Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Category Archives: My Projects


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Getting ready

The good thing about announcing a demented project on my blog is, when I come back to sanity, it’s too late and I can’t back down. So here I am, trying to get ready for this wild idea of writing a novel in five days.
And mind you, it’s a scary idea.

But on the other hand, should I fail, what am I losing?
I might end up with a good start for a novel to finish at leisure, or I might nail a solid novella – that would be a good result, anyway.
And it would be a morale-booster, anyway.

Right now, I am juggling three possible ideas – because ideas are everywhere, and tomorrow I’ll see which one comes alive during the set-up phase.

Meanwhile I’ve collected resources, and stuff that might come in handy.
Like this – that I will not probably use, but is interesting…

Tomorrow I’ll start posting brief updates – and more extra stuff on my Patreon.
Keep an eye out for updates, and if you feel like, buy me a coffee.


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And for my next trick…

This post goes online… everywhere – first on my Patreon page, and then on my blogs, both in Italian and English.
So here’s the thing: I’m reading a book called The 5 Days Novel, by Scott King.
And as you can imagine, the title got me thinking.

Can it be done?
Well, I wrote the first draft of The Ministry of Thunder in 8 days … and then worked for months to get the definitive draft.
Can I make it in 5 days, and get a final(-ish) draft?

I have five bucks here that say I can make it – the price of a pizza at Casablanca’s.
A wager with myself.

So here is what I will do: I’ll finish the book, and take notes, and set up the experiment. And then I will do it.
I will write a new novel in 5 days, give or take one day (because you never know).

I will post about the progress on my Patreon, with excerpts and stuff, and will also do a shorter real-time review on my blogs.

And when the novel’s ready, all my Patrons will get a copy – as a thank you for their continued support, and as a way to celebrate the third year of my Patreon.

I’ll have to make it fast, because soon I’ll start working on the Brancalonia translation, and I have other projects going.
But I really want to do this.
So, keep an eye out for the proper announcement, and wish me luck.
Or if you like, buy me a coffee to keep me up during the five days writing marathon.


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A work (as yet) without a title

Three weeks ago I started writing just for the fun of it. Writing has always been a relaxing thing for me, a good way to quiet the mind and just let the words go from the brain, through the fingers and the keyboard, to the page. I did it as a kid, when I was learning to type on my mother’s Olivetti Lettera 32, and for a long time it’s been a way to get away from it all for a moment.

So I started writing, and for starters there were just two things – a piece of diary-like writing about an out-of-work actress/dancer looking for a job, any job, and an old dark house. That, and the idea that this would be a ghost story.

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Write or Die

As I think I mentioned a while back, one of those “memories” that Facebook serves us daily to make us feel miserable (that’s my explanation of this “feature”) made me aware of the fact that in 2019, by the 15th of August, I had submitted 55 short stories and articles to various magazines and anthologies.
By August the 15th 2020 I had only submitted 33.
That scared me as hell.

It was a sign of the HUGE amount of time I had wasted (so to speak) to follow the ghostwriting job from Hell that, as I mentioned a few days back, ended this September, with me not being paid.
I was also scared because a drop of 40% submissions could be a sign I was losing my ability to write a lot, and write fast – and by doing so, manage to pay the bills.

So I sat down, and started writing.

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In Egypt with Belzoni

Now that I am free of the work for my Client from Hell and missing my payment (oh, the bank will love it!), I can start work on a new project whose contract I signed last week – an historical adventure, featuring the Great Belzoni.

In cased you missed him – hard, considering he was six foot seven inches tall, and wide in proportion – Giovanni Battista Belzoni was an Italian former student of divinities, adventurer, antiquarian, hydraulic engineer, egyptologist, stage magician and fairground strongman, that soon after Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt conducted a series of excavations along the Nile – basically because his work as an hydraulic engineer for the local administration had fizzed.

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Decompressing in Bloody Scotland

I’m taking the weekend off before I start working on my next project and try to go back to normal(-ish) and find a way to pay the bills, and so today and tomorrow I’ll attend a virtual convention online – listening to crime writers discussing their trade, and other wonders.

Bloody Scotland will be on today and tomorrow, and you can attend most of the events for free. Later this afternoon, both Robert Crays and Lawrence Block will be on. And I’ll be there.
Follow the link to know more – you can still enroll.


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Witches

One of the good things I managed to do this month has been delivering (finally) the translation of my friend Francesca’s book about witches in Lombardy. Now the translation is in her hands – she’ll have to check I got all the plant names and other technicalities right, and then the book will hit the Amazon shelves.
We hope to have it out by Halloween.

The book is quite interesting, as it is a mix of brief essays and short stories, providing insight on many of the stories and legends – but also historical facts – about witchcraft in Northern Italy and in particular in Lombardy and in the Lake Como area.

When the book becomes available, I’ll make sure to put a shout-out here on my blog – this has been one of the most fun, most pleasant jobs I’ve done in 2020, and helped keep desperation at bay.
It will be good to have the book out for public consumption – Francesca deserves all the success she’ll certainly have.