Blog Archives

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Things I've Shared on Facebook

27/10/2011

This week, I thought I'd give those of you who aren't Facebook "friends" a glimpse into the tomfoolery you're currently missing. These are posts which go up on my personal page, not my "author page" on Facebook. I dare say you've probably seen some of them before, but I hope you'll enjoy them here, too.

So without further ado, I present to you

13 Things I've
Shared on Facebook

I shared this after Chrissy Olinger did. I giggle every time I see it.

I couldn't resist the epicness of this image. (Is "epicness" a word?)

The Giro d'Italia promotional video. <happy sigh>

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

Only a few days left, don'cha know! Wooooo!!!

It's crazy, but I can't wait for this - but I have to wait, since I can only watch it on DVD. :( (I refuse to watch it dubbed in Italian. I want BANDERAS' voice!)

This photo of mine was featured on the WhyGo travel site last week. I was quite pleased.

I also shared this screencap which shows my books available through an Italian online bookshop - which I've used in the past.

I Need Nothing - a nearly useless odyssey from Cãoceito on Vimeo.

Italian singer Samuele Bersani shared this music video, and I passed it along because I found it charming.

Shared because it's just painfully true for most of the women in my family.

Regardless of my stance on the OWS movement, I found this hilarious.

Shared because I have so many friends who go to "Cons" every year. Not that they're any of these guys/gals. Naaaaaah...

And finally, I shared some sexy manliness. As I generally do.

Seriously - could you blame me?

So, there you go. 13 Things I've Shared on Facebook.

I hope you enjoyed them.

And just in case my hubby's smexyness wasn't enough for you, I have something else to share, exclusively here on this blog.

'Cause you know me...

I don't want to disappoint anyone!

I tried to convince my hubby to pose like this, but he refused. I don't know why!

Ciao for now!

11 Comments

The Little Things

22/10/2011

0 Comments

My latest guest blog is up on Book After Book, where I'm talking about some of The Little Things which make a big difference when you live far from home.

Come on down and leave a little comment love, won't you please?

0 Comments

Thursday Thirteen: 13 #FunFacts About Me

20/10/2011

10 Comments

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.

If you want to know what I smell like...

2) I love the smell of snow.

*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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Seriously. Could you possibly blame me?

10 Comments

Ask Me..., Uncovered!

17/10/2011

0 Comments

For better or worse, I've had Ask Me if I'm Happy's cover analyzed on Your Cover Uncovered, a wonderful new site run by the lovely and talented Sarah E. Melville. Come see what Sarah had to say about the cover and see if you agree or disagree!

0 Comments

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Characters from 27 Stages

13/10/2011

16 Comments

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

6) Romuald "Robaczku" Brodowski - cyclist (AltaVeloCidad). When I saw this photo of French actor Stanislas Merhar, I knew I'd found my Rom.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Mathis Streitwieser

Ciao for now!

16 Comments

Thursday Thirteen: Completely Useless Edition

6/10/2011

12 Comments

I had a great idea for a Thursday Thirteen, but ran out of time to do it.

And so I offer you a completely useless Thursday Thirteen in its place.

Thursday Thirteen:
Completely Useless Edition

I hope you enjoyed them.

If not, what can I do?

Well, here's something useful.

Towels. Always useful!

Ciao for now!

12 Comments

Yay! Nell Dixon's Latest is Now Available!

2/10/2011

0 Comments

Hello everybody!

I'm so excited to share this news about my dear friend and critique partner, Nell Dixon's latest release. I had the pleasure of working on this with her, and I'm delighted with the end result. I dare say that you will be, too.

Renovation, Renovation, Renovation is the new release from multi award winning author, Nell Dixon.

Overworked, over budget and just so not over him! Kate would like an engagement ring from Steve but instead he's lumbered them with a thirteenth renovation project, and doing up Myrtle Cottage disturbs a ghost from the English Civil War who has romance troubles of her own.

Available from Amazon UK, and Amazon.com!

Renovation, Renovation, Renovation is a contemporary romance with a twist. One of the residents at Myrtle Cottage, a fifteenth century house is a rather mournful ghost called Mary Ann. She was resident during a turbulent period of English history when Oliver Cromwell was coming to power and civil war raged throughout the country. Mary Ann’s story becomes entwined with that of Kate, the current owner bringing glimpses of the past into the present.

Here’s a small excerpt.

“Hey, Kate, can you get me the torch from the kitchen?” Steve’s voice was muffled but excited.

I went and collected the torch from the junk drawer and passed it to him. “What have you found?”

He’d pulled a crate into the fireplace and balanced on it, shining the torch into the flue. Knowing my luck he’d happened on some protected species of bat and we’d have to abandon the whole project or live in the Hammer house of horrors for evermore. I could hear him scrabbling around.

“This is so great.”

“What?” My curiosity was piqued in spite of myself. Maybe he’d found treasure – some previous owners nest egg of sovereigns perhaps?

Decorated with yet more dust and soot, he emerged from the fireplace clasping a small dirty brown object in his hand.

“I never thought we’d be lucky enough to find one of these. I’ve heard about them but never, ever thought I’d find one.” An excited grin split his face and he looked like a small boy who had just been given the world’s biggest treat.

He held the object out towards me almost reverently. “It was on a ledge, quite high up inside the chimney.”

As I looked more closely I could see that what he’d found appeared to be a child’s shoe. Much worn and filthy dirty from its time in the chimney. I failed to see why Steve was so excited.

“You do know what this is, don’t you Kate?” Steve touched it carefully with the forefinger of his other hand. Again a cool movement of air swirled around my feet and ankles.

“It’s a shoe.”

“It’s a spirit trap.”

© Nell Dixon 2011

0 Comments

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Things I've Shared on Facebook

13 Things I've
Shared on Facebook

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Ask Me if I'm Happy

by Kimberly Menozzi

The Little Things

Thursday Thirteen: 13 #FunFacts About Me

13 #FunFacts About Me

Ask Me..., Uncovered!

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Characters from 27 Stages

Thirteen Characters from
27 Stages

Thursday Thirteen: Completely Useless Edition

Thursday Thirteen:
Completely Useless Edition

Yay! Nell Dixon's Latest is Now Available!

Kimberly Menozzi

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

Archives

Categories

13 Things I've Shared on Facebook

Goodreads Book Giveaway

by Kimberly Menozzi

13 #FunFacts About Me

Thirteen Characters from27 Stages

Thursday Thirteen: Completely Useless Edition

Kimberly Menozzi

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

Archives

Categories

13 Things I've
Shared on Facebook

Thirteen Characters from
27 Stages

Thursday Thirteen:
Completely Useless Edition