Blog Archives

Thirteen Photos: No Explanations

29/9/2011

This week, I'm doing a fairly random Thursday Thirteen. Photos only, with no explanations. Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments, eh?

Ciao for now...

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I've Been Interviewed by Jess Mountifield

28/9/2011

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I've got another interview up - this time with the lovely Jess Mountifield on her blog. Won't you come by and share your thoughts on what I've had to say?

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For those of you in the US who are registered on Goodreads, I'm happy to share with you this news: I'm doing a Goodreads giveaway of Ask Me if I'm Happy!

From now until October 31st, you can enter to try to win one of two copies up for grabs. Click on the graphic below for more details.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Ask Me if I'm Happy

by Kimberly Menozzi

Giveaway ends October 31, 2011.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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You Can't Write That!

24/9/2011

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My guest blog on Suzanna Burke's Soooz Says Stuff is now up. The topic: "Censorship In Literature, should it be imposed upon us; or self imposed?"

Come read my response, "You Can't Write That", and leave your thoughts on the matter, won't you?

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13 Books I Brought Home From the U.S. This Summer

22/9/2011

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Okay - several forces conspired against me doing a particularly well-thought-out Thursday Thirteen this week. With that caveat, please allow me to present:

13 Books I Brought Home From the U.S. This Summer

1) Juggling the Stars - Tim Parks.

Although I've already read this one as a library selection, I bought a copy to go on my shelf. I've enjoyed just about everything I've ever read by Tim Parks. Unpredictable, dark and funny.

2) Family Planning - Tim Parks.

I'm presently reading this one, which is proving to be another funny, dark and sometimes disturbing story by Mr. Parks. I love the way he blends dark elements and dark humor at once, creating characters you feel for and root for almost in spite of yourself.

3) Fly Away Home - Jennifer Weiner.

I bought this in the airport, read some there, read some on the plane and then finished it at home. An engaging read and just unpredictable enough to keep me pleased and turning pages at a swift rate.

4) The Opposite of Me - Sarah Pekkanen.

I really, really wanted to be more enthusiastic about this one. I was drawn in, and there were enough twists and turns to keep it from being just another "Chick-Lit" title, but she hit so many cliches along the way, I was left a tad disappointed. And the tacked-on feel of the ending (which felt broadcast from the start of the book, for me) didn't help.

5) Shadow of Ashland - Terence M. Green.

I first read this one nearly thirteen years (or so) ago, when I stumbled across it in a library in New Jersey. It takes place in my hometown of Ashland, Kentucky, and I was amazed that anyone would write about that small steel town on the Ohio river. It's an interesting story - not just because of that link to my own life - involving time travel and reaching into one's family's past. Surprisingly touching and romantic, too.

6) Brava, Valentine - Adriana Trigiani.

I've been a fan of Trigiani's work since I first read Big Stone Gap (again, a book based on a place where I've lived - or in this case, a place I lived near). For the most part, I enjoyed this story (a sequel to Very Valentine), but there were a few stumbles along the way. One thing which particularly leapt out at me was a mistake in Italian (yes, I'm that nitpicky). It pulled me right out of the narrative for a few moments, and I kept thinking "She should know better than that - anyone who's first learning Italian should know better than that." Otherwise, it's another great read with surprising heart and emotion within.

And now, a few books I haven't read, yet...

7) The Gunslinger Born - Stephen King/Marvel Comics.

I'm looking forward to savoring every panel of this one. The famous comic book adaptation of the "Wizard and Glass" tale in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King retells the story of the coming-of-age of Roland Deschain.

8) Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk.

I bought this for a bargain price and it's next on my reading list. I really enjoyed Fight Club and Choke, and I'm looking forward to more of Palahniuk's twisted universe.

9) Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill.

Another much-anticipated title for me. My hubby read it and liked it, and I've heard good things about this one - but I'm not letting Hill's parentage affect my opinion of his work. No. I won't.

10) Great House - Nicole Krauss.

It's not often I buy a book without bothering to even read the blurb, just because I've liked the author's other work, but in this case, I took the leap. I adored The History of Love, and thought Man Walks Into a Room was a well-written and interesting story. We'll see how I feel about this one...

11) Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist.

This one has me bouncing in excitement already. The movie was fantastic (the original - I haven't seen the US remake), sort of an "Anti-Twilight", with vampires who, you know, actually kill people. I've been told there's so much more in the novel to enjoy, making it even better than the film. I'm putting off reading it because I want to read it when it's cold outside, and I can really sink into the story in the dark.

And I don't like scary stories.

Believe it or not, those are all the books I bought while in the States. The other books I purchased were for my mother (a voracious reader in her own right), and I kept myself on a pretty tight budget for most of my visit.

However, there were two other books I brought back to Italy in multiple copies:

12) Ask Me if I'm Happy - Kimberly Menozzi.

The US edition of my book. Isn't it pretty-pretty?

13) Alternate Rialto - Kimberly Menozzi.

I had to bring a few of these for my coworkers, students and other interested parties here in Italy.

And there you have them:
the 13 Books I Brought Home From the U.S. This Summer.

I've enjoyed a few already, and I'll enjoy the rest soon.

Now if I could just get some more bookshelves built to put all these wonderful books on!

I mean, I love a little DIY, when I'm up to it.

But sometimes, I need a little help.

And then, once I've got that work done...

I can settle down with a good...book.

Ciao for now!

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Book After Book - Latest Blog is Up!

22/9/2011

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My newest blog for Book After Book is up! This time around, I'm sharing my "Late September Notes" - please come and leave some comment love, won't you?

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Thirteen Cycling Hotties (Post-Grand Tours Edition)

15/9/2011

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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)

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

A personal favorite of mine for many reasons.

*heh*

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

*ahem*

3) Maxime Monfort (Leopard Trek)
Belgian.

Just watch him on the bike.

'nuff said.

4) Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo)
American

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

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.

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!

7) Thor Husbhovd (Garmin-Cervelo)
Norwegian.

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

*oh, yeah*

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

Look at that smile! Just look at it!

9) Lloyd Mondory (AG2R Mondiale).
French.

I love this photo. Purrrrr...

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:

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.

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!!!!!

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!

Ciao for now!

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A quick re-cap of recent(ish) events

12/9/2011

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Whew! What a long summer! It seems to be getting longer and longer, too, what with this extended warmth into September. Ugh! Enough already!

Anyway, I just thought I'd write and share some of the experiences of this summer with my readers since you were decidedly shortchanged in recent weeks (nay, months!) while I was in the US.

For a start, there was jetlag (isn't there always?), but I still found myself driving after just a couple of days. Obviously I survived, so that's okay. Immediately upon arrival, I found my "proof" copies of my novels waiting for me, and I had a look at them before I approved them for printing.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea, what with jetlag and all...? Hmmm...

Anyway, a short while after I arrived, I was delighted to find that the Versus channel would be showing both the Tour of Switzerland and the International Criterium. O, delight! O, joy!

And I duly plonked my butt down in front of the TV and watched all the coverage I could, making notes all the while.

I got some writing done.

I did an interview with the local newspaper.

Then I did two book events in Newport, TN, which were both a lot of fun.

Books and newspaper article, on display at the signing at Comfort Inn of Newport.

I wonder if this will ever get "old"? I kinda doubt it.

It was a real treat to sit and chat with people who were interested in my work, and it was equally rewarding to do this with people who really, truly want to see the book succeed and for me to do well in this career. The amount of satisfaction I got from doing these events was just incredible.

Some of the attendees of the Comfort Inn event in July.

The hubby on holiday. He's even got his towel. He's a really hoopy frood!

Then my hubby arrived from Italy in August and I found myself behind the wheel more than ever, as we traveled from Tennessee to Kentucky to Virginia to North Carolina and back again. We visited friends and family, and found a little time just for the two of us, too. We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway and took a walk in Cades Cove, ate delicious chocolate and unique vegetarian food, slept and shopped and watched TV.

In other words, for the first time in ages I think I had an actual VACATION.

Then we boarded the plane at the beginning of September and flew home.

Over the course of the last few months, I've made more paperback sales - both out of hand and online - and e-book sales have continued at a reasonably steady pace. Stephen King and J.K. Rowling aren't exactly shaking in their shoes or anything, but it's enough to keep me modestly happy and eternally hopeful.

Not to mention: motivated.

Another thing which kept - and keeps - me motivated: fan mail! I got my first fan mail messages this summer, and it was the most surreal, wonderful feeling ever.

Without motivation, I look something like this, most days.

And this brings me to: now.

I'm still jetlagged (West-to-East is harder than East-to-West, in my experience). It's hotter than normal, so I'm having trouble sleeping at night. I'm trying to get and stay motivated, so I'm not in the aforementioned condition, modelled above by Abel the kitty. I'm also trying to eat right/better so I can lose some weight and feel better all round. You know, like most folks do at New Year's?

And above all, I'm trying to write. I have chapters to crit, and my own writing to do. I have blogs to complete for other sites and reviews to write. I have artwork to prepare and photos to upload.

It's the glamour of a writer's life, don'cha know?

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Thirteen Reasons I Haven't Done a Thursday Thirteen

8/9/2011

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Here I am!!!

After an extensive and unplanned delay, I'm back on the T13 loop! It was never my intention to take this little "holiday", but there were a number of reasons I couldn't manage posts in a timely manner.

Does that sound like a lead-in to you? It sure does to me!

So please, allow me to present to you

13 Reasons I Haven't Done a Thursday Thirteen

This kitty was NOT the actual problem.

1) Internet issues. I stayed with my mother, and while she now has Hughes Net, the bandwidth allowance is only 200MB a DAY - so that pretty well knocked out any uploading, extensive writing or researching I might have done for the T13 posts over the summer.

The hubby's and my hotel room in Asheville, NC.

2) Traveling. I've been On-the-go an awful lot this summer, which hasn't quite lent itself to doing any posts.

REWARD: DEAD OR ALIVE

3) Visiting friends. I spent a lot of time hanging out with my friends back home. Not much time left over to spend on the 'net as a result!

Le RAWR!!!

4) Le Tour de France.
Do I really need to explain this one? Suffice it to say that getting up at six a.m. (on several occasions) pretty well knocked out any blogging intentions...

5) Promotion! If I was online at all, chances are it was to do some promotion for my work. Otherwise, it was hard to justify the bandwidth usage.

My cousin and two of the raccoons in question.

6) Visiting family. Remember that travel I mentioned? Yeah, quite a lot of it was in order to see family members from Florida to Kentucky.

And let's face it, if the choice is between writing a blog or watching your cousin hand-feed a wild raccoon and her kits, which are you gonna choose?

This picture is proof that I had to walk outdoors at some point.

7) Exercising. Believe it or not. I was on a treadmill a good deal of the summer. Well, for part of many of the summer days, anyway.

Does this coat make me look...Italian?

8) Shopping. I didn't do as much this year as I normally do, but shopping actually took up a fair amount of time this summer - especially once Alle joined me.

He was actually yawning, btw.

9) Taking pictures. I spent some time this summer taking photos, like this gem here. This is my mother's kitty, Abel, doing his impersonation of the UK Wildcat. He's got talent!

Some writing I enjoyed more than other writing...

10) Writing! No, really! Okay, not as much as I'd have liked, but I did get some writing done.

Pretty, pretty picture...

11) Doing research. Naturally, along with watching TdF coverage (and Tour de Suisse, and International Criterium, and Vuelta a Espana coverage) on TV, I found reading material on cycling to enrich my writing.

And I looked at the pretty, pretty pictures.

12) Answering "fan mail". Okay, calling it "fan mail" might be my ego raging out of control, but I got a few very nice messages over the summer from readers who are very interested in getting their hands on a copy of 27 Stages as soon as it's out there. *gulp* I'd better get to work on that...

13) Resting. I needed a lot of rest - first, when I arrived, to get over the jetlag. Then I needed to rest after jumping into driving straightaway. Then after Le Tour started, I needed to recover from marathon viewing sessions. Frankly, there were, indeed, times when my creative juices seemed completely tapped out.

But they're back, methinks...

And there you have 13 Reasons I Haven't Done a Thursday Thirteen.

I hope to start posting regularly, now.

After all...

I don't want to neglect my readership, and hey:

It's great to be back!

Greg Van Avermaet - cyclist

Ciao for now!

14 Comments

Thirteen Photos: No Explanations

I've Been Interviewed by Jess Mountifield

108: Sempre con noi

Yay! A Goodreads Giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Ask Me if I'm Happy

by Kimberly Menozzi

You Can't Write That!

13 Books I Brought Home From the U.S. This Summer

13 Books I Brought Home From the U.S. This Summer

Book After Book - Latest Blog is Up!

Thirteen Cycling Hotties (Post-Grand Tours Edition)

Thirteen Cycling Hotties
(Post-Grand Tours Edition)

A quick re-cap of recent(ish) events

Thirteen Reasons I Haven't Done a Thursday Thirteen

13 Reasons I Haven't Done a Thursday Thirteen

Kimberly Menozzi

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

Archives

Categories

Goodreads Book Giveaway

by Kimberly Menozzi

13 Books I Brought Home From the U.S. This Summer

Thirteen Cycling Hotties(Post-Grand Tours Edition)

13 Reasons I Haven't Done a Thursday Thirteen

Kimberly Menozzi

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

Archives

Categories

Thirteen Cycling Hotties
(Post-Grand Tours Edition)