I live in Brazil, in a tourist town called Joanopolis. One of my aims is to make the town, set among mountains, known to those who see Brazil only as beaches and Carnivals. American and Canadian friends become ecstatic when they drive past green hills and waterfalls.
Another aim is to post snippets of a biography of my American grandmother, Mary Emerson.
How many Americans know that after the Civil War hundreds of southerners fled to Brazil as a haven, following the destruction of their means of survival in the devastated south? Mary Emerson was one of those and I'm one of very few who knew personally the original settlers.
They were an enterprising lot, and made their mark here. I hope to tell people all over the world about their contribution to Brazil.
While I work on this project, I have news to report. My first book, that gives me courage to write the second, was published by e-Press Online. The name is "The Boy and the Warrior". It's fiction, but based on Brazilian history and legend, the result of years of study of folklore and the true, extraordinary story of a refuge carved out of the jungle ins northern Brazil by runaway slaves. This refuge, known as Palmares, lasted a hundred years and it's last murdered king is now a cult figure not only among blacks but among young Brazilians in general.
Should you find my blog among so many, please write. I look forward to comments.
Julia Macdonell
