Nose to the Grindstone

 In the early rays of dawn, when only truth is spoken, Fio woke up realizing her mother had wanted her to be a teacher, but your girl was determined to be a learner--of music, art, language, and literature. So, what's Fiorella doing now? She hasn't followed up on singing or composition lately because her voice is shot and her songs are packed away, and she hasn't follow up on languages because, when she lost her maid, there wasn't anyone to practice with. 

So what does that leave? ART AND LITERATURE: the way Fio has decorated her studio and the way she's writing to you right now--and if we're lucky, maybe by Christmas, the piano will be out of storage and your girl can come up with a cute verse.

Confession time: Actually, Fiorella is testing herself out with all these ideas because, having come to a certain age, she wants to make sure she's still with it. (Not that she'll ever understand math, electronics,  and the like.) 

 Your girl's biggest worry right now is that Lolly's story as a whole will be out of date because it's been wrapped up and packed away in garage and storage for about two years. Will readers even be interested in a story that is written like Covid never happened? Fio's trying to get in touch with writers she used to know to see what they think. Wish her well!

 

 

 

 

 

THINGS TO COME!

 Oops, that extra blog was meant for yesterday. Here's today's.

Question: does everyone else get as blue as Fiorella does? It's a semi-rainy day, Granddaughter is in Day Care, Son L got called in for more work, Daughter-in-Law is glued to her earphones, and Fiorella's studio looks like a mausoleum. At the same time, she's wondering how she'll get to her doctor appointments now that Son is taking on more of a workload. Volunteers?

*

How about Fio gives you a couple of paragraphs to wet your appetite for Lolly's story--

     Lolly swung her car into her aunt's long, asphalt-paved driveway and drove slowly up the hill, hoping a deer wouldn't leap at her like its brother had yesterday. Aunt Sarah's house was forested, like her family's in Dallas, except that it was two story while the Redlander manse was a sprawling one-story on twice as much acreage. Dan had grown up poor and liked living on a grand scale.

     Whew! Her first day of second semester classes, and she'd survived. In fact, right now, she felt pretty damn good. That rush of adrenaline from her confrontation with Mr. Big Deal Cotton Bogart had done the trick, put her on her game, and she'd decided to ace his class After all, how hard could Creative Writing be? She'd seen lots of movies about writers--all she'd have to do is play some mood music, stare at the ceiling for a couple of minutes, then jot down whatever came to mind and she'd have a masterpiece--and  she might as well ace her afternoon classes as well.

Interested? It's been a long time coming....

 

 

 

Information, Confession, Publication?

 Congratulate her! Fiorella has taken the first steps toward getting into the game again. Yep, now that she's moved back to Austin, your girl is going to contact friend Cheryl R., a Romance Writers of America pal who has set up her own small publishing company, which Fio prefers it to big business.

In the meantime, your girl is working on Lolly's story again. Fiorella had unpacked her copies of it a week or so back, but couldn't get started on it again--you try proof reading in bed with a 130 pound dog vying for your attention. But today, Fiorella opened the blinds on the front window in her new studio, then added a plushy chair and an amplified desk for her own comfort--and she's been typing away like mad ever since.

But actually, Fio is a little nervous--what if she's lost her touch? Or is out of style?

Oh well, there are always other stories, short and long, and new and old. Remember, your girl has been making up stories since she was in kindergarten, maybe even before--she was afraid of the dark, and her stories lulled her to sleep. Was it that way with you too?

Saturday Blues

 Be glad you weren't in Fiorella's house in the early morning--all of a sudden, a shrill whistle sounded off and, convinced, as usual, that she had caused the problem, your girl grabbed at every electronic item she could find--her telephone, the remote, and her clock--and tried to stifle them, but to no effect. The whole house came awake--Son L, his wife, his daughter, the dog, and the cats, and Son was able to trace the shrieks to the light fixtures, then the fire alarm, but it took a good two hours for him to silence everything down. Ah, suburban living....

Fio has cleared out most of her paperbacks except for some sexy favorites that she'll be consulting when working on Lolly's story. Yeah, that's the sort of books your girl writes....

While visiting brother Bill and his wife today, Fiorella got very lonely for Mother. Why do good people have to die?

 

 

From a Woodcut to a Sexy Romance

 DANG! The beautiful Japanese wood-cut print that Fiorella sent to Son K a couple of weeks ago didn't reach him and Fio can't remember if it was insured. Let's hope he can trace the print from his end. 

Hooray, hooray! More 2020 tax information! Your girl was able to contact three of the places she donated to in 2020, and she left a message for her church, which reminded her that she took a ton of clothes and the likes to Goodwill back then.

Hey, hey--when Fiorella went outside to walk the mail up the street, she ran into her next-door neighbor, Lisa. and had a great time talking with her. Lisa and her wife are also artists so Fio wants to see their work and--let's face it--show off her own. 

Son L brought home fried chicken this evening, which your girl hasn't had in ages and will probably pay for--fried food is not good for her digestion--but neither is chocolate, and it hasn't killed her yet.

Fio started what she thought would be on editing the long lost Lolly today, and, of course, she's rewriting it even from the first page on. Wish Lolly on. She's spent way too much time in the back of the cupboard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movin' On

 Up and down, up and down. Fiorella has to pull together her tax stuff from last year, which is not the easiest thing for her to do with the 2021 she had. Son L is lending a hand, but Fio's pretty sure she'll end up in the hoosegow or wherever it is that electronically ignorant old ladies hang out.

OMG! Did your girl use the word old? Shame on her! Not that she's planning to swim naked in the neighborhood pool or anything like that, but she wouldn't mind a whistle or two.

Right now, Fio is trying to design a special setting to show off not only Mother-in-law's sister Ethelyn's) collection of sea shells, but also also your girl's collection of rocks. Son is not too enthusiastic about the two-step arrangement Fiorella is designing, so wish your girl well.

It was weird the way that not a single one of the telephone numbers that Son L retrieved from the tax forms rang true. Fio tried them all out, but they were inoperative. Maybe that means your girl doesn't have to pay this year 😁

Don't hold your breath, but Son L figured out how to get into the Lolly series that Son K had set up for Fiorella a while back. Thanks to both guys.

 

 

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN REWRITTEN BECAUSE THE FIRST VERSION SOUNDED STUPID

 Rejoining the world slowly but surely, Fiorella has remade contact with good friend Paula, who now lives in Vermont. They met each other while teaching at University of Texas many years ago and bonded instantly--two women with the same sense of humor. It's a wonder the college tolerated them--or that the coffee shops didn't throw them out into the street!

If you ask what Fio is doing this very instant, she will tell you that she is squeezed on the floor between her bedstead and the wall because Sonja Dog has claimed the bed and your girl, who is writing, needs to be as far away as possible from her granddaughter's squealing play group which is playing dolls in her next-door bedroom. Fiorella doesn't remember this aspect of grandmothering.

Hold your breath, Fiorella is starting up on Lolly again, but if it doesn't jell, she's got a vampire to fall back on. It was the first romance your girl ever wrote and she didn't know how to sell it back then, but  now she has writing friends who know the ropes. (Shh--the vampire setting is small town in Pennsylvania which her paternal family knew well.)

It looks like there's some hope that Fio can recover from the snowstorm, etc. Not only has she been lined up with several very nice people who come to the house to talk with her, but they've also given her their telephone numbers.

We've got Prime Video back on the TV now, but Fiorella made the mistake of celebrating it by watching a three hour show that was gory to the extreme. It's a good thing that a Mastiff sleeps by her side every night.

 

 

 

 

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