take steps along a path toward discovering the regenerative existential cures to be found in plant dominated environments such as gardens and landscape.
Travel to Morocco on a fun trip, weaving culture with horticulture. That arcane weave is the magic connection of humans with nature. Discover that weave with CJ, the protagonist.
This action-packed coming of age novel follows Christopher Janus, a determined American university student who, during his last year, is abroad studying landscape architecture in Tangier. But what was supposed to be a simple design study quickly turns into a battle of wits and will as CJ is thrown into a world of unexpected challenges that threaten his degree, professional goals, and even his life. With danger lurking in every corner, CJ must rely on his courage and luck to make it out alive. If you enjoyed the suspenseful thrill ride of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, you’re sure to love Tangier Gardens. Buy at Amazon now before the price changes! Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv
These metaphysical autobiographies will transport you to a realm of discovery beyond the limits of nature and the five senses. Christopher Janus graduated a landscape architect, but his true education came from the most unexpected and unfortunate experiences of his life. In his fictional autobiographies, readers follow CJ on his international travels as he discovers the secrets of the landscape. As CJ navigates through this supernatural world and uncovers its hidden powers, he must grapple with the consequences of his discoveries. Along the way, CJ finds himself balancing between love and loss, life and death, and the supernatural and the mundane. If you enjoyed the supernatural thrill of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, you’ll be enthralled by Christopher Janus’s mysterious journeys in “The Landscape Architect“ series.
Do you remember the first time you felt, through your sense of sight or your sense of smell, the absolute magic of plants: trees, shrubs, flowers, leaves?
Do you?
Well, my friends, it is a joy that you can find everyday… is it not?
The glory of that experience is the story of Tangier Gardens.
The next two books have CJ in Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Switzerland and Egypt…BUT
…springtime in these Swiss mountains and lakes has been so enchanting that I have had to go outside and walk and walk and walk. My novels suffer. Yenbo Palms and Crystal Vision will be published before the end of this year.
No, no, no—it’s not the evileye. Couldn’t be. The landscape wouldn’t tolerate such violation, would it?
Living in Tangier, 2000, Christopher Janus, CJ, during his six-month term abroad design study, explored northern Morocco. But his geographic explorations were not the entire story. He was swayed—swayed? How? By what?
Unlike CJ had ever imagined, that geography throbbed with a much larger pulse beat—that of the northwest Africa landscape….
If you are:
-A nature lover or a landscape aficionado;
-Curious about all things green—the environment, plants, gardening, horticulture;
-Intrigued about the northwest Africa multi-cultural, mystical history of people and plants, and their arcane interactions with strangers, then…
NOW, FOLLOW THAT LINK AND PICK UP THE FREE EBOOK, CURIOUS TALES—NOW!
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You wonder… who is this CJ?
CJ is an American, born in the Midwest, raised in New Mexico—a hard worker who found his muse in the landscape.
At university, he grew to embrace music, literature and all the fine arts with humanitarian, environmental and spiritual sensibilities. Did that help him in Morocco?
Studying landscape architecture, CJ was into pedestrian towns and warm sandy beaches. For his last class, that term abroad design study, he’s been in Tangier, a town with sandy beaches on the Med and a historical pedestrian district, the medina. But CJ got more than he bargained for… and it wasn’t a suntan or a relaxing time.
These 43 curious tales were CJ’s final submittal for his term abroad design study. CJ’s curious tales highlight the strangeness of the landscape he encountered in northwest Africa and… what he learned.
…what! If this is true, then what have you been telling us? Lies? Is that so?!
No…it’s just business.
In order to graduate with a degree in Landscape Architecture, CJ had to complete a term-abroad design study. That was the story in Tangier Gardens.
And in order to complete his term-abroad design study, CJ had to submit a final deliverable. Curious Tales is that final deliverable.
In some aspect, Curious Tales is the short form of Tangier Gardens—but with added style.
In Curious Tales CJ shares, in a series of 43 flash fiction stories, his take on the culture and landscape of northwestern Africa. He describes how the unique culture and landscape of that region have impacted his life and approach to landscape architecture design.
I am happy to announce that Curious Tales is now live on Amazon at this link: https://amzn.to/3nO2WEG
And please my friend, share this post with all of your like-minded friends of the landscape.
“Back home, at university, in my original Design Study Statement, I wrote that I would evaluate the use of water features in the Moroccan medina urban public realm, with a view toward deriving a metric of understanding their physical and cultural components.
“I must be frank. I almost failed this self-directed Moroccan design study.
“My time in Tangier took me to some deep places—some I had seen before. Others? Most peculiar…I didn’t know where I was. And others still where I was glad to be.”
But that is CJ’s tale; this prequel is my story.
A weak breeze and a few late wisteria flowers prepared me to be charmed by the view of the Strait of Gibraltar the way I like it–a safe distance, a comfortable distance away from that strangely aggressive magic, that throbbing aura of Joseph Conrad’s Africa. The more I thought about it, the more I could feel that hot African breath prickling the back of my neck.
I had been strolling lazily, inspecting the Gibraltar hotel where I was staying. I walked through the Barbary Bar out onto the shaded Wisteria Terrace. Nobody was sitting out there. Off season. Siesta time of day. Perfect quiet for me, perfect for daydreaming–my way of searching for the orange gardens of the Hesperides.
Curious Tales The Prequel is free to read on Kindle Vella at this link (https://bit.ly/3Hv6p2p)