Read Marsha Burdick

This week Milan has enjoyed a series of interesting events about all sorts of topics. The magazine Panorama  (sorry, no English page here) is organizing a tour of Italy and it was our turn. I signed up to hear Ken Follett speak and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Here's a pic I took at the event. It's important for writers to hear other writers speak. We can learn a lot. However, that's not really the reason to go. We need to remember that we are in the world and we have to stay connected. I don't write only for myself - I write for my readers. Now, I have a very small fraction of the readership that an author like Mr. Follett has (thanks to all 5 of you), but I am interested in hearing what you would like to read. This is why I put an email list sign up on the page. You can type in your address now and be notified when I post. In the comments today, let me know what you're interested in finding when you come by to see me.

Don't you love yard sales? All those things priced so conveniently. All those treasures changing houses. It's a lovely tradition that not all countries share. Italy, for example, does not do yard sales. So I guess you can imagine that I don't go all that often. For those of you who have never heard of a yard sale, these are sales that people hold privately to sell their own belongings at a 90% markdown. Some people set their stuff up in the garage, and call them garage sales. The unofficial verb would be "to go garage sale-ing". You don't need a permit or other type of authorisation. Outside the US, I'm sure you have second hand shops, or maybe you just donate your used items in good condition to charities. Maybe you could find a bookcrossing  point to get something to read free. I've been to several sales already this year, and here are a few of titles I picked up. Mad Merlin: garage sale. When I started it, I thought it was just another tak...

I like to read different types of media, and I love to try out different platforms. So I have accounts on both Wattpad and Goodreads. For those who don't know, Wattpad is a platform for writers to share what they've written and create content for their readers. I posted the Italian version of the Coma short story I wrote two years ago because it is no longer available on the Giallo Milanese website. You can find the English version here on my blog. I'm working on a new story and today I wrote 640 words. Goodreads , on the other hand, lets you write reviews about books that you've read, and you can keep track of what you are reading - and what you would like to read in the future. As usual, I'm currently reading three different books: two paper books and a digital version on my phone. I also have another ebook on my tablet that I have barely started. Here they are: The Three Battlegrounds by Francis Frangipane This year, I've read quite a bit on Chri...

Sometimes it happens. You interrupt an activity that you like (blogging) just for a bit, you think. And then months pass before you get into it again. Well, I'm back. In the past year, I've become a grandmother, I've worked a lot, I've learned how to paint (sort of), and I've started working on my novel (again). I want to sound encouraging because it can be frightfully depressing to think about the things that I want to do, but never get around to. Time management is one of the keys. I've started using a site called Toggl to keep track of what I really do during the day. I'm discontinuous and distracted, almost the point of being jumpy if I hit the coffee pot too hard, and from a business angle, I'm tracking the hours I spend on projects and other important activities. I have found that I can, after all, find time to write so please check back in a week or so. I'm putting together a new reading list. Too many interests can also cause errat...