Ciao a tutti! Hi, everybody! Welcome back for another Thursday Thirteen! This week, I'm featuring an interview with another friend and former member of the Authonomy elite, Cameron Chapman. Cameron is one of those multi-talented types you hear about, an honest-to-goodness triple-threat: Writer, Blogger and Filmmaker/Director. She's got some interesting projects on the go right now, and I thought you might enjoy meeting her, too.

So now, without further ado, please allow me to share

1) First, the usual sort of thing: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m an author, blogger, and aspiring filmmaker from northern New England. I’ve been writing professionally for more than five years now (it’s my primary source of income), and really got into filmmaking a couple years ago. I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember, though.

2) Since you live in a somewhat rural area, do you find this affects your creativity? Is your work influenced by your surroundings, or do you create solely from a universe in your head?

A little of both, actually. I take a lot of inspiration from my environment, so I need to live somewhere interesting, whether that’s a rural area or the city (the suburbs and I do not get along). The slower pace of life where I live makes it easier to find time to create. And I also live in an area with a ton of creative people, which is nice. There’s a real sense of support and community. People don’t look at you like you’re an alien when you tell them you write or you make films. Okay, some do, but they’re the minority.

3) What was your first creative effort you shared with others?

The first thing I shared with people outside of immediate family was a novel that eventually became the inspiration for The Steam and Steel Chronicles, my steampunk novella series. That was shared on Authonomy, at the behest of a couple of other writers (who I’m still friends with even though I’m no longer active on the site).

(note: The Steam and Steel Chronicles include the novellas Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris, The Great Healion Race, and The Quest for the Demon Disconcerter. They are also available on BarnesandNoble.com.)

4) What are you focusing on more, now? Articles? Novels? Films?

All of the above! I can’t just have one project going. I’m currently working on edits for the final novella in The Steam and Steel Chronicles. After that I have another novel I wrote a couple years ago that’s in desperate need of some editing. I just signed a book deal for another non-fiction design book, so that’s going to be taking up a chunk of my time for the next few months. I’m working on a music video for a friend’s band, as well as a script for a no-budget feature film. And I’m writing articles and blogging full-time, still.

5) What project are you most proud of, today?

That’s a tough one! I’m pretty proud of the short film I just released, This is all you left me. I’m also really proud of the women’s fiction novel I wrote a couple years ago, Hold My Hand. But really, I’m proud of pretty much everything I’ve put out there.

6) Do you listen to music when you're working?

Always. I create playlists for different projects (you can find some of them on my YouTube channel). It’s been interesting working on this music video, because it means I’m listening to that one song sometimes ten or fifteen (or more) times a day when I’m brainstorming. I think my ability to listen to songs on repeat for hours is just a sign that I’m meant to make music videos! For other projects, I find songs that fit the mood of the story and listen to them when I want to get into the right mood.

7) Who do you consider your influences in each field?

Neil Gaiman is probably the biggest inspiration to me in terms of writing. He’s done a little of everything: novels, comics, children’s books, TV and movies, etc. I’d love a career that has that kind of breadth. His novel Neverwhere was a huge influence on me as a teenager. I’m also a big Stephen King fan, and I love Jeffrey Lent, too. In terms of filmmaking, I have a ton of influences. I love Rob Zombie’s directing, particular The Devil’s Rejects, which is funny since I have no interest in directing horror. I love Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, Sophia Coppola, Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson, and plenty of others.

8) Do you ever try to "shut down" to recharge your creative batteries, so to speak? Or do you just keep going 24/7?

Very, very rarely I have to take a break from doing creative things and unplug. But that’s only every few months. Otherwise, I’m creating every day. It’s just how I operate. I’m not happy if I’m not doing something productive.

9) Which of your projects was the most difficult to produce? Why?  

The Steam and Steel Chronicles has been challenging, mostly because of the time commitment. I’d never done a series before, so taking on a project that is literally taking years to complete has been a little daunting. But I try to push the envelope and challenge myself with each new thing I take on, so each new project is more difficult than the last (at least in theory).

10) How valuable is peer evaluation to you?

It’s a bell curve for me. When I first start out with a new creative endeavor or project, I tend to keep it hidden from everyone. Once I get more comfortable with it, then I embrace feedback from peers. I rarely get my feelings hurt by constructive criticism (okay, there was a person on Authonomy who once made me cry, but not intentionally). Once I get toward the end of a particular project, or once I get more confident in my own abilities in a particular field, then I don’t seek out peer review as much. I have a few key people I value feedback from, but other than that, I go with my own instincts about whether something is good or not.

11) If you could do any project over again, which one would it be, and how would you change it?

I’m not big on revisiting old projects. Once it’s done, it’s done in my mind. I release it into the world and honestly try to forget about it as much as possible. I do have some unreleased manuscripts sitting on my hard-drive that I’d like to rewrite and publish at some point, but other than that, there aren’t really any projects I’d like a do-over on.

12) What is your dream project?

I would love to do a feature film with recognizable talent. I would love to work with someone like Johnny Depp or Jennifer Lawrence or Rachel Weisz or Hugh Jackman. On a slightly more realistic level, I have a script I would love to produce and direct that could be done on a very small budget, and there’s a particular person (Shannon Leto) I would love to star in it. Not sure if that one’s ever going to happen either, but a girl can dream!

13) What's on the horizon for you?

I’ve got a ton of projects coming up. Filmmaking has really become my passion. But I love writing, too. I’m a storyteller at heart, and regardless of the medium, I’m going to keep telling stories.

Ciao a tutti! Hi, everybody! It's been another busy week here at Casa Menozzi, but I've pulled together a Thursday Thirteen list I hope you'll enjoy. Because that's what this one is all about: Enjoying!

So without further ado, please allow me to present to you:

1) "Glad All Over" - the Dave Clark Five
The giddy joy of the British Invasion sound? Yes, please! Thank you!

2) "She's Not There" - The Zombies
I've loved this song since I was a teenager (in the '80s, thank you). I just...do.

3) "You're No Good" - Linda Ronstadt
Her cover of this classic, soulful song is a classic itself.

4) "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" - Paula Cole
Bitterness, brokeness, pure despair put to music. A song about what happens when you get what you wanted, but didn't really quite think it through to begin with.

5) "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" - Jim Croce
For everyone who has ever tried to share their feelings with someone they loved, and found simple words inadequate.

6) "Possum Kingdom" - the Toadies
Creepy. Icky. Fascinating.

7) "Buddy Holly" - Weezer
I like the goofiness of it. So sue me.

8) "White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane
Another one I've loved since high school (I was a big fan of '60s music during the '80s). Trippy. And it blew my husband's mind to learn this was the same band (moreso that it was the same singer) to record "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" nearly twenty years later.

9) "Let's Live for Today" - The Grass Roots
I saw them in concert (supporting the Monkees) in the '80s. They were still darned good, too. I played this song until the tape I'd made broke.

10) "Wonderwall" - Oasis
I'm pretty sure this is the only song by Oasis that I genuinely like. (I was more a Pulp fan, after the whole BritPop thing had concluded. During it, I was more a Blur fan. I still prefer Pulp and Blur - but mostly Pulp. I could do a whole list of favorite Pulp songs.)

11) "Take Me to the Pilot" - Elton John
Rockin' it old school with Reggie.

12) "I Melt With You" - Modern English
My husband had never heard this song before. I amended that as soon as I could.

13) "Runaway" - Del Shannon
Just turn it up and enjoy.

And there you go: for better or worse, 13 Songs I Forgot I Enjoy!












Are any of these on your mixtapes or MP3 players?














Will you put 'em on there now?

















I promised an extra piece of eye candy last week since I didn't share any after my interview with Robb Grindstaff.












So, naturally, I've done my best to follow through.













After all...












As you surely know by now...

















I always do my best to keep my promises.

Ciao for now!

Hello, everyone! This week, I'm going to provide you with a musical interlude - mostly because I'm writing and editing and have been listening to music endlessly while I work (it's part of my process, y'see).

So now, please allow me to present to you:

First up are three songs by Amanda Palmer (formerly with the Dresden Dolls, once upon a time). I bought her most recent album (Theatre is Evil, with the Grand Theft Orchestra) and quite enjoyed it, along with some of her older work. She might not be everyone's cup of tea right away, but I find she grows on you, and her original lyrics are frequently intriguing and stunning pieces of art.

Of course, I can't write without Samuele...

Well, there you go. Now you know how I've been spending my (musical) time, lately.




















I hope you've enjoyed this extended musical interlude.




















And now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get back to writing.



















And since I'm writing another story with Davide Magnani in it...


















It's only fair to feature Luca Argentero again.























I've missed him.

























Haven't you?

Ciao for now!

Four years ago, while I workshopped the original short-story form of Ask Me if I'm Happy on a writing site called URBIS, I read some excerpts from Christopher Allen. We got to be online friends after I rated the excerpts and shared my thoughts on them, and soon we were chatting about things other than books or writing. I thought he was funny and definitely talented - ask other folks, they'll tell you the same! - and I expected to see more of his URBIS project soon.

Well, it took a little longer than expected - these things often do - but now the big day has come! So please, allow me to share with you:

1) What one thing would you want readers to know about you?

That I mean them no harm. I want them to laugh until their bellies jiggle. I want their tear ducts to be cleansed through uproarious giggling fits.

2) Is there a genre you'd like to write in, but haven't tried? If so, why not?

I’ve written in just about every genre out there except western. Is that still what they call it? I remember reading several western mysteries as a teenager, and I liked them very much. I wouldn’t want to write a western, though. Although I have dabbled in science fiction, I’ve never finished a story. Definitely science fiction. Something like Stargate. Big fan.

3) Your previous stories have often had a contemplative or bittersweet quality to them. The new book seems to be a departure from that. Was there a reason for this?

I think contemplative and crazy are just two parts of me that come out at different times. Conversations with S. Teri O’Type has been a wild book to write, and I hope it will be just as wild to read. It’s humor and parody and most of all satire. Nothing here is serious except everything.

4) How much of your real life informs your writing?

My inner life—my worries and my dreams—informs my writing a great deal, but if you mean my day-to-day life of teaching and mowing the lawn and making dinner, etc. I try to keep that separate. There are times that certain situations will spark an idea for a story. The oak in the backyard keeps giving me stories. Then the hedge gave me one. I should spend more time out there.

5) Where have you been published previously?

Most of my work has been published at literary ezines, most recently at SmokeLong Quarterly. Others include A-Minor Magazine, Blue Five Notebook Series, Gone Lawn, Referential Magazine, Every Day Fiction, The Legendary, Pure Slush and Metazen (where I’m an editor). I’ve had non-fiction published at Connotation Press and BootsnAll Travel, and several of my creative non-fiction pieces have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul (print, mass market). I’ve also been very fortunate to have landed in cool short story/flash collections like Flash Fiction Fridays and STRIPPED, a collection of anonymous flash fiction.

6) You live in Europe but you're from the US. Does being an expat affect your writing style?

It certainly does, I’m just not sure how. I wish I could go back and forth between parallel universes and see Christopher Allen in Nashville vs. Christopher Allen in Munich. I’m sure I’ve become a different person, so of course my writing style has developed differently. Maybe this is the science fiction novel I’ll end up writing. Or not. I am certainly more secluded her than I would have been if I’d stayed in Nashville. Seclusion is good for writing.

7) What is your typical writing workday like?

I wake up at around 6a.m. I used to get up at 5a.m. but I’ve trained my body to lie there and suck it up for another hour. I turn on my computer and let the old bag boot while I make coffee. I check my e-mails, I check facebook, I check my blog, I sip my coffee, I check Twitter. I chat with people in the US who’ve not gone to bed yet. I sip my coffee. I notice the piles of reminders on my desk. Here are the ones I’m looking at today. March AWP! Indie Author News! Check SmokeLong! Message classes about tomorrow!! Gay Book Club NYC!!! Edit “Furniture”! My notes tend to scream at me. I start checking off the things on the list, which is much longer than this. I haven’t listed the names of people I’m working with on interviews and such. I take a nap because my shoulder is hurting. You get the picture. I should be writing, but I’ve just come back from vacuuming the kitchen.

8) Which writers have influenced/inspired you?

I love writers like Chuck Palahnuik and Daniel Handler and Lucy Ellmann and Julie Innis. One of my favorite writers is Jincy Willett. I love all these people for their sharp wit and exciting prose. I want to be all of them when I get taller. I’ve never lost hope.

9) Do you have a "target audience"?

All people on planet Earth would be nice. Doing the math, I think that would make me the richest man on planet Earth. But let’s say that doesn’t happen. I would hope that people—not just gay men—who love humor and stories that break away from the mold just a bit would love, or at least read, or at least buy, Conversations with S. Teri O’Type. The cover is very pretty, so it would look great on coffeetables and bathroom shelves. It is a story about a man in his mid-forties who has never learned how to be gay, so . . . um . . . I see this is the next question. Moving right along . . .

10) What is this book about?

So Curt, a dysfagtional man in his mid-forties, enlists the help of a self-proclaimed “gayru” to help him get gay. It’s a farcical jaunt down the Road to Greater Gayness, an absurd tale, a train wreck of sorts between a guy who thinks he knows nothing and a monster who thinks he knows everything.  

11) When did you first get the idea for this particular book?

I wrote the first Conversation on an online workshop in 2008 I believe. Fifteen of the 30 Conversations were born in the online workshop, but the story actually took shape much later. It has been a long process. Deciding what Curt, the narrator, really wants came much later than 2008.

12) Was this book inspired by anyone in your life?

It’s funny you ask that. My partner, who read half of the book on a plane last week, thinks he’s Curt. And maybe there are aspects of Curt in him. I remember once when we were living in London in 1998, he hung all the pictures in the living room very very close to the ceiling. I was shocked, and we had a “little” argument about it. Everyone knows pictures are supposed to be hung at eye-level, don’t they? This may have been the first time I thought, Hmmm not all gay men can hang a picture. And this might have been the germ for the book. Other than that one moment, Teri and Curt represent an elephant-in-the-room dialogic among gay men: To Be or Not to Beyoncè—which became one of the later Conversations.

13) You really are adorable, aren't you?  (readers of Christopher's I Must Be Off blog will get that one...)

Yes! I really really am adorable. It’s true. Some people don’t believe it, but when they meet me in person, they often pinch my fat little cheeks. Just don’t shove past me in a bar. 

Christopher Allen is the author of the adult cartoon satire Conversations with S. Teri O'Type. In 2011, Allen was a finalist at Glimmer Train and a Pushcart Prize nominee. He blogs at www.imustbeoff.com.

Whew! I'm busy-busy-busy this week! Still, there's been a little time to sit and reflect, and so I've had a chance to ponder this week's Thursday Thirteen topic.

So, please allow me to present:

1) I did my first ever public reading from my novel, Ask Me if I'm Happy. One of my bosses at the language school where I work asked if I would like to do a reading at the End-of-Year party this year, and since I was still here in Reggio (for once - I usually leave at the start of June), I agreed.  It all went quite well, and I'm pleased to hear from my coworkers and several students that the selection I read did, indeed, stir their interest in buying the novel. Fingers crossed they'll remember in Autumn! LOL!

2) Seeing my hubby enjoy himself so much at various events this week made me very happy. We had the England/USA World Cup game, a trip to Fontanellato, Italy (not far from home) for a musical event, my reading last night - so many things which he's enjoyed, and so I've enjoyed them that much more!

3) Watching the Tour de Suisse. My boy is currently in second place, one second behind the leader. This makes me happy, especially because my boy won last year, and because by most accounts, the part of the race which should be hardest for him is already over. Got my fingers crossed (again)!

4) My niece, Mia, told me I was beautiful. I reckon she's an expert on the subject, so I'm sooo pleased to hear it from her. :)

5) I got quite a few edits done - the MS is shaping up nicely and I have high hopes for completing and fleshing out a few key scenes while I'm in the US.

6) I developed new ideas for my WIP - watching the Tour de Suisse, complete with huge crashes, riding in the rain, and all the cycling drama on display has fueled my brain to get more done on 27 Stages when I have the opportunity. Not that there was a problem, I just can't work on two manuscripts at once...

7) I've almost finished packing already! Considering that I'm leaving tomorrow morning, this is quite impressive! LOL!

8) Thanks to the party last night, I added to my collection of miniature Swiss flags! LOL! I know, it's weird. A running joke that's got a little out of control, but they make me smile. :)

9) The weather has been unseasonably cool this week. That makes me happy - everything I had to do has been easier to get done, thanks to the cooler air. Right now, it's raining buckets. The Italians are grumbling, but I can't help being happy.

10) Also thanks to the weather, I've slept really well this week. That's not normal for me, in June.

11) My flight leaves in the late part of the morning from Milan. So, I don't have a super-duper extra-early wake-up time, tomorrow. It should be daylight when we start our two-hour drive, which is great!

12) I have only one connection on my flight home. Atlanta. While that's not ideal, at least I have a good idea of what to expect. That helps. And then there's the fact I have a few hours there - so, no rush to get through Immigration or Customs. In as much as a 20-some-odd travel day can be reduced-stress, this one hopefully will be. (Touch wood!)

13) Finally, the thing which had me smiling all the way home from Fontanellato on Sunday night: I got to get a picture with that feller I've mentioned a few thousand times since I started blogging, the one whose music inspired so much of Ask Me if I'm Happy, and who I've adored since 2003, the first time I heard him sing - Samuele Bersani.
Which is to say:
SAMUELE BERSANI!!!!! OMG!!!!
Yeah, if I squee any louder, only dogs will hear me. LOL!

Oh, never fear, y'all. I know.














I wouldn't forget.
















Even with all the wonderful happy things which have happened for me this week.



















So, here ya go:

Ciao for now! :)