I was visiting Turkey in the last few weeks of the holiday season. Although we stayed in a resort, Kalkan which is much like any other, it was eerily quiet and there was a feeling of the 'real' Turkey coming back to claim the land during the winter. When one day, we hired a car to drive from the busy beach resort into the hills I had no idea what a scary adventure it would become. Petrol being now as expensive in Turkey as it is in England, we only half filled the tank. We also woefully misjudged the distance into the hills which quickly became mountainous and remote. Before we knew it we had gone too far to get back easily and were dangerously close to running out of fuel on deserted steep roads where the odd goatherder was the only inhabitant. Add to that a frightening storm with the loudest thunder and brightest lightening I had ever seen and the setting was ripe for a scarey crime novel. We had gone so far up, we were in the clouds on slippery roads with hairpin bends.
We could easily have been stranded, without a word of Turkish and forced to find shelter for the night. The area has a rich history of antiquities being looted from sites like nearby Xanthos and taken out of the country by sea.
Suddenly I had a possible motive for murder, and thoughts of lost treasure which could easily be hidden in the mountains or shipped away at night in a small boat from the many isolated coves like this one just below our holiday rental....
I have blogged about the historical sites in Lycia over at my personal blog caracoopers.blogspot.com
Fantastic blog - really envious of your holiday. Glad you got the bones of a story out of it as a bonus! Thanks for the pics as well as the narrative.
ReplyDeleteThanks Patricia, the Turkish people are so friendly and welcoming. Even if we had been caught up in the hills, I'm sure they'd have shared a bit of lamb kebab and sheeps cheese with us! Cara
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading your PN when it's finished to see how you interweave your Turkish experiences into it. I'd love to try a crime PN but I think it must be difficult structuring them and laying clues, red herrings and so on.It's great that the Easy Reads have widened what can be written about.
ReplyDeleteAs for settings, I find Glasgow very inspirational as a backdrop. People who don't know it immediately think it's a very violent place. And yes it is, in some areas but it's also a fantastic shopping and theatre venue and has lovely parks and wild areas and even farms within its city boundaries so lots to write about. I love it and hope that shows when I write about it.
Any other PN writers joining in on NaNo? It would be great to support each other over there.
Isn't it amazing when a story emerges as you're least expecting it? I'm hoping Cornwall will provide its usual inspiration when I get there next week plus there's all the great people watching at airports and on the trains.Good luck getting your story written.
ReplyDeleteGood post -thanks, Cara. Rainstorms,hairpin bends and no fuel - perfect suspense setting.
ReplyDeleteHi Carol, I'd love to go to Glasgow. I've only been there once, we whizzed through it in the car at about 6am en route to a tiny Scottish island called Lismore but one of these days I'll give it the time it deserves. Angela, saw your PN today and Sally's prominently placed by the tills in my local Morrisons. I've now bought all 4 easy reads and cannot wait to get into them. I love Cornwall particularly the quieter North coast, it's totally inspirational. Fenella, I started my Turkish suspense today and so far (ok, I'm only 200 words in it's true) it's going well!
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