Writing Blog
My short story, Abandoned Towers, is now online
I’m pleased to announce that my short story, Abandoned Towers, is now available at Digital Papercut Literary Journal. If you’d like to read the story online, click here. My story tells the story of a difficult homecoming. Serena fled her small town in Abruzzo years ago, and has carved out a life for herself as a…
Read MoreHappily ever after – writing the perfect book endings
The wonderful writing blog Writers in the storm tackled a topic very close to writers’ hearts in ‘Six ways to know you’ve written the perfect ending”. It seems many authors are concentrated on the exciting beginning. Apparently our attention spans are so short today that a book has to reach out, grab you by the…
Read MoreWrap-up of the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival 2014
I’m back from my yearly pilgrimage to the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival. For the past couple of years, the end of September finds me in Matera, the ridiculously picturesque cave town of southern Italy’s Basilicata region. Each year, the festival brings together women (and a few men) who write in many genres – women’s fiction,…
Read MoreBooks are good for your soul…
I first saw this great image on Twitter, where @mdonnellywriter tweeted it alongside the wise observation: Books help us in so many ways. Watch the readers after lunch, and then the no-lunchers, and the phoners. Who’s calm? It’s so refreshing to see people with a book on their lunch breaks, or on a subway car…
Read MoreGreetings from Matera!
As this goes out, I’m enjoying myself at the annual Matera Women’s Fiction Festival. I’m probably having a brilliant time exploring the picturesque cave district of this unique southern Italian town, chatting about books and reading with fellow participants, learning all about the changing publishing industry from the panels of experts, and enjoying the creative…
Read MoreMy stories will be published in Digital Papercut
I heard the nice news that two of my short stories have been accepted for publication in the online literary journal Digital Papercut. I have been putting together a series of short stories of Italian women and expatriate women living in Italy, which I would eventually like to compile in a collection. In the meantime,…
Read MoreReading as a means to slip into another’s skin…
Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul. -Joyce Carol Oates I love this quote by the talented and prolific writer Joyce Carol Oates. I was lucky enough to hear Oates speak about writing on a visit she had to Rome, see my earlier…
Read MoreWhat’s your writing inspiration this summer?
Summer days are great for lots of things – getting out and enjoying your city or town, meeting up with friends, spending more time with family, taking holidays and slipping out of the rhythms of the daily grind. For writers, it can also be a time for inspiration. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a period…
Read MoreSeven essential elements of a bestselling novel
The ever-helpful Writer’s Digest fuels the imagination of aspiring authors with their handy checklist: Seven essential elements of a bestselling novel. Some – like readability and reasons to care – are obvious. Others, like seeking out controversy are interesting suggestions. The example provided uses as an example Scarlett O’Hara of Gone with the Wind. By any…
Read MoreFavorite summer reads? Part 2
Last week I wrote about summer reading in general, those distant memories of long summer holidays and stacks of good books I’d devour as a child. Seems that, despite work, and family obligations, and-ahem-the tiny amount of time I (should) eke out for writing, some things simply don’t change. I still love summer reading, and…
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