At Fly-By-Night Press we love to explore the works of many authors who write about Europe. Read our blog for unique insights into the lives and work of these authors and their works.
Guest blog: The Beast, The Balkans & The Kindness of Strangers
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: This weekend we are featuring a guest post by fellow author Jacqueline Lambert. Our paths crossed recently in the world of travel writing and we were delighted to read her book More Manchester Than Mongolia: An Unexpected Road Trip Through Back Road Britain, which is due to be released on…
Literary Wanderlust in Greece
We’ve been reading Sally Jane Smith’s travel memoir, Repacking for Greece this month in our online book club Traveling Europe Through Books! Sally is a South African travel writer, currently based in Australia. She has a special passion for the Greek Islands. Her scintillating descriptions, thorough knowledge of Greek history and culture, and good humour…
Swedish: The Nordic Language of Love
As we are Traveling Sweden Through Books this month by way of Frederik Backman’s novel, Anxious People, we thought we would share with you Val’s first experience traveling through Sweden as a young man in the 1990s, when he learned that Swedish is the Nordic Language of Love: To this day I regret not learning…
The Christmas Eve Cable News: A Short Story
A transcript of the five o’clock news broadcast on Christmas Eve Tonight on channel thirteen news, we start with our very own war correspondent in Ukraine,Bronk Stuntman. He filed this report earlier today: An eerie scene here on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine this evening has left many in the west feeling uneasy and fearful…
Journeying into Children’s Lit: An Interview with Author Christine Karren
This interview with author-illustrator Christine Karren is based on the question and answer session during her recent book launch event. Here Karren tells us about her new children’s book, Friday’s Year in Belgium, from the World of Values series. Fly-By-Night Press: Tell us about your new book! Christine Karren: My new book is called Friday’s…
What Happens in Barcelona…
Nobody is really sure how things got so out of control that night in Barcelona’s old town. Assigning guilt would imply that there was premeditation or gross negligence. ‘Who was liable?’ is probably the right question to ask, as I reflect back about the looks on our faces when we were confronted with the check;…
An Interview with Author Katherine Reay
This month we had the honour of interviewing bestselling author Katherine Reay, as we featured her historical novel, The Berlin Letters, in our online book club: Travel Europe Through Books The Berlin Letters tells the story of a German family torn apart by the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The turmoil that follows:…
Walking in the Shoes of Jane Austen
During our recent visit to England we had the distinct privilege of visiting a city with strong literary connections: Bath! Bath sits in the southwestern county of Sommerset in England, not far from Bristol, and straddles the Avon River. It’s known for its many natural thermal springs which have bubbled up to the surface since…
10+ Best Books on Lithuania
This month, as we’ve been focusing on the Baltic nation of Lithuania in our online book club, Travel Europe Through Books, we thought you’d like a few more recommendations for books set in, or otherwise connected to, Lithuania: 1. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Fifteen-year-old Lina is an artist who loves drawing and painting.…
An Interview with Author Ruta Sepetys
This month we had the special privilege of interviewing author Ruta Sepetys about her book, Salt to the Sea as we have been Traveling Europe Through Books. With Lithuania as our focus for June, we chose Salt to the Sea to read in our online book club because it features a strong Lithuanian character and…
The Vagabond: Chapter 1
Book: The Vagabond (May 2024) Author: V M Karren Chapter 1 My passport got stolen on Thursday, or Wednesday. I can’t remember exactly now. After a week on the tour bus the days all just kind of blurred into one. On Monday we saw a famous church but I can’t remember which town we were…
A New Book: The Vagabond
Photo by David Kohler at Unsplash Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) –Rene Descartes Thinkers who think deeper than I can ask the darndest questions that really get me thinking sometimes. Take Mr. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) for instance: I think, therefore I am. That’s deep. I guess what he is trying to explain in three short words…
From the Author of The Mapmaker’s Daughter
This month we’re delighted to feature Clare Marchant, the author of the 2023 novel The Mapmaker’s Daughter, on our blog! The Mapmaker’s Daughter is our book pick for the month of April in our online bookclub, Travel Europe Through Books. It’s a historical fiction novel about two similar women who are connected by a special…
Why A Romance Writer Tackled Historical Fiction
This week we are joined by Nicki Pascarella, author of contemporary and historical romances. The Quiet Hero, which she co-authored with John Drost, has been our book pick for the month of March. The Quiet Hero is the inspiring story of a Czech lawyer caught in the political struggles of 20th century Czechoslovakia. We’ve been…
Top 5 things you will NOT be able to do in Rome
Are the days of enjoyable tourism a thing of the past? What can be done to salvage a vacation that runs amuck in Italy due to overcrowding? Simple! When in Rome, do as the Romans. Buon Appetito!
My Big Fat Greek Book Launch
A Parthenon in Pefki. Book launch party. Finally.
Our first book, A Parthenon on our Roof, was gaining ground in Athens. Bookshops were stocking, and it was selling well. Athenian bookshops offered to host our launch party, but we decided to give back to the village that inspired the book, and launch it there. It…
Bulgarian Literature in a Nutshell
Bulgaria is a land of cultural richness, historical drama, and incredible creativity. Because of its location on the far east end of Europe, sandwiched between Greece and Romania, with the former Yugoslavian states to the west, this country has definitely seen both action and defining moments in the course of European history. All of these…
The Historical Fiction of Bucharest
Bucharest is a city near and dear to my heart. Between Fall 1994 and Spring 1996, while providing volunteer humanitarian service there, I walked the grey avenues, packed into crowded buses, licked summer ice cream in the parks, and cuddled orphans. Even after leaving Romania for my native California, I felt I had taken part…
Discover Moscow Through Books
October is an important month for Russia, especially if you’re a communist! ‘The October Revolution’ which began in St. Petersburg on October 25, 1917 (O.S.), under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, moved Peter the Great’s Tsarist capital in St. Petersburg back to the original capital of the Russian state: Moscow. Spurred on by the philosophies…
Book Review: Last Train to Istanbul
Last Train to Istanbul was written by Ayse Kulin, a Turkish short story writer, screen writer and novelist. First published in 2002 in Turkish as Nefes Nefese, it was later translated into English in 2006 by John W. Baker, and published by Everest Yayinlari in the same year. A later publication came in 2013 by…
5 Great Literary Sites in Istanbul
We are currently reading Last Train to Istanbul by Ayse Kulin as our June pick for the bookclub Travel Europe Through Books; the country of our current focus is Turkey! Kulin is an author of international renown whose works have been frequently published in English, but most foreigners will be unfamiliar with the majority of…
Read Your Way Through Italy
Will you be travelling to Italy this summer? Knowing something about the history and culture of Italy can greatly enhance your experience. Here are five of our favorite books on Italy, a sampling to give you a taste of what to expect besides pizza and gelato: ROME: THE BIOGRAPHY OF A CITY by Christopher Hibbert.…
Art Imitating Art: An Introduction to Little Sicily
In the snooty, intellectual circles of cosmopolitan neighborhoods, where money is merely a fashion accessory, a more sophisticated version of the causality dilemma, regarding the order of the first chicken and the egg from which it hatched, is discussed endlessly, without ever coming to agreement. Those gathered for wine and cheese after the debut of…
Travel Log: Rome & Florence
26 April 2023 I am sitting on the edge of Lake Como, a vision of sparkling blue, nestled in the Cyprussy hills of northern Italy. Yesterday we arrived here in the train after eight hours of travel, much of which was through the alpine valleys of Switzerland. Tomorrow we’ll train into Rome. Everything is so…
The Face of a Genius: Mozart’s Death Mask
On December 5th, 1791, around 1:00 am in the morning, the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart passed away at just 35 years old. He had lived a prolific musical career, creating operas, concertos and symphonies–often for royalty–and around 800 works in every musical genre of his time. His influence is still widely felt throughout the…
Vienna is my Muse
To me, Vienna has always been the most beautiful city in the world, since I was 10 years old and read a historical novel called Vienna Prelude. Other kids wanted to visit Narnia or Avonlea, I hankered after Vienna. To me, it was a city of beautiful steeples, a million kinds of coffee, opulent opera…
Austria for Literary Travellers
If you are a lover of historical fiction set in Europe, you have probably heard of at least one of the foremost novels featuring Vienna. A literary traveller can enjoy stepping into the locations described in these novels as she explores this imperial city.
An Interview with British Author Maggie Holman
In our online book club ‘Travel Europe Through Books,’ we travel to a new European country every month through its literature. This month we’ve been focusing on the literature, culture, and landscape of Great Britain by way of Thomas Hardy’s classic romance, Far From the Madding Crowd. As we round off this month, I thought…
Book Shops of London
During our recent trip to London, we stepped into Waterstone’s at Trafalgar Square. It was big, beautiful, and inviting; a paradise for book-lovers. We traipsed inside, ready to be astonished, as we had already been by the beautiful and varied London sites leading up to this one. We are a family of four, and we…
5 English Classic Romance Novels Featuring Strong Women
The articulate, ambitious, and passionate ‘English lady’ stereotype exists in part because of the English romance novels that have created her. She is independent and strong-willed, and knows what she wants from love. The world adores her, creating literary tours, tea varieties, and instagram giveaways to help readers pay homage to her. Where in literature…
Travel Europe Through Books 