Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 205

Love-story with… England

It all started with… a royal wedding! The Royal Wedding Of Last Century, though. Yeah, Wills's parents. First time I went to England was for three weeks in June 1981 with EF. I spoke mostly Italian (even if we had young people from Sweden and Norway in the small town of Folkestone, all brought by EF to study English – and my fellow males took advantage of it, mangling with those northern girls, haha! Teen Latin lovers in action… imagine that!) and basically hated it. I was so sick of Charles & Diana's faces everywhere, I refused to watch their wedding the following July. Which is something I stuck to even this year, by the way…

Then I went back to the Eurocentres (the Lee Green one, in case you're wondering, as there's more than one in London) to improve my English in 1986, 1989, 1990 and 1993 (+ some spurious visits to London as a tourist, or better, shopper) when I met my British teacher and started one-on-one lessons, novel and screenplay revisions, etc. The first times I booked my two weeks with him, he enrolled the help of his friend Ken (he was still teaching full time back then), the sweetest British gentleman I ever met, who, when he discovered I loved the middle ages, took me to visit castles (Bodiam is still my favorite – they even shot Robin of Sherwood series 3 there! )  instead of a normal lesson (I guess my level of English was quite good at that point, I didn't really need boring grammar lessons anymore! ). Sadly he passed away last year, but I always got a Christmas card from him, and even took him around Rome once, when he visited in the late 1990s. Ken, I miss you when I go to London now, sigh.

I've been going to London almost every year since I started Day Job, mostly for shopping, but also to explore more. A day trip to Warwick Castle, my adventure with my groupie friends, the workshop in Wales, a tour of Scotland in 2008, and then we'll see. I still have to schedule a castle tour with my teacher reaching even Bamburg Castle (another set of Robin of Sherwood, it's Castle Belleme in the TV series…)  and then Scotland, but I don't know when that will happen!

I have now 2 screenwriters, 1 poet, 1 artist and my teacher to visit anytime I go to London. I love England, I love British humor and that's where I started learning the language. As a tribute to it (and to the setting) I'm writing the historical novel with British spelling. Ain't it cool? Yeah, the blog and Silvery Earth sound very American to my poor teacher! At least he won't grumble "It's so American" when he edits it – which, by the way, he said also of the lyrics of a Def Leppard song I had inserted in a fantasy book (that was 15 years ago, my English wasn't so good, and I used mostly song lyrics to write…): those were the guys who, when Steve Clarke died, wanted a guitarist with a British passport as a substitute to fit in with the rest… I guess rock music, no matter where the musician comes from, sounds American anyway! (Is this why I prefer pop? Because it's more British? Mmm…)

So, there you have it, my ongoing love-story with the land of the queen… the island who, when there's fog on the sea, says the continent is isolated… you gotta love them!

On historical novels

Because I'm typing draft zero in the computer and I'm taking notes on what I want to change and expand, and because next week I might be able to go to a library to do some more research, I thought I'd rant about that for a day.

My main source for research has been the internet for obvious reasons – I'm writing in English, and even if I can use some other language sources, I have to translate them, so reading directly in English is easier for me. I've been helped a lot by Project Guttenberg or Gallica because they have loads of original texts, even translated, but of course they don't have more modern studies on the matter. I could find Wikipedia entries and some free papers or articles on almost everything, so I'm probably all set to write a masterpiece (warning: not a literary one, as my prose will never be literary, but a compelling story with lots of details I couldn't have come up with on my own).

What I wonder, though, is all those studies about clothes. Anything I've read is based on statues and/or illuminated manuscripts to determine what kind of clothes were worn. But I've found more things on life at the end of the 12th century in the translations of the chanson de geste than in any other study. Is there anyone who has dissected the food, the clothes, the armors, the pass-times in the works of Chrétien de Troyes, Béroul, Wace and the likes?

I know not many manuscripts have reached us, and some have been reworked or translated in later centuries, but still… I think those stories (supposed to have happened in earlier centuries, depending if it was the French matter – Charlemagne – or the British matter – King Arthur – or other) are a window on life in that time period and shouldn't be overlooked. And as most of those minstrels were anonymous, I can attribute one or two of those "roman" to my characters (well, one is totally made up, but not all the "roman" and "chanson" of that time have survived, and my characters are not Richard Lionheart or Chrétien de Troyes! Besides, I threw in an Italian story that way, haha ).

Then again there's the problem of conflicting sources and dates. Even "biographies" of the time were filled with stuff that was totally made up (see William Marshal or Fulk Fitz Warine), but then, that's why I'm writing fiction and not an historical treaty. I can fill the holes with my imagination, right? I'll always find some reader/scholar who doesn't agree with me, but as long as I manage to tell my story, I guess I don't care.

The themes will be faith, war, marriage… there is a crusade, captivity… I guess just the usual conflict! I haven't written the end yet, I'm stuck on part 3 (reign of King John) because I want to change so many things at the beginning I'm not sure it's worth to write it all until I rewrite the rest. So next week I'll be studying also that – the rewrites and the end, or the struggle against King John, which must become a less secondary character from the beginning because he's the new antagonist for the end of the book. But I must plant the seeds earlier, right?

Happy writing!

daily prompts – the photo challenge!

This week I thought I'd participate in the Weekly Photo Challenge for a change. This week title is: Round. Here are a few "rounds" from my US tour last year.

"Look! Pancakes" (from The Replacements) - yummy

more round food!

ROARround!

And let's not forget the "round" in the sky…

on writing… again

I was supposed to do Indie Publishing week part 2, but… things aren't going as programmed, I guess. Thing is, I'm actually rewriting the next Book of the Immortals, Fire, before sending it out to an editor. I'm unhappy with my beta-readers (one is way too slow, the other is a writer), so I'm just trying to rewrite it how I want to read it.

I've already mentioned my problems with writers groups or critique groups or finding beta-readers that are as fast as I am. Hopefully when I'll have my first readers, some can become friends and beta-readers for the future works. In the meantime, I can only rely on myself and the editors I hire.

Most of my offline writers group thinks I should stick to screenplays because I use lots of dialog and very sparse prose: sorry folks, dialog is for THEATER not movies (movies are ACTION), and my dry prose is my voice. You'll never see me use purple prose anywhere, and not only because English is not my mother tongue. I was praised as a journalist in Italian, but I just hated that job, so I went back to prose.

My online writers group says I forget senses (which I do, but I'm not really looking for smells or sounds in books, that's why I leave them out in my own…) or suggest

Think about your favorite authors and how they weave together the elements that make up a story. What is the theme in this piece? How does it fit together with the rest? WHO are these charaters? What are their motivations? Why do they do what they do? There are so many unanswered questions to this piece. What are your favorite books and stories that you've read in Italian? How do THEY do the above?

I don't have favorite authors. I don't care about descriptions. I "rush" through the story I want to tell. As a reader, I'm probably a lazy one, so what? That why I'm indie-publishing. I don't care what the characters do every second of the day. I know they eat and drink and shit, but if it's not interesting for the story, I'm not going to say it. I'm assuming it, and I guess readers can assume it too. I'm never going to describe the recipes of a meal or any other "boring bit". I'm sure I can find readers out there that don't care about literary masterpieces and only want to enjoy a story.

I also discovered another Smashword author (still have to read her book, but it's on my ToBuy list, for later, just to avoid Smashwords friendly reminders to review purchased books! ). I just loved her presentation, and even if I'm not a fan of romance (but I love long-haired guys, haha) and hate first person stories, I WILL check her work.

On her blog she has a post that looks exactly like one I could have written. It's called Dancing with myself. I totally agree with her. I caught up on her blog posts, an I found a kindred soul. Now, I'm not going to ask her to be my critique partner (she hates 3rd person narration and I hate 1st… ), but I'll keep following her  (see her added to my blogroll? ).  I'll read her book eventually.

In the meantime I'd like to thank her for posting the beginning of Air on her other blog, Indiebookslist. Just added a link to my free reads! Please share/tweet/forward to your friend her link with the free excerpt – it will always be here, but if you could help me spread the word… thank you! To to the post and send it out!

Now I better go back to finishing The Fern and The Cross and editing Fire… Cover artist meeting tomorrow and then we'll see…

Happy writing!

Happiness is…

Six Sentence Sunday

Hello, Sunday visitors and regular readers and thank you for stopping by. Comments last week wanted more, so I've just skipped a couple of "boring bits" to reach the point where the characters actually meet. They're in an inn, Takeshi and Kumar sleep in the men common room, Sarita has a single room and Aishwarya the dancer is not what she looks like… and here she's leading Sarita to meet her destiny.

***

Sarita let the dancer pull her to the other side of the room, where the foreigner sat.

"Would the two of you be so kind as to escort us on a walk to the bridge to take a breath of fresh air?" Aishwarya asked the foreigner and his friend.

"Sure!" the former said immediately.

"Why?" the latter asked, not even looking up.

"Because I'm asking you," Aishwarya insisted. "Please."

***

Six more next week. I will continue with this scene through the end of May, then move on to another novel for the month of June. If you like what you read, Air is available at Smashwords, for Kindle and in print on Lulu.

Now hop off to the official blog for more Sunday goodies!

Linky Saturday

OK, it's that time of the week again. Last day to buy When a Mullo loves a woman for a good cause! After 3 or more tries, I managed to snatch my copy from Decadent Publishing. Now of course I'll have to read it, argh! The ToBeRead pile doesn't go down, not even in e-book format! OK, I'll make priorities – first the Smashwords authors as I already got a friendly reminder to review what I purchased, then the rest… be patient… I am reading more than usual, but I've got plenty!

The linky links! On Clarion blog guest Christopher Farnsworth says we should never be ashamed, lose our enthusiasm for writing. And he's damn right.

Guest blogger on Rachelle Gardner's blog about vlogging… not for me. I don't watch videos. Jai, go back to normal blogging, please! I hate vlogs!

All guest bloggers this week. From Self-published Author's lounge: be true to your inner voice – which I totally agree with. I could never write slant stories. But then, my writing routine has been set up long before I actually started researching the market… So I keep writing what I want to read – and went the indie publishing way!

And some food for thought from Ruth Ann Nordin who is in the Top100 Smashwords Authors List (and sometime I'll have to buy at least one of her books… and at the moment, the one that interest me the most is her lowest seller… will have to ask her the title and put it on the ToBuy list! ) – I'm not there yet (I've just started), but indeed, what should she write next? Should we please our readers or ourselves?

When I'll have my first 1000 faithful readers I'll let you know… (haven't reached 10 yet, in my second self-publishing venture, but I know these things take time!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

News from Japan

I interrupt my usual Friday Love-story with… for a good cause. Yesterday I finally received an e-mail from Masayo. She's OK, but…

- their life completely changed after the earthquake of March 11. More quakes keep hitting the islands even if on smaller scale. Scary.

- she wasn't hit by the tsunami, of course, but the nuclear plant disaster is the biggest and long term problem for all of them. As if Hiroshima and Nagasaki hadn't been enough.

- they have power failure and the governments forbids to use electric power for 3 hours a day – that's 3 hours with no computers, no lights, no fridge, no trains, and they worry about spending their hot summer without AC.

- after the earthquake they couldn't buy food because most food factories were in the tsunami area.

Things are slowly getting better, but they still need help. Kristan here has a good list of things to do to help Japan. Or you can buy Barb&Masayo's Stories, all earnings will go to her. I'll also contribute a story to the anthology Stories for Sendai.

As for nuclear power, wake up world, and give up dangerous toys NOW! Will this lesson be enough? Only the future will tell… don't read The world without us if you want to feel safe on this very unsafe planet.

Guest Post: JoAnne Kenrick

Only a few days left to READ FOR A CURE with JoAnne Kenrick's paranormal romance mystery, When A Mullo Loves A Woman !



All publisher profits, from April 2011 sales, of JoAnne Kenrick's book will go to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life program. With a unique take on the vampire genre, When A Mullo Loves Woman revolves around the ancient gypsy legend of the undead — Mullo.






Decadent Publishing, an ebook to print publisher, donates publisher profits from a different book each month, to Relay For Life. Relay For Life is the flagship fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and provides funding for cancer research and programs to assist cancer patients and their families. Through the month of April 2011, When A Mullo Loves A Woman, a paranormal romance by author JoAnne Kenrick, joins their 'Read for a Cure' efforts.

When A Mullo Loves A Woman is available to buy from all major ebook retailers, the print edition is coming soon. Featuring soul sucking mullo (mullo: ancient gypsy legend of the undead), this book is dubbed unique with enough twists and turns to make your toes curl.

Author Information:
JoAnne Kenrick grew up in a small sea-side town in North Wales. Having experienced life in several different countries, she now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, two children and a lazy cat. When they aren't demanding her attention, she can most likely be found watching a vampire movie, reading, or baking up a British feast in her N.C. kitchen. And if she isn't in one of those spots, she is probably hiding in her writer's cave or recording her next vlog.





YouTubes: [Read For A Cure] [Teaser Trailer] [Full Trailer] [Mini Promo] [Author Reading]




Buy Links: [All Romance Ebooks] [Decadent Publishing] [Kindle Nook] [Smashwords] [Sony eBook Store]



What people are saying about this unique paranormal romance:
"Take a chance on this new author and pick up this book. I was thoroughly entertained by this offering and am sure you will be too" –  BittenByBooks
"I got so caught up in it, there were a lot of fun quotes, too. 'I'm up the ghostie creek without an emf meter is my favorite." –  Demon Lover's Books And More
"A winning and surprising Paranormal Romance" –  The Romance Reviews
"This sexy, fun and intriguing book is perfect for anyone who loves vampires. The hero, Adam, is positively delicious. The heroine, Pearl Kizzy, is fun and spunky. She's the kind of girl you can imagine being your best friend. There are various twists and turns…so no spoilers here! It's simple…Love Vamps=Buy this book!" – Sara Taney Humphreys, author of the Amoveo Legend books
"When Mullo Loves A Woman" by JoAnne Kenrick is pure fun. Intriguing characters and unique voice give readers a keeper-shelf quality tale." — Denise A Agnew, author of the Daryk World and Special Investigations Agency Team books, and many more.




















Blurb:




































She thought the Mullo was just a myth…she was dead wrong.




































Adam Flint's Gypsy visions always guide him to those who need his paranormal gifts. He gets more than he bargained for in Pearl Kizzy, a beautiful spitfire from Liverpool. Adam knows that to save Pearl, he must help her accept her own Gypsy heritage.




































Although Adam and Pearl fight their burning attraction for one another, a night of passion sparks memories of their treacherous former lives. Unable to face the loss of Pearl in this century, Adam scrambles for distance from the love of his life. A rejected Pearl falls into the arms of a Mullo — a gypsy legend of the undead–who lays claim to her heart, and her life.




































To survive, Adam and Pearl must accept their tragic part, and find a way to kill the undead.

GOODREADS




Excerpt:

"Pearl, come out of the rain. You'll catch your death."

A strike of lightening blazed up the sky, a brilliant yellow. Was Mother Nature expressing the fury I felt inside? Was I somehow connected to the storm? It felt that way, and I wanted the sounds of the storm to fill me to the brim, leaving no room for confusion. I looked up at the moon and held out my arms. Take me, storm, take me.

Adam grabbed my hand and dragged me under the deck's roof.

I can't let the ocean call you to its depths. I won't let it happen.

I heard what was in Adam's head. No, I felt it. A panic had taken hold of him. It was gut-wrenching; his heart pounded hard and fast as though he'd lost someone to the sea, a loved one.

"What the hell?" I maneuvered to face him—his arms were still wrapped tight around me. I wiped the sodden hair away from my face and stared up at him. The sense of familiarity flooded me again, and I yearned to bask in the comfort that comes with such closeness. A desire to place my head on his chest and to wrap my arms around him filled me, but I resisted for fear of being pushed away.

"Have you ever met someone for the first time, but in your heart you feel as if you've met them before?"

"Yes," he said. Adam gazed into my eyes, his expression soft and concerning.

"What do you think it means?"

"Dunno."

I loved the vibration of his thoughts. They traveled through me as though they belonged to me. It made me feel close to him. Being with him was like being with an old friend. Frosty-ass comments and all, I wanted to take comfort in him and could resist no more. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my head into his chest. It felt like home. He felt like home.

"Maybe we knew each other in a past life?" I asked, closing my eyes and leaning into the safety of him.

Regards

–

JoAnne Kenrick

When A Mullo Loves A Woman by JoAnne Kenrick


"A winning and surprising paranormal romance." The Romance Reviews.





[Website] [Facebook] [Twitter]



Blogging: [The Para Posse] [The Pop Culture Divas]
My VLOG: Romance eBooks Haul - contest, when I reach 100 followers, my publisher is giving away free copies of my book, to 3 lucky followers!

Daily prompts

It's spring, it's rainy, I'm sleepy, so I'm going to mix them all up. That's the good thing of subscribing to the weekly digest of those daily prompts! Here we go!

What percentage of Americans believe in the devil? I have no idea. I have no idea how many Italians believe in the devil.  Do I? Well, I know there's a dark side to everything and everyone, call it devil if you please… that's duality for you.

Is nuclear energy a menace of the future? Ask the Japanese… I still think we're a virus and a cancer for this poor planet. We should stop drilling for oil and using nuclear energy, and start using sun and winds energies ONLY. But I'm still dependent on old energies here, I live in a condo. When all technology fails, we'll see…

If you had to debate a younger version of yourself, who would win? I'm afraid we don't do debates at the Italian school, so unless I based my debate on movies, I wouldn't even know where to begin from.  And I haven't seen enough debating movies to even start thinking about a debate, with anyone. I argue with myself, but that's all…

Where do you find acceptance? Uhm… I'll skip answering this question. I don't feel very accepted anywhere at the moment! Yo-yo moods of a writer…

What would change if you were president for a day? I'm not American, so I don't know and I don't care, even if I've just watched Swing Vote (which, BTW, was very funny and very touching at the same time). I'm not into politics, and offended my friend who wished me "Happy 25th April" (national holiday in Italy, but I've never celebrated it, except staying at home from Day Job, or worse, traveling abroad when the time came! And this year it was Easter Monday, so who cares about the rest?). And no, I don't want to be in MrB's shoes either.

What do you want to accomplish with your blog? Rant! Can't you see it? I've adjusted the text in the sidebar… just to make it clearer – in case it wasn't.

Enough rambling for today! Happy spring!

Oh, one last question: would you like to read a short story or two on this blog or not? Thank you!