Masterpiece in Malta

Raymond John explains why he chose Malta as the site for his mystery novel, The Cellini Masterpiece by quoting Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence - "..Sometimes a man hits upon a place to which he mysteriously feels that he belongs. Here is the home he sought, and he will settle amid scenes that he has never seen before, among men he has never known, as though they were familiar to him from his birth. At last he finds rest.” From TMIS:

“Why Malta” is a complicated question to answer. It’s difficult to explain how a tiny bit of limestone southwest of Sicily should hold such an interest for an American. I am nearly 65, but I fell in love with Malta sight unseen as a 10-year-old in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was a stamp collector and bought one of those cheap worldwide stamp packets, with one stamp showing Verdala Palace in Malta. Somehow it grabbed my interest, and a few years later I started reading about Malta until I had exhausted the local library collection. The chance discovery of a stamp led me to one of the most geographically and historically significant places in the world. Literally the crossroads of the Mediterranean, its Neolithic temples pre-date the Pyramids. It has been occupied by nearly every world power since the ancient Greeks. I’m a historian, for heaven’s sake. Why wouldn’t I be interested?..

I finally had a finished draft of the novel in 1985. An agency decided to represent it but was unable to find a publisher. The manuscript went back on my shelf to languish for nearly 10 years before I finally came to Malta for the first time at age 54. I stayed at a bargain accommodation, the Soleado Guest House in Sliema. What a great location to set the novel! I dusted off the manuscript and started again. My first change was to give the sidekick Rick, my hero, a sex change. My middle-aged male cab driver was now a sexy young woman. The real-life manager of the Soleado, Joey Bugeja, also got a gender change to become the fictional Josefina. How could I miss?...

Malta as Ground Zero - from Wired Temples