(misc. facts on settings: Venice, Italy: 30 million annual visitors; Prague, Czech Republic, approx. 7 million annual visitors, Greece, approx. 30 million annual visitors)

Forthcoming Fiction:  Notes on Leaving Venice: Synopsis

Notes on Leaving Venice is an intimate expatriate novel rich in wry and insightful commentary on modern culture, religion, war, and love played out in Venice, Prague and Greece. An ill-fated affair with the wife of his boss in San Francisco consigns Kyle Vandermar, a 35-year-old travel marketing executive, to Venice’s Office of Tourism where he is expected to be the lure for skittish post Sept. 11 American tourism dollars.

Kyle ‘didn’t move to Venice to become a drunk or a thief’ but takes turns at both as he steals a gondola, purloins a painting from a church, and befriends a philosophical Venetian bar owner. Living excessively, he grapples with God and society while seeking his place in the world. Kyle immerses himself in Venice’s past and present, her canals and campos where he meets a mysterious artist who won’t reveal her name and finds himself falling in love with Venice and the girl – who disappears.

Kyle is beckoned to sing the siren song of Venice in some of Europe’s most interesting cities including expatriate haven Prague, where his over indulgences and drunken adventures include a jump off Prague’s Charles Bridge and a marriage of convenience in an effort to do a ‘small favor for a revolutionary’ and secure the American dream for the sister of one of the leaders of Prague’s Velvet Revolution.

Back in Venice, while America readies itself for the second invasion of Iraq, Kyle is a misfit solitary newlywed in the world’s most romantic city eventually learning how to follow his heart – and with whom to share it. Ultimately Kyle and the woman he loves construct a new life for themselves on Hydra and discover, in the quiet off season autumn on a Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, the secret to being happy and finding one’s place in these chaotic and uneasy times.

A novel that explores the urge to be somewhere else while setting up a romantic and poetic conclusion of finding a person and a place you may never want to leave. At turns reminiscent of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises sated with compelling interior character insight and Graham Greene flair, Notes on Leaving Venice is a satisfying exploration of the self, of love and life in which the captivating city of Venice plays a central role.

Previously published:
Wasted Away: The Worldwide Party Guide   (Pride-Frost Publishing, 1997)

Award-winning, travel/humor guidebook to the world's largest festivals and events,  e.g. Fiesta San Fermin (The Running of the Bulls), Oktoberfest, Mardi Gras, Carnevale in Veniceand Rio, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Bloomsday in Dublin, the Greek Isles, Amsterdam and more. First printing (5,000 copies, trade paper) sold out. Author owns copyright for reprints/translations.

Some of the reviews:

    "A fine and funny read..."
             Tom Clynes,  National Geographic Adventure Editor, author of Wild Planet!
    "A fun and funny read. Besides, I really admire a person who puts a beer mug on their book cover."
             Dave Barry, Miami Herald columnist and author
    "No better book to take with you for your booze-induced globe-trotting exploits to the biggest parties and festivals in the world's. If you're just an armchair traveler or drinker, Stavrou does the all the work for you...
            Prague Post
     "The hilarious and informative travel guide for college students, drunks, vagabonds and all adventurous travelers seeking Europe's hottest and hippest happenings."
             Factsheet 5 Magazine
     "This year's funniest and most fun-filled travel book, ideal for those who want the low-down on what's up in this large, liquor-filled world..."
             Trips Magazine
     "Frolics and funny adventures with globetrotter and raconteur extraordinaire..." (in full frontpage feature review/interview)
             Waukegan News Sun
      "Stavrou writes from a party-lovers perspective about the Running of the Bulls, which is perhaps the best way to approach San Fermin..."
          Spain for Visitors
       "Professional author and partier Scott Stavrou humorously explores the lighter side of the dark side in this well-lubricated stumble through Pamplona, Oktoberfest, Carnevale and many other of the world's greatest festivals"
          Eurotrip 

Literary Representation: