Under Attack Again

Fiorella's major troll somehow broke through being unfriended and showed up on Fio's Facebook timeline again, foaming at the mouth with accusations and threats. Fio, who tried to play nice at first, ultimately had to appeal to her Romance Writers of America chapter for instructions on how to get rid of said troll, then blocked her--once and for all, she hopes.

Fiorella is perplexed about why a seemingly nice person would go so ape-shit crazy over her political postings--maybe because they make sense.

What Is This Thing Called "Normal?"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...the light at the end of the tunnel. Husband has been home from the hospital for a week now and seems to be genuinely on the mend this time.  Meanwhile Minnesota son has gotten the family electronics straightened out and helped with after-care and transportation, and Fiorella's monstrous list has been reduced to half a page.  Still a few things to go--like finding Husband's wallet--but all in all, sanity is returning to Casa Fiorella. She's planning to wash her hair today and has made arrangements to attend a romance writers' meeting tonight. And, wonder of wonders, she's soon going to have time to write again.

Happy Days!

Fiorella's world has turned rosy again.  Her offspring are safely home from Hong Kong, Husband has been warming the house with firewood from their copious home-grown supply, and she herself woke up feeling G-R-R-R-E--AT!  Now, off to conquer the world.

Yes, Fio is mailing five copies of WHERE THE HEART LEADS off to national Romance Writers of America today, the final step in entering the the yearly contest for published authors.  Let's face it--Fio doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell, but she's thrilled to be a contestant.  But maybe in the future . . . .

Keeping Up with Fiorella

Fiorella must be entering her second childhood-she's skinned her knee like when she was a kid and always had skinned knees.  Then, suddenly, when she turned five, she didn't.
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 Fio's experience with the scamming handyman reminds her of her experience with a scamming yardman several years ago.  The good thing is that she now has a really great yardman and, after she told her story to the septic tank man, he gave her the name of a dependable handyman whom he has known for years.  And, speaking of the septic tank man, he too, is dependable.
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After many failed attempts at entering the Romance Writer's of America's published author contest, Fio finally pulled a PDF off the site and faxed it to Houston, Wish her well.

Flight

Hooray!
Today's the day--
Up, up and away!


Your Fiorella is flying off to the big Romance Writers of America conference New York this morning.  Wish her well.

Countdown!

Fiorella is having to lay off water, one of her favorite drinks, and indulge herself in milk, her other favorite drink.  There may even be a few milkshakes along the line.  And it's all medically prescribed--Fio had some shots in her neck that affect the swallowing mechanism and thus she needs to drink thicker liquids for a while. The procedure is to make sure her voice is in the best of shape for the National Romance Writers of America conference this summer.

More than two thousand women will be there, and Fio wants to be heard.

Conferences

Fiorella learned four very important things at her first national RWA conference in 2008. First, she learned that she could navigate all by her lonesome within the conference, in a large hotel, and on the mean streets of San Francisco.  Second, she learned that there is no stereotypical romance writer--they come in all sizes, shapes, ages, colors--and sexes. Third, she learned that established writers (read Colleen Thompson and Terry McLaughlin) can be very kind to a newbie.  Fourth, as she learned, from the agent who stood in front of her in a Starbuck's line, a pattern of dieting for three days, then eating whatever one desires on the fourth, is an effective method of trimming down.

At the Orlando conference, she had a blinding Paul-on-the-way-to-Damascus revelation that, in order to get her work into print, she'd have to write not just as well as established authors, but strive for better.  She also learned to ignore other people's negativity.

At the New York conference, she realized that her overriding goal for the next year should be to GET AN AGENT.

At the Atlanta conference, she met face-to-face with said agent, the divine Liza, and also learned who were her true friends (read Colleen Thompson and April Sartor).

Next summer is the San Antonio conference.  More adventures to come.

Here She Stands

Why are Fiorella's stories different from all other stories?

Because Fiorella is an oddball and always has been.  And now, as far as she can tell, she's the only one in Romance Writers of America writing dark contemporary romance.   No wonder she couldn't tell agents and editors which authors she wrote like or what books her stories were like--Fio is unique. She writes realistic, gritty, sexy stories unlike anyone else. 

 She can do no other.     

Journey

Fiorella joined Romance Writers of America in January 2008, and that summer, she flew to San Francisco to attend her first national RWA conference.  What she learned there was that successful romances writers come in all sizes, shapes, and ages, which meant  she too could aspire.  In  2010, with several contest firsts under her belt, Fio attended her second national conference, in Orlando, and came away with the realization that she not only had to be as good as other romance writers, but better, in order to get published.  In 2011, she came away from the New York conference determined to get a good agent.  Now, in 2013, she will attend the Atlanta conference, meet with her agent, the divine Liza, and discuss her career.

Before Fiorella joined RWA, she had been writing romances for twenty-five years and even aroused some editorial interest, but she didn't know how to follow up or respond appropriately.  Now, in just five years, she's on the brink.

Wish her a good journey.

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Speedy Fio

In preparation for the national Romance Writers of America conference in Atlanta next month, Fiorella has decided to speed up her metabolism, which, according to Dr. Google, means eating more protein, sleeping well, exercising regularly, and lifting weights.  Fio doesn't know if she'll get around to the exercise and weight training, but last night she had a great salmon dinner at Fish Daddy's, then slept the whole night through. 

Halfway there.