Siobhan Daiko's Blog, page 15

My Workspace Blog Hop

siobhandaiko:

I’m reblogging this since the lovely Alex Martin has agreed to pick up the batten and write a blog about her workspace. Alex Martin grew up in Wiltshire and its rich and ancient tapestry informs her novel, DAFFODILS. It is set in World War One, a time when the role of women changed forever. The story follows Katy, a young, naive and restless domestic servant who through personal tragedy, courage and intelligence, transforms her life and finds the adventure she always craved. She just never knew the price would be so high…

The sequel, PEACE LILY, is now published and takes the characters into the aftermath of the Great War. They have to find a new way to live in a world in which they have changed and yet the old power struggles remain. A third book, Speedwell, is planned to quickly follow and will complete the trilogy – for now.

The Twisted Vine, Alex Martin’s debut novel, is based on personal experience of picking grapes in the 1980s. Harvesting vines is like harvesting words – hard work but fun.

Alex Martin is also a qualified herbalist and aromatherapist (see http://www.gowerserenity.co.uk) She loves nature so much she relies on it for her health and happiness and dispenses its treasures to others. This does not pay well. Not in financial terms.

She has turned to her keyboard, her first love, for another source of income. She can mostly be found, scribbling or tapping away in her garden shed, indulging that passion, as the wind and rain lash at her little refuge.You’ll have to pop over to blogspot to connect with Alex at http://alexxx8586.blogspot.co.uk/

Originally posted on A blog about my writing and life of romance and adventure in Hong Kong and Italy:

Welcome to the My Workspace Blog Hop. When the lovely Teagan asked me if I’d like to be tagged for this, I was happy to agree. I love the space where I work, and I’m delighted to share it with you.

I have a long, narrow room, which was originally part of Douglas Bland Artist’s studio. My mother had it converted into a cottage about ten years ago; she couldn’t bear to go into it as it brought back so many memories of my dad. I feel privileged to be enjoying the space and trust that his spirit approves.

This is what the cottage looks like from the main house.

Come through the door guarded by Sophie Cat. The fresco on the outside wall, a copy of Botticelli’s Madonna with the Book, was originally painted by my father.

Inside, on the left, there’s a Chinese cabinet given to us…

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My Workspace Blog Hop

Welcome to the My Workspace Blog Hop. When the lovely Teagan asked me if I’d like to be tagged for this, I was happy to agree. I love the space where I work, and I’m delighted to share it with you.

I have a long, narrow room, which was originally part of Douglas Bland Artist’s studio. My mother had it converted into a cottage about ten years ago; she couldn’t bear to go into it as it brought back so many memories of my dad. I feel privileged to be enjoying the space and trust that his spirit approves.

This is what the cottage looks like from the main house.

Come through the door guarded by Sophie Cat. The fresco on the outside wall, a copy of Botticelli’s Madonna with the Book, was originally painting by my father.

Inside, on the left, there’s a Chinese cabinet given to us by Victor’s mum. Through the door next to it, you’ll find our bedroom and a bathroom. Upstairs, we have a large sitting-room, a loo, and a store-room. Downstairs, there’s a kitchen, a shower-room, and a utility room. Super-cozy and plenty big enough for the two of us. When guests visit, we put them up in the main house.

On the right, there’s a chair where the cats like to sit and supervise me while I’m writing.

In winter, my wood-burning stove keeps me toasty-warm.

Here’s my desk.

I’m not in any danger of getting “writers’ bum” when the weather is cooler and the garden door is closed; the cats expect their “slave” to get up and let them in and out.

Opposite the garden door, a window overlooks the valley below. There’s an ancient church, Santa Giustina, which dates back to the 12th Century. Monte Grappa rises up behind and generally has a dusting of snow in the winter months.

There was a gorgeous sunset the other night.

I love my workspace, especially looking through the door at the cherry blossom in spring and the lush garden in summer. Not to mention the deer that sometimes come down to graze on the bank behind.

Hope you enjoyed the visit, and, if anyone would like to pick up the batten and continue the tour, then please consider yourself tagged!

Monday Interview with Ann Bennett

Today I’m delighted to host Ann Bennett on my blog. Ann and I got to know each other online nearly four years ago, when we critiqued our respective uploads on the peer review site YouWriteOn Since then, we’ve been beta-reading each others’ work and have even met in person.

I love reading Ann’s writing, and was so proud when her debut novel Bamboo Heart was published by Monsoon Books this month. Here’s the review I wrote on Amazon for it: I met Ann Bennett through the peer review site YouWriteOn and have watched her wonderful book grow through several drafts to become the beautifully written historical novel you can read today. Harrowing at times as it deals with the horrors of the Death Railway in Thailand during World War II, Bamboo Heart’s main theme is the human spirit and how the characters fight to survive against all odds. It’s a story that needed to be told. Tom is a fantastic protagonist and Ann Bennett really brings him to life in the sections that deal with the past. His daughter, Laura, grows as she learns about her father’s experiences and seeks her own path in life. A truly riveting read and I’m looking forward to more novels from Ann Bennett.

Welcome to Douglas Bland Artist’s studio in Italy, Ann. So glad you can join me in an aperitivo. What can I offer you? A glass of Prosecco? A spritzer? A Bellini? Or perhaps some Pinot Grigio or Bardolino?

I’m happy with any or all of those Siobhan! But Pinot Grigio is my particular favorite.

Ooh, think I’ll have one too. (Pours two glasses). Cheers!

Okay, my lovely, make yourself comfortable! I’m over the moon you’ve been able to join me and would like to start by asking, ‘What inspired you to become a writer?’

I don’t think I ever really took a conscious decision to become a writer. I’ve always loved language and wanted to write stories, ever since I was quite small and used to write and illustrate little books about witches. I wrote some (not very good) short stories after I travelled to India and South East Asia in 1988. When my first son was born in 1992 I wrote whenever he was resting during the day. I have just kept going in any spare moment I’ve had since then!

Sounds like you’ve definitely been bitten by the writing bug. (Laughs.) Please can you tell my readers something about Bamboo Heart and about your research for the story!

Bamboo Heart tells two stories in tandem; that of Tom Ellis, a prisoner of war enslaved on the Burma Railway, and also the story of Tom’s daughter, Laura, who decades later embarks on a quest to uncover the truth about her father’s past.

It was inspired by researching my own father’s experience as a prisoner of war. The ordeal shortened his life and he died when I was seven. I knew some vague facts from my mother: that he had been in a shipwreck and lost a lung through breathing in burning oil, that he had worked on the railway, had suffered from malnutrition and malaria and returned home weighing about six and a half stone. As I grew older I wanted to find out more, but it was not until 2010 that I discovered his ‘liberation questionnaire’ in the National Archives in Kew. He had written it himself in pencil when he was repatriated; dates and names of camps on the line he had been in, events he had witnessed, the date of the shipwreck and what had happened when the ship had come under fire from US aircraft.

I wanted to make some sense of this, and my natural instinct was to write about it. From the events Dad described I created Tom’s story. I wanted to tie it to the modern day and also break up the darkness of the wartime sections, so I wrote the contemporary story in parallel.

I tried to tell a story of hope and survival, to examine the reasons why some survived the worst of ordeals and others sadly did not. I also wanted to show what an important role history plays in all our lives; how powerfully our family’s past affects our own choices and values.

It’s a wonderful story, as I said, and part of a trilogy, isn’t it? I’ve read the first draft of Bamboo Island and loved it too. I’m sure my readers would like to know something about it.

I hadn’t finished writing about the second world war in South East Asia when I completed Bamboo Heart. I had read so many personal accounts when I was doing the research; it had made me realise how the war and the Japanese occupation of South East Asia affected the whole population. I wanted to write about it from the point of view of a woman; a British ex-pat who had settled in Malaya and whose life, like so many others, was transformed by the fall of Singapore. So I wrote Bamboo Island, about Juliet, a plantation owner’s wife, who lived a reclusive life since the war robbed her of everyone she loved. In 1960 the sudden appearance of a stranger disrupts her lonely existence and stirs up unsettling memories.

I’m also working on a third novel: Bamboo Road, about Sirinya, a member of the Thai resistance. Through her story I want to explore how the influx of prisoners-of-war into that remote jungle region affected everyone there. The biggest challenge for me is trying to write from the point of view of someone from another very different culture. I have been to Thailand countless times and am learning Thai myself, but it is still a big challenge.

I’m reading the first draft and am enjoying it. As far as I’m concerned, you have “nailed” Sirinya’s voice. Ann, you seem firmly rooted in the South East Asian historical genre. Will you continue writing in that genre?

Not necessarily. I have lots of other stories in my mind. They are inspired by looking at old photos, reading snippets in newspapers, overhearing conversations on trains. I have a half-finished time-slip story called The Soul Within on my computer, which you have read, Siobhan. When my husband and I were first married we bought a shabby old farmhouse deep in the Norfolk countryside. I stayed there alone during the week as Nick worked in London. The place was definitely haunted. Even my mother, the ultimate sceptic, woke up in the night and sat up to find a woman pushing her back down onto the bed. The Soul Within is inspired by that house.

Ooh, spooky! I loved what I read of that story and can’t wait for you to finish it so I can read on. Please tell us something about your writing process, Ann. For example, do you plot your novels beforehand or write by the ‘seat of your pants’?

Yes I plot my novels carefully. With Bamboo Heart I just sat and thought about it for weeks before I even planned anything. Then I sketched out the plot in a notebook. Plot normally comes first with me, although for Bamboo Island the character of Juliet came first, then the plot. Usually I write a rough plan of how the chapters will pan out. Next I write a plan for each chapter. I plan chapter one then I write chapter one. I write first longhand in a notebook then write it up on the laptop. I go through and write the first draft of a book like that from beginning to end. I like to get as much right as possible in the first draft and spend a long time editing as I go through. I don’t really like rewriting huge chunks or putting extra bits into the plot once the first draft is finished. I find that really hard to do.

That’s interesting, and certainly works for you. Tell us, Ann, how have you found the road to publication? Is there anything you’ve done that you’d do differently now with hindsight?

The road to publication was long and tortuous. I tried to get agents interested in some of my short stories, my first book Shivaji’s Ladder (finished in 2002), and my second book, Silom Road (which I wrote as part of a London School of Journalism correspondence course under the tutelage of novelist Margaret James.) I got some positive feedback from agents, and one asked to read the full manuscript of Silom Road, but ultimately my books were rejected. When I discovered YouWriteOn I began to have some confidence in my writing. Bamboo Heart, or The Pomelo Tree as it was then, got to the number one slot and was reviewed by Nathalie Braine of Orion. At her suggestion I completely rewrote the modern story. I decided to publish Bamboo Heart myself, because my sisters were interested in reading it, and because the opportunity to do it at minimal cost presented itself with FeedARead. On the way home from Thailand in 2013 I bought a book in Phuket Airport published by Monsoon called Amber Road. I loved it and on the off-chance sent my own manuscript to Monsoon. Within a month an email popped into my inbox saying they would be delighted to have Bamboo Heart as part of their list. When I went back to Phuket airport bookshop this year, my own book was there on the shelves! A very proud moment.

I couldn’t have done anything very different even with hindsight. If you don’t have contacts and aren’t a celebrity, your only choice is to keep submitting. I might not have self-published though, if I had known the book would eventually interest a professional publisher.

I’m so proud of you, Ann. On a personal note, what do you get up to when you’re not writing?

I love travelling, as you know, but don’t get so much time for that nowadays. I work full time as a lawyer, commuting from Surrey to London, and I also have three sons and a husband who keep me quite busy. I love cooking and am learning Thai, as I mentioned. My favorite pastime (apart from writing) is walking my ageing black Labrador, Rebel, in the beautiful Surrey countryside.

I’m full of admiration for how you manage to fit in everything. As for the next stage in your writing career, please tell us about your plans, hopes, dreams and aspirations!

I am not looking much further forward than crossing my fingers that the other two books in my ‘Bamboo Trilogy’ will be published. I have lots of other ideas though, and now I have a bit more experience, I might go back and revisit my old manuscripts and try to improve them. I have made numerous false starts on other books, and could develop any one of them if only I had more time!

I wish you every success in achieving your dreams, my lovely. It’s been great chatting with you and sharing an aperitivo. Thanks again for joining me. Before you go, please can you leave readers with three facts that might surprise them about you?

I am the youngest of six Bennett daughters, and I live within ten miles of Alton in Hampshire where Jane Austen lived and wrote (that’s two facts really but they are linked). I have never bought a lottery ticket (although in my own perverse way I’d be delighted to win it). I love watching action movies.

Oh, wonderful! Readers, if you’d like to know more about Ann’s books, click on her website and visit her blog. You can also connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook. Enjoy!

Character-filled Caorle

We’d heard about this seaside town, where our local amici go if they want a day at the beach, but we’d never visited before. Friends from Scotland were staying, which made a good excuse for an adventure. So we drove through the Veneto countryside, via Treviso Nord and San Donà di Piave.

Caorle dates back to the first century BB, when it was an important military and commercial town. Like Venice, it was built on the swamp lands of the lagoon by refugees from the barbarian invasions. Today it’s a lively town which thrives on the fishing industry and tourism. Hemingway set his novel, Across the River and Into the Trees, in the vicinity of Caorle and one of my father’s paintings has the same name.

The pretty, coloured buildings of the town reminded us of our visit to Burano last April.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun warming our backs and the scent of the sea in our nostrils, we strolled to the Church of Madonna dell’Angelo, which dates back to the 6th Century. It’s at the end of a pier by the beach, and the square bell-tower was originally a place to watch out for approaching enemy ships. Fascinating sculptures along the waterfront.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Duomo di Santo Stefano (11th Century), with its unique bell tower, was our next stop. I lit a candle for Mum and inhaled the fragrant incense perfuming the air.

Hungry, we made our way to the Taverna Caorlina for seafood spaghetti. Went down a treat with crisp Prosecco. Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

More walking around, and we spotted this traditional Venetian fishing boat, tucked in among the more modern vessels.

Ah, it was getting late and we had to go home, but Caorle is definitely a place to which we shall return.

Monday interview with Gisela Hausmann

Today, I’m delighted to welcome Gisela Hausmann to Douglas Bland Artist’s studio in Italy. Gisela and I met online just over a year ago, when she was kind enough to review my short story Mamma Mia!

 An award-winning author, Gisela has also also co-piloted small planes, produced movies, and among eight other books designed a coffee-table book, which was chosen as a gift for President Clinton. A unique mixture of risk-taker and calculating organisation talent, she has globe-trotted almost 100,000 kilometers on three continents, including to the locations of her favourite books: Doctor Zhivago’s Russia, Heinrich Harrer’s Tibet, and Genghis Khan’s Mongolia. Gisela Hausmann graduated with a master’s degree from the University of Vienna. She now lives with her cats Artemis and Yin-Yang in Greenville, SC, USA.

So glad you can join me for a chat and an aperitivo, Gisela. What can I offer you? A glass of Prosecco? A spritzer? A Bellini? Or perhaps some Pinot Grigio or Shiraz?

Thank you for inviting me, Siobhan. My favourite red wine is  Shiraz and I hear they produce a fabulous Shiraz on the west coast of Sicily; it goes well with pizza, which is one of my favourite foods.

Ooh, think I’ll have one too. (Pours two glasses) And I happen to have some pizza capriciosa, fresh from the village pizzeria. 

Cheers and buon appetito! Okay, darlin’, make yourself comfortable! I’m over the moon you’ve agreed to this interview and would like to start by asking, ‘What inspired you to become a writer?’

Haha, indeed there is a funny part to my career as a writer, I actually started out designing books. The good part about this was that I learned a lot about book production, about the technical aspects. After publishing two aerial photography coffee-table books and four educational books for youngsters the Great Recession brought my endeavours to a standstill. Like I describe in my book Naked Determination, 41 Stories about Overcoming Fear

I was a young widow by then, with two young children to support, and times were bad, really bad. I had a lot of hurdles to climb and eventually realized how experiencing adventures at better times had given me the skills to dive through these difficulties. Many of these stories are really funny or unique. Suddenly, everything fell in place. I saw that I could publish these stories in form of a motivational life skills book. You see, I grew up in a teachers’ family. Every time I asked a question somebody raised an index finger and held a speech. But, that’s not the way anybody wants to learn, even if the advice is the best ever. Humans are conditioned to learn from stories – “find the moral of the story” even, if it’s not really a moral but a clever trick. So, that’s what I did. I took the best stories, events which allowed me to learn something really important, and turned these funny, exciting, and dramatic stories into a book. It’s been a huge success. “Naked Determination” went on to win Bronze at the eLit awards 2013 and Gold at the Readers Favorite Awards 2014. Many dozens of people have written me that reading my book made a difference in their lives. It makes me feel that I am contributing.

You’re such an inspiration, Gisela, with an original voice. This is the review I wrote on Amazon for your humorous life skills book that addresses difficult to define topics such as

#TRUST, #ALLIANCES, #TIMING, # MONEY, #FEAR, #GUTS, #WEIGHT ISSUES, #AFFAIRS, #LOVE, #DISCIPLINE, #REJECTION, #RESPECT, #UNDERDOGS, #MOTIVATION, #OVERCOMING, #HOPE

in the most pleasant way – by featuring 41 true stories. Naked Determination, and I meant every word:

I found Gisela Hausmann’s autobiography to be a compelling read. Each story about overcoming fear spoke to me. As the author herself says, ‘this book is not a self-help book – it is a reminder’ that through determination it’s possible to succeed. Gisela’s honesty shines through every word, not in a ‘preachy’ way, but more as if you were listening to a friend chat about what life has taught her. Take from it what you will, she doesn’t lay it on you. As Margaret Attwood said, ‘in the end, we’ll all become stories’. It’s what we make of them, and life, that Gisela highlights in her remarkable memoir. Such a courageous lady, and I’m full of admiration for her. I love the fact that 5% of the proceeds from sales of this book will go to the Red Cross. You’ll need to read “Naked Determination” to discover why that is.

Can you tell us something about your new series,  The Magic of Flirting?

(smiling) Publishing “The Magic of Flirting” is my answer to a vacuum on the book market. I see lots of romance novels, most of them ending in everlasting love and lots of erotica, which portray unrealistic situations. However, in real life most ‘romantic’ experiences are flirts; maybe men and women never share anything else.

Flirting is not really addressed in books. Thus, I decided to write a series of books about these moments of attraction, which may or may not lead to a longer relationship.

Let’s face it, when we look back at our lives, all of us remember moments when we experienced that instantaneous sizzling drama, which we appreciate for decades to come. We remember these moments fondly, even nothing ever happened. Because so many of these are fleeting moments only, I decided to write short stories, with open ending, so readers can write/imagine/picture their own endings. In a further reaching sense couples can even re-enact these stories and “write their own endings”.

Sounds fascinating, Gisela. You seem firmly rooted in writing inspirational non-fiction. Have you considered fiction writing at all?

What a great question! It’s my goal to LIVE FICTION and TELL THE STORIES IN NON-FICTION format. Even before I ever heard of Steve Jobs, I decided to live my life by his credo “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life…” – Of course, I was very young then but strangely enough it turned out that IT IS POSSIBLE. Regardless of what situation I encountered I always approached it with the thought “How can I live this moment to the fullest?” But, make no mistake, this is about both, the highs and the lows. For instance, when I was in my early twenties, I had very little money but I wanted to travel. So, I bought an Inter-rail ticket, which entitled its owner to travel on Europe’s trains for an entire month. Naturally, trains drive through the night. I took full advantage of that. E.g. I visited Madrid on one day, boarded the train to Lisbon at night, slept on the train and visited Lisbon the next day. That evening I’d board the train to Madrid, and long story short, I visited both cities without ever having to pay for a hotel. That was one of the tricks how I visited 47 countries. Admittedly, I lived every aspect of my life in the same style. Jobs and making money, love and affairs… so, luckily I have enough stories… and I intend to keep going.

Fabulous! Can you tell us something about your other books? Oh, and I think you’re living with an author cat. Please ‘spill the beans’ or perhaps I should say ‘milk’!

Probably every author should have a cat (or a dog). We have to learn from great authors and Hemingway showed us the way.

And, yes, I also published a couple of educational books. The very first one, ‘obvious LETTERS’ (1998) was a very neat success, but boy did I go belly-up with my math books (2003-2005) for various reasons:

a) the trend in education was already going towards e-everything (e-books, computer games… )

b) George Bush’s No-Child-Left-Behind become law and virtually destroyed all small educational publishers. Instead teachers utilizing their budgets and picking books, whole school districts started to buy from the biggest publishers only. The little guys/publishers ‘were left behind’ (pun intended).

c) The U.S. economy was already sliding – people watched not only their dollars but also their pennies.

Combined, these 3 events caused me having to ground my own business at the end of 2005. However, I did learn the lessons and came back better and stronger with “Naked Determination” in 2012.

You’re a role-model, Gisela. Tell us, how have you found the road to publication? Is there anything you’ve done that you’d do differently now with hindsight?

No, not really. Since I am a motivational author I’d like to use this opportunity to give fellow authors advice, which may surprise them: Go to the best in the business and introduce yourself and your work!

I approached a few of the great ones and indeed, Jack Engelhard (author of “Indecent Proposal”, who could forget the drama turned into a motion picture with Demi Moore and Robert Redford? ) and Jay O-Callahan, one of the best storytellers in the world (who was commissioned by NASA to write a story for the organization’s 50th anniversary) read my book and endorsed it. You can find the endorsement at my website.

Especially new authors, who struggle to even get their friends to review their books (all of us do!!!), will be surprised to find out that the “greats” have an open mind and will engage. Most of the greats still remember how things were when they started out. Very often they will pay back and do a new author a favour. So, here I am, living proof that it works and I say to every new author: GO FOR IT! My other advice is, “think long and hard what you are going to write, because the rewards of an endorsement are tremendous. You’ll get instant credibility!

Great advice! On a personal note, what do you get up to when you’re not writing?

Marketing, marketing, marketing – only I don’t see it as a chore, I see it as a way to connect with readers and fans and make my product better. Some of them give brilliant advice. E.g. one fan wrote me: “I cannot imagine what these ‘murals on rocks in Tibet’ look like.” It was an instant awakening on my part. I improved my book by adding 11 new pictures. Without the fan’s suggestion I would have never thought about it.

The pictures are amazing. As for the next stage in your writing career, please tell us about your plans, hopes, dreams and aspirations!

Thank you for asking; that is a question I rarely ever get asked. My first goal is to introduce ‘Naked Determination’ to as many people as possible. Though currently I have 8 books on the market, I think that ‘Naked Determination’ can make a difference in so many people’s lives. In essence, whenever we go out and do ‘something’ we need encouragement; we want to hear that somebody else has been able to do the crazy things we want to do. That is what helps us to realize that we can do it, too. Every week I hear from people what they have started with the encouragement ND gave them. Two people have started writing books, one author friend decided to finally forget about agents and publishers and instead self-publish, one person enrolled into a rowing classes, another one into an art school, yet another person started a house renovation. This last person wanted to buy a certain house she can’t afford, but I helped her realize that she can renovate a house to look like the one she wanted to buy. So, spreading the word that the ‘naked’ motivational book has arrived is most important. My dream is to empower as many people as possible. Our times are crazy and all of us deserve to have our dreams come true.

I wish you every success in achieving your dream, darlin’. It’s been great chatting with you and sharing an aperitivo. Thanks again for joining me. Before you go, please can you leave readers with three facts that might surprise them about you?

1.) I once set the skirt I was wearing on fire while leaning against a gas oven. (Before that event I did not know how that type of oven worked, but I figured it out quickly once I felt the heat under my butt. No future author was harmed in the process; however the skirt was toast)

2.) I do not even sing in the shower, because I cannot hold a tune. I bet the Mormon Tabernacle Choir would have a hard time singing, if I’d hum somewhere in the background

3.) I will never reveal who ‘Jim’ (story MY CASE FOR AFFAIRS) was. Interestingly, quite a few readers have already guessed that he was a really well-known man, I have been getting emails with guesses and questions (Austria is small country with 7 million people.). Though ‘revealing’ would be one way to get publicity I hold myself to higher standards (than maybe Monica Lewinsky).

How intriguing! Readers, if you’d like to know more about Gisela, click http://nakeddetermination.com/. 

Gisela is also on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, and would love it if you connected with her.

Ambling through Ancient Aquileia

Friends are staying, and we decide to take them to a place we’ve been meaning to visit for ages. Aquileia, an ancient Roman city, and one of the main archaeological sites in northern Italy.

A busy drive here – too many lorries – but well worth it, we hope. We arrive at around midday, and the first thing we see is the symbol of Rome, Romulus and Remus suckling from the she-wolf, on top of a column in front of the ancient basilica.

After a quick coffee, we amble over to the ancient baptistery. The hexagonal font dates from the end of the 4th Century.

The first thing we notice when we go into the church itself is that the floor is no longer the one that decorated the building whose walls remain today (11th – 14th Century). This floor was removed between 1909 and 1915, bringing to light the magnificent mosaics which date back to the time when Christianity became the official state religion of Rome.

We’re totally in awe of this place, the oldest Episcopal complex in the West, where the mosaic floor creates the effect of a colourful carpet, telling the bible story of Jonah and the whale.

Treading on glass and steel walkways, we go into the “crypt of the excavations”, to view the floor completed in the year 320 AD. It’s incredibly beautiful. I love this depiction of a fight between a cockerel and a tortoise.

Too many gorgeous mosaics to photograph, but these catch our eyes.

Before leaving the church, we visit the “crypt of the frescoes”. The walls are covered in representations of the passion of Christ, painted in 1180.

After a delicious lunch at the https://www.facebook.com/CoralloRistorante, we make our way to the National Archaeological Museum. The Museum and its galleries contain a wealth of artifacts, monuments, statues, burial items, relics, sculptures, decorative motifs, jewellery, coins, pottery, household implements, ornaments, etc., etc. Completely mind-blowing.

In the second century Aquileia was one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of about 100,000. Here is a representation of what it would have looked like then.

Today, however, there are only about 3,500 inhabitants. The ancient buildings were pillaged for stone during the intervening centuries, and now there aren’t any from the Roman period left above ground.

The Roman city came to an end after an attack by Attila and his Huns in the year 425. The inhabitants, together with those of smaller towns in the neighbourhood, fled en masse to the lagoons, and so laid the foundations of Venice and nearby Grado.

After this whistle-stop visit, we realise we’re running out of time and have a long drive back home. I love history and want to learn more about this fascinating period. Aquileia is definitely a place to which I’d like to return. We’ll spend longer here, we decide. Maybe treat ourselves to a couple of nights in a B & B and explore at leisure. We drive past the ruins of the Roman Forum and I feel a prickle on the back of my neck. This might make a setting for my second time-slip paranormal historical romance.

Monday Interview with Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Mary and I met online over a year ago and we follow each other on WordPress.

I love reading Mary’s blog, especially her Sexy Saturday posts, and I’ve just bought her emotional and compelling, contemporary Western romance Howdy Ma’am for my Kindle.

Welcome to Douglas Bland Artist’s studio in Italy, Mary. So glad you can join me in an aperitivo. What can I offer you? A glass of Prosecco? A spritzer? A Bellini? Or perhaps some Pinot Grigio or Bardolino?

 

Hi, Siobhan! Thank you for inviting me to your very special place on the web. I’d love a Bellini as I sit here and absorb the lovely Italian culture with you. Mmm, it sounds so delicious and refreshing.

Ooh, think I’ll have one too. (Pours two glasses of Prosecco and adds peach juice). Cheers!

Okay, darlin’, make yourself comfortable! I’m over the moon you’ve been able to join me and would like to start by asking, ‘What inspired you to become a writer?’

 

In my mind, I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. My dad might have had something to do with it. He made me read and write as a young child. I’ve written a blog post about a 7th grade teacher who was a big inspiration, in that, he helped me to define myself as being a writer. I don’t think I ever labeled it before he told me— “You should be a writer.” But, the real answer is, I’ve always been a writer without knowing it. The movies, Somewhere in Time and Two Worlds of Jenny Logan inspired me to write my first time-travel romance.

 

Wow! I’m writing a time-slip romance at the moment, and, as soon as I’ve got the first draft of it finished, I’ll read Howdy, Ma’am. Please can you tell me and my readers something about it, and about the follow-on Hey Cowboy.

Howdy, Ma’am is about a bull rider and an Italian photographer he hired to travel the bull riding circuit with him. Caulder is trying to overcome a devastating loss while seeking to win the title of World Champion bull rider.

Velia was a travel photographer and comes from a close-knit Italian family. Her husband was an abuser. To escape him and the abuse, she moved to Tucson, Arizona to start over. After opening a photography studio, she was offered a job to travel with a sexy bull rider, for publicity, he says… Well, what would you do? What happens during the next nine months on the road together, changes both of their lives. Howdy, Ma’am can be read as a standalone. Be aware of unsavory language and sensual love scenes.

He hired her for a season, but what happens after the season ends?

Hey, Cowboy continues with Velia and Caulder’s story and begins after the season ends. What happened in book one has everything to do with book two, and much more… In this book, enemies threaten Velia and her family and her life is in danger. Caulder vows to protect her, and learns that a hero sometimes has to prove he is one. He is injured off-season and his bull riding career hangs in a balance. All they ask for is…well, I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll stop there.

Sounds fascinating, Mary. You seem firmly rooted in the Western romance genre. Will you continue writing in that genre?

I didn’t start out writing western romance. My first romance series was a time-travel romance, going back to the 1880s. This falls under paranormal and historical genres. I write contemporary romance outside of the western genre, and have three stories on the back burner to finish. One is still romance but threaded with women’s fiction. So, really western is new to me. I love writing about the cowboys, and I can’t see that changing, especially since one series seems to keep growing.

And your cowboys are awesome. Can you tell us something about your writing process. For example, are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’?

I call myself a panster, but in reality, I’m a pantser who does a fair amount of plotting, and a lot of research before starting a book. I have to have a goal and a direction. I usually always know the ending, but not always. What happens between the beginning and end is usually a surprise to me. I let my characters run free with my muse. They usually know best, but sometimes I have to smack a hero to get him to listen.

My characters are plotted out as far as their description, personality, family, background, and what they want in their book. I have to know everything about them and their family. They usually come to me with a name and description—some with a career in place. Others make me guess. I don’t outline, but what I do is more like a list, separated into different categories. I’ll write down notes and ideas into this list as they come to me during the story, in the shower, or when they wake me in the night. I also write down things that have to happen in the book.

A new thing for me is to write out of order if the need calls.

Hmm. Writing out of order. Haven’t tried that yet. Tell us, Mary, how have you found the road to publication? Is there anything you’ve done that you’d do differently now with hindsight?

I’ve found the road to publication long and difficult, and I wasted a lot of years waiting, waiting, waiting, before my first two books were published. Something I’d do differently in hindsight? Well, I would have gotten serious about my writing, earlier in life. I’d believe things that I heard, and listen to my better judgement. Others will tell you the good and bad about their book publishing experiences. I didn’t listen to some of the bad. So, I’ll say…listen. Believe what you hear. Trust me, it’s hard to get out of a contract, and you can either be made, or broken by your decision.

I’ll bear your advice in mind, darlin’. On a personal note, what do you get up to when you’re not writing?

Photography is my hobby. I admit that I don’t do much of it now that I’m writing full time. I do miss it. I love going to operas. Theatres across the country have a winter program where they bring Metropolitan Operas to local movie theatres. I love going out to dinner and having fun with my friends and family. Oh, reading and traveling, too!

We have a lot in common, Mary. I love photography, opera, eating out, reading and traveling like you do. As for the next stage in your writing career, please tell us about your plans, hopes, dreams and aspirations!

 

Like many authors, it’s my dream to be on a bestseller list and see my books as movies. (I’m a dreamer.) I’ll continue to write and publish books for as long as I can. More books are planned in both of my series’ and I’ll finish some other standalone titles. I’d like to write shorter books in the future. My hopes where my writing is concerned, is to have readers love what I write. I want them to feel what I felt while writing the stories…to fall in love with my characters the same as I do. For that to happen, I can be happy.

I wish you every success in achieving your dreams, darlin’. It’s been great chatting with you and sharing an aperitivo. Thanks again for joining me. Before you go, please can you leave readers with three facts that might surprise them about you?

 

It’s been so much fun to have this chat with you, Siobhan. Thanks for the fabulous company, spectacular view, and delicious beverage. Maybe you should call me a cab after that delicious Bellini. It looks like a long drive down! Thank you so much for having me today.

My Three Facts:

- I moved in with my youngest son. Instead of the kid coming back home, in this case, Mom did.

- I bought my own fire-engine red, pickup truck against my ex-husband’s wishes, and drove my “Lady in Red” Dodge Ram for eighteen years. (I loved that truck so much, I had to have one of my heroes drive the same.)

- I still communicate with my “first love.” We met when we were sixteen. We’ve both been through marriages, divorces, deaths, wars, happiness, sadness, but haven’t’ been a couple since we were twenty. Neither of us are married now, but he’s in a long-term relationship.

Oh, wonderful! Readers, if you’d like to know more about Mary’s books, click here. You can follow her lovely blog http://mjdresselbooks.wordpress.com/. She’s also on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Living with art, love, and beauty.

People often ask me, ‘How did your family end up with a home in Italy?’ To cut a long story short, as they say, in 1962 my father Douglas Bland was given a commission to paint a mural for the lobby of the Hong Kong Hilton Hotel. He decided to invest the profit in a place for holidays and, eventually, his retirement. On a visit to Asolo that summer, with my mother, he fell in love with the town. Two years later, he and Mum found the right place: a 100 year-old farmhouse in need of restoration, situated on a hillside with fabulous views.

Restoration work started

And the first stage completed two years later

With the veranda added two years after that

This pic of the whole property was taken shortly after my father died in 1975

He never got to live his dream of retirement in Italy. A routine operation, we all thought, but he didn’t come round from it. The house is filled with his amazing art. (These are just a few of the paintings.)

 

My mother couldn’t bear to go into his studio, but, after her second husband, a lovely local man, passed away in 1998, she decided to renovate it and this gorgeous little house is where Victor and I now live, with the two cats we brought with us from the UK, and two Italian moggies (one who was Mum’s and a feral cat who’s adopted us).

The frescoes on the walls were originally done by my father, but have since been restored.

Mum left this world at the end of October 2013. We’d moved here to keep an eye on her, and now we’ve become caretakers of this wonderful place.

Nearly fifty years since the house was renovated, and the kitchen and bathrooms need a re-vamp, but Casa Bland is filled with happy memories of Mum, Dad, and my step-father, as well as time spent together as a family. We love it.

We love the garden.

We love going for walks in the woods.

We love being surrounded by wildlife.

The views are what sold this house to my parents all those years ago, and those views haven’t changed. We love them, whatever the time of year or day.

None of us know what’ll happen in the future, but, for now, Victor and I will enjoy the dolce vita here in Italy while we can. Sometimes, though, I sit doing my writing in what was my father’s studio, and I can feel his presence. So sad that fate dealt him such a cruel blow, and his life was cut short at the height of his creativity. I’ll leave you with this pic of him teaching me how to paint when I was about four years old. And I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit to his beautiful house in Italy.

Monday interview with Teagan Geneviene

Ever since I read Teagan Geneviene’s post Meet my Main Character Blog Tour, I wanted to interview her and find out more about her and her writing. If you haven’t done so already, please drop by and read about the main character in her WIP, Atonement in Bloom

which is the sequel to her debut novel, Atonement, Tennessee.

Teagan writes fantasy fiction, and started her blog as part of her grand experiment in Indie publishing.

Welcome to Italy, Teagan. So glad you can join me in an aperitivo. What can I offer you? A glass of Prosecco? A spritzer? A Bellini? Or perhaps some Pinot Grigio or Bardolino?

Thank you, Siobhan. You’re so thoughtful. On a lovely sunny day like this, I think I’d like a spritzer, please.

Ooh, think I’ll have one too. (Pours a glass). Cheers!

Okay, darlin’, make yourself comfortable! We’ve known each other for a while now since we met online. I’m so pleased you’ve agreed to this interview and would like to start by asking, ‘What inspired you to become a writer?’

Believe it or not, I haven’t really thought about that. I think you could take that question all the way back to Rod Sterling’s Twilight Zone. Naturally any number of television shows (and even commercials) captured my young imagination. However, I think Twilight Zone was what caused me to begin to associate my very active childhood imaginings with the concept of writing stories. I remember being very young and staring up at a small black and white bedroom TV and being utterly fascinated by the stories Rod Sterling presented.

Some years later, as a preteen, I started writing Twilight Zone-ish stories. They were well received by my teachers, but not by my parents. I suppose they didn’t think the attention I was getting was appropriate. I was told to never do that again! I eventually discarded that parental rule. (She grins.)

I loved Twilight Zone too. Really spooky! Teagan, please can you tell us something about your writing?

Whenever I see a thick volume with inspiring cover art by Michael Whelan, my hand reaches for it before I can stop myself. I also enjoy writing that type of story – the kind I like to call “quest-type” fantasy.

Images often inspire my writings. An entire story might be rooted in a single picture. They also help keep me writing. Sometimes, if I’m having a hard time getting the ideas to flow, I can start writing a paragraph about a photo, and in no time I’ll be back into my storyline. (Of course, like everyone else, there are also times when I can be utterly blocked. That happens far too often, when I’m so stressed from my 9 to 5 job.)

Working 9-5 and writing is difficult, I know from experience. You seem firmly rooted in the fantasy genre. Have you considered trying any other genres? If so, which ones?

Through chance, I write serial mystery stories for my blog, Teagan’s Books. When I started the blog, I wanted to write about more than my novel Atonement, Tennessee. So I redesigned a writing exercise that I created many years ago. For the exercise I got friends to tell me three random things, and then I wrote until I mentioned all three. To convert that exercise into a serial for my blog, I have readers everywhere send the three items.

The very first “thing” submitted for a serial was “oscillating fan” – and that took my imagination to a click-clacking antique fan, which created a 1920’s setting. The story quickly took the form of a mystery. I don’t plan the serials at all. Rather I let each word (thing or “ingredient”) inspire everything about the story, characters, and plot.

When I was ready to begin the second iteration of the serial, a friend recommended doing a culinary mystery. Siobhan… I do not see myself as much of a cook. I used to be, but not anymore! However, I saw the value of the culinary angle and decided to rise to the challenge. So now, instead of sending three things, readers send me three food-related items or “ingredients.” We’re now on “Cookbook-2,” the third serial and the second culinary mystery.

Your blog is hugely enjoyable, and I was so pleased when you used my apricots in one of your intalments. How do you set about writing a novel, though? Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’?

The serials for my blog are pure pantser fun. However, for everything else I work with a loose plan. I’m also a bit of a spreadsheet geek. I make spreadsheets to help me keep up with all the details. Since I have extensive experience as a technical editor/writer, I’m accustomed to using Excel and Word in advanced ways. Another thing that helps me is utilizing “styles” in Word for my novels. This automatically gives me an outline that I can keep on the same page by opening the Navigation Pane under the View tab in Word.

I must look into doing that, but I’m a bit of a techno-dinosaur. Tell us, please Teagan, how have you found ‘indie publishing’? Is there anything you’ve done that you’d do differently now with hindsight?

Indie is a very exciting area. I enjoy the control it offers. However, I’m not able to “do it right.” I have a demanding fulltime job. The blog takes all my personal time. So there is no time or energy left over for me to do the promotional work of indie publishing. However, I remind myself that I didn’t publish  Atonement, Tennessee for the same reasons that bring most people to independent publishing. I simply wanted the satisfaction of knowing I had done it.

I felt the same when I published my short story, Mamma Mia! On a personal note, what do you get up to when you’re not writing?

Work… And since this is not my own blog, I feel comfortable adding that I put a great deal of effort into finding a (new/different) job that will let me relocate — hopefully to a smaller city. I don’t discuss this on my blog.

I hope you’re successful in your search, my darlin’. Can you please tell us what are your plans, hopes, dreams and aspirations for the next stage in your writing career?

My fondest dream is to own a lovely cottage, in a charming little town. Of course my two pets are with me in this dream. I’m writing and selling my novels like mad. Maybe I even have cover art by Michael Whelan. My future is secure and I’m respected. And I do NOT need a 9 to 5 job, ha-ha!

(Laughs in sympathy). I wish you every success in achieving your dreams, Teagan.  I’ve really enjoyed our chat. Thanks again for joining me. Before you go, please can you leave readers with three facts that might surprise them about you?

That’s so sweet of you to say, Siobhan. It was truly my pleasure. Three facts? Hummm…

1. I’m a bottled redhead. My natural color is light ash blond. Did you hear that blonds have more fun? No, it’s the redheads!

2. I used to be a Red Hat lady.

3. I’m a certified practitioner of Reiki, but I choose to work with pets rather than humans.

Fascinating! Readers, if you’d like to know more about the business-professional side of Teagan, you can find her on LinkedIn. For more about her novels you can visit her wonderful blog, and she’s also on Twitter.

Fascinating Force

We were due to set off for Force (pronounced For-chay) at around midday, so I spent my last morning in Petritoli trying on hats with sis (she was due to go to a wedding). The road up the Aso valley was quiet and we arrived at our writer friends from China’s house in good time. Great to be back here – we hadn’t visited since their wedding five years ago.

Hong Ying, the Mayor, Adam Williams, Clio Williams, and bridesmaid Sybil.

Adam and I grew up together in Hong Kong – I’ve known him practically my whole life. He’s a lovely man, a hugely talented writer, and my son’s godfather (I’m godmother to Clio, his daughter from his first marriage).

After parking in the church square, hubby and I made our way to the Palazzo dei Piaceri Celesti, named after Adam’s fabulous debut novel The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure.

Hong Ying made a mouth-watering meal for us, which we ate in the garden. She’s a wonderful writer, and I’d read her debut novel, K: The Art of Love, before I’d even met her.

Force is perched on a panoramic mountain, and its narrow streets climb steeply between old house fronts in mellow brick. Fascinating!

After lunch, we went for a stroll, then a drive to Ascoli Piceno, stopping off to take this pic of Adam and Hong Ying’s daughter, Sybil, with Force in the background.

Another delicious meal, with plenty of chat and wine, followed by a DVD The Grand Hotel Budapest. Tired, hubby and I fell into bed and, before we knew it, the church bells were ringing in the morning. After breakfast, we followed Adam’s car to Sybil’s riding school to watch her walk, trot and canter her pony. Then, tearful lumps in our throats, we said goodbye to our friends, who’ll be returning to China at the end of August. But, they’ll be back in Italy next summer and, hopefully, will visit us in the Veneto.

Our adventures in Le Marche over, the motorway beckoned and, gritting our teeth, we faced the journey home. Not so bad this time, thank God. Back at our little house, the cats looked up at us as if to say, ‘Where have you been?’ or, more likely, ‘It’s dinner time.’ Our lovely neighbours had been feeding them, but the four mouseketeers are always up for a bit more nosh. Life is so ‘dolce vita’, even for the cats, at Douglas Bland Artist’s studio in Italy.