Facebook is wonderful – allowing me close interaction with science fiction and fantasy fans, it helped me re-discover my passion for crime fiction and solitude.
Ferragosto
Fifteenth of August.
Mid-august day.
Ferragosto.
My country locks up completely.
Nothing moves except in crowded beaches and assorted barbecue venues.
Everything’s silent, even the social networks.
I’ll take the day off.
No stress, no nothing.
I’ve planned lunch and dinner -something light, cheap, good.
I’ve got a good book to read.
I’ve got some nice CDs should I need any background music.
Today I’m on vacation.
Related articles
“Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Macbeth as a mystery novel
“It was a stupid mistake to make,” said the American woman I had met at my hotel in the English lake country, “but it was on the counter with the other Penguin books – the little sixpenny ones, you know; with the paper covers – and I supposed of course it was a detective story All the others were detective stories.”
Believe it or not, but the lines above have been haunting me for something like 35 years.
I read them – and the story they belong to – when I was around 12, as I browsed my school anthology trying to keep boredom at bay… why?
I can’t remember.
I just remember I was bored out of my mind, I reading in class, and I chanced upon a story in my reading anthology, and I read it. Continue reading
What being creative may imply for your life – and the lives of others.
Great article by Colleen Doran.
Creative Space: Living in my own little world is my job.
These are not the characters you are looking for
I was reviewing my creative process (or the sort of blind blundering I call that) trying to optimize it in order to get more good words on the page*, and I found out a few interesting bits about my modus operandi.
And I thought, why not inflict my newfound knowledge on my blog readers?
When I start a new story, I generally open my copybook (or a txt file) and I start jotting down ideas.
Basic premise and concept, quick sketches of the main characters, a list of places, maybe a very rough logline.
Sometimes it’s like doodling – I sit waiting for my turn at the doctor’s or at the post office, and I just write down stuff.
Maybe I’ll never use those ideas, maybe in a few weeks, or months, or years (provided I can still find the file or the copybook) they’ll come in handy. Continue reading
I’m lucky – I found a team of extraordinary Beta Readers.
If you out there have not been this lucky, check out this excellent article, by Jami Gold on Anne R. Allen’s blog…
Karavansara 