I was born on the sea, the Adriatic sea to be exact, on the limpid blue-green sea waters, salty, crispy waves, grottos, inlets, natural rock formations where crustaceous live and various blue fish are happy swimming in and out. The food staple for people born on any sea is fish. On those parts, it is very common to be invited for dinner and be served many courses of fish.
Years later I moved to USA, a meat eating country, the search for fresh fish for my daily meal stopped abruptly. I go to grocery shops and I can smell the foul fish odor as soon as I enter the shop. I get closer to the fish counter and the smell gets stronger, the fish is covered with a ton of spices to camouflage the foul smell. I wonder who buys that fish!
I used to order fish plates in restaurants and after a few times returning the dish to the kitchen, I stopped ordering fish in restaurants. Fresh fish smells exactly like the sea, if it stinks has been dead for days or weeks! Just remember that.
Now, I know the reason why when I am invited to someone’s home, the main dish is meat, often chicken, boring, colorless, tasteless and tiring chicken….what’s so exciting about chicken! If I must brag about meat, only one time, in Texas, I was invited to a bison steak dinner and it was the best steak I had in my whole life!
One day, one of of my Californian friends wanted to organize a cooking class in her huge home for her girlfriends fit for a triathlon. She asked me to cook something special, good and healthy from my native Italian region. I told her that where I came from the staple food is fresh fish and she agreed to it. I went really out of my way to please her and her friends, drove for hours to the coast, where I knew one fisherman who could assure me the freshness of fish, and cook one blue fish for each, baked with some vegetable in a cartouche. The reaction from the women was awful, when they open the cartouche on their plate, saw the fish head and screamed as I had put some kind of horrific thing in front of their eyes. Those women didn’t know anything about fish, how to source it, how to cook it and neither how to eat it.
They exclaimed the fish was dead, I asked them if they usually eat meat alive. They said it was cruel to the fish, I asked them if it is not cruel to kill animals, including chickens, and if it isn’t even more cruel to wear leather jackets or sit on a leather sofa. They were shocked to hear these comments. I am not in tune with people talking nonsenses, I have no patience for them and I tell it as it is. Humans have eaten meat and fish since the primordial time. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it but don’t push your beliefs on me.
I also knew my friend was not equipped with the right tools to eat fish with, thus I brought my silvers to her for that occasion and made her look good. Silly me! I should have made a chicken dish to leave everyone satisfied and convinced that they had not eaten a dead animal. Live and learn.
Fish knives
These are the fish knives needed to separate the flesh from the bones if any, also used to eat a fish fillet. Never a regular knife is used for fish. Only in high end restaurants, these knives appear on the table along with other interesting flatware.
If you invite people to your home for dinner, always ask the guests what they do not eat and if they are opposed to something you have in mind. My friend agree to a fish dinner because she had been to my native land, she knew how good and fresh fish is over there. Luckily, my dessert was a hit. Of course give people sugar and they will be super happy. Ciao. Valentina Amazon Author’s Page
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer/consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel. Get a copy of her books on: Amazon and Barnes&Noble
Today, my guest is an author from New Mexico with a vivid imagination. She writes fantasy books for adults. When I saw her on Google+ I was attracted to her unusual name Teagan Riordáin Geneviene and the striking cover of the book she was writing “The Delta Pearl”. The sepia tone of the cover and the entire imagery made me fantasize being on the river boat and immediately took me back to that Jazz era I like so much. People say don’t judge a book by the cover… I let Teagan speak.
Author Teagan Riordain Geveviene
1. Your last publication is a series of novelettes called “Dead of Winter” that you started to publish monthly in Jan.2021.What is the series about and what inspired you to write it? Will it be over in December 2021?
I’m not certain of the end date for the monthly publications. I expect it to finish either this December or in January of 2020.
Dead of Winter is a high fantasy, published monthly in novelette-sized installments. It takes place in a world that resembles some lands in the past of our own world. The heroine, Emlyn, is a 12-year-old girl who sees and hears spirits.
The religious fanatics who took over Emlyn’s homeland say she is an abomination. She escapes, and is taken in by travelers belonging to the Deae Matres — a society of intelligent women who travel the world, seeking out and preserving knowledge.
Meanwhile, Emlyn’s encounters with spirits become more frequent, because the Veil, which separates the world of the living from the realm of the dead has become dangerously thin. As the Veil deteriorates, chaos ensues when the dead begin to cross into the living world. I invite everyone to Journey with Emlyn as she explores her world in Dead of Winter.
Dead Of Winter Novelettes by Author Teagan Riordain Geveviene
2. How did you select the names of your characters for this series?
I admit that I can obsess about names. The importance of name meanings goes unnoticed in our modern world. As I researched the real-world places and mythologies that were at the core of my various inspirations for the story, I also researched names from those areas – and their meanings. For instance, the character “Osabide” in addition to being a teacher and mentor to the young heroine, used to be a healer. One meaning for the name Osabide is healer.
3. What was your hardest scene or situation to write, if any?
There were two particular scenes that were difficult, but for differing reasons. Journey 6, The Fluting Fell, includes the origin scene of a supernatural character. That involved a brutal assault. Through an accidental shared dream-memory, 12 year-old Emlyn experiences the assault as if she had been there. As a survivor of abuse, I put a huge amount of thought into how to handle and word that scene.
Another challenge was the two-prong climax of the story. In the part dealing with the arch villain, my original ending is unfittingly gruesome for the rest of the story. So, a task ahead of me is rewriting that climatic scene. I don’t want it to be that much more violent than the overall story.
4. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Hmmm... That’s a great question, Valentina. Haha, I hope not. Certainly not in Dead of Winter. In some stories I make references to things that not everyone would get. However, those are not anything that would impact whether or not they understand the story. For instance, in Hullaba Lulu, a Diesel-punk Adventure, I give a nod to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Douglas Adams fans would pickup on it right away, and laugh. People who are unfamiliar with that classic would just think it was more Lulu zaniness.
5. What kind of research did you do for this series, if any?
Some people think fantasy stories don’t need to be researched. Me, I research intensely for every story. I did volumes of research for Dead of Winter, from the topography and lay of the land in the UK and European locations that inspired my fictional countries, to the meanings behind place and character names that I created. There are well over 300 character and place names in the overall manuscript. That’s why I include a list of characters and places at the end of each volume, which grows as the Journeys progress.
Some leftover research (legends that I didn’t use for Dead of Winter) ended up providing “loose inspiration” for my Atonement, Tennessee urban fantasy stories. If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m a huge research geek!
6. You write mostly fantasy books for adults, how did you come about to write in this style?
Various genres were my favorite at different points in my life. High fantasy and urban fantasy became my favorite books to read. When I eventually took writing seriously, the most frequent “advice to writers” that I found was to write what you know. I knew that genre best, so that was what I started out writing. During the past decade I became fond of the may types of “punk” stories (steampunk, diesel-punk, atom-punk, etc.), and I started writing those too.
7. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
Seeing the ending. I’m very much a pantser, writing by the seat of my pants. It’s very difficult for me to see the ending in advance.
8. Why did you decide to start writing books?
My author bio used to include a bit about how one day, I realized that I had read every book I owned several times, and there was no new book at hand to read. So, I decided to write one – and I’ve been writing ever since.
9. Most artist like to be creative in their arts and don’t like to market their work.How do you feel about marketing and selling your books?
Yes, I’m in that group who does not like marketing. I didn’t even like touching social media. However, as an independent (indie) writer, it was obvious that I would have to get over it. That is an ongoing challenge for me. I wasn’t simply brought up to be modest. When I was growing up, if it even looked like I was about to say something good about myself, I was cut down harshly.
It makes me feel a little better about blowing my own horn if I can promote others. That’s one reason why I enjoy featuring people at my blog, when I write my “three things” style of spontaneous serials. I just started a new one in August. It’s an “atom punk” fantasy (1940s – 50s for the level of technology) called “The Armadillo Files.” I publish an episode each weekend, at www.teagansbooks.com.
10. If you wanted to leave a message for posterity in one of your books what would it be?
I suppose, in a way, I’m taking a cue from Shakespeare with to thine own self be true. Most of my heroines have to be true to themselves, regardless of the lack of acceptance that might come with it. Whether they are just a bit different than their friends, or quirky, particularly unusual, they are themselves. Sure, we all want to be accepted and be part of things. However, we can’t underestimate the value of our uniqueness.
Valentina, thanks very much for letting me visit with you today. Any of my books can be found via my Amazon author page. Here’s a universal link: relinks.me/TeaganRiordainGeneviene
It is a pleasure to have you as my guest, Teagan. I always admire your imagination.
I can also be reached through these social media links:
I am a bit like you, Teagan, when it comes to marketing my books, I don’t like to sell, but I must. Allow me to showcase my books. They are on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer/consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She writes about many subjects. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel. She has conceived a few new books to be published in the immediate future to which she is working simultaneously.Amazon Author’s Page
I studied the Divine Comedy in the middle school in Italy as part of my curriculum. It was required we studied in “vulgar” the old Italian and of course it was difficult. Today, I am very grateful of that kind of quality education.
It is a pleasure to reblog it from an author Ursula Hartlein who read it and appreciate it.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, despite being over 700 years old, feels so modern and relevant, not like a book tied entirely to the Middle Ages.
Beginning on 8 September, Baylor Honors College, in conjunction with five other schools, will kick off100 Days of Dante. The objective is to read one canto a day, until finishing on 17 April (the Catholic and Protestant Easter). Though I just reread the Commedia earlier this year, in the Mark Musa translation, I’m really excited to begin all over again.
I got the much-lauded Durling-Martinez translation of Inferno, which is dual-language and has excellent essays and notes. Though I’m pissed that less than 24 hours after I ordered it, the price dropped by five dollars, to $9.95, and I was unable to be refunded despite it not having shipped yet! I’m keeping an eagle eye on the price of Purgatorio and Paradiso. They’re extraordinarily, unacceptably, ridiculously high ($24 and $33), but if they sink to $15 or lower, I’m jumping on them.
My intention with this series, “Autumn With An Author” is to introduce my readers to authors I know well and authors I want to get to know as people through their expression of writing. Today, I present you Marjorie Mallon from Cambridge, UK.
1. Your latest publication “Bloodstone – The Curse Of Time” is an imaginative mystery book. What did you develop first the plot or the characters?
Thank you so much for inviting me to interview at your wonderful blog Valentina. My latest publication, Bloodstone The Curse of Time Book 1 is an imaginative YA fantasy mystery with paranormal, light and dark elements inspired by two sculptural artworks:
The Corpus Christi Chronophage invented by extraordinary British inventor Dr. John C Taylor OBE (who I had the pleasure of meeting in person in 2017.)
The extraordinary timepiece is situated on King’s Parade Cambridge opposite King’s College. I discovered Juniper Artland’s The Light Pours Out of Me by Anya Gallaccio while out with friends near my parent’s home in Scotland.
With regard to your question, I developed the characters first of all. For me, characters are central to the story and I don’t tend to plot. I write organically from my imagination which brings interesting results!
Some characters are more lovable than others! But whether they are villains or heroes, or somewhere in between, I do find them all fascinating. And they all have facets of their personalities that I find intriguing. I like my characters to have a hidden side. This is particularly evident in Esme, the girl trapped in the mirror, Ryder, (who has a dark, hypnotic, mysterious side,) and The Creature, Eruterac, who is conjured from the brush strokes of Amelina’s magical art set. Read Bloodstone to see what I mean!
3. What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?
It depends on the circumstances. If I see someone that triggers an idea then it tends to flow from there. Often, unsuspecting bypassers become my characters! Otherwise, (as is the case in Bloodstone,) a burst of frenetic energy creates the character and my writing flows forward from that.
4. If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?
I have interviewed some of my characters on my blog. It was fun to do and a useful way to dig deeper into their personalities! I’d love to chat to Ryder the most, as he is mysterious, wicked but also has a childlike side to him. He is evolving more and more in the second book in the series which I’m working on.
5. Do you have a special way/system to find the title of your books?
With the Curse of Time series it began in a process of stages. Getting the story concept and developing it further, it changed a lot! Initially, i planned to call the novel The Crystal Cottage but the story became darker with the introduction of the Corpus Christi timepiece and The Crystal Cottage didn’t seem like the right title! So, after I republished the original story with Next Chapter Publishing we settled on Bloodstone (The Curse of Time Book 1.)
6. What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?
Peace and quiet and a few choice crystals! Lots of sparkles and warm gentle sunlight.
7. Has writing changed your perspectives of life or on certain issues.
Not really, I am still the same person I was. I’m pretty deep, and thoughtful and that hasn’t changed. Writing has given me a way to release that angst into the atmosphere!
8. How do you celebrate when you finish your book?
Crack open a bottle of wine! Then, when the initial celebrations are over I realise that this is just the beginning. A book may be finished but there is marketing to do…
9. Do you market your books or don’t like to hard sell as most artists don’t like to sell their work?
Marketing is not my favourite thing to do but a necessary evil. I much prefer the creative stage, especially the first burst of creativity getting the story down. Anything after is hard work but a worthwhile slog to reach the end goal!
10. Have you planned more books in the near future?
Thank you so much for the wonderful questions Valentina. Yes, I am nearly finished Golden Healer, Book 2 in The Curse of Time Series. I have some poetry/photography book ideas to develop, one is fairly developed and is called Do What You Love. I am moving to Portugal in the near future, so it all depends on the time that I may, or may not have for writing!
In the meantime, do check out all my books. I write poetry, and prose and like to dabble in photography too. Also, I produced an anthology during the early stages of Lockdown, (when I was furloughed from work,) with many of my brilliant writing friends and creatives/bloggers in the community.
Here are my titles which are all available in Amazon and most are available online in various Bookstores, etc, too.
MJ’s motto is to stay true to your heart’s desires, and inspire others to do so too, even it if appears that the odds are stacked against you like black hearted shadows.
Favourite genres to write: Fantasy/magical realism because life should be sprinkled with a liberal dash of extraordinarily imaginative magic!
Next Chapter Publishing YA fantasy series.
Bloodstone – The Curse of Time Book 1
And the 2nd in the series to be published thereafter…
Golden Healer – The Curse of Time Book 2
Her writing credits also include a multi-genre approach: paranormal, best-selling horror, supernatural short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She has worked with some amazing authors and bloggers compiling an anthology/compilation set during the early stages of COVID-19 entitled This Is Lockdown and has also written a spin off poetry collection entitled Lockdown Innit.
She’s been blogging for many moons at her blog home Kyrosmagica, (which means Crystal Magic.) where she continues to celebrate the spiritual realm, her love of nature, crystals and all things magical, mystical, and mysterious.
Her eclectic blog shares details and information about her new releases, author interviews, character profiles and her love of reading, reviewing, writing, and photography: https://mjmallon.com/
Valentina, if you use the images of Esme and The Creature please can you link back to the wonderful artist, my friend Carolina Russo: https://yesterdayafter.com/
Thanks a bunch! So looking forward to being a guest on your blog.
I enjoyed reading about you and getting to know you better, Marjorie, thanks for being here.
*****
I am the timid marketer, allow me to add my books on various subjects, available on Amazon and B&N. http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer/consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She writes about many subjects. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel. She has conceived a few new books to be published in the immediate future to which she is working simultaneously. Amazon Author’s Page
It’s not a Summer and it’s not Autumn, the light has already changed and the days are getting shorter, an indication we are going to take out some clothes for the colder weather very soon. It doesn’t feel cold yet, at least where I am. During the day the heat makes its presence noticed, but at night a lighter blanket is required. I have always had mixed feelings about the Summer, I like the profusion of colors and food that don’t need much cooking, in my case food come fresh from my garden to the table. However, I like to travel in cooler months, trotting the world in the change of seasons is a real pleasure, when most of the tourists are in their countries working, the weather is not very warm, all the stores are opened, the service is so much better everywhere I go and if I encounter a bit of rain I will walk in the puddles of water.
In my Facebook group “Design One Beautiful Life” almost every week I come up with a color challenge. I lead my friends into a search of what they can do with a certain color combination, how they can explore it, how they can use it in their daily life, experience the emotion of some colors that might have never been in their realm. The color challenges are all experiments that will certainly create a stir.
In the midst of this warm and cool weather, I don’t want to look too summery or too wintery. This past week the color challenge was blue or brown, any shade, hues, tint and tones of the two colors. It is just perfect for transitioning in the Autumn.
I wasn’t wearing anymore the chocolate pearls necklace in the photos, I realized it gave no luminosity to my face, but now in this new color challenge I can combine it with a blue crystal necklace and I like it so much more. The union of the two necklaces is really beautiful in person. The crystals pick up many colors from the environment around me, make the chocolate pearls and my face come alive. The color vibrations are high.
It doesn’t matter how many times I have talked about colors, how many ways I have been teaching it, how many books on colors I write, I surprise myself every time.
I just want to say, try new things, get into your closet, mix and match everything in a new way, I am sure you will find something to turn into exceptional. Ciao, Valentina
Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience led her to offer consultations in both specializations and now she can remodel homes as well as personal images. She is passionate about colors and encourages her clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. To better help people all over the world, she offers color consultations online. She is the author of six books available on Amazon andBarnes&Noble.
This coming fall I will host quite a number of successful authors, whose colorful writing I admire. We will be in the company of their thoughts and what drives them to write. We will also get to know their characters as people. Without further ado, here is beautiful Sally Cronin from Ireland.
Author Sally Cronin
1. In your writing you often ponder on life’s events and situations.Life’s Rich Tapestry, Life Is Like A Bowl Of Cherries, Life Is Like A Mosaic have a common denominator: the harmonious rhythm of life. Tell me your thoughts.
There is a rhythm to life and everything in this world from weather to the smallest creature. There are highs and lows within that rhythm, and whilst we may like to think we are in control, it is only partly true. If lucky we survive the lows and learn from them, and appreciate the high points even more because of it. I know from my own lifetime there have been some extremes that were tough to weather, but I did and they have made me the person I am today. I made a decision a long time ago to accept the past and move on and the only way I could do that was to have hope for the future and what might be, not what had been.
The world’s tragedies are only too present in the images and words we see each day, such as in August with the devastation of the evacuation and surrender of Afghanistan and its population to a very uncertain and probably hazardous future.
Just because I write with hope about the harmonious aspects of life, does not mean I do not see and hear what is going on around me in the world. My writing is a way of coping with this environment of fear that has been created about the future and offers me comfort and I hope those who read the poems or stories
2. Do your books tell the stories of people you know? If yes, do they recognize themselves in the stories?
I have definitely included characters based on those I have loved and encountered, but usually wait until they are no longer with us. The stories may not mirror their own lives but elements will creep in, especially if they are memorable moments. Certainly my mother has slipped in and out of my stories and I did this when she was alive and she got a great kick out of it. I hope somewhere she knows she is still being thought about with love and humour.
I will admit to dropping some less fondly remembered characters I have come across in sticky situations….and some of them might not have made it to the end of the story!!
3. Do you consider your writing realistic?
Most of my writing is based on my own experiences in this world and therefore I hope comes across as authentic. I have dabbled in fantasy and also the future which is great as you can make up quite a bit when creating stories about fairies and talking animals, and this is an area I plan on exploring further in upcoming projects.
I also write non-fiction and that needs to be much more grounded and researched especially the health books and I love that equally.
4. Have you encountered in a hard scene or situation to write about and did it anyway?
My twenties were pretty much a disaster until I got to the age of 27 when I met and married my second husband. Those years were very difficult to talk about, and even today there are scars physically and emotionally that will always be with me. Later on in life I found it therapeutic to write about them in the third person, although it was hard to do initially, and it took a great many revisions until I felt I had created a different outcome to the story.
Changing the outcome of traumatic events in your mind is an accepted form of therapy and utilising writing in this context certainly worked for me. I can look back to over forty years ago far more dispassionately, and much of that is down to tackling the issues in my stories.
There is still a legacy attached to these events however, and I do find it has given me an appreciation of how those characters in a story would react under similar experiences when I do write about challenging situations.
5. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
I think we all have characteristics that those who know us well will recognise, and also a form of code that we share will those close to us. I also suspect that those that have known me all my life will also recognise situations and events, not just in relation to the previous question but some of the fun stuff too. We tend to insert our favourite food, music, fashion items (shoes) etc. into our stories and particularly online friends who follow my blog etc. will immediately recognise I am referring to my own vices!
6. When did you realize words are powerful and if are not written down, perhaps in a book, they will go in the wind?
That had me thinking Valentina and it actually took me back to my first year in primary school so between four and five and we used slates and chalk to write on. At the end of the lesson we would rub them clean and the words we had created so laboriously were gone…
I loved it when I got my first lined exercise book and I practiced day and night to get those letters right. I kept those exercise books for years and even now I have files of handwritten stories, poems and research notes that go back over 40 year, even though most are now in print or digital formats.
This is why I also love working in audio as it captures the spoken word. Words are usually lost as soon as they are uttered. In fact I am in the process of sharing a series of radio broadcasts I made sixteen years ago on my podcast and I hope they will be enjoyed.
7. You say: “The world around us is an amazing playground (…) as well as sensory experiences that bring wonder into our lives.” Does a view of something, a person, an encounter, a situation always prompt you to write perhaps the next book?
I try not to miss any opportunity to capture a moment, an experience or an interesting character if I can avoid it. This includes the natural world which over the last 18 months has certainly been a lifeline as we have faced numerous lockdowns. Watching the birds in the garden has resulted in a number of stories and poems that will be part of my next collection later in the year.
This is where keeping notes as things happen or as a thought or even a dream comes to you is so useful. If only I could read my own handwriting which has deteriorated considerably over the years of using a keyboard!
8. Do you write when the inspiration comes or is writing an everyday thing you enjoy doing?
I tend to be writing every day whether it is a poem, new story or blog post. I work a couple of weeks out on the blog and so that keeps me pretty busy. As far as fiction goes that usually follows either a memorable moment or a browse through my notes I have made.
I love it and so grateful that it is something I can do hopefully until I am very old and doddery.
9. Most artists like to be creative in their arts and don’t like to market their work. How do you feel about marketing and selling your books?
Today there is no choice but to market your own books, and one of the reasons that I created a book marketing platform on the blog over the last ten years, is because of my experiences of being an indie author and publishing books for twenty years, I know how tough it is.
We now have the ability to market our books on a global scale, unfortunately so do billions of other authors. There are around 20,000 new eBooks uploaded to Amazon each week and standing out from the crowd is challenging.
There is an elite group of authors who only have to publish their book and immediately it hits the bestseller lists, gets reviews in the leading newspapers around the world, and they let their publishing company spend thousands in promotions.
For the majority of us it is not the case. Instead of readers falling over themselves to buy our books, we have to go out and grab them.
To be honest… that is part of the writing process I enjoy the most. I know without a shadow of a doubt that you cannot get your books noticed without engaging in self-promotion and interaction with the writing community online.
Importantly, there are so many marketing opportunities that are free it is crazy not to take advantage of them.
10. If you wanted to leave a message for posterity in one of your books what would it be?
Another interesting question Valentina. We have no children, and certainly the clutter that we have collected over the last 40 plus years will be of no interest to anyone. We don’t intend to leave much money if we can help it, as apart from our upkeep and wellbeing in the future, and with appalling interest rates offered by the banks, we might as well have a good time with it as long as we are able.
So what does it leave as my legacy? I like to think that whilst print copies might circulate in used book shops and still be enjoyed, the digital copies will remain available for generations to read online, provided you have made provisions in your will for the estate to manage your Amazon account!! It would be wonderful to think that long after I am gone, someone will do a search using key words that are connected to one of my books and read stories of a fairy queen who lives under an Irish magnolia tree, or a rough collie called Sam who had a mind and a voice of his own.
Thanks very much Valentina for letting me share my thoughts and responses to your questions and hope I have not talked for too long!!
Sally, I am in the same boat, I have no kids and no one to leave my belonging to, hopefully my art and my writing will remain for people to appreciate. It was a pleasure to have you as my guest.
Biography
Sally Cronin is the author of fifteen books including her memoir Size Matters: Especially when you weigh 330lb first published in 2001. This has been followed by another fourteen books both fiction and non-fiction including multi-genre collections of short stories and poetry.
Her latest release, Life is Like a Mosaic: Random fragments in harmony is a collection of 50 + images and poems on life, nature, love and a touch of humour.
As an author she understands how important it is to have support in marketing books and offers a number of FREE promotional opportunities in the Café and Bookstore on her blog and across her social media.
After leading a nomadic existence exploring the world, she now lives with her husband on the coast of Southern Ireland enjoying the seasonal fluctuations in the temperature of the rain.
Allow me a small promotion of my books available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer/consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She writes about many subjects. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel. She has conceived a few new books to be published in the immediate future to which she is working simultaneously. Amazon Author’s Page
Colors to me have no season and I don’t associate holidays to certain colors, they are just colors and I enjoy their vibrations all year around. I can wear white in the winter or orange in August. What matter is the texture of the colors. A white cuddly wool coat and white woolly hat speak Winter, a silk orange shirt or a silk flowing skirt speak Spring and Summer.
Not everyone can wear bold colors and not everyone can wear soft colors. I would get very tired wearing soft colors every day, I need a break from one or the other, thus I like to mix soft colors with bold colors to create a rhythm.
Here I am showing one pink light sweater combined with different orange items.
Our skin tone is a major indicator; it will tell which color looks the best and which color fights with it.
To be able to create a color palette that will always be in harmony with our skin, we need to choose colors that have the same temperature and value as our skin, hair and eyes.
I have a golden tone skin with warm temperature because I am tanned most of the year, my eyes are light blue changing to greenish-blue depending on the light and my hair is blondish. I can say my coloring is warm and I can choose colors from both the cool and warm hues families due to the light colors of my eyes and hair. Pink alone will clash with my skin and with my personality unless it is offset with a warm or darker color. I can wear pink accessories freely away from my face.
Warm colors are not off limit to a person with cool colors, just need to find the undertone of the warm colors and mix them with cool colors. Sounds difficult, but in reality it is not.
The spaces in our homes react the same ways when we use the right colors that match the color temperature and color value of our skin. If the wrong color bounces off the walls and reflects on our skin, we will certainly look and feel not at ease.
Valentina Cirasola is an author and consultant in interior/fashion design. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel. Amazon and Barnes&Noble
I was born in beauty, in a country that has created beauty in every corner from the sea to the mountains, in the cities or in the country. I lived in beauty, I accepted beauty as my oxygen. I cannot help but having beauty all around me. Seeing the masterpieces of the greatest artists of all times, walking in cities made with great architecture, breathing beautiful fashion made by people who understand shapes, forms and colors and savoring the best whole food, all helped me shape my insatiable thirst for beauty.
I say it many times, beauty is contagious and multiplies, show it to people, it will make them want to copy it and create their own.
What is beauty? The Webster dictionary defines it as such: “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit”.
In my daily routine, beauty is doing things that eliminate stress, add peace to the soul and clarity to the mind. Beauty is doing certain things I learned in my antique world that helped me being different from the mass.
Creating beauty is not only about beautifying a home. It’s about creating sensible rituals, like pick up a card and send it to someone near or far for no reason at all, or organizing a Friday night tapas a home with friends. Creating beauty is about dating the partner who lives with us in the same home, just to kill a deadly routine, or learning to use every beautiful thing we own, antique, historical, inherited or with an emotional attachment, because the special occasion is only today. Creating beauty is writing for yourself, it doesn’t matter if you publish it or not. Making wines from a simple grape grown in the backyard creates beauty.
My ideas of creating beauty are endless.
We live in too much ugliness, people have become mean and feel nothing anymore, society has become deaf to all the problems of humanity, we must beautify our little world as much as we can, it’s our responsibility to make it livable for us and the people we love.
On my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/designsvalentina you will find all the episode of the series I started a few weeks ago. It’s called simply: “Create Beauty Every Day”. Every Thursday, I appear on a video and talk from my studio on how to create beauty. They are short and to the point episodes. Perhaps some people think my messages are about common sense, perhaps common sense is not so common anymore. Ciao, Valentina
It’s my hope that through my writing and my stories I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style and inspiring you to live in beauty. I love to encourage my clients to show their personality through their home décor, or the clothes they wear. Now, I offer consultations on-line on home and fashion. Two of my books are on design and colors.
Life is coming back again, yippee! Last week I had the first book presentation event after one and half years of lockdown. It felt so strange being around so many human beings, I was scared to return home with a virus. The sales went well, books were well received, we had many laughs, good food, and wines.
Somehow I am not convinced we will have the same care free life as we had it before the virus. I was used to kissing and hugging everyone, I was a very warm person, now I like to stay distant, in fact I asked the organizer of the event to make mandatory wearing a mask and maintaining a distance. So sad.
I am not sure what the future will hold for me and everybody else, I am not sure if I will continue to organize book signing events in person. Being in the public eye is fun, I get to meet so many new people and make new friends, but getting someone’s virus is not exactly what I want. I was thinking selling books online is so impersonal, there is no comparison with selling in person. Shaking hands with your readers, let them hear the intonation of your voice, your laughter, the eye contact, telling stories, taking questions, signing your own books, are all invaluable experiences.
Do you think the design of making robots out of human beings is working?
Anyway, enjoy the picture of the group who came to my book signing event before I started my presentation. Mask off just for posing. Ciao, Valentina Amazon Author’s Page
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel. Get a copy of her books on
I remember as a girl I used to come home from school and often found my room moved to a different location in my home. My mom was constantly changing rooms around as she felt the energy was not right. As an adult and especially after I became a designer, my home layout was set at first trial, I always knew where everything was supposed to be set and stayed the same way until I moved to another city.
Lately things have not been the same for me, I felt the same restlessness my mom felt. My home had not gone under upgrade in many years. I felt the energy was stagnated.
I started to repaint furniture and various stuff. Painting makes me feel good but it is not enough. After I painted some existing furniture, I had to paint the walls behind and around those pieces, then the white door didn’t look good, the mirror needed to be changed and, as you understand, it became a domino effect. The result is that now I am redoing the look of my entire home, nothing structural, only cosmetics so far.
These in the photo below are Italian made dressers and nightstands. I was tired of this look, but could not find anything that satisfied me, too much press wood chipboard in the market. The solutions was to repaint and to give them a new face with golden onion feet and golden pulls. Here is the result of one room done in one month of redecorating work.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).
I repainted the walls behind the dressers in a faux finish treatment, called the “striated effect” and added a corded wood piece vulgarly called “chair rail”.
There is a lot more to a chair rail than just protecting the walls from chairs rubbing against them. With a little fantasy it can be applied creatively and everywhere. Here it is at the top of the striated wall.
I repainted the door as well in a whimsical way. The feeling at night with suffuse lights is exquisite and in the morning I feel I am in the sea.
By painting everything myself, I saved $5K for the faux paint job and $3K for new furniture.
Once you start redecorating, restyling or just revising some area of the home, everything else will follow, and if you are not ready to tackle what seem to be an insignificant upgrade, while you are still living in the home during the process, don’t do it, the mess is overwhelming. Next, I will tackle the bathroom and the corridor. Ciao, Valentina www.valentinadesigns.com
Valentina Cirasola is an art lover, author, and a lifetime designer. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. Currently, she consults on colors that will enhance clients’ personalities and are in tune with their lifestyles. To add harmony and peace to the homes, Valentina creates atmospheres using proper lighting and creating fantasy rooms instead of typical rooms looking like furniture showrooms. She is the author of six published books, two of which are on design subjects and colors. Amazon and Barnes&Noble
Welcome! Immerse yourself in the colorful world of Modern Tropical, an eclectic lifestyle brand for people who love the retro-modern beach aesthetic. It is produced by independent award-winning artist Kristian Gallagher.
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