In October 2010 I met Maria Toloudi in a cultural event in my hometown, back in Greece, after 40 years and more, when we almost forgot of each other's existence. She told me she was working as a civil servant responsible for the Press Office of the Prefecture, and in her free time she watched quality movies and wrote short stories. I read a few and was taken by storm. Her writing had something extremely sophisticated and special. With just a few words she could make you laugh or cry like it was your last chance in this life!
A year later I proposed to have a collection translated and make a bundle to publish as a book. Basically this is what has just happened. I took care of the publishing work, she took care of the stories and translations and there it is, finally, her first book sold by Lulu, and it will soon also appear on Amazon too. The stories are really destined to Greeks, to make them think again that their ancestors a few generations ago, (not those famous Ancient dudes, these are long gone) were good and honest people, hard working, with values and decency, who lived their lives with integrity and the fear of God as much as they could, and have still enjoyed their lives despite the poverty. Maria's use of Greek in these stories is extremely inspiring, but you need to actually know both Greek and some local dialects to entirely get the meaning and her innuendos, because there are many. The English translation for non-Greeks is quite good actually and captures quite a bit of her spirits and writing style.
A year later I proposed to have a collection translated and make a bundle to publish as a book. Basically this is what has just happened. I took care of the publishing work, she took care of the stories and translations and there it is, finally, her first book sold by Lulu, and it will soon also appear on Amazon too. The stories are really destined to Greeks, to make them think again that their ancestors a few generations ago, (not those famous Ancient dudes, these are long gone) were good and honest people, hard working, with values and decency, who lived their lives with integrity and the fear of God as much as they could, and have still enjoyed their lives despite the poverty. Maria's use of Greek in these stories is extremely inspiring, but you need to actually know both Greek and some local dialects to entirely get the meaning and her innuendos, because there are many. The English translation for non-Greeks is quite good actually and captures quite a bit of her spirits and writing style.
We also published All-English variants of the same bundle that are so far available on Amazon Kindle, Lulu and in the near future the iBookstore and NOOK. Of course these are eBook formats. However, the same All-English versions are available in A5 and Pocket formats from Lulu as well, and soon on Amazon and maybe B&N. It's been called Twelve Times Heimat, and you can preview it here...
As said, the books are sold either directly downloadable for Kindle (Amazon) and iPads (Lulu right now, later iBookstore and NOOK) in electronic format and on Lulu in paper format (delivery within a week everywhere in the world).
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