At the end of April this year, Ants Bolingbroke-Kent completed an amazing journey: six weeks travelling the length of the Ho Chi Minh Trail alone on an old, pink Honda Cub. I was delighted that she'd made it, in spite of all the dangers along the way from UXO and creatures in the jungle - not least because I was partly responsible for her making the journey, having encouraged her to write a book about it. You can read more here on her blog: http://www.theitinerant.co.uk/
She made her ride through the jungle partly to see the Trail before it's entirely lost, and partly to highlight what happened there four decades ago - in memory of all those who didn't have the luxury of going home after their time on the trail. She also did it as a challenge to herself, having never done a big journey alone, although she had previously written about travelling from Bangkok to Brighton on another unsuitable vehicle with a pal, Tuk-Tuk to the Road.
Summersdale acquired the book, which she wrote in record speed, having taken time out from her work as a television producer; and these last few weeks I had the pleasure of editing it. It's a wonderful read, very informative and yet accessible and inspiring and full of adventure, and it will be published in April 2014, a year after she completed the journey, as A SHORT RIDE IN THE JUNGLE.
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In other news, I'm pleased to announce that Steven Gauge has been invited to speak at the gala dinner of Felixstowe Literary Festival at the Orwell Hotel in June 2014.
I'm busy editing another book about Asia, but other good news is coming - and you can read some of it here, in a blog post from the amazing Samantha Verant!
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