In the first weeks of the war the village of my parents-in-law was occupied by russian forces for over a month.
From Travelogue 2 - A thousand days of longing
In the first weeks of the war the village of my parents-in-law was occupied by russian forces for over a month.
They set up a command post there.
Houses destroyed and looted.
Villagers were murdered as they tried to escape.
The village shops (one of which can be seen above) destroyed and damaged.
Here in the UK, during those 5 weeks, with our 6 week old child asleep in his cot next to us, at night my wife Anna would send messages to her father.
In the village there was no electricity during that period and very little internet, as well as food and medicine. The house of my father in law and his mother was kept warm with the fireplace.
Early each morning I would wake, Anna already up, looking at her phone again, and again, and again, looking simply for a sign that her father was awake and had seen her message.
That he was ok.
As the occupiers were being pushed back by the Ukrainian forces, the retreating russians littered the fields and roadsides with IED’s (improvised explosive devices).
We have now reached over 55% of our target in the first 2 weeks of the pre-orders for my new book Travelogue 2 - A thousand days of longing.
It’s a book about a more peaceful time yes, but it’s also a book about war, life, travel, beauty, fear, and perhaps above all, love.
In simple terms, every 2 books pre-ordered gets us another 1% closer to our target.
The design process continues as does discussions with the printer, trying to find ways to keep that colour of paper and binding I would like at a cost we can cover. Each design choice brings it’s own costs but it is those choices that can make a book what it is and one that will give the images and their connected stories what they need.
So these final 12 days of pre-orders are vital in allowing us to make the book in the way we hope to. So just like with a kickstarter that aim of 200 backers (pre-orders) is an important target for us. It is also the final 12 days to buy the book at this special preorder price of just £15 with all preorders being signed.
That is all for now but thank you as ever for your interest and support of my work.
Best wishes,
Marc
