A great response to Tea and Baklavas
I am really delighted that so many readers have taken the time to look at the extract When Dad was James Bond that I recently posted from my memoir Tea and Baklavas. People have responded so thoughtfully and seem to really ‘get it’ which is great.
Many have agreed with the sentiments of the adjudicator of the memoir competition who wrote in her feedback: “It manages to explore the important issue of mental health and its impact on all members of a family in an absorbing, fast-paced and sensitive way. It is raw and poignant, at times funny. The day to day realities of life rub shoulders with the extreme and eccentric. What appears to be a story of disunity and broken relationships, very soon becomes one of personal disorientation, with family ties and loyalty at its heart.” (Alysoun Owen, Editor)
Lots of people have been saying they’d like to read more, which is of course what every writer loves to hear, so thank you for that. Such responses also spur me on to develop the memoir further and to make a bit more of an effort to send it out to the dreaded slush pile.
The piece currently stands at 78,000 words and is complete in itself (spanning life in West London from 1980-1992) although I am planning to ‘get it out of the drawer’ and give it another thorough edit very soon.
I recently set up zoeantoniades.com with the help of web-designer Kareim El-Jamal with a view to publishing more of my writing so that it might reach a wider audience. So for those of you who have been asking for more, watch this space.