fix I will. The photo, I am going to have to check and see in my book of bas reliefs which king it is. Being Angkor Thom I would think it is Jayavarman VII but not sure.
enjoy!!

The Apsaras...

This is another example of these women in motion. I firmly believe these women were real, breathing, living day in, day out at Angkor. Serving in some way. Some may have been just dancers, I think their purpose there was broader. Whether they were dancers, guardians, protectors, wives to officials, lovers to the

King and or someone in the royal family. These women lived and breathed. Their image has been preserved for all time for us to behold but wonder who they were. Oh, to have but a day with them...

Things

Well it's been a while since I have done a post. I am really itching to write but have no time. That's what happens when you have to work for a living and your kids are home on vacation. It's taken me two weeks to come to terms with the lack of time. The first couple days I was so stressed because I couldn't sit down and write. I know it will only get worse as my summer work schedule will start the 4th of July week-end. BUT though I can't write I can read and do research and also help my son Brendan on TRTF,the movie(The Road to Freedom). I told him I will help in a anyway I can. I am looking into any way I can get publicity for my book, it's a learning process and also now for his movie which will be released on a limited basis around the country and overseas.
So though I have been silent on the 2nd book, I am always working on it, just not getting many pages written. BUT I haven't planned on this one being a fast book. It's going to be much more in detail then the first. The first was the ground breaking book, my debute. Hopefully with this book I will gain an audience and an interest in The Kings of Angkor. I am anxiously awaiting to get my manuscript back from my editor to start on the editing.
When I do research I bounce ideas off my friend Kent Davis who is a lead researcher for the Apsaras. I read articles and then write up an email and if he is in the states he gets right back to me.
I was reading an article of his and it had this photo that I am going to put on here. When I saw the photo of the Apsaras and Devatas I could almost see the motion, like I had caught them moving. I think I read somewhere a description of them, this one group as nymphs, I think it's fitting. so I wanted to enclose it. I think if I have my way this will be my life's work. write novels so I can hopefully live off the income and then conduct research on these fascinating women who once lived.

Angkor Wat at Sunrise