http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/03/prweb13273344.htm
www.davidcdagley.com
www.davidcdagley.blogspot.com
Monday, March 28, 2016
Saturday, March 19, 2016
The Women of Cho, Two Sample Chapters and Kindle Connections
http://epubco.com/samples/978-1-68181-591-6sample.pdf
Click on the link to have a sneak peek at the first two chapters of the book and a kindle connection if you are interested. Some people like to hold a book in their hands and others like a library of books in their possession that a Kindle offers. This is the sequel to Cale Dixon and the Moguk Murders. David C Dagley.
www.davidcdagley.com
www.davidcdagley.blogspot.com
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Tonsai Continued:
Tonsai Continued;
So I’m out at the Sunset Bar listening to Toffee play guitar with some locals and a few ‘in-tune’ tourists. I’m sitting with a guy from Italy and we get to chatting and filling in the general blanks and realize we both have been out finding waves in the Mentawai Islands or fishing. Basically we covered the same grounds but with different agendas. I had just finished reading a book called ‘Hotel K’ about a notorious prison in Bali. I mention the book and he smiled and says he was inside for 6 months. I was taken back and let him tell his story and go through the names I just read about, he met them and verified what the author had explained in detail. I am now curious, but not that curious. His story reminded me of some of the other surfers that get caught up in the drug trafficking scheme and get tripped up.
Life in Tonsai is nothing but relaxing. The sound of Cicadas crests the treetops in waves as the heat grows during the morning hours. A warm breeze pushes on my bamboo thatch door and flutters the curtains out the windows. The power is off during the day between 7 am and 7 pm. A monitor lizard crawls languidly through the dry leaves, a snake drops out of a tree above my tin roof and lands with a bang. The snake slithers to the edge and then falls to the ground immediately moving off through the leaves and underbrush. A coconut falls on another bungalow.
After tea and a mango shake I pack my camera and mask and head over the mountain on a jungle trail that takes about an hour to Railay East. Gibbons call to one another with long shrill hoots and howls of varying pitch from the various fruit trees in the forest. They jump from tree to tree moving with purpose.
Along a resort wall bordering the path to Pranang Beach Long tail Macaques sit on the fence and tourists take pictures of them. The Macaques hang around the garbage bins waiting for something to go in so they can pull it out and take a look. Some of the monkeys have gone stealth and climb into the bars in search of alcohol and more often than not, find it.
Pranang Beach is a deep-water white sand beach where shade is in high demand. Luckily the back of the beach has been cleaned out so there is shade under the Mangroves and other beach trees. Towering limestone outcrops bracket the ends of the beach. A fertility temple has been ‘erected’ over the years for those wanting to get pregnant.
Railay East is not much of a beach, it’s more of a dock destination for boats from Krabi dropping off tourists staying in the area. I only pass by. The hotels and resorts at this end are VERY expensive, $100-300/day and you don’t get much more than I get for paying $10/day. Railay West is a nice long wide beach with again white sand and lots of room and again bracketed by limestone towers. From Railay West you can follow the beach to the north and locate a trail that will take you to Tonsai or wait for low tide and walk around the end of the rock point.
This was my daily walk and swim and I found myself dissolving into the sand, sun, and sea. After a little more than two weeks I have to move on but it was great coming back here and seeing some old friends and making some new ones in the process. None-the-less, Tonsai is a hard place to leave especially after spending months at a time here, two weeks just isn’t enough. But it is time to leave Thailand after four months of beach and jungle and get on with the adventure. Hope to see you there or just watch over my shoulder. J I’m off for Krabi for St. Patrick’s Day and then hopefully hook up with two friends from Bang Bang Bar that seemed eager to have a night out. Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Krabi town!
www.davidcdagley.com
Monday, March 14, 2016
Three Books Three Reviews
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Author’s 3 Dynamic Books Resonate With Reviewers
David C. Dagley has written three very different and exciting novels, each receiving considerable praise. The books are The Women of Cho: Heart and Seoul; Cale Dixon and the Moguk Murders; and White Bars.
The stunning international thriller The Women of Chooffers plenty of Heart and Seoul! It is also the sequel to the author’s first novel Cale Dixon and the Moguk Murders.
According to reviewer E. Lund: “Culture and crime intersect in this dynamic thriller about love, family, and betrayal … This compelling sequel carries our dogged detective into further webs of intrigue and deceit – and all the way to Seoul, South Korea. Ancient grudges are unearthed and plots put into motion as waring families, personal vendettas, and cruel revenges unfold throughout the pages of The Women of Cho: Heart and Seoul. With skill and a perfect sense of tempo, Mr. Dagley reveals twist after twist, drawing the reader into a realm both foreign – and spookily familiar.
“The highlight of this novel is definitely the characters. The Women of Cho has a full, complex cast that interacts and intersects dramatically; each hero and villain is complete and fleshed-out on his or her own, but it is the interplay of these diverse personalities – and their entwined pasts – that proves most compelling … The various foreign locations come alive, becoming essential to the story itself … This is definitely a hard book to put down.”
About the Author: World traveler David C. Dagley grew up in Mill Valley, California, lived in Alaska for 24 years, and has been has been a ship captain in the Bering Sea. He has traveled primarily in Southeast Asia for the past four years. The inspiration for this book came from the four years he taught English in South Korea and his curiosity about Korean culture.
Author website: http://www.davidcdagley.com. Sneak peek at travel. http://www.davidcdagley.blogspot.com
“This suspenseful sequel is not only a fascinating book, but it takes readers on a mad dash around the world to solve murders with the aid of Cale Dixon, from the prequel. We are pleased to be the publisher of such fine novels,” said Robert Fletcher, CEO of Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Agency.
THE WOMEN OF CHO: HEART AND SEOUL (Softcover ISBN: 978-1-63135-780-0) is now available for $16.95 (Kindle ISBN: 978-1-68181-590-9, $9.99; ePub ISBN: 978-1-68181-591-6, $9.99) and can be ordered through the publisher’s website:
The murder mystery Cale Dixon and the Moguk Murdersintroduces Cale Dixon, a suspended detective who is assigned a case just prior to his reinstatement. A South Korean man has been murdered: his mouth stuffed with Moguk rubies and a knife stuck in his back, a weapon that has been passed down though generations of Cho Dynasty women.
Reviewer Charles Asher writes: “Cale Dixon and the Moguk Murders is a stunning work that plums the depths of international criminality, historical conspiracy, and the inner psyche of the noir landscape. Crisscrossing oceans and cultures, author David C. Dagley establishes a shadowy world of scope and complexity, bringing the reader along into lands peopled by the secretive, the dangerous, and the violent – whether it be San Francisco, or the Burmese countryside. The hero of this novel is Cale Dixon, a hardboiled detective in the classic Hammett style … Mr. Dagley executes the detective-novel tone perfectly, bringing traces of Chandler and even Doyle to the work, while as well maintaining the breadth of an international thriller – thus playing out the murders and intrigues on a global scale … I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to any fan of the genre.”
CALE DIXON AND THE MOGUK MURDERS (Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-60693-909-3, $29.50; Softcover ISBN: 978-1-60911-956-0, $18.50) is now available (ePub ISBN: 978-1-61204-815-4, $9.99) and can be ordered through the publisher’s website:
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/CaleDixonAndTheMogukMurders.htmlor at www.amazon.comor www.barnesandnoble.com.
And now for something completely different! White Bars is a light-hearted farce that truly soars. Could anything be crueler than caging a bird that only wants to fly and enjoy its freedom? Meet a worldly myna bird caged in a pet shop next to a young myna that has never flown.
The older myna plots an escape, but will the other animals want to join them? The story was inspired by watching workers in the stock market, because after the pet shop closes each night, the store becomes a stock market in miniature run by field mice.
Writes reviewer E. Lund: “White Bars is both funny and painful, melancholy and inspiring; it takes a comical, imaginary situation – full of humor and charm – that lets honest truths (about freedom, friendship, and independence) come through the cracks of this heartwarming, thoughtful novel. The line, between the sentimental and the meaningful, is walked exquisitely by author David Dagley; he allows for emotions without manipulating the reader and tempers the more tender passages with hijinks and witty banter. Soren and Fife – though birds – are well drawn characters, expressing unique personalities and voices … Mr. Dagley artfully constructs anthropomorphic figures who an audience can relate with, laugh with, and cheer for – which is not an easy task … There is a lot of originality to White Bars, a definite style and tone wholly the author’s own, and it is sure to leave an indelible mark on the reader. We are drawn into a creative space unlike any we’ve ever known, and I found it difficult to leave this little world with all its compelling animal characters, most of whom seemed more human than many literary characters I’ve come across. This is a wonderful book from start to finish. Five stars without a doubt.”
WHITE BARS (ISBN: 978-1-60911-469-5) is now available for $10 (eBook ISBN: 978-1-61204-526-9, $9.99) and can be ordered through the publisher’s website:
WHOLESALERS: These books are distributed by Ingram Books and other wholesale distributors. Contact your representative with the ISBN for purchase. Wholesale purchase for retailers, universities, libraries, and other organizations is also available through the publisher; please email bookorder@sbpra.net
Thursday, March 10, 2016
The Wall of Tonsai
The Wall of Tonsai
It’s easy to get away from Krabi, buses, boats and planes leave and arrive daily and a new International runway has opened at the Krabi International Airportso more flights will be headed there in the future. I got off the ferry from Koh Phi Phi and took a minivan to Ao Nang, the beach community closest to Krabi. Ao Nang is a bit too commercial for my tastes and prices are almost double what they are in Krabi and even more than double compared to Tonsai.
I bought a ticket for 100 Baht/one-way. The long tail takes about half an hour and you are on a beach with bungalows off in the jungle with Gibbons howling in the trees and Long tail Macaques that are unfortunately becoming comfortable with people and rummaging through the garbage bins for an easier meal when the fruit trees have been depleted.
I’ve been coming to Tonsai since 1996 and have seen many changes over time. The one constant with Tonsai is climbing with over 1000 routes and climbing classes always available. Originally restaurants and bars lined the beach and evening Frisbee, slack liners, and sunset viewers all hung out on the beach while base jumpers bounced off the monolith limestone columns between Railay West and Tonsai. After the 2004 Tsunami the bars were all washed out and they moved and rebuilt them on each side of the large landowners claimed property and built them in a more orderly fashion and bigger.
The beach massage shops moved up the hill when a shop opened to be rented. The bars and restaurants all flourished along the beach as people walked from one end of the beach to the other with restaurants, WiFi, and live music available. Many curious tourists climb over the hill or beach trail daily to see what Tonsai is all about. Two years ago the main landowner on Tonsai separated from the locals and cleared all the bars out. I didn’t come last year for fear that Tonsai was going to be over run by a big conglomerate hotel construction. I got a phone call that stated they aren’t building for another 5 years but they have separated by putting in a 6’ tall concrete wall and given Tonsai a concrete road that was only a partially paved road before. Torrential rains continually gouged out the road and left a trough for the few motorcycle transports to cope.
The bars and restaurants were torn down and rebuilt up the jungle trail heading for Railay East and Pranang Beach. In a sense the move brought the Tonsai community closer together behind the wall. The wall, the wall separates the community from a coconut grove and a beautiful view of the beach through the trees now that the company cleared all the debris and underbrush out of their property. But the wall is what I’m talking about here. The Tonsai community is slowly using the creative talents of its visitors to paint the wall in murals and is a creative outlet. Bring your spray-cans and paint brushes, there are still many open spots for creative art.
I returned to he Andaman Nature Resort where I have stayed over the years and they haven’t changed their prices. 300 Baht/night with discounts on longer stays. From Andaman I used to walk straight down to the beach through the company property but that is no longer an option.
I dropped my gear and took a walk through the jungle over the mountain to East Railay and along the walkway to Pranang Beach. Pranang Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand and unfortunately boats come from Koh Phi Phi and from Krabi with day tourists so it’s best to go in the mourning before 10 am when all the boats begin arriving. Don’t worry they leave around 4 pm so the beach is also great for sunsets. Some long tail boats are set up as a restaurant so you can get Pad Thai or other basic foods and beverages so you don’t have to go all the way back to Railay East. Pranang is also home of a fertility temple where many women hoping to have a child go and pay homage tying a scarf or ribbon around one of the numerous phallic stalagmites in a shallow cave.
Tonsai is one of those places where I like to stop for longer than other places just because it has a certain vibe that is hard to find anywhere in the world. It’s a great place to write, read, take a deep breath and recollect before heading back out for another round of adventures. I only have a few weeks left in Thailand and will be heading south for a spell hopefully finding some diving off Tioman Island this time. I’ve been going there since 1988 and not much has changed as I mentioned in a previous blog at the end of 2015. I will be dropping into Singapore for a brief visit with friends and then back to Kuala Lumpur for a flight to Papua New Guinea. Stay tuned for some more fun and photos.
www.davidcdagley.com
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