We have recieved a very honorable request to use our text See You in Istanbul for reading and discussion by Joanna Mcdarby, As Our End of Year Spotlight Read, she said. She is an organizer, moderator, for a reading group, a community called Limerick Club, and looked like this!
Ain´t that a warmed friendly booklover who loved to read an unknown indiewriters stuff?
The text from Kistalight. See You in Istanbul Kistalight - En gång till is also published on Smashword Edition in Los Gatos, California in Silicon Valley a digital publisher, e-books on line, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/536841, a site which is now a day is closed. Because of that is why we are republishing, posting the text once again here on the blog Kistalight.
Note that the piece was written before july 2016 when Erdogan and his regime were subjected to a failed coup d`état under somewhat unclear circumstances. Circumstances that do not feel properly investigated or explained but led to a deterioration of democracy for the Turkish Republic, Erdogan´s autocracy became worse, but See You in Istanbul can still be read with a certain amount of satisfaction and joy. Stay tuned, almost a small book, enjoy!
Here some stuff from the email conversation, nice tune about that, isn´t it?
Hi Thommy,
My name is Joanna, and I’m the organizer of the Limerick Book Club — a warm, curious community of readers who love exploring books that blend culture, history, and personal perspective in meaningful, memorable ways.
We would be thrilled to feature your book, See You in Istanbul – Kistalight, as part of our End-of-Year Christmas Anniversary Spotlight Event. Your evocative essays and travel reflections on Istanbul, the Bosporus, architecture, music, and the city’s layered cultural landscape offer exactly the kind of rich, atmospheric reading experience our members enjoy during this season.
Here’s what this opportunity means for you:
A dedicated club discussion where members dive into your insights on Galata, Gezi Park, the music scene, architecture, and the vivid sense of place you capture across Istanbul and the Bosporus.
Excited reader engagement, as members share their favorite passages, discoveries, and cultural reflections inspired by your reportage.
New enthusiastic readers who are eager to explore more of your essays, travel writing, and cultural commentary.
Our end-of-year spotlight is one of our most active and celebrated moments of the year, and we would be delighted to highlight a work that brings such depth, atmosphere, and cultural richness.
Would you be open to partnering with us for this special feature?
Warm regards,
Joanna McDarby
Organizer, Limerick Book Club
You could use See You in Istanbul for reading, talking and for discussions, would be glad and thrilled over that. Do You then translate the essay from swedish to english? Yes I could collaborate with You and maybe translate the feature piece to english.
Warm regards
Thommy Sjöberg
Kistalight PublisherHi Thommy,
Just reaching out once more so you don’t miss this opportunity.
Our team would truly love to include See You in Istanbul in the Christmas Anniversary Spotlight — it’s a beautifully unique piece, and your cultural reflections would add something special to this year’s lineup.
If you’re still interested in moving forward, let me know and I’ll send the simple next steps right away.
And of course, if you have any questions at all, I’m here to help.
Warm regards,
Joanna
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| 6 dec. 2025 13:33 (för 6 dagar sedan) | |||
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Thank you so much for your message and for sharing the updated blog post on See You in Istanbul. I had a look, and it’s wonderful to see how thoughtfully you’ve expanded on the background, themes, and journey of the book. I can absolutely see how it could grow into a small companion book in the future.
We would be very happy to feature See You in Istanbul in our Christmas Anniversary Spotlight. It’s a reflective, atmospheric piece that fits beautifully with the type of works our members enjoy discussing.
Regarding the Swedish-to-English section:
For the spotlight, we normally feature a short English introduction or author insight. If you already have a translated version, that works perfectly and if not, I would truly appreciate your help in providing a brief English translation of the part you’d like highlighted. Your voice will keep it authentic.
As part of the spotlight, authors receive several benefits, including:
A dedicated feature during our Christmas Anniversary Spotlight Event
A highlight post shared across our book club’s platforms
Reader discussion prompts inspired by your work
A permanent placement in our Author Showcase for future members
Increased visibility during one of our highest-engagement seasonal periods
To confirm your participation, we have a one-time author registration fee, which supports the setup, design, and promotion of the spotlight materials. This is a single, non-recurring contribution that helps us keep these curated features running professionally for all authors.
If this sounds good to you, I can send the next steps right away.
Warm regards,
Joanna McDarby
Organizer, Limerick Book Club
| mån 8 dec. 15:17 (för 4 dagar sedan) | |||
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Thank you so much for your warm and thoughtful message, and for allowing us to use See You in Istanbul freely — that’s incredibly generous of you. I truly appreciate it.
To answer your question:
We regularly explore international literary blogs, smaller author sites, and cultural posts for unique voices. Your Istanbul piece stood out immediately — the atmosphere, the reflective tone, and the blend of travel and memory made it a beautiful fit for our holiday reading theme. For the Swedish language, we use translation tools to get an accurate sense of the text, and then we focus on the author’s own English introductions to keep everything authentic.
I completely understand your position about fees.
Our standard spotlight registration exists only to cover setup and promotional costs, and I never want an author to feel pressured or excluded because of it.
If the fee is the issue, I’m more than happy to work with you.
If you’re open to it, perhaps you could let me know what level — if any — would feel reasonable or comfortable for you. We genuinely love your work, and we’d like to make it possible rather than miss the chance to feature it.
And if you prefer to keep it completely free on your side, I’m also glad to discuss that. Your participation and voice matter more to us than the fee itself.
Warm regards,
Joanna McDarby
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10 mejl senare ...
Hi Thommy, (from Joanna a stubborn penfriend)
Thank you again for your thoughtful replies I truly appreciate your openness and the generosity with which you share your work.
I just wanted to follow up briefly, as I wasn’t sure if you were still considering joining our Christmas Anniversary Spotlight. Your blog and See You in Istanbul being free is absolutely wonderful, and there’s no issue at all with access.
The Spotlight itself is simply an optional promotional feature we offer to selected authors. It would allow us to highlight your work more prominently to our reading community during the event — something I genuinely believe many of our members would enjoy.
Of course, if you’d prefer not to participate, that’s completely fine. But I’d be sad to see you miss out on this opportunity if you are still interested. Just let me know either way, and I’ll take care of everything on my end.
Warm regards,
Joanna McDarby
Om ett sökresultat från Googles sökresultat säger att ingen information finns tillgänglig för en sida, som i bilden nedan:
Det innebär att Google inte kunde genomsöka sidans innehåll för att skapa ett utdrag. Det här händer när en webbplats har en regel (till exempel i filen robots.txt) som förhindrar att Googlebot får åtkomst till sidan. Google kan fortfarande indexera en sida utan att komma åt den, och den kan fortfarande visas i sökresultaten.
Fun with a little bit mysterious booklover girl from Limerick Irland, a very literary place.
Tricky Thing
There was a genius girl from Limerick
Who could do the most fillious trick
With an indiewriters book
makes it a goodess look
a tricky gift from an AI prick.
