Thanks to All

Fiorella is very fortunate to have good friends, like Jason, who is restoring her baby car for her.  And like Lisa, who told her about two tax deductions she needed to take advantage of.  Like Janece, who regularly gives her sympathy and wise council.  Like Suzy and Ellen, who support her across the miles.  Like Pat, whom she's never met in person.  Like Paula and Sharon, who've stood by her through the years.  Like Jamie and Patricia and Claire, who've helped her with electronics.  Like Jane and Jan, who make her laugh.

And if this reads like an acknowledgment page, it is.

Theatrical Triumph

Fiorella was a spy last night.  She'd sent a nice letter to Georgetown's Palace Theater several weeks ago explaining that she wanted to give it a plug in the book she is currently writing, but needed to set up a a one-hour tour for accuracy.

No reply.  Fio bitched.

Friend Suzy told her that there was a cast party backstage every opening night which the audience could attend so Fio showed up at Shrek's debut last night. She started taking notes the second she passed through the door.  During intermission she walked up to the balcony and found the light booth.  After the show she followed the cast up the steps onto the stage and out the back door to the auxiliary building where she peered into restrooms, dressing rooms, storerooms, and the green room.
She asked questions about the construction of the stage.

Then she packed up and drove home.

Hah!  Fio thwarted you, Palace Theater!  And don't think she's going to give you a shout-out in her book either! Besides, Shrek sucked!

Funkless

Fiorella's cousin is visiting for the first time ever next week, which means Fio is running around like the proverbial headless chicken trying to get the house in shape.  It's wearing, but, on the other hand, it's also invigorating--all that action is pulling Fio out of her funk.  And talking to Friend Suzy across the ocean also buoyed her up, as did attending the San Gabriel Writers' League meeting last night.

Action and social communication--that does the trick!

Unlikely Trio

Suzy MM and Suzy G
Here at home and across the sea
Both of them good friends to me
Unlike the evil Suzy G-T

LIngo Across the Ocean

Fiorella, who, as you know, delights in all things linguistic, is fascinated by the news from British friend Suzy that Brits have been picking up all sorts of interesting idioms from American films, which appear to be all the rage in Queen Elizabeth's realm right now.  Serves'em right--think of all the British idioms we've been aping over here.  Just another example of communication making the world a smaller place.

Fiorella Thanks You!

This is amazing!  I'd noticed a while ago that I wasn't getting any comments about my blogs, which was sorta okay because I write for myself (I'm the Pepys of my time), but sorta not okay--had I driven away my faithful readers?  Then I noticed the word "comments" was in the list of options in the "new" (translation--at least a year old) set-up of Blogspot.  Opening it up, I was flooded by a cornucopia of clever comments, precious pearls of wisdom, and--well--a few sleazy ads.

So thank you to Janece and Gary and Pat and Jane and Suzy and Lynn and Janet and Kit F. and Older Son, and Anonymous (who invited me to coffee--who are you?) and everyone else who's commented.   I am not alone in the world after all!

Good Review!

Reviewing yesterday's blog, Fiorella suddenly realized that, because her mother refused to drive, Mom was home all day. which is why her house was an HG dream come true.  Fiorella, on the other hand spends hours on the road, and her house shows it.  Excuses, excuses, you say, but Mother never drove over to Sun City and bullheadedly refused to give up her quest till she'd found Friend Suzy's address two hour later.

Speaking of Friend Suzy, she called yesterday afternoon  and raved about HONEYSUCKLE DREAMS, saying it was different from any romance she'd ever read before, that it just kept on going, that she couldn't put it down, and that it would be a best-seller.  Fiorella drank in every every word and hopes the divine Liza will feel the same way, and maybe a publisher or two will too.

Of course, as Fio's told you before, the only reason she can write romances is that her mother is dead.  Although Mother read them--steamy ones--by the score, she'd be terribly embarrassed if people knew her daughter had written one.  Just as Fio's kids are going to be terribly embarrassed that's she's publishing under her own name.

The Life of Leisure

Fiorella had an interesting day yesterday. You know what that means--hell on wheels.  She left about 9:30 in the morning to drive to a nearby shopping center to 1) get copies made of some family photos, and 2) buy new towels for the master bathroom, and 3) replenish the dog treats, then drove into Austin to 1) confront her neurologist's office about her folder being lost, 2) visit a friend who's recovering from hip surgery, 3) have lunch with Friend Paula, and 4) pick up produce at Central Market.  When she reached Georgetown, she returned to the shopping center because she'd suddenly realized she hadn't bought any hand towels--turned out there weren't any to match the other towels she'd bought so she had to mix and match.  Reached home just before four and sent the next hour unloading, calming the hysterical dogs, catching up with emails and telephone calls.

After husband came home--and after he and Fio took out the garbage--she headed off to Friend Suzy's house in Sun City, thinking it would be easy to find.  Wrongo!  Sun City is not laid out on a grid, but in pods, and the only reason Fio finally found Suzy's house was that a nice lady who was taking out her garbage (can't go wrong with someone who is taking out garbage) hopped in her car and showed Fio the way.  Meanwhile it was getting darker and darker, and, as it turned out, Suzy was not at home.  Fio slipped the manuscript her friend had generously agreed to review behind a stone rabbit on her porch, then tried to find her own way out of the pod monster.

After twice around Suzy's loop, Fio found a way out, then turned onto any street that seemed to be well-traveled, but when the street got too dark, she knew she'd turned wrong and went back to a gas station-convenience store combination where a nice young man with a boom-box car (what was he doing in Sun City?) pointed her in the right direction.  She arrived home about eight, an hour later than she'd promised.

Suzy called ten minutes later--she'd had a similar day and had been late getting home, but she found the manuscript so all is well.   All is well.

Whew!

Fiorella's happy.  Yesterday she finished typing in the thirteen pages of HONEYSUCKLE DREAMS that her laptop had gobbled up on Sunday, finished her umpteenth edit of the book, ran a copy of it off for Georgetown friend Suzy, and sent an email attachment of it to Bastrop friend Joan. The addition of three new threads--crystal meth, possible pregnancy, and a Hollywood star--have swelled the wordage to almost 95,000 words so Fio hopes Suzy and Joan will still be her friends after they've hefted the manuscript.

So now Fio has to figure out how to use Dropbox or something similar to avoid another near-disaster like the thirteen digested pages, and she has to catch up with everything else she put off while she was devoting all her time to HD.  Little things--like figuring income taxes.

Eclectic Snippets

Like Dolly, Fiorella's back in town.  Not that she was actually gone, just knocked off the internet till about noon today, which drove her crazy.  No Google news, no e-mail, no blogging.  For someone who calls herself a Luddite, Fio is mighty computer-dependent.
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Looking at the pictures Son took of her, Fio realizes she doesn't really look as good as she thinks she does.  But then, she never did.
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Between the elections and the Longhorns, Fio's going to retreat into her snail shell for the duration.
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What would Fio do without friends?  Tomorrow she's going to have lunch with Joan, and last week she lunched with Sharon.  Last night she wrote a long email to Suzy in England to bring her up to date.  Paula has stood by her for years.  Katie, Janece, and Jane have cheered on her literary aspirations, and Marion even read an early copy of P of BB.  Fio's sure to have left someone important out so please forgive her because she loves you all.

Puppy Love

Maybe it's the new puppy, but life is rosy at La Casa Fiorella right now. Local Son has a new desktop computer, put together by Cousin Aaron and Friend Anthony after his laptop crashed. Daughter is recovered from her cold/flu, Minnesota Son is heading toward long-awaited knee surgery on March 5 (his late grandfather's birthday), and Husband has had an extended period of good health--the experimental lupus drug seems to be working.

Add to all that the fact that Friend Sharon is holding steady on her own experimental drug, Cousin Julie's daughter seems to have beaten breast cancer, Friend Suzy's husband has a new job, Friend Paula's daughter and husband have bought a new house, Friend Marion is expecting another grandchild, and Fiorella herself has had a nibble from another literary agent.

Fio has also developed a new skill--typing with her left hand because sweet, silky-furred Sonya Wendysdotttir is sleeping on her other arm.

The occasional puddles on the floor are worth it.

Ecstatic!

Fiorella is brimming over with happiness: after a year of rejection, Friend Suzy's husband has gotten a job, a promising position which he well deserves.

It makes Fio feel good when good things happen to good people. It gives her hope that Hijo Menor's talent will be soon be recognized and that he also will join the ranks of the employed, the up-and-comers. It gives her hope that Hijo Mayor will find his own niche of success, and that her own inspiring romances will be recognized as powerful and publishable, and that all the world will be joyful.

Yes, Fiorella wants heaven on earth--for everyone.