AUTHOR GUEST POST: Elaine Bertolotti

What advice can one author give to another?

Plain and simple, keep writing.

Don’t wait for that super special idea to come along before you sit at the computer. I always find my ideas coming when I’m already writing. perhaps my way of tackling the task (I use this word because the creative writing process is rather a struggle) is not the usual manner most authors use.

Yes, I start out with a little idea. Sometimes it just comes to me, like my IF TEDDY BEARS COULD TALK. Actually having two small grandchildren helped matters. There are toys and teddy bears of all sizes in our house. So I thought, how does a teddy bear react to children and family? I really had fun writing Teddy’s thoughts, along with his hopes and fears.

Other times, I draw from personal experiences, especially my travel experiences. I travelled extensively when I was young and I had the habit, even then, to takes notes on the things I saw, as well as situations I had to deal with. My books FLORENCE AND ME, HAWAII AND ME, ATHENS AND ME, and 8 EUOPEAN CITIES AND ME, were the outcome. My TURIN AND ME book instead talks about my life in a small town in the providence of Turin. You see, I married an Italian man and together with our two children we created a life “all’italiana”. There were lots of adjustments to make and if you read my book you’ll find out what they are. Of course, being a teacher urges me on to “instruct”. My KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON does just that. It instructs travelers to Italy on how to behave in this beautiful country. I gave lots of helpful tips to make their trip even more enjoyable. I didn’t stop there about talking about my Italy. I wrote a play about a couple who came to Italy to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary and the trip with all their comical experiences turned out to be much more than they expected. It turned out the title says it all, IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN IN ITALY.

My love for Christmas and everything it involves, was my inspiration for writing two Christmas books. My first book, CHRISTMAS AT MY DOORSTEP, was where I envisioned a toy store and the people who worked there. Work and family problems blended together with a little romance thrown in. My BECAUSE IT’S CHRISTMAS tells of a young woman who ends up taking her much desired Christmas vacation at a Vermont resort. She didn’t plan on taking it alone but her fiancé had other plans. She was fortunate to meet wonderful people there who made her feel less lonely. She too finds an unexpected romance.

My TALES OF A WEDDING PLANNER is also the result of helping my daughter who had a big role in organizing weddings. The beautiful decorations she prepared were always a big success. I decided I wanted to write about these hardworking women and put in a little mystery and suspense to boot. Actually, there were three separate stories in this book, each one dealing with weddings. I also added a number of wedding décor ideas, explained in great detail, to help the to-be brides.

I once had an art studio in Florence and I have always been attracted to painting even now I create hand-painted greeting cards. Take a look at my LITTLE LADIES https://www.facebook.com/Little-Ladies-OriginalHand-painted-Greeting-Cards-163359353695942/

I always admired those artists who dedicated themselves to portrait painting and that’s how I got the idea to write about one of them. LAINIE’S LADIES was the result. A famous woman portrait painter, Lainie, has her studio in Brooklyn and gets to meet three lovely women who come to her for their portraits to be painted. Each one has a particular reason why she wanted a portrait of herself. Lainie discovers many things about them, especially their secrets and finds that the final painting reveals more than just a beautiful face. Later, there is a mystery regarding a missing portrait.

I’m an ex pat from Brooklyn, New York and many people who live here in my area are quite curious about my city. Many too are planning to visit the city and needed some inside advice from a person who once lived there. This brought me to writing COME WITH ME TO NEW YORK. as well the Italian version, VENITE CON ME A NEW YORK, for my nonEnglish speaking friends. In this little book, I give lots of practical advice about seeing the city. I added out of the way places to see and also my favorite places to eat. One, in particular, is a diner with live music! I can’t forget to mention that being a proud grandmother, “Nonna”, in Italian, I couldn’t resist talking about my first grandchild, Gioele. When he gets older he will surely enjoy reading about himself in my CALL ME NONNA. I really enjoyed talking about him and his cute and astute experiences until the age of two and a half. He is our little man and you’d be surprised at all he accomplished during this time. Now I’m working on CALL ME NONNA 2, for my little granddaughter, Micaela. She’s only one but there is still a lot to write about!

So, I just want to say, don’t get discouraged. Look into your own life and find a story. I guarantee there is more than one. Be observant to things that are going around you. Sometimes you can find a story line in a recent happening. I found one on Facebook. A woman who decided to retire on a cruise ship This made for my up and coming book, JUST CRUISING ALONG.

As I said in the beginning of this article, keep writing. Everything is worth writing about. 

GIVEAWAY: Paperback Copy of Misty Manor by Linda Rawlins, Bookmarks, and $10 Amazon Gift Card

Linda Rawlins will be giving away the follow prizes to one lucky winner in the United States:

• Paperback Copy of Misty Manor by Linda Rawlins
• Bookmarks
• $10 Amazon Giftcard

If you are interested in entering, please enter with this Rafflecopter link.

Do not hesitate to contact me at ellacbianchi@gmail.com or via Goodreads messages at goodreads.com/bianchibooks if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding anything stated, or not stated, for that matter, surrounding this giveaway.

Yajna Ramnath's Blogger Interview with bianchibooks!

A few days ago, Yajna Ramnath, author of The Wreck of Our Hearts, had contacted me saying that she wanted me to be apart of a new thing she was going to start doing on her website where she interviewed book bloggers. I had agreed to be apart of the interview, and she has now posted in the interview on her website.

If you are interested in checking out the interview, you may do so here.

I would like to, once again, thank Yajna for this opportunity.

You can find my review of Ramnath's The Wreck of Our Hearts here.

REVIEW: Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell

1.5 stars

Nope. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of this. Why is that unfortunate? Well, it's unfortunate for me because I went into this loving the idea and how unique the concept of having different sections to read whenever you feel that certain emotion. Not to mention, the poems lacked any sort of substance from the very first to the very last. Most of the poems read like run-on sentences or paragraphs that took away from this truly feeling like what it is, that being a poetry collection.

It just didn't feel special to me. Maybe like six or so stood out to me, but that's it, and even those six or so that DID stick out to me, weren't that amazing, if we're comparing it to other poets such as Amanda Lovelace or Rupi Kaur, for example, just to name a couple.

This was boring. I hate to say it, but it was boring and had me bored for 99% of the time I was reading it. And THAT is a generous percentage.

The author liked to make every poem about herself, which took away from these poems being easy to relate to, or just relatable at all. I like when I can relate to a book, especially when it is poetry as I not only love reading poetry but writing it as well.

This fell completely flat for me. I'm not a fan. I also don't think I'll be going back to this one when I feel sad, or I feel heartbroken, or when I'm missing someone, or when I need a reason to stay, to name a few sections in this poetry collection, as its intention is.

My original review on Goodreads can be found here.

Switch From Weebly to Blogger

After working with Weebly for awhile on several sites, I decided that I wanted to switch it up. I started looking around free website/blog hosting sites, and I figured that Blogger would be the best for me and my site. So, welcome to the same bianchibooks, but with a different hosting site!