Celia Conrad's Blog, page 3
February 26, 2014
An Italophile’s delight…
Playground for the rich and for a murderer in Murder in Hand…
Fabulous town in Tuscany and featured in Murder in Hand…
For those of you who are seasoned Italophiles, I cannot recommend Candida Martinelli’s Italophile website highly enough. Not only does Candida review books set in Italy, books about Italy & Italian culture but she has created a wonderful site incorporating sections on Italian food, drink & recipes; towns and touring in Italy; Italian culture, design and music, and much more besides – something for everyone. It’s a really uplifting site and so packed with colourful images of Italy that you will be left wanting to pack your bags and head straight there. You can go to the site by clicking here.
Candida also has two other Italophile sites – Italophile Book Reviews offers personal views on many books that might interest lovers of Italy and
Italophile Books is an Amazon.com linked shop that has only products Italophiles are sure to love. As Candida puts it – you can shop with no distractions!
I am delighted that Candida has reviewed the third part of the trilogy Murder in Hand, in which quite a lot of the action takes place in Italy. You can read her review here.
If you want to contact Candida she is also on Goodreads
March 20, 2013
It’s all down to your imagination…
One of the questions people are asking is how do I look and what am I really like? Well, in terms of my appearance and if you’ve read the books then, from the description given of me, you should have enough details to be able to conjure up an image of me in your mind’s eye. And you should have a pretty strong sense of my personality too. I‘m not going to provide you with any further details because I want you to build up your own personal picture of me. So it’s all down to your imagination and that goes for the other characters too. For example, Alex seems to conjure up all sorts of wild imaginings from my readers…
If you’ve read the books and have any thoughts on this let me know. I would be interested in hearing from you.
March 15, 2013
The Ides of March…
Okay, today is the 15th of March and best known as the date when Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE. He was in fact stabbed to death at the Theatre of Pompey. The scene of his assassination and the betrayal by Brutus was brilliantly dramatised by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar. Shakespeare racks up the dramatic tension when a Soothsayer warns Caesar to beware the Ides of March. Anyway, the Ides of March are significant not just because of Caesar’s assassination – in Roman times March was the first month of the year and the Ides generally occurred around the middle of a month, supposedly determined by the full moon which means the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the Roman new year…but no Happy New Year for Caesar in 44 BCE!
March 13, 2013
An eventful few weeks in Rome…
It has been an eventful few weeks in Rome with the formal resignation of Pope Benedict XVI who left the Vatican for the last time on 28 February 2013. Bearing in mind a Pope has not resigned since 1294 when Pope Celestine V (the former hermit Pietro da Morrone) resigned after a period of only six months this is something nobody in living memory has ever witnessed and this has caused speculation worldwide as to which Cardinal would be the new Pope. With the announcement that the Papal Conclave has elected the Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the Roman Catholic Church’s new Pope on the evening of 13 March 2013 the wait is now over. The new Pope is the first Latin American to be Pope although he is of Italian descent. He will be known as Francis I.
Dio benedica tutti!
February 15, 2013
Daniel Naya really is a cut above the rest…in my opinion!
Just discovered a brilliant hair salon in London SW10 called Naya Hair and Beauty. It is owned and run by Daniel Naya who has been a hair stylist for over twenty years and who ran salons in Germany, Spain and London before opening his own salon in 2003. I can’t rate this salon highly enough. Daniel’s salon is great on every level – fabulous ambiance, wonderful customer service, and fantastic stylists. If you want a really professional but personal service where the hairdressers go that extra mile to make sure their clients really achieve a look and a haircut that works for them; take the time to listen to their clients’ requirements and expectations; advise on what style suits their hair, face shape and lifestyle then this is a great salon to go to! Check it out at www.nayahair.com
February 13, 2013
S5 certified organic cosmeceuticals – worth a try!
Just wanted to share with you details of a new UK skincare brand that I have been trying out called S5 Skincare. The products are specifically designed to address all skin issues and are brilliant for hypersensitive skin. In fact they are great for dry skin, premature ageing, blemishes and stressed skin and are all certified organic and natural as well. The price tag is really reasonable too compared with many of the brands out there. You can buy the products from Selfridges or online. If you’re interested in trying the products go to www.s5skincare.com The first ten lucky people using discount code CC120213 will get a 15% discount on their first order. As I say this discount code is only valid for the first ten people who use it and also it is only valid until 1 April 2013. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I have no vested interest in this company. I just use their products and am happy to help promote something I think works. Hope you like them!
February 6, 2013
The second Alicia Allen Investigates crime trilogy…
People keep asking me whether there are going to be any more books or, more particularly, whether there is going to be a second crime trilogy. And one of the questions that people seem to want me to answer is whether Alex will feature in them. You’ll have to wait and see…but in the meantime I’d love to hear your feedback on the first crime trilogy. If you’ve read them drop me a line and if you have been to any of the places featured in the books and that place holds a special memory for you I’d love to hear about it.
January 20, 2013
Audrey Hepburn…gone but not forgotten
Audrey Hepburn (4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993)
Today, 20 January 2013, marks the 20th anniversary of Audrey Hepburn’s death. I’m a great fan of Audrey Hepburn and have watched her films over and over again. If you’ve read the books then you’ll know how great I think she is. There’s something truly magical about this iconic actress; a real film star with her poise and elegance and those amazingly expressive eyes! She’s such a delight to watch. My favourite film is probably Charade - I just love that banter between her and Cary Grant – but her performance in Wait until Dark is nothing less than impressive. If you’re a fan of Audrey too I’d be interested in hearing from you. Do you have a favourite Audrey Hepburn film?
January 18, 2013
Tweety and Pringles…
Are you a fan of Tweety or do you prefer Sylvester?
In Italy the cute little canary Tweety (or Titti as he is known in Italian) is very popular. He’s certainly an amazingly resourceful little bird when it comes to outsmarting Sylvester, the black and white cat with the red nose, who is always so desperate to get his claws on Tweety even though Tweety wouldn’t make for much of a meal as he’s so tiny.
Do you have a favourite Looney Toons or Merrie Melodies cartoon featuring Tweety and Sylvester? One of my favourites is Birds Anonymous in which Sylvester joins a group of cats trying to kick their addiction to birds.
Anyway, it seems that Tweety likes Pringles too…
January 11, 2013
BBC2’s Italy Unpacked with Giorgio Locatelli & Andrew Graham-Dixon – a veritable feast for the eye!
Okay – so I’m half-Italian and I love authentic Italian cooking and Italian culture so you might say that a TV series with all those elements is going to appeal to me. Yes it does, but what I love about this programme is the way it is presented: Giorgio (the chef) passionate about Italian culinary delights and fast cars (well, he is Italian!) and Andrew (the art historian) passionate about Italian culture and art, make for a fantastic TV partnership and compliment one another perfectly. The fact that they have this wonderful camaraderie and a genuine interest in what inspires one another, a love of what they both do and an ability to share it with the viewer in a way which really draws the viewer in is what makes this series fabulous! We were treated to both the gastronomic and art historical delights of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena and Parma. I think this is a programme that makes anybody watching it want to take a trip to Italy to savour all its delights. Not so much Italy unpacked; just pack your bags and head to Italy as soon as you can… Buon viaggio!
Andrew Graham-Dixon & Giorgio Locatelli
