A Tower and Babble

Kasr-ı Adalet

Call the city Edirne, Odrin, Edrêne, Edrene, Jedrene,  Hadrianopolis, or the original, Uskadama. Whichever you prefer, I'm calling it torture because it's the setting for chapter fifteen of my manuscript, BURNT AMBER, and it's killing me.

I have the opportunity to introduce some really interesting information about Edirne, but a dearth of information on one front is preventing me from getting the details right. A plethora of information on another front is just confusing me.

Situated at the border of Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey, the city has been home to many different peoples and suffered sixteen different seiges. I can only highlight one angle in my story.

Or I could keep it thin, and skim over the specifics of the others, but I'm itching to toss in some fantastic, fantabulous stuff - that fits in the djinn world I'm building.

As far as culture goes, the annual oil wrestling competition at Kırkpınar, known as yağlı güreş, has the makings of a great detail. The Turkish national sport has myth behind it, which I gravitate toward naturally. Still, not EXACTLY what I'm looking for...

The Romani festival of Kakava is interesting too. Jumping over hot coals, and match-making seem more along the lines of YA interest. Plus I do have the Romani element in BA already. I'm thinking this is the right festival to use. More research required. Problem: The Romani are secretive.

The other problem is the date. Kakava is in May, and my mc visits in August. But then, an agent once told me not to set a story in the summer, because it's harder to sell. Maybe I should go back and rework the dates.

On the setting front, I'm researching the Ottoman palace footprint, which is not so easy when only ruins remain. That's the Tower of Justice up there on the right, which is too similar to the one at Topkapi, so I can't really use it.

Ah! So many choices, I can't even outline them for you here. Maybe I'll try again in a couple of weeks, when I wrap my head around my sources and the seven syllable Turkish words that I'm attempting to translate.
 

Camargue Horses

Image by Stellas mom via FlickrI think I'm going to make field trips a weekly feature, especially considering that France is important to Burnt Amber.

This time I'm taking us to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the south of France. I have lots of reasons, as you know I make the most random connections, but the main reason is because the Popes were in France when Queen Zabel was alive.

I suppose, since I 've been talking about Goddess Culture, you would also like to know that the town is a Roma (gypsy) pilgrimage site.  Every year they gather for the feast of Saint Sarah, whose story gave the town its name.  Its a sad thing the French government doesn't appreciate the value of that cultural heritage.

Anywho... Gypsies are supposed to be excellent fortunetellers, so I have reason to include them in my research too.  Did you know that The Gipsy Kings are from that area? I didn't.

The region, called Camargue, is an important estuary. The Rhone river splits in two, forming a vast delta with lagoons and marshlands near the coast of the Mediterranean.  Lots of wildlife to see and admire, like flamingos who only have the slightest tinge of pink on their wings.  Legendary black fighting bulls also call the Camargue home and Gardians Camargue horses to herd them.

The Camargue horse is an ancient breed that still runs wild in the marshes today.  Gardians, or local cowboys if you will, only break in what they need for saddle horses. Even those aren't kept in barns though, they're let out on the marshes.

The Camargue horse is a graceful, sturdy breed, which is actually a pony. A horseman would call them grey because the skin under their coat is black.  They're born black or dark brown but they change out their coats with white as they mature.To the layperson, its a white horse. Or grey or gray?  Whatever you call them, they're magical!



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