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Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #4 – ‘Le Verdon & Bordeaux: The City of Wine and Guillotines’

By Karen Kondazian on November 1, 2014 2 Comments

Plantation-style architecture on winery grounds - Le Verdon, France

Plantation-style home on winery grounds – Le Verdon, France

On a unseasonably sunny October day, we visited the Chateau Marquis de Terme vineyards and their winery, housed in ‘plantation’ architecture. We also toured their cellars and sampled some of their best wines. Following our ‘tasting of the vines,’ we headed from Le Verdon to Bordeaux, which is a UNESCO world heritage city. I soon discovered why…

Karen outside the Chateau Marquis de Terme vineyards after a glass (or two) of their best wine

Victor Hugo described Bordeaux as, “Versailles plus Antwerp.” Conservative and refined, Bordeaux is an outstanding example of innovative classical and neoclassical architecture, and a melting pot of culture. The city is the world’s major wine industry capital. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8^th century, with an annual production of approximately 960 million bottles – some of which, are the most expensive in the world… as an example, the Mouton-Rothschild wines.

The seven-metre-high work, entitled “Sanna,” (Jaume Plensa, 2013), depicts a woman’s head.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: architecture, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Wine, Brasserie L'Orleans, cruise, france, Grande Theatre, Le Verdon, Marquis de Terme, ship, Square De La Bourse, Travel, travel blog, Victor Louis, wine

Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #3 – ‘Lorient and Point-Aven, France: The Little City the Nazi’s tried to destroy’

By Karen Kondazian on October 29, 2014 Leave a Comment

Karen by stone house in Point-Aven

Lorient is located south of Brittany on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a major fishing port that was established by the French East India Company in 1664, chartered by King Louie XIV. Lorient was a former base of the French Navy but then was taken over by the Germans in World War II and became a German U-boat base (Keroman Submarine Base). The base was capable of sheltering 30 submarines undercover. Although allied bombing raids heavily damaged Lorient, the naval base survived through to the end of the war. The Germans held the city until May 1945, refusing to surrender to the American army that surrounded them. Since the allies could not destroy the base and its submarine pens, they decided to flatten the city and the Port of Lorient, in order to cut the supply lines of the U-boat bases. Over 60,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on Lorient. The city was almost completely destroyed.

Where Paul Gauguin painted in Point-Aven

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: brittany, cruise ship, europe, france, Karen Kondazian, painting, paul gauguin, point-aven, Travel, travel blog

Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #2 – ‘St. Malo, Brittany: The Walled City of Pirates’

By Karen Kondazian on October 29, 2014 Leave a Comment

Traditional garden of a “Malouinière,” Montmarin, France.

St. Malo, France is an ancient walled city situated on the North Coast of the Province of Brittany. It is now a busy fishing port and seaside resort, with a long and proud history of nautical explorers, traders and pirates. The city sustained damage during World War II by the Germans but has since been restored. It was named for the 6th century monk who converted the locals to Christianity. It was also an important port in the voyages of discovery. Cartier sailed from there to Canada in 1534. Soon after, St. Malo began to flourish as a trading port.

Old walled city of Saint-Malo

From the ramparts of St. Malo, one can peer down over the beautiful town, built in solid-gray granite with uniform black slate roofs. The city became notorious as the home of ruthless French privateers and pirates, terrorizing all on the high seas. Even the French King had a certain grudging respect for them, and often helped fill their coffers with booty.

Le Petit Bé: fort Vauban à Saint-Malo

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: amsterdam, brittany, castle, cruise, europe, france, Karen Kondazian, kondazian, medieval, montmarin, rome, saint-malo, ship, st. malo, Travel, travel blog

Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #1 – ‘Amsterdam: City of Bicycles, Beautiful Girls and Anything Goes’

By Karen Kondazian on October 5, 2014 2 Comments

Karen touring one of Amsterdam’s 88 canals.

The very first thing I noted, driving into Amsterdam, was a massive sea of bicycles, scooters and motorbikes. I actually saw a man, peddling away on his bike, reading his phone. I saw yet another man on his bike, riding next to a young woman on her bike, with his arm around her. There were children on bikes, senior citizens on bikes, girls, their blonde hair waving behind them, on bikes. In fact, bikes are so popular, there is a three-story garage filled to the brim with them, where one can park one’s bike – much like we do in America, except our garages are filled with automobiles. I was told the reason why everyone has as a bike, is because to park your car at a meter in Amsterdam, can cost over $30 Euros an hour ($37 USD)

The many bicycles of Amsterdam.

I visited the magnificent Rijksmuseum. We got there late, unfortunately, so the tour guide flew me around the rooms. As a result, I only had a nibble of what is housed in that brilliant museum. The Rembrandts, in particular, The Night Watch, is a towering, gigantic painting. It is so powerful, that one wonders how Rembrandt was able to capture in paint, the souls of his subjects.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: amsterdam, anne frank, bicycle, holland, Karen Kondazian, kondazian, prostitution, red-light district, Travel, travel blog

Q&A with Karen & LLC Book Club & Northpark Book Club, Louisiana

By Karen Kondazian on July 7, 2014 Leave a Comment

Q&A with Karen & LLC Book Club U and Northpark Book Club, Louisiana

1) Would you rather be noted/remembered as an author or actress?

In this day of multi-hyphenates, I guess one is allowed to be all things that give one pleasure… So, to answer your question, I would love to be remembered as a free-spirited actress/author/teacher/adventurer/world traveler!

2) What are some, of your personal favorite books?

Reading is one of my great passions and always has been, since my grandmother sat me on her lap in her rocking chair, reading to me Heidi and The Wizard of Oz.

I adore poetry… a few of my favorite poets being: T.S. Elliott, E.E. Cummings, Mary Oliver, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emily Dickinson and the magnificent Rumi.

My favorite playwright is and always will be Tennessee Williams.

I am addicted to non-fiction, particularly about the writing process – such as Stephen King’s On Writing, and Steven Pressfield’s, The War Of Art. I also have a great love for biographies and autobiographies.

As for fiction, I would have to write a very long list of titles… a few authors from that list being: John Steinbeck, Larry McMurtry, Isabelle Allende, Isak Dinesen, Harper Lee, Maya Angelou, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dickens, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Filed Under: Blog

Q&A w/ Karen & The Pelican Pointe Women’s Association Wednesday Night Book Club – Venice, FL

By Karen Kondazian on May 8, 2014 9 Comments

The Pelican Pointe Womens Association Wednesday Night Book Club – Venice, FL

The Pelican Pointe Women’s Association Wednesday Night Book Club sent me Q&A questions for their book club discussion. I enjoyed the questions and answering so much that I thought to share on my blog:

1) From Marsha: How was Kondazian introduced to Charley? Did all the events really happen or did you embellish them for the story?

Hi Marsha, when I was a young woman I used to read Cosmopolitan magazine 🙂 and in one issue there was actually a great article on Wild Woman of the Old West. One of the characters they wrote about was Charley Parkhurst. The idea of a woman living her life as a man, with all of those macho stagecoach drivers she hung out with, fascinated me. I wondered how in the world did she carry off her disguise for twenty years and was not discovered? I couldn’t imagine being so isolated from people to keep such a secret. As the years went by, I used to think about Charley and thought what a wonderful book it might make.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: audio book, book, Book Club, book club book, book club books, bookclubbing, Charley Parkhurst, discussion, Karen Kondazian, kondazian, Novel, The Whip, Western

Accessing Your Emotions For Writing Through Acting Excercises

By Karen Kondazian on September 4, 2013 Leave a Comment

Accessing Your Emotions For Writing Through Acting Exercises.

Work for the actor lies in two areas: the ability to consistently create reality and the ability to express that reality.
– Lee Strasberg.

I’ve been acting since I was eight years old.

Believe it or not, I was one of the obnoxious children on the Art Linkletter show. On the show I announced that I was switching professions from a CIA Agent to an Actress— primarily because I could skip school, and all the nice people on set gave me all the free grilled cheese sandwiches and orange sherbet I so desired. Thank God my reasons for acting grew in scope as I got older. Then, fortunately, one day I was chosen to be a member of The Actor’s Studio and trained with the great Lee Strasberg.

When I finally began writing my first book, “The Whip”—inspired by the true story of the famous Wells Fargo stagecoach driver, Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst (1812-1879)—I realized that I was subconsciously using many of the acting techniques I had learned through my years as an actress. It seemed to work for me, so I always suggest to writers to explore an introductory acting class. I believe the exercises one learns as an actor are incredibly helpful to a writer.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: acting, acting excercises for writing, lee strasberg, writing, writing process

“The Whip” wins the 2013 National Indie Excellence Award for Best Western

By Karen Kondazian on May 23, 2013 Leave a Comment

“The Whip” wins the 2013 National Indie Excellence Award for Best Western Click to read the announcement

Filed Under: Blog

The Whip wins USA Book News Best Historical Fiction Award

By Karen Kondazian on February 6, 2013 Leave a Comment

USABestBookAwards

For Immediate Release
November 2012

USA BOOK NEWS ANNOUNCES
WINNERS AND FINALISTS OF
THE 2012 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS

Mainstream & Independent Titles Score Top Honors in the
9th Annual USA Best Book Awards

St. Martin’s Press, Harper Collins, Crown, John Wiley & Sons, Hyperion, McGraw-Hill, Sterling, Llewellyn Worldwide, Tyndale House, Thomas Nelson, Sounds True, Chicago Review Press, NASA, American Cancer Society, and hundreds of Independent Houses contribute to this year’s Outstanding Competition!

LOS ANGELES – USABookNews.com, the premier online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE 2012 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS on November 16, 2012. Over 400 winners and finalists were announced in over 100 categories covering print, e-books and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2011 and 2012.

Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of USA Book News, said this year’s contest yielded over 1500 entries from mainstream and independent publishers, which were then narrowed down to over 400 winners and finalists.

Award highlights include the following (Full results listing available on USABooknews.com):

Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him by Luis Carlos Montalvan with Bret Witter (Hyperion) was honored in the “Autobiography/Memoirs” category

The Whip by Karen Kondazian (Hansen Publishing Group) won “Best Historical Fiction”

Filed Under: Blog

Notes From Machu Picchu – by Karen Kondazian

By Karen Kondazian on January 31, 2013 4 Comments

It was time for me to finally lay eyes on the mystical Machu Picchu, a place I had always heard about in awed tones, by the people who had been there– although I knew little about. I flew from Lima to Cuzco, high in the Andes at more than 10,000 feet above sea level. When I got off the plane, I felt winded, dizzy, had a bad headache. I was told that I had altitude sickness and was handed a hot cup of coca tea. After several cups, I felt light and chipper, myself again (While there, I drank many cups of this delicious brew… outlawed in the U.S. as it comes from the coca leaf – translated by the US immigration as cocaine). It kept me well… It kept me thriving… Without it, I could not have conquered the altitude.

Cuzco was founded in the 15th century by the Incas, and then later vanquished by the Spaniards. I stayed in an ancient Monastery (1595) the Hotel Monasterio del Cuzco, and at breakfast I heard chanting… beautiful, peaceful chanting – and drank coca tea. Blissful is how I started my day.