Lists before Christmas

As I promised to a friend of mine, this post will be full of lists and bullet points. I should put a new tag like “Lists” or something like that, as lately I’m prone to do that anyway!

I’m happy when I meet new people, and to be honest, since I’ve started to write and, in particular, I’ve started to write in English, the quantity and the quality of people I’ve met improved and I’m so happy for this! I’ve never thought I could be happy and satisfied so much by something else other than meeting my partner!

Among my new friends there is Estrella Azul, a very nice and sweet blogger who writes a very interesting and (very often) useful blog. The following lists are ideas coming from her. I think this could be a light and nice way to leave you for a couple of week’s holiday!

The first one is the more recent, it’s about something you believe in. Ten bullet point. I’m not sure it will make any sense at all, as I always have doubts about everything.

Ten things I believe:

1. Friendship is the most important thing you have. Friends are your personal treasure so it is right to give all yourself in the relationships.

2. Love exists. There are many forms of love; it could be friendship, it could be passion, it could be staying together with another person, it could be family.

3. Talking with people is useful (although lately the facts are proving me wrong!). All the relationships, anyway, suffer if it’s only one of the people involved to do his or her best. If you are in any kind of relationship you should give yourself 100%.

4. At least four people in the world love me very much no matter what. I’m sure my boyfriend and my two little sisters and my brother panda love me like I love them.

5. Everybody has a good side (I know that the experience is going against me on this too but I still think that!). It’s almost impossible that a person is completely evil. Although I’ve met so far lots of people that behaved towards me like serial killers, they maybe had feed a puppy in the street at least once in their life.

6. You don’t need to be perfect or be exactly like the others to be appreciated and accepted by people. You have to be yourself no matter what (although this could be easier said than done!). One day someone will love you for what you are.

7. You don’t need to follow the flock! You can be the black sheep and be lovely anyway!

8. Animals are more human than human beings themselves. Penguins are lovely and have a sense of group and community. Wolves and eagles are faithful and loyal and dogs are just full of love. I’ve just mentioned my favourites but I’m sure there are more examples. And to all the people who treat badly their animals, train them to fight or abandon them when the “puppy magic” is gone, I’d like to say “You’re the real animals!”

9. There are good and bad people everywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter the race, the sex, the religion, the education. We all should stop with the stupid racism.

10. Money and religions are the ruin of the world. We should love each other even if a religion doesn’t tell us so. We should help each other even if we’re not gaining anything. Only in this way we could hope to begin a nice revolution, which will change the world in better.

The following list comes from Estrella’s blog again. It was a game following the “Creative writer blogger award” she gave to me. Thanks so much, Estrella, even if it’s so in late! Now, I’m going to list my six outrageous lies and one outrageous truth like the game requests, even if I’m not passing on (just a matter of time, really!).

Her creepy version would be my Christmas version, considering I’m doing it now:

1. Santa called me yesterday telling me that he needs some help during the 24^th night due to his age.

2. I’ve decorated a 20 feet high tree in my back garden.

3. I have a new pet now, a penguin puppy I’ve called Peppy

4. I’m preparing a Christmas dinner for 30 people.

5. The snowman I did the other day is alive now and he’s tiding up the house for me as a Christmas present.

6. I’ve sent a seal as present to my little nephew.

7. I’m going to use fairy powder in the Christmas cake, so it would be a happy day!

You find the one outrageous truth among these 7 sentences!

And with this I’m just wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Let’s hope that the 2011 will be a year full of (good) news and also ideas and writing!

I’ll see you on these pages at the beginning of January with many posts and much more!

Talk to you soon!

January Issue

I’ve just bought the January issue of the two writing magazines I follow and I’ve decided to write my January issue too! I’m going to tell you what is coming next or at least what I’ll try to write or do in the year to come.

What did convince me that this was the right thing to do? And why does the following plan seem to be right?

1. After the concentrate month of November, all the ideas and projects piled up in a corner of my brain, fell down on the floor and now they’re all confused on the ground. I hope that doing that would help to tidy up at least a bit.

2. I’ve found on the web a very nice blog, Gamberi Fantasy. It’s a really good and useful blog, but just if you’re Italian speaker! This blogger, tells you in a simple, direct (sometimes rather offensive way, but it’s effective!) what she thinks about fantasy in general. Gamberetta, the webmaster, has a really bad opinion about Italian fantasy. She tells us also some tips about writing, quoting manuals and underlining the most frequent errors in the books she reviews. They’re really accurate and you can learn a lot. The most important thing that got my attention is: do your research. Usually I do, but I have to admit not so accurately! Also I don’t want that someone could think such things about my stuff which is really important to me, so I’ll try to do my best!

3. I want to be the kind of reader I saw once on the plane. He was next to me and started immediately to read after he took his place. He finished the book during the landing, he put it away and started a new one. When the crew opened the doors he was still reading. Queuing to exit he was still reading. He put away the volume when he reached the stairs. That’s the kind of reader I want to be. Let’s admit that, I suck as reader at the moment!

The three points I’ve just told you were the triggers that helped me to plan what I’m writing next, what I’m doing from January.

First of all, for the few of you who were following “Arilla”, I’m going to upload the last chapters.

I’ll try to translate then “Captain’s log” and put on the blog the journal entries one by one. “Captain’s log” is my Italian book about pirates, but as Arilla isn’t ready yet to pitch an editor, although the story is a bit more complex and better structured than “Arilla”.

What I want to concentrate on next year will be:

1. Sonrisa. So I’ll write everything concerning the main books. I realized that the project is too wide to try to write single books. Everything should be studied from the beginning till the end, and that’s what I have to do.

2. Research. Before I try to pitch an editor I need to complete some parts of my fantasy world, but in order to do so I need to study the geography and the history and the folklore at an acceptable level. Once I’ll finish that it would be maybe possible that some parts of the story will change. You’ll follow the researches though.

3. Read. Everything from writing manual to fantasy book and young adults’ books. Basically books that I need to write better. You’ll be updated on those too.

So what you’ll see here on the blog will be mainly the update of the researching job I’m doing. Maybe I’ll post some short stories here and there, chiefly written for blog games and competitions; or else I’ll try to fill the “Sonrisa” page with a surprise for you!

Also you’ll have a few “nonsense” posts, to have a glimpse of my strange life.

For the moment that’s it.

Talk to you soon.

Post-Nano and Post-TGIO

What the NaNoWriMo experience left me other than personal satisfaction, useful contacts, a second unfinished manuscript and a kilo more?

A very nice and pleasant memory.

Last Sunday (yes, I know this post is late…a lot…but that’s that at the moment, I’m afraid!) I had my first TGIO lunch.

Some of the NaNos from Dublin area met in Yamamori, one of the Japanese restaurants, to celebrate the end of the past tiring month.

After a brief taste of the atmosphere I had last time (the only one actually) I went to a meet-up, I had a pleasant full immersion in what is a place I was looking for.

Being at the table with other ten people or so who love the very same thing I love, who follow me fully in my questions, ideas and considerations, is without prize.

I felt that I was in the right place and that it’s in this kind of environment that I want to be in the years to come, that’s why I have to improve, concentrate and work hard. The enthusiasm showed by those people is exciting and you just want to stay with them.

Special mention to our little NaNo! Seven years old, pure fantasy and great ability. This little one was able to beat the limit of 4,000 words, which is amazing at that age! Plus, a mention to her mother and her family. I maybe sound repetitive and also a bit weird. But is suffered so much when I was the same age and I felt alone looking around me and trying to understand why nobody noticed anything special and ending up to believe that I was wrong.

But now, I’m again on this way! I think it’s the right one and I’m not going back or stop anymore!

Now it’s my turn!

Thanks to all of you NaNo fellows! I’m happy and pleased that you’re out there!

Books and lists!

You know? I was wondering what to write next and here is the idea! Thanks Dap Dap!

Now this is a note I was tagged on Facebook! The note says that BBC confirms that the majority of people have read only 6 out of the hundred books there are in the following list. Then the note says to put in bold the ones you’ve fully read and in cursive the ones you’ve started to read…at a first sight I had problems because I thought I sucked in this field. There are some of this book that I’ve read at least twice if not four or five times, like “Promessi sposi” or “Il nome della rosa”!

As a writer I’m aware I don’t read a lot and that I have to work on it….ah, ah, ah work on it!!!! That’s nice….if only I had time…

Now, considering that I’m paranoid enough to feel the more stupid on the world’s surface and to ignore my inner voice that is telling me “Hey do you know that you’ve read loads of books that aren’t even listed in this list?!!”, I’ve decided to divide this list in Books I’ve read once, more than once, started and then the rest….Oh boy I really suck!!!!

I could ask myself which are the criteria used to form this list too…but I still suck!!! There are a lot of classics I’ve never read…even if I wish I could…damn spare time!

Listen, I’ll leave you with the list, free to paste copy and giving me a lesson how it should be a normal reader, and then I go to bury somewhere, maybe with a couple of volumes…..

Original List:

1. Pride and predjudice – Jane Austen
2. The Lord of The rings – JRR Tolkien
3. The Prophet- Kahlil Gibran
4. Harry Potter – JK Rowling
5. Se questo è un uomo – Primo Levi
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8. 1984 – George Orwell
9. I Promessi Sposi – Alessandro Manzoni
10. La Divina Commedia – Dante Alighieri
11. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12. Lessico Familiare – Natalia Ginzburg
13. Comma 22 – Joseph Heller
14. Shakespeare’s complete works
15. Il Giardino dei Finzi Contini – Giorgio Bassani
16. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17. Il Nome della Rosa – Umberto Eco
18. Il Gattopardo – Tommasi di Lampedusa
19. The Trial – Franz Kafka
20. Elective Affinities – Goethe
21. Gone with the wind – Margaret Mitchell
22. Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Odyssey – Omero
29. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
31. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33. The Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34. Emma – Jane Austen
35. Cuore – Edmondo de Amicis
36. La Coscienza di Zeno – Italo Svevo
37. The kite runner – Khaled Hosseini
38. Il Mandolino del Capitano Corelli – Louis De Berniere
39. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41. Animal Farm – George Orwell
42. Da Vinci Code– Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. Il Barone Rampante – Italo Calvino
45. Gli Indifferenti – Alberto Moravia
46. Memoirs of Hadrian – Marguerite Yourcenar
47. I Malavoglia – Giovanni Verga
48. Il Fu Mattia Pascal – Luigi Pirandello
49. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50. Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli – Carlo Levi
51. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
53. Don Quixote de la Mancha – Cervantes
54. The Sorrows of Young Werther – J. W. Goethe
55. Pinocchio – Collodi
56. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. Siddharta – Hermann Hesse
58. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
60. Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63. Jules Maigret – George Simenon
64. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65. The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66. On the Road – Jack Kerouac
67. La luna e i Falò – Cesare Pavese
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72. Dracula – Bram Stoker
73. Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K. Jerome
74. Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses – James Joyce
76. The Buddenbroock – Thomas Mann
77. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
78. Germinal – Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession – AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
83. The Colour Purple – Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88. The red and the black – Stendhal
89. Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94. All Quiet on the Western Front – Remarque
95. Un Uomo – Oriana Fallaci
96. The Catcher in the Rye – Salinger
97. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100. Les Misérables – Victor Hugo

Book I’ve read once

1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2. Odyssey – Omero
3. Emma – Jane Austen
4. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
5. I Malavoglia – Giovanni Verga
6. Il Fu Mattia Pascal – Luigi Pirandello
7. Il Conte di Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
8. The picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
9. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
10. Hamlet – William Shakespeare
11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

Book I’ve read more than once

1. Harry Potter – JK Rowling
2. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
3. I Promessi Sposi – Alessandro Manzoni
4. Il Nome della Rosa – Umberto Eco
5. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
6. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
7. La Coscienza di Zeno – Italo Svevo
8. Il Barone Rampante – Italo Calvino
9. Dracula – Bram Stoker
10. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
11. The Little Prince– Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Book I’ve started

1. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
2. Se questo è un uomo – Primo Levi
3. La Divina Commedia – Dante Alighieri
4. Shakespeare’ complete work
5. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
6. Da Vinci Code– Dan Brown
7. Ulysses – James Joyce
8. Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
9. The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton

The rest

1. The Prophet – Kahlil Gibran
2. The Bible
3. 1984 – George Orwell
4. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
5. Lessico Familiare – Natalia Ginzburg
6. Comma 22 – Joseph Heller
7. Il Giardino dei Finzi Contini – Giorgio Bassani
8. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
9. Il Gattopardo – Tommasi di Lampedusa
10. The trial – Franz Kafka
11. Elective Affinities – Goethe
12. Gone with the wind – Margaret Mitchell
13. Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
14. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
15. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
16. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
17. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
18. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
19. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
20. The Chronicle of Narnia – CS Lewis
21. Cuore – Edmondo de Amicis
22. The kite runner – Khaled Hosseini
23. Il Mandolino del Capitano Corelli – Louis De Berniere
24. Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
25. Animal farm – George Orwell
26. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
27. Gli Indifferenti – Alberto Moravia
28. Memoirs of Hadrian – Marguerite Yourcenar
29. The lord of flies – William Golding
30. Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli – Carlo Levi
31. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
32. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
33. Don Quixote de la Mancha – Cervantes
34. The Sorrows of Young Werther – J. W. Goethe
35. Pinocchio – Collodi
36. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
37. Siddharta – Hermann Hesse
38. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
39. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time– Mark Haddon
40. Love in the time of Colera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
41. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
42. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
43. Jules Maigret – George Simenon
44. The lovely bones – Alice Sebold
45. On the road – Jack Kerouac
46. La luna e i Falò – Cesare Pavese
47. Bridget Jones’ diary – Helen Fielding
48. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
49. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
50. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
51. Three Men in a boat – Jerome K. Jerome
52. Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
53. The Buddenbroock – Thomas Mann
54. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
55. Germinal – Emile Zola
56. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
57. Possession – AS Byatt
58. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
59. The purple colour– Alice Walker
60. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
61. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
62. Charlotte’s Web – EB White
63. The red and the black – Stendhal
64. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
65. All quiet on the western front – Remarque
66. Un Uomo – Oriana Fallaci
67. The Catcher in the Rye – Salinger
68. The three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
69. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

And the winner is....

Franny

And I’m writing here on the 2^nd of December to say that yes, I’m one of Winners of NaNoWriMo 2010. With a final count of 54,006 words I completed successfully my task this time. It was my first time, all right, but…was it the typical beginners’ luck? I don’t know but I’m happy with the result!

The book hasn’t been finished yet, the finale is still in progress but what I’ll do now it’ll be just relax for at least a month. Something that, who knows me even a bit, doesn’t believe at all! I’d say that maybe for a week I’ll try to follow the advice, for the rest I don’t know. I’ve already a list of things to do and things to write and ideas swirling in my head….but mainly I’ll try to read as more as I can, because this year wasn’t really good on that point of view.

What I also want to write in this post is a list of the people whom I want to thank for the marvellous support. To be honest I’ve always thought that saying “Wow, the support of my fan was precious” kind of sentence was stupid, but I had to change my mind. The support of friends and family was not only welcome, but more than useful.

So, here we come. Thank you very much to:

• My partner. Because he was really sweet all the month long, helping me with the moving house stuff and understanding until the last day how was important to me this challenge. I suppose that live with a writer or an artist in general is not an easy task, but he’s doing great!
• Nani, Mili and Silvi. My wonderful siblings (for choice and not biology but who cares) for their constant support and advices. They’ve always believed in me and I felt them close to me even if they live in another nation.
• Dee. I’ve never had a cheerleader before, but despite being only a jumping support, she’s been also a human dictionary at hand and a great helpful reader.
• Madame_Morphine and Elly. Two bloggers, friends of mine, met on the Libero platform, who encouraged me every step. Now actually I have a fun club as well, thanks Madame!!!!!
• Helena and Beth who helped me with words and Google search at work.
• Trish, Shay, Andy, Keith, Nick (with his “Franny do you know that all the sentence must have a sense? You know? You cannot put random words into them”), Rob, Una, Rosemarie, Anne (with her nice exclamation at the 4^th week “You look better today, but it was funnier last week to see you in that way!”) and Angelika for their support and comprehension even if I was a bit more weird than usual.
• Laura. For her constant attempt to convince me to write the same sentence in billion of different ways up to 50,000 words. It made me laugh and relax.
• Damon. He thought me how to use Twitter so I could stay in touch with other writers.
• All the Nanos, who supported me and encouraged me without criticise although I was trying to do my NaNo in another language!
• Virginia. She’s giving life to my mad thoughts, drawing beautifully my characters. I can meet them personally now and I’m so excited for it!
• Random customers. I spoke to a few of them interested enough in other than “the standard”. They gave me all, full support, and if you find this page and you recognize yourself, a grateful smile to you!

I’m probably leaving out someone, and I’m sorry for this, I’ll edit this as soon as I remember who I left behind.

NaNoWriMo was a wonderful experience who made me understand that I’m worth something anyway and there are out there lots of people who care about what I’m doing even if I think the opposite.

The only bitter note comes from my family as they didn’t give me support or understanding at all, but I have to live with it, the show must go on!

I’ll talk to you soon!

NaNoWriMo update3

No, I’m not disappeared, I was just trying to survive. To be honest I decided today to not post on the blog but I needed a break so here I am! Having a break from writing, doing what? Writing…maybe it is really an addiction!

For the curious I’ll update immediately my word count: 41,330. There are still 6 days to go and I’m over excited because at this stage I cannot stay beyond!

The moving house business is over now, but the new house, my house, is a massive mess. Fine, it can wait till the 1^st of December!

The nice thing that happened last week was that I met other NaNoWriMo participants. They are all really nice. I found out there are loads of different people out there, who love the same thing I love!

I thought I could update more often about my adventure but the level of stress was rising constantly in particular in the last few days!

I’ll use, anyway, this post to make some considerations:

1. I found out that it’s not easy bring on three things together, when one of this, is working full time or moving house or writing seriously like it was your real full time job when you don’t have time! BUT I’d do the very same again, because that showed me that I can do that if I want!

2. I realized that coffee have a strange effect on me when I’m under pressure; it is really stimulating but it doesn’t work if I’m too sleepy so the effect is more or less like a yo-yo with its eyes closed!

3. The place where I love most to write is the kitchen. I know that for the moment is the only room with furniture along with the bedroom, but I don’t care, now I have a kitchen and I’m proud of it!

4. I love to know other writers! They don’t care about the fact I’m Italian and I’m writing in English, they just sustain me, which is amazing! Thanks to all of you! If everybody would do the very same in his or her own field there would be less wars in the world!

5. I know words I didn’t know I knew… but most of all I know the meaning and I have to look on the dictionary the meaning in Italian, because I know they’re right but I don’t know how to translate them in case I have to!

Said that I’ll copy here, updated, The Other Count not the word count, like it was suggested in one of the forum thread on the website:

Number of the sheets of paper written during work: 19

Number of chocolate bars eaten: 27

Numbers of cups of infuses drunk: 54

Number of real supporters in work: 5

Number of cheerleaders in work: 1

Promise of creating my fan club if I manage to finish the NaNoWriMo successfully: 1

Well, that’s that for now. I suppose that next time I’ll update the blog I’ll know if I did it or not, so keep your fingers crossed for me!!!!

NaNoWriMo update2

And I’m writing on my blog one week after to tell you my progress.

First of all, the word count at the moment amounts to 20.168, which, according to the stats on the web site, will allow me to finish in time for the 30^th of November! I hope so, therefore you just keep your fingers crossed for me…your toes and whatever is crossable!!!

Although I should be on diet the level of sugar, chocolate in particular, to taste immediately after savoury, is hugely increased. All that along with the consume of coffee, my loyal friend of university time. Seriously I’m just missing cheese flavoured chips and my sweet friend Anna and it would be the very same!

The only huge difference is that while I’m doing that I’m moving house, and for all the people who wants to know, no I’m not there yet, it’s freezing, I’m still waiting for my heating working!!! And, of course how do not consider my full time job. I hope my colleagues will excuse me if I’m a bit more weird than usual, but I’m proud to say that at least a good 60% of them are giving to me their full support!

And speaking of which exactly yesterday Dee told me that mine is now an addiction to writing! Maybe she’s right but just to have a little confirmation I had a dream last night at the end of which I saw a white wolf looking at me with his blue eyes! (Now, I don’t know if wolves have blue eyes or not, but that’s that!)

I went on the dream dictionary online once I got up and I got this explanation:

“To see a wolf in your dream, symbolizes survival, beauty, solitude, mystery, self-confidence and pride. (Well…not really!) You are able to keep your composure in a variety of social circumstances and blend into any situation with ease and grace. (I won’t say that, to be honest, I’m the clumsiest person in the world!) Negatively, the wolf represents hostility, aggression, or sneakiness. It may reflect an uncontrollable situation or an all-consuming force in your life. (Consuming force…I can count at least three, so what!?) This could point to an obsession, an addiction or something that is beyond your control. (Oh dear, I suppose Dee was right then!)

To see a white wolf in your dream (here he is!) signifies valour and victory. You have the ability to see the light even in your darkest hours. (What to say on this, I desperately hope they’re right!)”

Now, I’m aware that at least the half of you is trying to get the point of the whole business here, but you won’t because this post has no sense at all and maybe I’m really getting creasy!!!

You’re not envying my partner at all at the moment, right?!!

So happy reading and writing to all!!!

NaNoWriMo update1

I’ve just updated my word count: after three days I wrote 5303 words. Not good but not bad either. At least I’m following the stats in my profile!

I have to admit that I feel weird! Maybe because I put in stand by the other book I was working on, and maybe because this one is supposed to be the sequel of the one that is not finished yet!!

I cannot get the personality of my characters yet, and although I have the structure of the book ready I have a massive quantity of details that are coming out all together at the same time!

Let’s see what I’ll end up with! I’m happy enough that out there, there are many people mental like me! Happy days!

Following the synopsis of the book I wrote on my profile.

Solo Of Water

(Fantasy)

Alnilam is safe but another lady, a solo of water, is in a great danger. She’s chased by Black Dragon folks and she has to survive.

Alnilam and Orion, parents to be, want to find the solo of water and save her.

Cleo and Julius want to find the solo of water and kill her.

Who’ll be there first?

Talitha will be saved or condemned to death?

Thuban will be able to take care of the children and himself?

And Ursa will change for love’s sake or will surrender to the dark lady?

It’s a simple fight good V evil but who will win? Who will win the battle and who will win the war?

Do we have any hope left?

What do you think about that?

Happy reading!

NaNoWriMo

THE FOLLOWING THREE POSTS, THIS INCLUDED, ARE COPIES OF THE ONES I'VE POSTED ON THE MAIN BLOG I HAVE. FOR TECHNICAL PROBLEMS I WASN'T ABLE TO PASTE AND COPY THEM BEFORE! SORRY!

I’ve recently found out a group and a website called NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month.

At the beginning I didn’t know what this was about, but then I decided to join the group on face book. What I knew was that some people were trying to write a novel, an entire novel, in one month! What I didn’t know was that the group on face book was the top of the iceberg!

When I decided to have a look at the website I realized that there are members coming from all over the world. There are thousands of them, divided in areas, regions and cities.

It is amazing. The more I surf on internet, the more I find something new about the writing I didn’t know and I’ve never suspect existed.

I opened the account on the website, and now I’m one of the official participants.

Everything will start the 1^st of November and will end the 30^th. The challenge is to write a novel from the scratches, although some plotting is allowed before you start the actual writing. The novel had to be minimum 50,000 words, even if I saw at least one person who was aiming to the double!

I don’t even know if I’ll manage to go on the half way through but I want to try. The period of “No, I don’t want to do that”/ “It’s too difficult” / “It’s impossible” is over, now I have to do what I want to do and to try new things and to challenge myself. That’s the things I’m trying to do now, but I’ll tell you better in another post.

I have no idea what I will write about. I have loads of ideas in my head and a kind of neurons storm in my brain, but I believe I’ll do something fantasy.

I think that the best solution is jotting all my ideas on a piece of paper and then see what inspire me most.

Considering that I’m on holiday at the moment and when I’ll come back I’ll have to work and move in the new house I think that the task to write 2,000 words per day will be tough! But I’ll try to be tougher!

I also think that maybe when my colleagues tell me that I’m weird /mental/quirky, although they say it is a compliment, they’re telling a great truth!!!!

The only problem would be update regularly this blog, but I suppose that I’ll put here too my word count and some excerpts from the book as I’ll have to do on the account on the NaNoWriMo.

I already know that this will be stressful but hugely fun!

So happy week to everybody!!!

Mickey Mouse and Co.

After the latest happenings I think it’s right to show you a post I wrote a few months ago! I’ll keep for me the comment people wrote about it for obvious reasons!

Today has been another day that you’d rather dump in the farest bin!

How’s possible working in a place where two or three buffoons rule the entire world. Do you know what? On a certain point of view they’re helping me: I’ve never had so much self-confidence, but I start thinking that I’m not so bad! Even if the little squirrel inside my brain the most of the time is in hangover (at least he drinks) I can still think more that these people all together!

And you know another thing? I’m pretty sure that someone loyal to the dark empire, would report this post to the dark emperor, but I don’t care! Number one because it means that they fear the truth so much that they simply have you to shut up and number two because I want really having a fun in watching which is their limit! I mean, apparently you’re not able anymore to do whatever you please in your time off, but they should understand that the “7 years apprenticeship” thing is not valid anymore, we’re in 2010, you know?

So let me tell what I think!

I’ve always thought that you needed a degree to run a place like a tourist attraction, but apparently you don’t need one.

If it’s like that, I think that from tomorrow I’ll look for a place as a manager in another area.

I saw a few of the big bosses today coming in and I thought that all the hiring problem is explained.

Maybe they are managers in training but I wonder who took on bord Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse in the higher ranks.

Well, if the aim was to make people laugh is fine, but if it was to improve the image of the company probably they should think twice before they accept Goofy too!

Let’s be serious, in my workplace people who work hard can be counted on the fingers of ONE hand, and if you consider that we’re more than 50, just in my area, probably there is something that doesn’t work!

Anyway there is no way to speak with them because apparently Peter Pan and Cinderella decided that it is more important to help the three pigs getting rid of the bad wolf instead of helping the poor 7 dwarfs in the collapsing mine!

But I’m a writer and I will write!

Arilla chapter 7 part1

Hi everybody,

this week we'll see Arilla facing her real obstacle!

To read the second part, anyway I'm afraid you'll have to wait a couple of weeks, as I'm going on holiday for a while! But no worries, I hope I can post all the nonsense stuff in the while!

I hope you like the story and this new part too!

Happy reading!

Big News!

Hi everybody,
I'm here just a little bit earlier than you expected. I'm coming with good news! Remember when I told you I was thinking about some changes for my blog!?
Right, I' m going to start at this very minute. What I thought to do, in fact, was to put together my old blog, which is this one, and my nonsense blog, which I opened a few months ago.
I tried to keep them separated but after a wile I noticed that the ''serious one'' was a bit too serious and poor in contents.
Now reading again what I wrote in my old page 'Who's Franny’. It says
''I’m a writer, and that is my real dream and priority! I write every time I have a minute free, it doesn’t matter what! My only problem is that I was taking too seriously the matter forgetting the nice and funny side of it, and this is “inconceivable”, if you let me quote! This is why I opened this blog. You’ll find here the funniest (I hope), the most lunatic and the most human part of me!''
I even quote myself, so you understand why I tried to keep away from your sight these kinds of posts!
So, all the posts like this one will be tagged in ‘Nonsense’. In this way you'll be warned!!!!
I' m going to copy a few of the nonsense posts over here and the comments in the first comment, be patient! The good news, for who enjoy this side of me, is that I'll update this blog a little more often!
On the no side I have to apologise to my readers because those posts will be less grammatically correct than the other ones. But that's me, and I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

Arilla chapter 6 part2

Hi! Weeks are flowing fast! Better for me, I have one fun event ahead!

This week I’ll post here the second part of the 6th chapter. Arilla and her friends use the backpack for the first time, more magic for you!

I want to tell you also that I’m going to do some changes in the next few weeks, but I don’t know anything for sure right now as I’m still working on it!

I hope you like Arilla and I’m waiting for your comments!

Happy reading!

Arilla chapter 6 part1

We’re going to meet another character today: Naoki!

Who is he? Is he good or not?

Read the new part and find out!

Happy reading!

Arilla.chapter 5 Part2

I’m back after a week break! I’m more relaxed for sure and ready to write a lot, most of all!

This week I’ll post here the second part of the 5th chapter! Arilla finds her first obstacle. Do you want to know what is it?

Happy reading!

Arilla.chapter 5 Part1

Leaving grandma’s house is not easy, but Arilla can count on her friends!

This week I’ll post the first part of the 5th chapter.

Happy reading!

Arilla.chapter 4. Part2

This week I’m posting a bit earlier but I’m really busy!

You can have a look inside grandma’s house with Arilla and the little sea-fairies!

Happy reading!

Arilla.chapter 4. Part1

Here we are again this week!

This is the 4th chapter of my booklet! Arilla meets new friends!

Happy reading!

Arilla.chapter 3. Part2

This week I’ll post the second part of the third chapter.

I hope you’re enjoying the reading.

Feel free to leave here a comment, whether you like it or not. All the comment will be more than welcome!

And happy reading!

Arilla.chapter 3. Part1

I hope you missed me because I’m back!

I’m going to upload the fist part of Arilla’s 3rd chapter on “Arilla” page of the blog!

My time off was great, I really enjoyed it, and I found out that I love boats! Not a real news, actually, but a confirm!

And now happy reading!

Arilla.chapter 2

Here we are again everybody!

This week I have a good news for you and a bad news! The good news is that I’m going to upload the second chapter in Arilla page!

The bad news, if you are following me constantly, is that I’m going on holiday on Monday for two weeks, so I’ll post the next chapter when I’ll be back in Dublin!

If you really miss me and my writing you’ll probably find some nice post or nonsense talk here!

Arilla.chapter 1

This week, as I promised I’ll start uploading Arilla. Check out “Arilla” page!

Update n° 5

Hi everybody,

I’ve published so far on this blog three short stories and a fairy tale and, before I put in practice what I want to do, it would be fair to explain to you what I’m going to upload here in the future!

From the next week on, I’ll put on these pages the book I wrote for children piece by piece. To me it is still too unripe to try pitching to an editor or a literary agent but still, I think it would be nice to share it with you.

It was my first attempt to write a book fully in English, so it will be very simple; well to be honest, at the beginning it was supposed to be a fairy tale and then I just kept writing it!

Actually reading it again and again to correct it, I noticed that it is something like a draft still though with no chance to become something more. I’m going to upload it anyway because I spent lots of time on those pages so I think it’s fair to myself showing you my first efforts. If I wanted to put it right I should behave like Stevenson, the day his wife Fanny told him that his “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” needed to be polished a bit: he went back to his room and threw the manuscript in the fireplace! The version you can read nowadays is something completely different!

This book is set in a fantasy world I’m creating for children and I’ve called Sonrisa. I’m in love with it! I have a huge project in my head and the more I write, the more ideas come up to my mind. I think that this is good but also that it might take too long especially if I keep working full time! But I won’t give up as I have a good feeling about it.

I remember that when I graduated, the enthusiasm about researching and writing were at their highest levels, but I had limits of time and length! At the moment I feel exactly the same but I don’t have any limit whatsoever! It’s great!

Well, Oisin, who ran the workshop I told you about, said that I have an ambitious project but I didn’t take it as a critique, mostly because it didn’t sound alike! And far from being knocked down by this (like I usually do for other matters!) I feel stronger and more determined as I think about it even harder!

My head is spinning and my hands are moving alone!

The second thing coming soon will be a kind of magazine about Sonrisa. Hopefully it will bring up my paper world in more of a 3D spectrum. There you’ll find some news, ads, history and nice things regarding my world.

These two pieces of big news will change the pages at the top of the blog as well.

I’m going to get rid of “Cooking, music and so on!” and “The monster factory” pages and replace them with “Arilla”, which is the title of my book, and “Sonrisa”, which is the name of the world, and where I’ll put the newspaper when it will be ready.

Well I think that’s it for the moment.

Talk to you soon!

The golden ornament-short story

This week I’ll publish again in “Short Story” page.

This is the second short story I wrote for the short story workshop in Kerry. It was my homework and inspired to “The Overcoat” by Gogol.

I decided to set it in Japan, firstly because I love Japan and secondly because the part of Gogol’s story which impressed me most was the supernatural one at the end. So I thought that the supernatural would be perfect in Kyoto.

Update n° 4

Hi everybody,

After two pieces of prose I’ll tell you something different again! But no worries, you’ll have loads of stuff written by me on these pages in the next weeks so don’t despair!!!

Few weeks ago I was having breakfast with my partner and I was talking about writing. He said “No, don’t become a dark gloomy hunchback!” and I assured him that not everybody ends up like Leopardi.

“Ah and don’t become mad and dandy!” and I assured him that not everybody ends up like D’Annunzio.

The following question was “Are you sure you want to write? I don’t want you to become a mad person!” I answered to this that yes, I wanted to write and become a full time writer but that for the mad problem it was already too late!

The very same day I was having a look at one writers social network. In the forum there was a post where there were written some famous writers’ habits.

I thought then that I could tell in this piece what is my personal method.

To be honest I haven’t a particular one but I also think that my perseverance and my efforts should be rewarded mentioning what I do every day.

I usually don’t think I’m doing something really special but my friends and my boyfriend think so. Therefore I’ll write it down and ask you what you think about that.

At the moment I’m not a full time writer, I’m not even a part time writer…I’m more of a “I write when I manage to find time” writer.

I have my day job in a touristic attraction and my evening job which is, like every woman, my partner, our home and our dinner!

The moments that are left to write are the lunch break, one hour in the evening (when I’m not dead after my day at work!) and my days off. To give you an idea I’m writing this post’s draft in the GP waiting room!

What I know is that I don’t want to give up and stop! This time it would be entirely my fault and I wouldn’t forgive myself if I did!

It is said that you were born alone and you die alone. It’s actually also true that to be a writer means being alone too! Even if you have friends and you enjoy staying with them it doesn’t matter. Once you’re sat at your desk you’re alone!

As I said, I haven’t much time to write, so the few minutes I have for my lunch break are spent in writing, reading, editing and so on!

This means that I’m not going to our workplace canteen with my colleagues anymore, so I’m getting rid of one of the few occasions to show myself less asocial in the eyes of the people whom I work with! But it’s ok, this is my dream and this is worth the sacrifice. I usually write for 30 minutes in total while I’m eating. That’s why my production is not so wide anyway!

When I go back home and during my days off, if I’m not collapsing because of the fatigue, I keep writing. Well, not for all the time because I want to dedicate some time to my partner too.

Another niche I’m managing to cut for myself lately is in the morning. My partner usually takes from half an hour to an hour to wake up snoozing the alarm. I realized that sacrificing a few of my neurons I can write a good half an hour while preparing breakfast that takes just a few minutes anyway. And that’s how I’m writing my new book. This seems to be working for some reason because I’ve already written down ten pages in just a few days. So I think I’ll keep going!

Unfortunately or not, it depends on the point of view, I’m the kind of person who wants to do loads of things together. I’m a bit disappointed form the reality that tells me that I cannot. But still sometimes I try to go beyond.

What is for sure is that writing and my partner are my priorities so I’ll do my best to keep at least these two!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Talk to you later!

Snowflake- fairy tale

Hi everybody,

this week I’m going to upload “Snowflake” in “Short story” page. It’s a fairy tale I wrote again opening the bar I’m working in, this winter. Guess what? It was snowing and that gave me the idea.

Tell me what you think!

Marian and grace- short story

This week post is in the short story page! Marian and Grace is the piece I sent to Listowel before I attended the workshop because I was asked to send a sample of my writing in advance.

I’ve been thinking about this idea for long, and maybe in the future I could put it in a novel! Who knows!

If you have any comment or suggestion write them here please! I hope you enjoy it!