If you read this, I will no longer be

The story of Otto Witte, Hamburg acrobat and King of Albania Otto, sitting in his circus car while drinking what was left of his coffee (the powder), has so far narrowly escaped the bombs of the Allies. Convinced that his luck will soon leave him and that he will not make it to the morning, he decides to put his life story on paper for the unfortunate sailor who will find his body. And what a story. Years before, when he was working at a circus in either Buda or Pest, he was drawn to a newspaper article. Why? Because it contained a picture of a certain Turkish prince who was called to Albania to be the new king of the country. And it happened that this prince looked remarkably like Otto... The plan was born, they set off on the adventure, and with the help of Otto's friends and enemies (and a camel), the Albanians soon got a king they never expected. Andrew Nicoll, born in 1962, turned his attention to journalism after a short stint as a woodcutter. His stories have appeared in the anthology New Writing Scotland and other magazines. With his first novel, A derék burghermester, which has been translated into 20 languages so far, he won the Saltire Society's award for first-time authors. His second novel, Valdez, was also published in Hungarian by Gabo Kiadó. Married, father of three children.