Kimberly Menozzi, Author

 
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Thursday Thirteen: 13 Characters from 27 Stages 13/10/2011
16 Comments
 
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Well, now I'm getting back to serious work on my WiP, I thought I'd share some of the visual shorthand I've been using while creating it. So please, allow me to present to you:

Thirteen Characters from
27 Stages

1) Federico "Ciccio" Renard - cyclist (AltaVeloCidad).

Although he's half-French and half-Italian, the inspiration for Federico comes from both a Swiss rider and an Italian rider, who happen to be two of my favorites: Fabian Cancellara and Daniele Bennati.

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2) Abigail McGann-White - amateur photographer.

Abigail is another character with a split nationality.
Her father is American, her mother is British. Born in the US, she's lived in England with her mother since she was seventeen. Now forty years old, Abigail is dealing with a number of issues of identity and working to determine what she wants from her life. My visual inspiration for her is harder to pin down, but this stock image made a good starting point:
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3) Jerzy Jankowski - lead directeur sportif/team manager/Svengali for team Alta VeloCidad. This was another instance where I saw a photo by chance and thought: That's the look, right there. Of course, Polish actor Łukasz Simlat is much, much younger than Jerzy, but the photo below shows some of the intensity I picture every time I write about the team's boss.
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4) Charles White - Abigail's husband, a barrister in the UK. I'm sure quite a few readers, should they see this, will be rather displeased with me. LOL! But I thought Colin Firth was a perfect model to build Charles on - particularly since he has that "proper" air about him at times, but could also have a slightly "deviant" side, too, as Charles does.
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5) Heinrich Brunn - cyclist (AltaVeloCidad). Brunn, a German cyclist, was much harder to pin down. I had more of an "archetype" in mind when he started taking shape, but there was one cyclist in particular he seemed to resemble - at least, physically. No matter, this is fiction after all.
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6) Romuald "Robaczku" Brodowski - cyclist (AltaVeloCidad). When I saw this photo of French actor Stanislas Merhar, I knew I'd found my Rom.
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7) Adrie "Major" Meijer - cyclist. Athough he's a different type of rider, and a different nationality, Italian Filippo Pozzato (to my everlasting chagrin) has similar physical attributes to Austrian super-domestique Adrie. Temperamentally, however, I don't think they could be farther apart. LOL!
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8) Jurgen Schlessinger - cyclist (Maxxout). This character is probably Federico's strongest competitor in the sport, and still he is someone I have a lot of sympathy for. In my mind, he's the also-ran always struggling in Federico's wake, a sort of Salieri to Federico's Mozart, if you will. (I'm seriously considering a short story from his POV, too.) He's played in my mind by Gerald Ciolek.
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9) Solange Melo - model, former "podium girl", Federico's fiancée. I don't know the name of the girl in the photo, here, but she's a podium girl for the Tour de France. Solange is a model just starting to make waves, but her ambition proves to be a bit too much for Federico's taste.
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10) Pascal Savreux - professional photographer, French, an acquaintance of Abigail's. From the start, I've had in mind a Vincent Cassel-type, just a little rounder and a little softer 'round the edges. The fact he's closer to Abigail's age makes him an appealing potential disruption to her plans.
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11) Alvaro and Teodoro Mendoza - twin brothers, Spanish, cyclists (AltaVeloCidad).
Almost in spite of myself, I wound up picturing the Haedo brothers (Sebastian and J.J.) when I wrote these characters, even though they aren't twins (thank goodness). There are loads of brother acts in cycling, though.
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12) Philip Mason - cyclist (AltaVeloCidad). Welshman Geraint Thomas is a good fit for Philip, a British rider with a bizarre sense of humor, which is shared with his roommate, James.
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13) James Bradford - cyclist (AltaVeloCidad). Alex Dowsett was another rider who came to mind when writing many of the scenes when the riders are off the road. There's just something about his facial expressions which came to mind during James' and Philip's cutting up at various points in the story.
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And there you have 13 Characters from 27 Stages - my current Work in Progress.























I think you might agree there's a little something for everyone in this story, eh?



























And if not, well, c'est la vie!
























At any rate, I hope to include something that'll please a few of my regulars.
















After all...






















I'm a giver!

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Mathis Streitwieser
Ciao for now!
16 Comments
 
Thirteen Cycling Hotties (Post-Grand Tours Edition) 15/09/2011
8 Comments
 
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Inspired both by a fairly recent post at the Bicycling.com site and the emergence of a new blog based on one of my favorite topics, I've decided to share a few of my favorite cycling hotties. Some of them (possibly most of 'em) are repeats, but I doubt you'll mind much. Heh.

And so, I present to you:

Thirteen Cycling Hotties
(Post-Grand Tours Edition)

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1) Nicolas Roche (AG2R Mondiale)
Irish, but was born in France.

A personal favorite of mine for many reasons.

*heh*



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2) Tom Boonen (Quick Step)
Belgian - and has quite the party-guy reputation.

*ahem*

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3) Maxime Monfort (Leopard Trek) 
Belgian.

Just watch him on the bike.

'nuff said.

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4) Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo)
American

His commercials for Transitions got annoying after a while, but I wuvs me some Tyler...


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5) Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Cervelo).
American

If you search for him on Youtube, you'll turn up loads of amusing clips featuring DZ's rather odd sense of humor.  I wuv him.

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6) Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
Belgian

There are some folks who say Philippe isn't that good looking. The thing is, when he smiles, he's absolutely gorgeous!

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7) Thor Husbhovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 
Norwegian.

He seems quite reserved, but I suspect he has a wild side to him.

*oh, yeah*

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8) Eros Capecchi (Liquigas/Cannondale).
Italian.

Look at that smile! Just look at it!

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9) Lloyd Mondory (AG2R Mondiale).
French.

I love this photo. Purrrrr...

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10) Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team).
Italian.

BDIPC added him to their list after his disappointment in not making it was tweeted by his teammate, Karsten Kroon.

And, of course, three of my absolute, tippity-top grade-A faves:
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11) Daniele Bennati (Leopard-Trek).
Italian.

I adored him in his previous team kits, but when he was named as a part of L-T, I nearly swooned.

True story.

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12) Jens Voigt (Leopard-Trek).
German.

A senior member on this list (Jens is my age, after all), he's still one of the hottest hotties in the peloton. And one of the funniest.

And one of the hardest working.

JENSIE!!!!!

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13) Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek).
Swiss.

Did you really think I'd leave my muse off this list?

Just look at him!


And that's this round of cycling hotties wrapped up nice and neat in a pretty little bow.







Now I must go prep myself to watch the UCI Road World Championships.















But you know I won't leave you hanging.













What with Autumn just around the corner...




















Ya gotta grab one last splash in the surf!
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Ciao for now!
8 Comments
 
108 Presente 11/05/2011
5 Comments
 
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On Monday, I came home from the start of the third stage of the Giro d'Italia with the intent of posting a Thursday Thirteen consisting of photos I'd taken that afternoon. I was so excited to have gotten what I knew were wonderful photos - and my excitement grew when I got home and saw just how good some of them actually were.

I called my mother to thank her for the camera she'd given me. I called my husband to share my joy at having had the experience of my first-ever stage race start event. I shared my happiness on Facebook and Twitter.

And then I sat down to watch the race.

Roughly 24 kilometers or so from the finish everything changed. A rider crashed on the descent of the Passo del Bocco, heading toward the finish at Rapallo. Hardly surprising - it was a rather tricky descent, and riders crash all the time under such circumstances.

I saw the live video on RAI, when they showed the rider being tended to. A heavy sickness settled in my stomach when I saw the boy was from my favorite team, Leopard Trek.

The fact I couldn't recognize his face was disturbing. The sense of "knowing" was worse still.

As the race continued, it quickly became clear just how bad this crash was. When they said his name, I started crying. That wasn't his face I'd seen. He wasn't there anymore.

I kept hoping. I kept praying he'd be okay, that they'd airlift him and he'd go to the hospital and someone, somewhere, would do whatever it took to put things right again.

But I knew better. Even before the director of the RAI broadcast shared the news long after the program was supposed to end, I, like so many others, already knew we'd lost one of "our boys".

Wouter Weylandt was only 26 years old. He has a baby on the way. His family has to deal with their loss - so sudden, so unexpected - but I hope they will find some comfort in his child, and I hope they know that his fans are thinking of them at this time, too.

A friend of mine said she felt as though the son of a friend had died. I think she captured perfectly the way so many of us feel. His loss isn't ours, and yet, it is. We will miss the young man we cheered for, pulled for and wished great things for. We didn't know him, but we mourn his loss and we celebrate his life.

Yesterday, the race stage was neutralized. No-one won or lost and the standings didn't change. Wouter's teammates crossed the line together, embracing and carrying along with them a member of another team: Wouter's best friend, Tyler Farrar. They wept, openly and without shame, and countless riders in the peloton wept, too.

It was, quite simply, one of the most moving events I have ever witnessed.

Today, Tyler and the Leopard Trek team have left the Giro. They will all go home to grieve and recover - at least a little - from the loss of their friend and teammate. They will ride again - they have to - because it is more than their job; it is their calling, their passion. But for now, the Giro continues without them. The show goes on. Life goes on.

For all my joking and silliness, I hold a deep and abiding affection for these young men who truly do risk themselves every day in a sport which, for all its faults, is still beautiful and frequently amazing to watch. They inspire me every single day, when I watch them race and achieve the things which I never could do in a lifetime.

Tragically, for some of them, a lifetime is all-too-brief a moment.

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Wouter Weylandt 1984-2011
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13 Facts About Il Giro d'Italia 05/05/2011
14 Comments
 
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As you might gather from the above photo, this is going to be another cycling-related post. I can't help myself, though -- il Giro d'Italia begins this weekend and on Monday, will be starting a stage right here in Reggio nell'Emilia! Woo-hoooo!!!

And since I'm so late getting this posted, I'm going to re-post my Thursday Thirteen on this topic from 2008. I hope you don't mind...

So now, please allow me to present

13 Facts About il Giro d'Italia!

1. The first ever Giro d'Italia was begun May 13th, 1909, and was won by Luigi Ganna.
2. This year marks the 94th Giro. It begins on May 7th and will continue through May 29th.
3. It has been suspended twice - for World Wars I and II (1915-18 and 1941-45, respectively).
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4. Ever since 1931, the overall leader of the Giro sports the maglia rosa (pink jersey), which corresponds with La Gazzetta dello Sport 's pink newsprint. (The yellow jersey given to the overall leader of the Tour de France is done for similar reasons - to correspond with the yellow color of the pages of France's L'Auto sports newspaper.)
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5. The different portions of the tour are called "stages". The 1909 race had eight stages. The 2011 race will have  twenty-one.

6. Like all cycling races, the person who crosses the finish line first on the final day is not necessarily the winner. The winner of the Giro is the person who has the overall shortest time for the whole tour.

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7. Last year's winner of the Giro was Ivan Basso.
8. In 2006, the Giro passed through my new "hometown". I took some photos, one of which is my TT header this week, and here's another:
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In 2007, Reggio nell'Emilia played host to the beginning of a stage. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend, as I had to work. (Yeah, I'm still bummed.) I'm hoping to make up for it this year - wish me luck!
9. An American rider won the Giro once upon a time. In 1988, Andrew Hampsten of Columbus, Ohio, raced for team 7-Eleven.
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10. The route of the Giro varies each year. The Alpine and Apennine passes are probably the most difficult stages of all, and it's not unusual for the riders to endure wildly varying climates from the beginning of the tour to the end. Occasionally, the weather is a greater obstacle than expected, as Hampsten found out in 1988:
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11. Three different cyclists have managed to win the Giro five times each: Alfredo Binda, Fausto (Il Campionissimo - the Greatest Champion) Coppi and Eddie (the Cannibal) Merckx.
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12. The Giro d'Italia is considered part of the "Triple Crown of Cycling", along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.

13. The Giro itself was started with one purpose in mind: to boost the sales of Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport (The Sports Gazzette). I dare say it's proven to be a success!
And there you have them! 13 tidbits about the Giro d'Italia!













And I'll have you know that I've searched high and low for a suitable pic to close with...


















And I did the best I could, honestly!



























I went a bit retro, actually, but I think you'll approve.













Besides, I think there should be more ads like this, don't you?
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Ciao for now!
14 Comments
 
13 Photos Currently Inspiring My WiP 03/02/2011
16 Comments
 
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ACK! <scramble, scramble>

Yep - I've been caught unprepared again this week. There's been a lot going on "behind the scenes" as it were, so I didn't have time to do a heavily-detailed Thursday Thirteen this week. I'm afraid I'll have to repeat a theme I've done before, but with new material. (Does that make sense?)

So here are

13 Photos Currently
Inspiring My WiP

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The Leopard Trek team at the Tour Down Under last January.
1) A morning briefing. This is a good example of the stuff most people don't think about when it comes to this sport. There is more to it than getting on the bike and going faster than everyone else (though that helps, of course). The tactics and strategy for stage races can be surprisingly detailed, and the riders meet to discuss the race before and after every stage.
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Heh. *ahem*
2) Prepping for the race. Numbers have to be pinned on to jerseys before the riders can get dressed for the race.

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Fabian Cancellara. I wuv him. (Look at that HAIR!!!)
3) More preparations - that helmet has to fit properly, after all - and as always: Safety First!
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Smmmmooooch!
4) A quick peck for your sweetie, and then...

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Um... What? Did someone say something to me?
5) Waiting to start the race. Seriously, for the material I'm working on, this is more than sufficient for inspiration. ;)

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Whoooosh!
6) They're off! Of course, this would likely be well into a stage. I love the movement in this pic.
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He's silly. Wuv.
7) Lunch time on-the-go! Things can get a bit silly, too, at this point during a race. Just about everyone takes it easy while they refuel. Or, at least, they should.

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A little to the left, please... Ah, that's the spot!
8) Actually, in a race everything has to be done on-the-go, whenever possible. Here my boy Fabian gets his shoe adjusted while discussing race matters with (presumably) his directeur sportif.
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Definitely not in the plan.
9) Occasionally, of course, things don't go quite according to plan...

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I mean, seriously. Look at that road. Now enjoy Fabian's legs.
10) This photo is providing much inspiration at the moment, as I'm working on a Stage featuring a crash modelled after a) what has been called the "Stockeau Massacre" in the 2010 Tour de France and b) the following day's ride over the cobblestone roads which normally feature in the Paris-Roubaix classic road race each year.
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Just so... Intense. Rawr.
11) Fabian again - this time in Time Trial mode. The picture isn't exactly clear because it's a screen capture. But it's an excellent screen capture, IMHO. It really conveys the intensity of the moment.

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I'm wandering toward my happy place. Excuse me.
12) The boys have to make themselves presentable before they go on the podium. They get wiped down and cleaned up (I can't help thinking of racehorses when I see video of this. Is that wrong?), are given a fresh jersey, and then go out to be photographed with the pretty girls in front of the fans.
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Jens Voigt, chatting while getting his post-race massage.
13) A very useful photo. Without shots like this, the little details would get past me: note the placement of the blanket, the towels, the slow-cooker on the table (presumably to heat the oil before it's applied). Excellent stuff.




And there you have them - 13 Photos Currently Inspiring My WiP.

















I know, I know...

















After all the boys on bikes, you want something else.





























And it's only fair.



























So here ya go:
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Will this do?
Ciao for now!
16 Comments
 
The Devil is in the Details (part one) 26/01/2011
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There are people who are surprised by how much attention I'm currently giving to details in my WiP, 27 Stages. I am teased on a regular basis about the research I'm doing (real and fanciful), because I clearly enjoy cycling so much.

Well, there are many reasons I'm putting so much time and effort into this project. Not only is cycling a passion of mine (at least, as a spectator), not only do I want to write the best possible story I can and not only do I want people to read this and really and truly feel like they are there...

I also don't want a review like this:

Zosia's Review of Amorous Liaisons.

It's not that I feel the review is in any way unfair - far from it, in fact. I think Zosia has legitimate gripes and complaints. Absolutely legitimate. While the author of Amorous Liaisons seems to have done some research, it would seem she didn't dig quite deep enough. Granted, I don't have an in-depth/expert knowledge of ballet, but even I know (courtesy of a brief but intense love of the art while I was in my teens) some of the things this author got wrong.

My point being - when it comes to research, I think it's vital to go the extra mile. Don't sell your audience short. Don't skim over details which are important to the plot. Don't assume they won't catch if you're bluffing.

Because they will.

Knowing that a good portion of my target audience will, at the very least, be familiar with le Tour de France, I know I have to maintain a certain level of realism and detail in 27 Stages. If I don't, they'll catch me out on the big things. The members of my audience who know more about cycling (perhaps are even riders themselves) will pick on the smaller details, the lesser-known things. I know it. I expect it.

And I hope I can write this book well enough to avoid it. At least somewhat.

The only way to do this is to write to the best of my ability, to find common ground for everyone and to do as much research as I possibly can. And, in the meantime, I need to create a story that'll suck everyone in so they don't care if/when I go a little wrong.

Cross your fingers for me. I could use the luck.

And now, I've got to go do some research.
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13 Random Thoughts 06/01/2011
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Where does the time go? As usual, I've been caught unprepared - so here's a totally random collection for you all:

13 Random Thoughts

1) How do I keep forgetting the Thursday Thirteen? What's up with that? Or more to the point, why do I think about it and then forget it? Hmmm...
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2) I've got to find a way to use this in the story. Ouch!

3) I've got to find a way to WORK on the story. ACK!
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Blurry or not, this photo kills me. NOM! *happy sigh*
4) ACK! Team "Leopard" presentation is tonight! TONIGHT!!! WheeEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

5) Urp. Maybe a serving spoon of cheesy rice and then a bowl of Coco Pops wasn't the best lunch co-ordination I could have managed this afternoon. I'm definitely NOT a teenager anymore.
6) Sometimes, nothing cheers one up quite like blasting Falco's "Der Kommissar". Too bad I don't understand a word of it. Or would that make it less fun?
7) Time for the video! Wooo-hoooo!!!!
8) Thanks to my mother, I'll never again be able to listen to Muse's "Time is Running Out" without hearing Matt Bellamy's huge "whoop" before every line. Grrrrr...
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For reals, yo.
9) Oh. My...

Fabian in a suit and tie with floppy hair.

If he put on glasses I think I'd spontaneously combust.

For reals.


10) If I weren't married to the most patient man in the world, my crushes would surely drive him nuts. <see above and below>
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Yes, it's true. It's all my fault.
11) "You go out there right now and make her leave."
    "Listen, Bjarne, buddy - if I go out there, she'll NOM my leg. Again. You tell her to leave, or I'll go join the Schlecks - and the rest of the guys!"


12) I should get back to work. That story won't critique itself.
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13) Thank god cycling season is getting rolling again. I need to do some, ah, research. Yeah, that's it. Research.




And there you go.




Another frightening look inside my head.





















You should have known what to expect by now, shouldn't you?























And to my usual Thursday visitors I say, "Don't worry."























I just need to focus.




And while this isn't *quite* to my taste....












I reckon it'll be okay.
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*ahem*
Ciao for now!
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Raising the Stakes 03/01/2011
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I feel like I'm slowly getting back on track after a very unproductive holiday-filled six weeks. It's been difficult -- much harder than I'd have anticipated, actually.

However, I'm determined to get back into the proper headspace for 27 Stages, and I made a little headway last night, thanks in part to a documentary Alle and I watched about Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi. Yesterday was the fifty-first anniversary of Coppi's death from malaria at the age of forty-one, and since Coppi was one of Italy's greatest cyclists, it is not a day likely to pass without commemoration in this country.
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Memorial to Coppi at Pordoi Pass, Italy.
Just about every fan of cycling is aware of who Coppi is. The son of farmers in the Apennines in Northwest Italy, he rose to the heights of his chosen sport, fought in World War II, then returned to compete and achieve further acclaim as Italy worked to find its footing as a nation once again. Only his affair with a married woman -- while still married himself -- managed to tarnish his reputation in many eyes, and brought him into conflict with the laws of that time.

It's hard for me to imagine, now, that an extramarital affair could be punished by sending the participants to prison. It's hard to imagine how strongly he must have felt for "la dama in bianco" -- "the woman in white", as she was described in the press at the time -- that he would be willing to endure such public outcry (which included being spat on by spectators of the races he rode) and criticism (from no less than the Pope himself).

But he did.

He loved her and gave up his family and a good deal of his popular acclaim in order to be with her. Right or wrong, he followed his heart and did what he thought he had to in order to be with her. They dealt with the consequences, started their family (they had a son in spite of the fact they couldn't legally wed in Italy) and tried to go forward together. In the end, of course, it didn't work out the way they'd planned. Coppi died after contracting malaria during a safari trip in Burkina Faso. (The malady was misdiagnosed as influenza when it emerged after his return to Italy.)

In the last few weeks, I've seen this documentary and I've read William Fotheringham's biography of Coppi. Viewing what Coppi went through makes the prose on the page still more vivid.

After watching the documentary on television yesterday, Coppi has been on my mind even more: what he sacrificed and what he salvaged, who he loved and who he hurt, his own private losses throughout it all (his brother, Serse, who became a cyclist after Fausto did, died after crashing during the final sprint in the Giro del Piemonte in 1951).

And all of this gets turned over and over in my head, tiny elements sticking together and becoming a different whole.
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Coppi in a breakaway. There is a lithograph of this in my living room.
I'm thinking a lot about what I've written so far in 27 Stages. Yes, it's fiction, but it's clear to me that the stakes need to be raised, the risks need to be greater than what I've written up to now. I know, if only because the reality is so much greater than anything I could ever invent, I need to do my damnedest to do the stories justice.

Because their stories deserve no less.
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Thirteen Photos Currently Inspiring Me 04/03/2010
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Hello, all! Thanks for coming by this week.

Once again, cycling is the theme of this Thursday Thirteen. Next week I hope to have a different subject for you, but this week, I'm sticking with the tried-and-true. I hope you'll bear with me, 'cause I've got my WIP, 27 Stages, on the brain. That's a good thing, right?

And so, I present to you:

Thirteen Photos Currently Inspiring Me




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1) Fabian Cancellara, waiting as an official counts down at the start of a time trial. This was actually a key source of inspiration for the first Stage of the story.

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2) Inside the SaxoBank team bus. Very inspiring, particularly when writing scenes showing the team traveling in-between stages.

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3) Fabian Cancellara's leg. Umm...yeah. I think the pic says it all, really. Quite inspiring.

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4) Cyclists on holiday, sporting their "Cyclists' tan lines." I find this shot incredibly endearing. And inspiring.

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5) God bless Tim de Waele. He got this shot of Fabian Cancellara during the Tour of Oman. (Did you know there was a Tour of Oman? Now you do. It started this year.) Very, very inspiring. ...sigh...

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6) Fabian Cancellara, again. (Have you spotted a trend, yet?) Here he's toting his stuff around. Ah, yes... He's a down-to-earth kinda guy. And that's inspiring, no?

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7) Fabian Cancellara (center) during a rainy stage. (I believe it might have been a Tour of California a couple of years ago, but I'm not entirely sure.) Nevertheless, I find the smiles here very inspiring.

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8) Fabian after winning the maillot jaune in a stage of the Tour de France last year. Endearing, and exceptionally inspiring.

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9) Jimmy Engoulvent (in green) takes a fall during le Tour in 2008. He got up to finish the stage on a new bike. I find that inspiring.

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10) Daniele Bennati, sprinter. Darned inspiring. heh.

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11) Now that's a tuck, y'all! Maximum aerodynamics at work, here. When I see cyclists riding this way, it always makes me nervous. And yes, it inspires me to write scenes in hopes of making them just as nerve-wracking to read. (I hope I can do it.)

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12) This shot brings to mind the scenes in Reus, Spain, where there are several accidents in the final kilometers of the stage. The original inspiration was provided by using GoogleMaps and their 360-degree views of the city. Very useful. Very inspirational.

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13) Cancellara, yet again. Look at his leg!!! Very, very inspirational. Heh.

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14) Fabian Cancellara, post-World Championships road race in 2009. By the time he finished, he basically had nothing left to give. He made his goal of winning the Time Trials competition a couple of days before, but missed out in placing in the Road Race. It was a bad call on his part - he "went for it" too soon - and Cadel Evans took the title instead. But the photos of Fabian post-event are exceptionally inspirational for me. (And the photos of him with his family after this are heartbreaking, in my opinion.)

And now, a change of pace, of theme, of location.










Because, ya know, variety is the spice of life, they say.












And who am I to say they're wrong?









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Sorry, ladies. No name for this pic. My bestest-best friend Anthony took this one while on vacation in Puerto Rico last week. Anthony has a talent for finding the hotties, I must say... WRAWR!!!
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