Ciao a tutti! Thanks to a busy day yesterday, and preparing for a brief visit from a guest today, I hadn't quite prepared anything for this week's Thursday Thirteen. So here's a glimpse into the chaos of my surroundings, at the moment, instead.

Please allow me to present to you:

Thirteen Objects on my Desk!

1) A Concise English Desk Reference Dictionary.
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2) A 3-Disc Collectors' Edition of Spaced.

3) My eyeglasses cleaning cloth.
4) My camera.
5) A packet of tissues. ('tis the season for runny noses, eh?)
6) My old day planners from last year and the year before. I have no idea why.
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7) A book bag with this image and saying on it.
(It says: A cat would never sleep on a mediocre book.)

8) My Kindle ereader.
9) My denim purse.
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10) My Paddington Bear keychain (from London).

11) My medicine for my itchy skin rash.
12) My mobile phone.
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13) A copy of 501 Italian Verbs. I really need to study. ...sigh...

And there you go. A fascinating glimpse into this writer's life.







I sincerely hope you've enjoyed it.












It's form of anthropology, in a way, I suppose.

















Maybe not. I dunno.










It's getting hard to think, as it's cold now and I want a cup of tea and a book.









Or maybe getting active is the best solution?


















Hockey, anyone?
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Ciao for now!
 
 
Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd share a reasonably random peek into my life for this week's Thursday Thirteen. So now you have:

13 Things I've Done in the Past Week

1) Offered advice and - in a manner of speaking - counseling to a few different folks via Twitter. I've also been incredibly silly there, too. It's funny - I didn't think I'd like Twitter much, but a friend persuaded me to use it to follow all the cyclists on there. Now I'm pretty well hooked on it!

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Doodle!
2) My darling furball, Sophie (a.k.a., Doodlebug) has seen to it that I've been awakened at varying points throughout the night to keep her company/feed her/I have no idea why. So, one reason I don't have a smashing TT post is because I'm incredibly sleepy.

3) This week, I agreed to continue doing guest blogs for Book After Book. I'm pleased to be able to continue my ongoing relationship with this book blog. It's been a lot of fun, so far - and now I'll be writing about more subjects than before, including a fictional piece or two.


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Inspiring, isn't he?
4) I've gotten back to work on 27 Stages in a big way. Needless to say, this pleases me. I'm roughly four chapters away from wrapping up the first draft. Wish me luck!

5) I vacuumed most of the house. Except for the bedroom where my kitty was cowering, because I couldn't bring myself to scare her further with the vacuum. Even though she has no qualms about keeping me up at night.

I'm a sucker. I know.

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It's a good read!
6) I'm reading (will finish it today, actually) my wonderful critique partner Nell Dixon's book, Crystal Clear.

7) On a similar note, I also got to critique a couple of chapters of one of Nell's current Works-in-Progress. I can't wait to see how this one will play out!

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Short and sexy, just like me!
8) This week (this morning, in fact) saw the end of Alternate Rialto as one of Amazon's free offerings. I have mixed emotions about this. I enjoyed seeing the (for me) higher "sales" numbers, but I really would like to actually earn some money on this book, too.

9) I saw the New Year in with my hubby's family. We had a quiet evening - well, mostly, as there was a hyper-excited three-and-a-half year old involved - and that's how I prefer to go about it.

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I'm still pleased with this cover.
10) This week also saw Ask Me if I'm Happy as the Book in the Spotlight for the day over at the Famous Five Plus blog.

11) I've helped my hubby with his Beatles homework*, and we've watched episodes of Beatles Anthology via YouTube almost every night this week. It has been a wonderful way to wind down and end the day, and I'll miss it when we've watched the whole series.

*My hubby was told by a friend of ours to "study" the Beatles albums when he confessed over a dinner that he wasn't exactly familiar with all of their work.


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12) I finally managed to get the exercise bike brought up and put in my office. This picture is of the model I have, but it's not a photo of mine. I just wanted you to see that I'm rocking this thing old school. (I can't wait to ride my real bike again!)

13) In relation to #2 above - I spent a couple of hours poring over maps of France in order to plot out the final two race stages of 27 Stages. I even had to negotiate a French train ticket site in order to be sure I hadn't gone mad with the route planning.
I don't speak French.
It was exhausting.

Don't judge me.



I know, it doesn't sound like much when I mention it like this, but these events really have kept me quite busy over the last week.












And I'm pretty prone to distractions, so that doesn't help.



























I mean, I'm wandering around online, here and there, tra-la-la-ing as I go...























And then...


























I'm sorry, I... ah... Hmmm?
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Ciao for now!
 
 
This week's post is inspired by a Twitter conversation I had with J. Lea Lopez this morning. So, without further ado, please allow me to present

13 #FunFacts About Me

1) My hubby says I naturally smell like the lotion called "Love" which is sold at Cracker Barrel stores in the US.
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If you want to know what I smell like...
2) I love the smell of snow.
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*snnnniiiiiiifffffff!*
3) I wrote my first full-length novel when I was seventeen.
4) My longest-standing crush lasted over 16 years and led to me traveling to London for the first time. David Gilmour was the object of that affection.
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This was perfection for me, until I met my hubby.
5) I form crushes on my characters, too. I think this is why they don't leave me until the story is written.
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I'm sure you can understand why, yes?
6) I'm already planning on taking the train to Modena for the departure of a stage in next year's Giro d'Italia.
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Rumor has it that Jakob, here, will captain his team at the Giro. Gee, I wonder why I wanna go?
7) Going back to number one, my hubby makes a point of sniffing me before he leaves the house, every day. LOL! I do the same to him too.
8) Numbers one, two and seven are to be expected, because I have a very sensitive sense of smell.
9) This morning, I gave my kitty a kiss on the head and she smelled like maple syrup.
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Maple syrup which purrs. Occasionally.
10) I enjoy eating meals out or getting takeaway dinners far more than I should. I get excited days in advance of a meal out.
11) I had originally intended to save my money and move to the UK if I could. Just a few months after putting this plan into motion, I met Alessandro and moved to Italy less than a year later.
12) I cried tears of joy when Oliver Zaugg of Leopard Trek won Il Lombardia (the cycling race formerly known as il Giro di Lombardia) this year.
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Oliver and family after the race. Squee!
13) The fact that my beloved Leopard Trek are merging with Team Radio Shack displeases me greatly. I pray they'll at least keep something closer to the LT kit, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.


















Oh, I almost forgot - a bonus #FunFact about me!



























14) I have a great appreciation for the male form, don'cha know?



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Seriously. Could you possibly blame me?