I'm getting immersed in my sheikh novella — or, more appropriately, in the setting for the novella. My mother has a book on Arabia and another on the Bedouins that I've borrowed, and I've been viewing photos of deserts and tents and etc. And I've reviewed my copy of T.E. Lawrence, which is water-logged and has sand in the binding (due to reading on the beach in Hawaii). Things have changed over the years, of course, but it's wonderfully atmospheric.
In case you think the title of this post is poetic, it actually comes from a joke my husband tells. He's been telling it since I met him, in fact, but the only part I remember is ‘desert winds and caravans'. There's also something about Timbuktu, though I'm purposely not remembering it….
Do you like sheikh stories? Which are some of your favorites? Know any good desert jokes? (Or do you know this one?) 😉
Oooh, oooh, I know a desert joke! ‘Why will you never go hungry in a desert?’- ‘Because of the sandwiches there!’ (sand which is there…) Thirty years ago in junior school I heard that – what a (useless) memory!
LOL, Alison! I like that one, and now I’ll remember it forever too. Thanks for sharing!
LOL, I’d like to say I know that joke, but I only remember one and really, after I’ve told it once…there goes my whole stash of jokes.
As for Seikh novels–it depends on how it is written, I have not read one that stands out, but I am looking forward to yours! 😉
Oh dear, you sound like a tough customer with the sheikhs! Or you haven’t read the right authors. 🙂 Have you tried Sandra Marton? Jane Porter? Penny Jordan? Annie West? Kate Walker? They do such marvelous things with the stories! And I hear that Alexandra Sellers and Olivia Gates, who write for Desire, do wonderful sheikh stories too.
LOL! I’m sorry, but I am tickled pink to get a whole list of new authors to read…woohoo!!! 🙂 Tell you what, I’ll check back with you once I read a few them. 😀
Thank you!!!
Can I be frank – blunt even! I don’t like sheikh stories. I have read a lot of them. Don’t get me wrong – the story is fine, the writing is always good but… and it’s probably only me – but… as a child I lived in Saudi Arabia (up until I was 11). My memory is of immense poverty – the rich were rich and the poor very, very poor. They weren’t particularly kind to animals (esp. donkeys) either. I could go on but I think you get the drift…. So these particular issues have stayed with me all my life – so when I read about the immensely rich Sheikh’s all I think of is the grinding poverty that I used to see – and wouldn’t it be nice if they spent the money on their own people instead of massive palaces and 100’s of Rolls Royces. *sorry*. Like I said it’s probably me. Take care. Caroline x
Hi, Caroline! Of course you can be frank! 🙂 I appreciate your perspective, I really do. My parents lived in Turkey for a while — and my minor, both in my undergrad and grad degrees, is history. I studied quite a bit of ME history, and I know the realities of which you speak. Not from viewing them firsthand, of course!
The Harlequin sheikh and the real sheikh are two entirely different things, that’s for sure. I’m able to compartmentalize them just fine, but I know not everyone feels the same way. I have had this conversation with my bud, Kimberly Lang! She doesn’t get the appeal of the sheikh because the realities of the ME are always on her mind.
For me, the stories take me back to when I was a kid and I didn’t know the difference. I loved those desert stories then, and I bring that same naivete to them now I guess. 🙂
But for the reality of it? Oh yeah, I agree with you.
Oh, Valentino, Omar Sharif and Sean Connery… excellent sheiks all. Desert winds and caravans transports me to isolated rendevous in tents, surrounded by pillows, and silk. Dark skinned men with thick accents who cherish their women above all else. Yes, I can definitely get sheiks, especially the tall, dark and handsome variety that Annie West writes.
Can’t wait to read your story, Lynn! 😉
I understand the reality aspect of what Caroline said. But I read to escape, to picture a better world where love is king and men will do anything to conquer a woman’s heart. Whether set in exotic settings or a cave, the breakdown of the story is the same, love will conquer all and our h & h will live happily ever after. 😀