Valley of Thracians (35 page)

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Acknowledgements

Bulgaria is an amazing country, still
mostly undiscovered by Western tourists. My wife and I had the opportunity to
live in Sofia for two years and we utilized that time to travel around the
country, to meet its people, explore its villages and parks, and to learn the
country's story. Every effort was made in this book to portray Bulgaria's towns
and cities, history, culture, customs, language, and stunning scenery as
accurately as possible.

Bulgarians are warm and hospitable, and
speaking from my own experience, they are very open to accepting foreigners
into their homes and lives. The Bulgarians who play roles in this book are
fictitious characters and in no way represent real people living in the country.

I have huge respect for the Peace Corps,
and especially for the contribution it has made to Bulgaria since the first
volunteers arrived in the country in 1991. The characters I described in this
book in no way represent actual Peace Corps volunteers who have done so much to
help Bulgarians learn English, build communities, and improve their lives.

I would like to thank Philip W. Rudy, Director
of Programming and Training at Peace Corps Bulgaria, for his willingness to
answer questions about the training program in the country. Thanks are also
extended to Valerie Goode who served in the Peace Corps in Bulgaria for nearly
2 1/2 years and was very willing to answer my questions about her experiences.

As part of my research into the ancient
customs of the Thracians who lived in the region I turned to linguistics expert
Keith Massey, Ph.D. who confirmed many of my assumptions, including the fact
that we know next to nothing about the language spoken by the Thracians. Some
of the Thracian artifacts described in this book are quite real, while others,
including the Rogozen Drinking Lion, are fictional.

Scott's amnesiac state, as portrayed in
the book, was partially based on the article "Psychology Q&A:
Dissociative Amnesia After a Trauma?" by Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD, however, I
took certain liberties in expanding the symptoms due to the fact that Scott was
being intentionally drugged by the woman who cared for him.

I am very grateful to Amber Barry Jones,
who edited the manuscript of this novel. Amber not only improved the grammar,
punctuation, and sentence structure of my narrative, but she also raised many
pertinent questions that helped me focus my message and descriptions. I take
full responsibility for any errors and/or typos remaining in the book.

My sincere thanks to Shiran Waldman, a
former colleague, for designing the cover of this book, based on a photograph I
took on one of my journeys in Bulgaria.

I would also like to thank the many
family members, friends, and Internet acquaintances who offered comments and
suggestions after reading initial paragraphs, chapters, and sections of the
book. Thanks are due to my good friend, Ranen Omer-Sherman, who helped guide
both the narrative and grammar, even though he never visited me in Bulgaria.

And finally, to my wonderful wife,
Jodie, my sincere thanks for not only helping me improve this book, but for
also being at my side during the two years of our Bulgarian adventure. I
couldn't have done this without you!

About
the Author

Ellis Shuman was born in Sioux City,
Iowa, and immigrated to Israel as a teenager. He completed high school in
Jerusalem and served for three years in the Israeli army’s Nahal branch. Along
with his wife, Jodie, he was a founding member of Kibbutz Yahel in the Arava
Valley in Israel’s south. On the kibbutz he worked in agriculture, industry,
tourism, the dairy barn, and served as the kibbutz’s general secretary.

After moving with his wife and three
young children to Moshav Neve Ilan in the Judean Hills, Ellis received formal
training in the hotel industry. He worked in a variety of positions at the Neve
Ilan Hotel and later was Food and Beverage Controller at the Jerusalem Hilton.
He served as the moshav’s general secretary during a period in which the
community underwent major social changes.

As a hobby, Ellis began writing on the
Internet. He wrote extensively about life in Israel in his position as the
Israeli Culture Guide at About.com. He designed and maintained websites for the
Neve Ilan Hotel and for Indic—Independent Israeli Cinema. For two years he was
webmaster for Yazam, an international financial firm that provided support for
technological start-ups.

Ellis served for three years as Editor
in Chief of Israel Insider, an online daily newsmagazine that developed new
technologies as it posted the latest news and views, from and about Israel.

Starting in 2004, Ellis began working in
a marketing company servicing the online gaming industry. In the years 2009 -
2010, his job was relocated to Sofia, Bulgaria. During those years, Ellis and
Jodie traveled extensively in Bulgaria as well as in the countries of the
region. Today Ellis continues working at this job, based in Ramat Gan.

Ellis's first book was
The Virtual
Kibbutz
, originally published in 2003 and released in a revised digital
version in December, 2012.
The Virtual Kibbutz
is a collection of short
stories dealing with the changing society of the kibbutz, Israel's unique
communal society.
The Virtual Kibbutz
is available at Amazon, Barnes
& Noble, and at other online retailers.

Ellis writes about books, travel,
Bulgaria, Israel, and the craft of writing on his blog:

Ellis Shuman Writes -
http://ellisshuman.blogspot.com/