Long time due. I woke up at 4:45 am and decided it was the right time to give Corel Painter another chance. Good news: now I know it’s not the coffee the reason why I don’t sleep. Bad news: I still don’t know why I don’t sleep.
Italian Colors
Month: May 2013
Friday Snippet #42
Not a lot to recap since my three thousand years stint in the alternate universe I went to a few days ago. I can only add what I think happened to my radio host, author Frank Smith, who keeps quiet about the whole thing. He declared having screamed at unanimated objects for four minutes. That’s my answer to him:
“Frank, although we didn’t take the same portal, I’m pretty sure I saw you waving at me at least in two different occasions. The first, if I remember correctly–it was a long time ago– it was in the occasion of my coronation as Empress Monica the First of Moon and Mars. I didn’t mention this detail earlier because I like to keep it real and humble. Anyway, I think you were among the delegation from Ganimedes. I could be mistaken. The second, I had a glimpse of you at the inauguration of the Transoceanic Railroad on Jupiter. Quite the crowd gathered for that occasion. You were accompanied by an attractive Venusian and quite interested in her gills. Although not excusable that could explain why you didn’t notice when the first bomb exploded. Since we finished our interview, I surmised everything went fine on your side.”
And now, my snippet. From, Green Glass and High Tide, Jules and Lucia are having lunch together in one of the Rotunda Restaurants just outside the megalopolis:
They settled on the cushions and played with the music selection while waiting for their food. Two servos arrived from who knows where and deposited the artfully arranged plates on the windowsill, took Lucia’s credit number by asking her to look into the robotic eye they all sported on their trunk, and finally left.
“I’d like to move back here,” Lucia commented, while having a second helping of her crème de cassiope.
“Don’t… say that. You know this is temporary.” Jules dropped her spoon and looked at Lucia with pleading eyes.
“It could be permanent.”
“Hell is going to break loose as soon as I start my investigation.” Jules pinched the arch of her nose.
Lucia thought that Jules looked more and more like their father. Even in the way they expressed anxiety, they moved their hands in the exact same gestures. “I can help you with that.”
“I think is better if you leave as soon as you can… so that the aftermath doesn’t reach you.”
“Nonsense, I’m not going to abandon ship.”
“Listen to me, Lucia. I love having you around, but, have you considered that maybe I will have to run away…?” Jules’s comlink chimed harmoniously and she made an I-told-you-so face. “And hell is going to break loose in three… two… one—she raised one finger to shush Lucia—Rizieri’s here. Yes, I’ll wait for him. Thanks.” Jules tapped gently her earlobe to close the call. “I’ve been assigned to a cleric. This is the beginning of the end.”
Lucia touched her sister’s arm. “May the Truth prevails… as father would say.”
“Forever and ever,” Jules finished the formulaic prayer with a sigh.
My Fourth Radio Interview and the solved case of the Mysterious Blackout
In case you missed me last night, here is the link to yesterday’s Journal Jabber Show. There was a four minutes blackout, due to a storm. During that time, I was transported to a parallel universe. I lived there for three thousand years without aging a bit. I wrote fourteen different series of twenty three books each. All of them bestsellers. I learned one hundred and fifteen different languages and became proficient in fifty-eight of them. I invented ten languages. One was accepted as a common koine and taught in schools. Kids all around the world hated me with a passion. And it was okay. In the meantime I let my hair grow until I had a train eight meters long. Two maids followed me everywhere and took care of my hair. After four hundred years, I decided I didn’t need to eat anymore and stopped. It improved my skin and my productivity. I also stopped sleeping. I learned how to play the piano, but didn’t enjoy it that much and switched to viola, violin, harpsichord, and clarinet. Finally, I admitted that music wasn’t my cup of tea and pursued a career as a ventriloquist. Given all the free time I had, it wasn’t difficult to master the art. To avoid getting easily bored, I also studied medicine and cured several diseases. Collected a dozen of Nobel prizes. Among them, one for finding the cure for a virus which was also my creation. Nobody is perfect, but I almost succeeded. Then, I was sucked back here and finished the interview without missing a beat. While I was there, Klingon was added to bing translator. You’re welcome.
Prince at War: the Official Cover Reveal
I know a new cover is normally revealed before a book is published, but I tend to do things unconventionally—like supposedly stirring the coffee the other way around—my husband actually called a poll on facebook to prove I was the only one doing that. I must admit that after the results were in, I was among the few… But that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is that I published Prince at War with a temporary cover and I’m happy to show off my cover artist Alessandro Fiorini’s beautiful job with the official one. Isn’t he great at what he does?
Prince at War
I’m happy to announce that a few minutes before midnight last night, my newest addition to The Ginecean Chronicles, Prince at War, was released into the Amazon Wild. Baby’s fine, although with a temporary cover.
Friday Snippet #41
I survived my lecture and came back to say everything went well. If the video turned out fine, it will be posted on YouTube, otherwise you’ll have to take my word for it. In that case, I’ll declare I was fabulous.
Meanwhile, in the green land of the never ending rain there was sun. Like a lot. I got freckles all over my face since I was out for long walks every day.
In other news, I decided to put Smashwords to work and made Linda of the Night free there. If somebody will report the lower price to Amazon, eventually the short will become a perma-free. I’d rather have readers taking a chance and sample my work than having the short sitting there, collecting dust.
This Friday’s snippet is brought you by my antihistaminic. At the moment, there’s more pollen than breathable air outside my room.
From Green Grass and High Tide, a science fiction novel I wrote two or three years ago and that might see an editor in the near future:
A soft orchestra of machines sounds, hissing, chirping, and the unmistakable regular thumping of a frail heartbeat, welcomed them inside Mother’s sleeping chamber.
“Come closer my dears.” A feeble voice came from the center of the room.
“Rya, my love—” Tyo’s voice broke.
Jules looked at his father and she saw etched in his face that he missed his companion more than he wanted to show.
“Mother, how do you feel?” Lucia walked past Jules and bent on the big bed that was the point of origin of every sound in the room.
Jules stood at the door petrified, barely breathing.
“I’m happy to sense you. I think I was sleeping before you entered. Tyo, how long has been since last time you talked to me? I have troubles understanding time…” Rya painfully dragged the words one after the other.
“You had an accident several years ago, and we’re keeping you in cryonic sleep until we find a way to reconnect your mind to your body,” he answered.
Jules thought that Father could have sweetened the pill, but Tyo would have never denied his beloved Rya anything, not even a harsh truth.
“Why did you wake me now?”
“Happy second century, my dear Rya. We’ve gathered to celebrate your birthday, love.” Tyo’s eyes were clouded with unwanted moisture.
Made the Top 100!
My little book, The Priest, has made it to the top 100 dystopian novels on Amazon. It’s sitting at #42 of the paid list. Tonight I’ll give my first lecture and I’m happy, excited, nervous, and on the verge of throwing up.
My First Lecture and a Big Announcement
After almost two weeks of silence, I’m back. I’ve been working on several projects at once and I had an unexpected and very pleasant visit from a childhood friend of mine. After a few busy months , I took a mental vacation and greatly enjoyed it. The weather was beautiful and the friend and I could walk for hours under the sun. Walking and chatting, my idea of a perfect time.
Back on my normal schedule now. Tomorrow night, I’ll give my first lecture, The Indie Revolution: How a Single Click Changed the Publishing Industry. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. I’ve been rehearsing the presentation for the last month and still get tongue tied every now and then. Hopefully, by 7:00 pm tomorrow, I’ll magically become an outgoing person.
Prince at War, formerly known as Prince of War, is done, as in edited and proofread done, and waiting for the formatting step. By the end of this week, it should be published. The stories of Mauricio, Rosie, Pax, and Prince have come to an end. After waiting to release this last book for so long, the aftertaste is surprisingly bitter-sweet. There will be a fourth book in the series, but it can be read independently by those three. To celebrate Prince at War’s release, The Priest will be $0.99 from today till Saturday.
Monica La Porta 