I've read five chapters of this. I had it on my watchlist for sometime and have only had the chance now to look at it. The pitch and title really drew me in and my own interest in that part of the world. I think you write splendidly and its all very interesting - even the archaeological aspects which I consider to be a very mundane discipline. However, why didn't I continue reading? Well, it didn't really feel like it was going anywhere. The narrative was too broken up to read easily considering its very nature of being segments from emails. I think that if you were to spend some time restructuring this and putting it into a more cohesive narrative and to have the thread of finding Christianity running through every chapter you could well have something that would be published. The other aspect missing, I felt, was no mix with the group. You wander around the city, but none of your experiences and appreciations of things seem to come from other people - neither do you share their reactions. And surely you listened and talked to people about these things - you made a close friend with someone. But you don't include this and its all to over-orientated from your point of view without giving your reader a breath of fresh air in terms of another mind breaking in. But that doesn't detract from this being interesting, and my main point is that this could be so much more in me eyes. It could be ground breaking in a time when the Middle East, archaeology and religion are all really in the public sphere. Yours Joe

So far this is a comfortable read in a chatty style and I'm enjoying it.

my husband and i just returned from a one month pilgrimage. i know exactly how you feel about the ancient lands and walking through the jordan, wadi rum and petra...

- Redefining the Holy Land - (Based on chapters 1-10) The chapters here have been converted from e-mails initially sent to family and friends during time spent in Jordan and as such the feel of free flowing, readable diary entries is retained. What I enjoyed most about reading this was that the enthusiasm of the archeology student for the sights and land comes across and invests the reader with the same excitement for a crumbling Byzantine church or an old lookout tower. The author's imagining of herself in times of old, standing on city walls on the eve of battles or mixing with the great generals is something I tend to do myself from the comfort of my couch so it was a pleasure to see the actual sites through the author's eyes and to feel that love of history even more. Another thing I thought engaging was the author's contemplation of her faith in both a historical context and in the present, comparing it with that of the Jordanian Muslims without the issue of religion ever becoming overbearing for the non-believing reader. One thing which I felt was missing was some interaction with the people met on the journey. We are introduced briefly to Yousef and to an interesting Bedouin man and a dig partner is made mention of but we don't really get into conversations with them, find out who they are and what imprints they left on the author or even find out what they look like. A friend of mine once told me that when on holiday he never takes photos without people in them because "buildings and stuff don't give you memories." To some extent, I think the same of travel writing. I'm fascinated by the places but it's really the people in them that set me alight. I posted the following on another travel writing book the other day. I apologize for the horrendous crime of copy-paste in a comment but I do think it applies here too: "For my own personal taste, I enjoy travel writing in which the narrator interacts with local people a lot and we hear about that. The least I’ve enjoyed a travel writing book was Bill Bryson’s Neither Here Nor There because in every country he visits he spends half a chapter telling the reader about his hotel room and the other half making fun of locals without ever talking to them. At the other extreme, my favourite would be Dave Goreman’s Googlewhack Adventure because the onus in that book was very much on the people he met in each place he visited with the setting being a colourful backdrop." As I say though, just my personal taste. A nitpick from chapter 1 -"I have safely arrived in Jordan 12 hours ago." Shouldn't it be "I safely arrived"? This made me all confused as it's the number one grammatical mistake I have to correct among students in Germany.... As I say though, I very much enjoyed reading this. It's a colourful and well-written account of a fascinating place. All the best with it, Ross

Hi Nicole I saw your thread at the forum and decided to have a look at your book and i have read 6 chapters. I have also been to that part of the world l a couple of years ago. The Middle East is a very interesting and “intense” place to visit. I liked to read how your experience was of your stay in the Middle East. Your writing is easy to read because you write it as a diary and it is well written. The only thing i would like to point out to you as a constructive critique, is that you might want to think about, if you can find a way to draw the reader more “in” to your story. Your book is very “informative” but I feel a bit lack of the “magic” bit that should draw the reader in to the story, so the reader won’t put the book down. Hope this was helpful to you. Every blessing Laila Bevan

Hello Nichole: I began reading Redefining the Holy Land and connected personally to many of the sensations which you described. In 1985 I spent six months in Egypt; and then in 2003 I went on a 1 week tour of Israel. The sounds, smell and culture of Egypt were very similar to what you described of Jordan. As for Israel, I can describe the places I visited, but cannot adequately put into words the feeling of actually being in the very places where so many biblical accounts, both major and even obscure, came to life before my very eyes, standing in the very places where they were believed to have occurred. All of my future vacations for the rest of my life have been somewhat partially ruined because the bar has been set so high after my trip to Israel. There is a presence of God that is felt in the Holy Land which I dare say is found in no other place on earth. Thanks for bringing such sweet memories back to my remembrance! Blessings. James