Saturday, May 30, 2020

As we are reaching the half of the year


Well, what do you know? We are almost in the middle of this year. Five months have passed by, and honestly, I don't know when it happened. What I do know is that, just a few days ago, I was wondering what the new year would bring, dreaming about my summer holidays.
That was before the lockdown before, slowly, we saw airline companies canceling all the scheduled flights and sending refunds for the booked holidays.
After five months, we've seen a radical change in lifestyle as the whole world tried to adapt to a new normal. Although we know this is going to pass, we don't know how long it will take. 
This uncertainty brought us to rethink the whole structure of our society, not just the small one that directly affects us, city, or country wise, but globally.
We also experienced something incredible: the recovery of the natural balance of our planet. With the restrictions imposed on production and transportation, people began to understand the difference between need and desire.
Perhaps we reconsidered what is right to desire and strive to achieve, and what instead is better to leave aside. The pandemic reached where all the warnings from scientists failed.
The question now is: will it last?
Will humanity remember these considerations, once the emergency is over, or will they thoughtlessly continue following the false god of greed?
Posterity will tell.
What we can do, instead, is try not to forget this important lesson, and respect our planet also when we're not forced to do so. We can write a reminder for the better times of how the skies looked prettier once the smog cloud dissolved. We could write a note of the beauty of clean waters in our rivers, lakes, and seas. 
If we need to give up something, maybe it's going to be for the best, and it doesn't mean restricting our freedom, rather ensuring every single creature on this planet with the same rights.
There's a vital rule we need to remember before yelling that we're been stripped of our rights, and that is: your freedom stops where your neighbor's freedom starts. This doesn't include only fellow humans, but every single living creature.
With this consideration, I greet you until the next time.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

I had to take a holiday


Sometimes it happens that we realize we need a small break from everything to focus on other matters.
That's what happened last week when I skipped blogging.
Today, I bring you some news about the next release.
I'm not yet ready to publish it, and this time, I'm thinking to put it in pre-order.
This will help me gather more reviews, and give time to beta readers to return their feedback.
Here are some details about my work in progress (WIP), starting with the title:
The man from the mist.

It will be a crime/psychological thriller about a man who lives his life in almost complete anonymity. Ignored by everyone either at work and on the flat house where he lives, he lives his life following a comfortable routine.

Everything will change when a girl moves in the apartment next door, and a series of murders perpetrated by a mysterious 'avenger' shake the local criminal community.

I came up with this idea starting from the consideration that a killer is usually the least suspected person. But then when the least suspected person is innocent, despite being on the top of the suspect list, his life can turn upside-down.

So what you can expect from this new story?
First of all, my highly introspective characters, fast-paced suspense, and once again a glimpse of the life of people living in poor areas of the city. You will find action, love, and a lot of twists to keep you guessing until the end.

Next week I will be ready to reveal my new cover. This time, it was easier to create it, then respect the previous one, as I had already a clear idea of what I was looking for.

On a personal note, since the weather is getting be warm and pleasant, I started the planting season in the greenhouse. Therefore, I have more tomato plants, cucumber, herbs, beans, and peas.
During the winter, I cultivated indoor kale, tomatoes, and chilies. They did great, so I will expand my winter garden also to more diverse greens, who knows?

It also arrived the time to take care of the garden, take care of the flowers, and planning an upgrade of the outer fence.
This lockdown has its advantages, for those who look for them.

For this week, it's all,

Have a great weekend!



Saturday, May 9, 2020

Every cloud has a silver lining

These are difficult times for everybody. For some of us are even tougher as many lost their job, had to close their business or worse of all, lost dear ones.
Nevertheless, this post isn't focused on the harms, this pandemic has brought.
Today, I want to bring a glimpse of positivity, a chance to look to the future with hope.

COVID-19 didn't bring only negativity to the people on this planet, it also gave the chance to stop for a moment and think.
Well, this is something that doesn't happen often, does it?
When was the last time we had so much time at our availability to take a good look around us and think?
Now we have it, and we can reconsider what is around us, and try to fix what we see wrong.
On a personal level, we can analyze whether there has been something we left aside because we didn't have time.

We can reconnect with those people we lost on the way, we can declutter our life from those habits that stopped us, instead of helping to go on.
No better time than this to get rid of things we thought we need but were the result of a silly momentary desire.
There are so many things we can reconsider, and if not now, when?
This is the perfect time to make a good cleaning not just of things, but of relationships, habits.
It's a perfect moment for renewal.
When this state of emergency will be over, what changes do we want to bring with us? What kind of improvement in our lives and to our society we want to bring? Let's figure it out and act.
There won't be a better chance to improve what we think has gone wrong and finally make them right.
As for me, ion these few weeks, I literally emptied my house of those things I've simply accumulated. I donated most of those I don't need and reconnected with people I haven't heard for ages.
Today, being a glorious sunny day will be the time to fix the garden and prepare it for the summer.

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Spring is here despite everything

Something you can count on is that Nature is not going to follow any quarantine. Spring is coming, and with it, everything is waking up to a new cycle of life.
This is a sort of consolation, and although, it would be better to be quarantined in winter, the explosion of colors offered in this period gives an extra motivation to keep going.
During this long weekend, which included the missing celebration for the first of May, I had the chance to retreat to the forest, and take some pictures.
I thought to share what I've found in nature with you, hoping this will cheer up you all.
This lockdown seems to last forever, and in effect, the only reasonable way to end it would be having a vaccine and a cure for COVID-19.
Meantime, I know someone who has been extremely annoyed with having us for a longer time at home, and that is Carolina.
Despite the low resolution, it was obvious I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, at least considering the threatening stare she gave me.
This was one of the reasons why I took my camera and decided it was safer to be away and leave her spaces too.
The weather was strangely fair, and the healing power of nature did the trick on my restless soul. It didn't just give me peace, but also inspiration and entertainment.
The first person I met was an interesting guy. He was looking for food, and if I'm heading to a particular spot, I know that on my way I will meet him or someone who won't miss the occasion for a snack. Therefore, I had some nuts with me.
The wood is a place where to find hidden gems, like a sun, shining in the darkness:
And as the sky was so perfectly clear, the new leaves peeked out to test the weather.

Losing myself in this beauty, I completely neglected my garden, to which I hope to give the right attention starting from the next week.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this small spring show, and I wish you a great beginning of the month.
Take care and stay at home.


The long road of writing a book.

Publishing a book is a journey on a rocky path that involves several stages, from writing and pre-editing to editing, formatting, selecting ...