Blog Archives

Thursday Thirteen: Happy Anniversary Edition!

27/2/2014

Ciao a tutti! Hi, everybody! It's that time again, and this week, I've prepared a special little tribute to my hubby of ten years - and tomorrow, that number is official! That's right, our tenth wedding anniversary is Friday the 28th, and I thought I'd "celebrate" a bit by sharing some of my favorite photos of my hottie hubby, Alessandro, taken over the years.

So now, please allow me to share with you:

Thirteen Photos of My Hubby!

1) August 2003, when we first met in person after a months-long "courtship" on the internet and telephone.

2) 2004 - Our first (and so far, only) Christmas in Tennessee. The weather was remarkably warm that year.

3) 2004 - Alle in his Green Cross gear. (Gotta love a man in uniform, eh?)

4) 2006 - Alle tries to persuade Santa that we'd both been very good that year. Santa wasn't buying it, though.

5) 2005 - Our first trip to Ferrara for Easter Monday.

6) 2004 - A stop in Lucca on our honeymoon trip.

7) The photo Alle sent me in 2003 which made me fall head over heels for him. Taken in Ireland.

8) 2004 - Alle clowning around in Siena during our honeymoon trip.

9) Alle (on the right) poses with his friends during a rest break on a ride. (I think this was 2006 or 2007, but I'm not sure.)

10) Alle with his newborn niece, Mia in 2008.

11) Alle poses for me in Fontanellato in 2006.

12) Alle and me, in Pisa (of course) in 2006.

13) Alle has some Daddy-Daughter Bonding Time with Doodle in 2008.

And there you have them: Thirteen Photos of My Hubby!

I think you'll agree he's a cutie, eh?

And since this is a special edition of my Thursday Thirteen, I've prepared an equally special final photo for you all.

It's a little different from the usual fare (to say the least), but...

I sure hope you don't mind!

Squeeeee! Baby Alle!

Ciao for now! :)

20 Comments

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Books in My To-Be-Read Pile

20/2/2014

16 Comments

Ciao a tutti! Hi, everybody! It's that time again - and this week, I'm sharing with you a portion of the books stacked up in my To-Be-Read pile, at the moment. So, here we go:

Thirteen Books in My To-Be-Read Pile

1) Sex is Forbidden - Tim Parks

2) Talking About It - Tim Parks

3) Adultery and Other Diversions - Tim Parks

4) Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman

5) Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

6) Stardust - Neil Gaiman

7) The Red House - Mark Haddon

8) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- Mark Haddon

9) Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Matthew Green

10) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

11) Look at the Birdie - Kurt Vonnegut

12) Joyland - Stephen King

13) A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

And there you have them: Thirteen Books in My To-Be-Read Pile!

Do we have any in common? Let me know in the comments, won't you?

And, in the meantime, I think we can agree that it's perfect weather for kicking back and reading a good book.

Even if we have to write it ourselves!

Ciao for now!

16 Comments

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Reasons to Download Alternate Rialto

6/2/2014

17 Comments

Ciao a tutti! Hi, everybody! Well, it has been another busy week for me, filled with writing, editing, cover designing, and blah-blah-blah (as my niece Mia loves to say). This week also saw - albeit very briefly - my novella, Alternate Rialto, at number ONE (sorry, mustn't shout) on one of Amazon Italy's freebie lists. (See this post for more details.) As a result, I've decided to share

Thirteen Reasons to Download Alternate Rialto

1) Call me crazy, but I think that's a reasonably lovely cover, if I do say so myself.

2) It's the story of an ordinary young woman making some important self-discoveries while in Venice.

3) It's romantic without being too saccharine about it.

4) There's a genuine friendship between the two female characters, who support one another without competition.

5) The male character has an air of mystery about him.

6) He was heavily inspired by this gentleman: Kim Rossi Stuart (Italian actor).

7) There's a darker undercurrent to the story which keeps you guessing.

8) If you've already read Ask Me if I'm Happy, but haven't read Alternate Rialto, you'll finally learn how Emily and Jacopo met in the first place.

9) If you haven't read Ask Me if I'm Happy, this is your chance to read the whole story in a more linear fashion, from start to finish!

10) It takes place in VENICE, ITALY! What's not to like about that?

11) It's a realistic portrait of the city, too, both beautiful and flawed.

12) Here's an excerpt, should you desire one:

The streets were virtually empty, the campi deserted. They crossed the Rialto Bridge again, Jacopo guiding her as before, but this time he steered her to a place at the wall. The bridge was aglow, the ghostly pale stone surface softly illuminated by strategically placed lights. They stood and looked out at the reflections on the water which rippled, rose and fell with soft, gentle lapping against the boats moored nearby.

"Emily," he said, his voice scarcely carrying above the soft murmurs of conversation around them. She drew her gaze away from the hypnotic dance of light on water to face him.

Yes? she wanted to ask, but the word never formed on her lips. Instead, his hands framed her face and held her still as he brought his lips to hers in a soft kiss. She raised her own trembling hands to cover his as he kissed her again. At once, the other people vanished, along with the bridge, the water and the city itself.

His hands slipped from under hers to stroke her hair, twisting and tangling in the length of it while his kiss deepened. Her heartbeat was distant and remote, somewhere else. There were only his lips, parting hers and lingering while he pulled her to him and held her securely in his embrace. Emily trembled as eagerness, anxiety and need warred amongst themselves, threatening to breach the surface at any moment.

An adventure. I need to have an adventure. I deserve it, too, don't I?

Awareness of her surroundings filtered through, murky and submerged but slowly clarifying in the laughter and soft talk all around them. At last, she opened her eyes to find herself looking directly into his. The pale, Summer-sky blue of his eyes held her transfixed for what seemed like forever.

13) Finally, I hasten to add: it's FREE!!! What more reason could you need? What have you got to lose?

And there you go: Thirteen Reasons to Download Alternate Rialto!

I hope you'll find them persuasive.

And if not, I'll just ask nicely.

So... Pretty please?

With sugar on top!

I thought this photo kept with the "aquatic" theme of Venice.

Ciao for now!

17 Comments

Alternate Rialto Tops Amazon Italy Chart!

4/2/2014

0 Comments

Okay, to be fair, I may have hyped that title just a bit.

Still, Alternate Rialto did, in fact, reach number one on the Amazon Italy Kindle English-language freebies chart for Contemporary Fiction (Narrativa Contemporanea).

Hitting number one meant I'd topped Melissa Foster, Sophie Kinsella and Nadia Lee for a day - and that's no easy feat!

So, "Hurrah!" for list-topping, for the first time ever! Here's hoping I can manage it again, sometime. Heh.

0 Comments

Thursday Thirteen: Happy Anniversary Edition!

Thirteen Photos of My Hubby!

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Books in My To-Be-Read Pile

Thirteen Books in My To-Be-Read Pile

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Reasons to Download Alternate Rialto

Thirteen Reasons to Download Alternate Rialto

Alternate Rialto Tops Amazon Italy Chart!

Kimberly Menozzi

Please note: Thanks to an increase in spam comments, I'll be approving the comments before they post. Sorry!

Archives

Categories