The Turning Point: Moments That Changed Lives – Kismet’s Odyssey

The Voices of The Turning Point Audio Recording of Kismet’s Odyssey

After landing her dream summer job on the Greek island of Corfu, Dimity Powell straps on her deck shoes and packs her sunscreen ready for her own Ionian sailing adventure. Yet despite the allure of sizzling souvlakis, hypnotising sea breezes and enough Metaxa brandy to sink a small flotilla, kismet strikes with a force more powerful than Zeus’s Thunderbolt, sending irreversible ripples through the bareboat charter community and compelling Dimity to accept the fragility of perfection.

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘the moment when my life changed forever’. Some of us can even pinpoint it in our own lives; the birth of a child, the acceptance letter to a degree programme, the decision to make a momentous change, the signing of your first publishing contract! The Turning Point is an anthology of personal accounts, showcasing the extraordinary and unexpected moments that have completely altered everyday lives. The Turning Point is a rare glimpse into the most important and fascinating moments of people’s lives. A collection of extraordinary exposes, it contains stories about everyday people (like me), from all over the world. In the words of editor, Gareth St John Thomas, “This anthology was born of an international writing competition. Writers sometimes need accessible challenges to get them up and typing, and the competition asked them to write about a turning point in their life. The writing astonished us — it was as if the writers had taken note of the English poet Sir Philip Sydney’s muse simply instructing, ‘look in thy heart and write’” – Editor Gareth St. John Thomas (Introduction – The Turning Point).

This competition took place in 2020 during the peak of our global Covid pandemic and as Gareth points out, was the stimulus that allowed me to reconnect not only with my fatalistic past but also my waning creative verve. My tale, Kismet’s Odyssey, is a true-life, deeply affecting account of my experience as a young bareboat charter courier on the sunbaked Ionian island of Corfu. It was a time of kissing summer breezes, newfound friendships, and sailing. It was also the stage of a tragedy that played out like a Greek mythology and ironically reset my life course, changing it forever.

Each of the 40 stories in this book offers a rare glimpse into the turning point of the writer’s life. Hand-picked as the most extraordinary entries received, they are eclectic, diverse and entirely immersive.

Corfu, Greece

This is the perfect book to read in snapshots, or to dive into and not resurface until you’ve read every fascinating account. Beautifully presented, it makes an ideal addition to your coffee table, or gift for a loved one. With sections on Love, Changes, Momentous Decisions, Tragedy, Vivid and Learning Moments, every reader is sure to find stories which relate and inspire.

In addition to reading the anthology, you can experience the legion of moments that change a person’s life through The Voices of The Turning Point; a specially curated collection of audio recordings organised into 6 parts, just like the book, featuring stories of life altering events, read by the people who lived them. Intimate, personal, real, I can’t wait to share my ‘moment’ with you.

To listen to, Kismet’s Odyssey, click on the banner image below or visit the Exisle Publishing website and scroll down to, Part 4: Tragedy Leads to Change.

Audio Recording of Kismet’s Odyssey by Dimity Powell