Marketing the book you wrote can be a daunting experience. It is for me. But when nobody knows you and your presence on social networks is scarce, you must talk about it, somehow. So, I spent the whole day Sunday studying how to push my book without pushing it and, most importantly, how to avoid becoming the friend who wrote a book and nobody wants to frequent anymore. After a discreet amount of frowning, sighing, and downright swearing in Italian, I reached the conclusion that word of mouth, someone else’s mouth, not mine, it’s my only hope. But, to be realistic, I’ve also decided that, after all, one day a week will be devoted to market my book. This is where I started. And, I must admit, I had fun in writing that piece. This is another place, Kindle Board, where I can promote my work. Only time will tell what works and what not. For now, I’m simply trying to reach out.
Proud to Be a Washingtonian!
It’s not a mystery I’m a great fan of anything related to the great state of Washington, but today I feel even prouder than usual. What a gift for couples who love each others, and just before Valentine’s Day. It isn’t a coincidence that Mauricio and Rosie’s tale was written here, one of the most open minded places in the States. I’m glad I’m raising my kids in such a nurturing environment. Love is love. Always.
The Priest’s Hall of Fame
Just an image, but it means a lot to me.
The Priest
The Priest is alive! And, after so many rocks in its path, it’s hard to believe that this little book has found its way out of my pc. Two years ago, while I was writing Pax in the Land of Women, two characters popped to life. Mauricio and Rosie had a great story to tell, but there wasn’t any space in Pax for them. When Nanowrimo 2010 came along, I thought it was the perfect excuse to take some time off from Pax and write Mauricio’s tale of slavery and forbidden love. Now, a week after pressing the publishing button, I finally can write about it. At first, I was too dazed to even think of anything coherent to say. Now, I still can’t muster anything smart, other than the fact that seeing my little creation out there it’s a rewarding feeling. Long and difficult process, but worth every moment of it.
Blurb:
Mauricio is a slave. Like any man born on Ginecea, he is but a number for the pure breed women who rule over him with cruel hands. Imprisoned inside the Temple since birth, Mauricio has never been outside, never felt the warmth of the sun on his skin. He lives a life devoid of hopes and desires. Then one day, he hears Rosie sing. He risks everything for one look at her and his life is changed, forever. An impossible friendship blossoms into affection deemed sinful and perverted in a society where the only rightful union is between women. Love is born where only hate has roots and leads Mauricio to uncover a truth that could destroy Ginecea.
Small Details
Building 1/12 scale room boxes is one of my hobbies. A room box normally depicts one single miniature room in intricate details. In 2001 I was lucky to participate in a Brooke Tucker’s room box workshop, The Country Kitchen, just a few years before she retired. Although I never quite finished that particular project, I had lots of fun learning from a great artist. I was also honored to sell Mrs. Tucker some of my painted miniatures. She used them for a piece commissioned by the Miniature Museum of Taiwan. Mrs. Tucker’ s elegant but informal kitchen room box was featured in the March 2002 issue of the renewed Miniature Collector magazine, where, if you have a very good eye for details, my little pieces can be found at page 58, perching out shelves and on top of a cabinet.
Some of the miniature paintings I made for Brooke Tucker and now part of a room box depicting a Tuscan kitchen that can be admired at the Miniature Museum of Taiwan:
I used inexpensive wooden pieces normally sold at craft stores to make the jars by gluing together different parts. The apothecary urn is a miniature replica of a normal size piece I bought in Italy and that is displayed in my kitchen. I used white Fimo to model the urn.
Some other places where I talk about miniatures:
Here is a lens about the even smaller world of quarter inch scale I created for Squidoo.
Girl’s Bedroom Vignette
In 2001 I presented a few of my miniature pieces at the Seattle Dollhouse Miniatures Show. The Girl’s Bedroom was one of them:
I made the tiled floor by cutting rectangular pieces from an egg container. I glued them on the wooden platform, filled the gaps between tiles with a paste made of flour and Elmer’s glue, and then painted all over with a mixture of brown and black acrylic colors. I removed some of the painting with a cloth to create the distressed look, and finally I sprayed the floor with two layers of a glossy finish. I used white Fimo to create the tea set resting on the rocking chair, painted it with acrylic colors, and sealed it with a glossy finish. I used skin-color Fimo for the baby girl sleeping inside the crib, and also for the doll and the doll’s crib. A special crackling finish was used to give the doll’s crib the antique texture. I made the toy bear with a brown cleaning pipe and painted the nose and the eyes. I painted the landscape on the toy box with acrylics and finished it with a watercolor sealer.
Other places where I talk about miniatures:
Here is a lens about quarter inch scale miniatures I created for Squidoo.
Amazing Dough
AKA Cornstarch Dough or Cold Porcelain Dough
About ten or twelve years ago I started using a homemade modeling dough that was sturdy and durable when air dried and required a few cheap ingredients to make. After years spent working with the well known salt dough, I was looking for something that didn’t disappear before my eyes when the weather turned humid. At the time I was living in a small maritime town and all my sculpting efforts tended to dissolve in a poodle of salty goo. I found the recipe for the cornstarch dough almost by mistake, but I tried it nonetheless, and I have been loyal to it ever since. Recently, I saw that there is a commercial cornstarch dough sold at craft stores. It is quite expensive, but if you are in a hurry, and not sure if the fumes coming from cooking the mix of cornstarch and Elmer’s glue on your stove are healthy, I suggest to go for it.
The Recipe
The Ingredients:
- One cup of cornstarch flour
- One cup of Elmer’s glue or any other brand of glue with similar characteristics
- One tablespoon of vegetable oil
- One tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar
- One old, no-stick pan
- One wooden spoon
How to do it:
Mix the ingredients in the pan and once you have a thick dough turn on the stove and cook it on medium low, stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough comes away in one single piece from the pan. Turn off the stove, remove the dough from it, put it to rest on a cold surface, wait until you can safely handle it without scalding your skin, and work it as if it were pizza dough. When you have thoroughly worked the dough and there are no lumps in it, wrap it in plastic film, and finally store it inside a plastic bag. Remember, the cornstarch dough dries completely if exposed to the air and it becomes hard as porcelain. You can mix drop of food coloring, or acrylic paint, with the freshly prepared batch to obtain colored dough. I personally prefer painting the dough after a piece is done.
A final, important note: clean the pan and the wooden spoon immediately after you have used them and store them away. Do not use them for cooking food.
Other places where I talk about Cold Porcelain and its awesomeness:
Author Gabriela Popa has a blog where guests talk about anything but writing, and this is my humble contribution.
Here is a lens about cold porcelain I created for Squidoo.
The Morning After
(flash fiction inspired by Alessandro Fiorini’s painting Tradita*)
He’s coming, she thinks, looking outside. The breeze from the shore caresses her face. The sun is rising high in the sky; soon will be too hot to leave the windows open.
He’s coming. The sheets lie crumpled at her side as a sea of stormy thoughts. The perfume she had carefully donned is wafting away. Nearby, a gate opens and closes, rusted hinges breaking the morning silence.
He’s coming. She blinks, once, twice, refusing to move. Her eyes are growing tired to stare at the ever-moving, liquid surface, now busy with colorful boats coming back to the marina. The tempest has come and gone, leaving behind a trail of waste marring the once-beautiful blue. She focuses her attention on a piece of floating wood. Her heart skips a beat. Tears fill her dark eyes.
He’s coming. She knows, joy finally descends upon her. The piece of wood is just such. A familiar shape fending through the crowded water commands her attention. The small boat seems to fly over the waves, sending the debris away in its wake, a bright light intermittingly flashing a love letter.
“I’m coming home,” it says. She smiles and closes the window.
*Although the original title of the painting means ‘betrayed’, while I was writing this piece I thought that the lovely woman in the picture deserved a happier ending. There is something about her and the light surrounding her that compelled me to write something permeated by hope.
Foodscaping
Recently, among many of my friends there’s been lots of talking about juice dieting and today, by sheer coincidence, I found an artist who does foodscapes. I was impressed by his work and I wanted to create something in the same spirit. This is my humble attempt. Enjoy your juice!
Precious
(Flash fiction dedicated to RR, and inspired by PZ’s amazing picture, Tra Tanti, in Due. Recommended soundtrack Puedes Contar Conmigo by La Oreja de Van Gogh)
Not a thing I long for
Not a place I want to be
If it’s not you
If you are not there with me
Monica La Porta 
