Book: Salep And Ginger
Q1. Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
I’m Jane Gundogan and I’m someone who has worn many hats over the past few years. I’m an Australian, currently living in Mersin, Turkey, but that is by far the least interesting thing about me.
I’m a blogger. Janey in Mersin was created by me when I first moved to Turkey. It became my friend, a safe place to go where I could bitch about all the bok (google translate at your own peril) that I had to deal with living in a village outside of Mersin.
I’m a mother to a fiercely independent adult who has banned me from ever mentioning her in another blog. On occasion I’m a Turkish housewife and will try my hand at almost anything gelin related. I love my fur-babies, blog about them often (bonus: they don’t complain about it) and am often told I spend way too much money helping other stray animals that I happen to meet in the village.
I am a totally committed vinophile and there is nothing that I love more than sitting on my terrace at the end of the day and sipping on a glass of red wine as I watch the sun setting over the village.
And now I can add published author to this list of stellar credentials.
Q2. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title “Salep And Ginger”?
My book was always going to be called “Salep And Ginger”. Salep is a drink served in Turkey in winter. It’s got a very unique taste. It’s creamy, very sweet and a little grainy. Thick but, oh, it’s delicious. Most people drink it with cinnamon on top but others, like me, prefer the spicier condiment, Ginger.
The cover on the other hand was very much trial and error. I had a number of different ones before I settled on this final cover. I’m working on the second cover at the moment I still mull over whether I have made the right decision.
Q3. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
I write how I feel. When I’m sad or stressed it comes across in my writing so while writing Salep And Ginger I needed to be in the right frame of mind to give Ginger her upbeat personality. I admit it’s been hard to write at the moment with so much going on in the world but I try and push those thoughts out of my mind when I sit down at my desk.
Q4. What does success mean to you?
I like to think that success is a moving target so as long as I keep moving in the right direction then I am a success to myself.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?
I guess you write what you love and I love Turkey. Having the book set in Istanbul was also a good excuse for me to visit there often. Anyone who has been lucky enough to travel to Istanbul should recognise many of the places mentioned in the book. My current book is also set in Turkey but this time it’s set in Bodrum, a town on the Mediterranean. Sadly I haven’t been able to visit Bodrum this year but, fingers crossed, travel in Turkey will get back to normal soon.
Q6. How long did it take you to write this book?
Procrastination is my nemesis (well that and the rooster that lives behind me). Once I’ve kicked procrastination to the kerb (and bbq’d the rooster) then writing for me is fun.
This first chapter went through many… MANY… drafts, I was never happy with it and then one day I was sitting on my terrace (probably with that glass of red I mentioned above) and I wrote a couple of paragraphs about a girl who had fallen in love. I knew something about that, well, I did at the time anyway. That girl became Ginger Knox. She and I became firm friends (and occasionally mortal enemies) over the next year or so while I drafted and revised, discarded and re-visited Ginger’s story, time and time again.
Q7. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
Of course I have a love affair with Istanbul. I have been there so many times over the years and yet every single time I visit I discover something new and wonderful about it. My dream is to live there at least part of the year but I think it will be a while before I can make that dream a reality.
Q8. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Salep And Ginger’?
Fear. The fear that my book that I have worked so hard on is garbage. The fear that I’m fooling myself. The fear that I’m actually a terrible writer and I should go back to whatever it was I did in my past life. I still grapple with this fear every day.
Q9. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
Anyone who has ever read Shirley Conran’s bonk-buster, Lace, will know what I am about to say next… “Which one of you bitches is my mother?”
Literary genius!
I was 12 when I got my hands on that book. Now I don’t know where I got it from, and at the time I knew I shouldn’t be reading it, but I owe that person a debt of gratitude because it put me on the path to becoming a writer. I mean who wouldn’t be hooked after that? From there I moved onto Jackie Collins and Barbara Taylor Bradford and Danielle Steele. Romance for the win.
Readers today are so lucky to have the ability to download a book at whim, and at a fraction of the cost of when I was young.
Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?
I am terrible at keeping secrets but I can say that Ginger will make an appearance in my next book, “Pomegranates and Olive”, which hopefully will be released in the coming months.
Book Is Available On Amazon
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