Writing – Page 4 – Nicci Carrera

June 1, 2014 Nicci Local, Photography, Travel, Writing

Power lunches

I had lunch in Menlo Park with a friend the other day at a wonderful restaurant called Cafe Borrone. We sat outside and split a goat cheese platter and salads. Behind us I spotted this fabulous door, and that’s when I remembered my camera bag … which I had left at home. 😦 Okay, for me, this is what phone cameras are for … desperation. Some people take incredible photos with their phones, but I just have some random app on my Android phone, and it’s really not very good. But thank goodness for smart phones anyway, or I wouldn’t have been able to take this shot.

I didn’t notice the BBC on the door until this morning when I started fiddling with the photo for today’s post. BBC stands for British Banker’s Club, which was a rowdy bar until it was closed by the ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) in 2012. Well … technically the ABC can just pull the liquor license, but I liked how that last sentence sounded, and anyway, when a bar loses its liquor license, the result is it’s closed. No great loss, IMO, after reading about some yucky history there. But now this historic building will get new life as a lovely restaurant. That’s great, but … really … I just liked the door!

Okay, the one above is still a little crooked. My eye doctor says one eye is higher than the other, and that’s why I stand with my head tilted. I was like … really?! He said look at some photos, and sure enough, yes, I tilt my head. But if I straightened this photo any more, the BBC was lost.

Here are some other crops, with no adjustments other than crop.

In this one, I like the way the letters glow.

So … was this a power lunch? Yes, of course. Whenever two friends make time to have lunch together, there’s a lot of power.

I also just won the bid on Brenda Novak’s auction for Diabetes research for another power lunch–this one in New York City in July!

Here’s the description:

This is a triple threat package–lunch, advice and brainstorming with NYTimes Bestselling Author Brenda Novak, one of her editors, Margaret Marbury, VP of Harlequin Enterprises, and her agent, Dan Raines of Creative Trust in New York City during THRILLERFEST, (at a mutually agreeable time and place).

Do not miss this opportunity to pitch ideas, ask about publishing trends and generally take advantage of literally decades of publishing experience!

I’m not going to Thriller Fest as I don’t write thrillers at the moment. I’m just going out for the meeting using my frequent flyers and staying with one of my very close friends. I have no idea what will come of this meeting, I just had a very strong impulse to bid on that item on the first day of the auction. I almost lost the bid during the last hour last night. It was incredibly exciting to watch the count-down on the timer. I really couldn’t bid any higher, so I watched the minutes count down with my heart in my throat.

Needless to say, I didn’t get a huge amount of work done during that last hour! Once I won the bid, I made my plane reservations and this morning I confirmed staying with my friend, who is going to take the days off and pick me up at the airport at 5:30am.

There’s that power of friendship again…. Maybe that’s what it’s all about?

May 18, 2014 Nicci Writing

Selfie Sunday

I was staring out the window daydreaming today, which I do a lot of as I work, when I decided I had to take a selfie. Do you know — day dreaming is very good! We think that work has to be grind, grind, grind, or else it isn’t work. But when we allow our minds some freedom we may come up with short cuts or brand new ideas that will make our work, work, work, actually be breakthrough instead of just more shavings off the same block.

The two unframed canvases in the background were done by my mom in an art class when she was just fooling around. I love them — there’s nothing like original oil paintings, even if they are just studies. The framed one is a composition by the artist, Leanne Cole. The link that I provided to Leanne’s blog will take you to the post that was selected for the honor of WordPress Freshly Pressed. Being Freshly Pressed is major and it is very well deserved by Leanne, whose work I obviously admire.

April 5, 2014 Nicci Poem, Writing

I Love Words, a poem by Craig

I Love Words

I love words but when I need them most
They dance away like playful ghosts
They sit at the edge of my awareness
With an outward show of how they care less
And when I stop trying to find them
They return to me and let me bind them.

And in the end they get stuck to a page
Forever recalling a sunset or sage
To be set in a pattern of order and form
Restricts their freedom and chaos deforms
Like plucking the wings off a beautiful fairy
Or laughing to tears at something real scary.

In the end it changes the nature of a thing
To conform and recast the very stuff of being
Words disassociate, now mated for life
In ways each a husband, each a wife
To bring alive ideas, memories and sights
Into bittersweet, arcane and wondrous light.

Allegories, perjuries, poems and songs
Vistas and sisters and outright “come alongs”
The contents of a heart, one’s gut or head
The date of death, the prayers being said
The stale life without respite or flight
The endless possibilities late in the night

To all of these and oh so much more
We bind up our words over and over
Trying to find the right combination
And steal a piece of original creation.
But sometimes its best to leave them be
To let them just dance away so free.

-Craig Engen-

February 20, 2014March 19, 2014 Nicci Local, Photography, San Francisco, Travel, Writing

Spring is coming

I’m very happy to be on a “writer retreat.” One of my critique partners moved away almost 2 years ago and is back for a visit. We’re spending a few days surrounding a Donald Maass workshop (The Fire in Fiction) to talk about our goals, projects and life. While technology has allowed us to continue meeting via Google chat, face-to-face time satisfies a human need for connection on a deeper level, I find. What do you think?

Although we haven’t earned spring or summer in California because we’ve had a long string of days like this (today):

I’m still excited by the first signs of spring. Look at this little visitor who came to our driveway a couple days ago.

February 18, 2014March 19, 2014 Nicci Art school, Essay, Photography, Skiing, Writing

The joy of being a beginner

I’ve been writing for a long time. I still have so much to learn, but some things are getting easier.

I did not love being a beginner writer. I declared my major English in college during my first English class because I found it so hard to express my ideas and I wanted to be as articulate as the teacher. I sought out writing in all my jobs and ended with an 18 year career in technical writing, and though I’ve been writing and studying fiction for many years, I consider myself about 30 years old (assuming a 100 year lifetime, hopefully). I still have tons to learn (one of the things I love about writing) but am able to write and edit my stories. (A new novel is in the works!)

I’ve been taking photos for a year now. My blog made me do it! Seriously, I love shooting photos and sharing them with you and really love looking at your photos. Then I wanted to do some art and quickly grew frustrated with all the supplies and mess. Although it is fun and I want to do more.

My husband observed this frustration and mess (he took the above photo), knows I love my computer, and bought me a Wacom Bamboo. The digitizer tablet came with Corel Painting Essentials, which I love. After trying digital painting and drawing, I found myself wanting to return to paper for those things, but really enjoying the auto photo painting.

I enjoy being a beginner with art.

Piano is something I spend a little time on every day.

I’m not an absolute beginner, though. I taught myself to read music as a kid and then had lessons. I would say I’m just a tad above beginner. I’m trying to unlearn bad habits and learn the timing carefully in the songs. I find this phase a tad frustrating so I set a modest goal to be able to play 4 songs well by the end of the year. This goal allows me to enjoy the process and not turn it into work.

Since I started skiing so young and grew up on a ski slope, I’m an expert in that realm, though on the bottom level of expert. I am not into extreme skiing and have no desire to improve.

I’m completely happy with my level and skiing for me is just about the joy of nature, the freedom of movement and the satisfying feeling of working my muscles. It’s also about sharing giggles, skiing stories, and good food and grog with friends and family.

With yoga I’m a total beginner. I avoided yoga because I’m stiff and the one time I went to a class everyone was doing amazing things and moving quickly through poses. I couldn’t keep up and it hurt. I hated yoga. But last fall, after getting off a 12 hour flight with an overall stiffness to my body that wouldn’t go away, and finding myself not at all motivated to get back into my weight-lifting routine, really in a state of desperation, I went to a yoga class at my YMCA.

It was called Adaptive Yoga. I figured if the yoga was adapted to people with various physical restrictions, it should work for me! And I stumbled upon an amazing teacher. I started going to all six of her YMCA classes because I love the work (enjoy the journey), want to make progress (a general, wide-open goal), and the classes make me feel well physically and mentally (a constructive, healthy journey). The teacher shares about her yoga journey and encourages us to embrace our own yoga journey while she carefully guides us through various poses.

I enjoy thinking of myself as being at the start of a lifelong journey of working with my muscles, bones, and joints, taking care of them, and increasing my ability to do poses. It should be frustrating to be so stiff. But beginning yoga has really taught me how to pursue an art:

Enjoy the journey.
Define success as showing up and doing the practice.
Have very general goals like regular practice and improvement.
Don’t compare yourself to others.

Make rapid initial progress.
Build new neural pathways, which is good for your brain.
Socialize, which is also good for your brain, not to mention your spirit.
Cure midlife blues by starting a new journey.

January 9, 2014March 20, 2014 Nicci Writing

The observer effect

My co-author and I are working on a science fiction novel and yesterday I was pondering the so-called “observer effect” in quantum physics. Puzzling stuff, but then the birds outside my window gave me a lesson.

Dozens of birds come to bathe and drink out of our waterfall every day. They usually come in groups of the same type. I really enjoy watching their antics. Yesterday, when the pools were filled with at least a dozen birds, I decided to try to photograph them for today’s blog post, grabbed my camera and stepped out my office door.

Bye bye birds. I stood still, holding my camera ready, for a long time. But they all had fled to the power lines and trees. The sounds of so many birds in the neighborhood was amazing. It sounded like an aviary out there.

But the birds didn’t come back. Then I moved and one of the little chirps turned to a cry of alarm. Many of the birds took off, not even daring to hang around in the trees. All I could do was capture them sitting far away.

I brutalized the following photo, but I wanted to show you the activity.

To reduce the observer effect, I think I need to go to the next level and get a tripod with a remote shutter cord and put that outside my door. Then I can sit and write all day and take photos of the little creatures for you!

But for now, I am going to try to get my head around another dimension of the observer effect posed by my co-author, who never ceases to surprise and challenge me.

Happy Thursday to my local friends and happy Friday to my Australian friends, including my co-author!

January 2, 2014March 20, 2014 Nicci Art school, Australia, The Fabric, Travel, Writing

Australia, interpreted

Yesterday I posted a picture of the National Gallery of Victoria. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with the photos from the interior, even when I took them, but I was vaguely groping toward something. This morning when I woke up, I knew what I wanted to do.

Perhaps this idea is the result of my subconscious mind working on the themes of our work in progress…

November 28, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Food, Local, Manhattan, Netherlands, New York, Paris, Poem, San Francisco, Travel, Writing

A Thanksgiving day poem and highlights of a foodie

Love is what it’s all about–
but food is a close second.

Nia Simone, November 28, 2013

I was asking an Australian friend if they have any holidays that are basically about food. Not really. Okay, so I have several Australian friends, many of whom I’ve met through blogging, so pipe up if you disagree! Of course, as you know, the food in Australia is amazing, so perhaps we don’t need a specific holiday centered on feasting there.

Australia is my other home, and this is becoming clear as one fellow blogger thought I was Australian. I love Australia and my Australian friends. Today is an American holiday, though, and I’m going to celebrate it by starting this celebration of food off with home-grown and home cooked foods before moving on to some of my international culinary samples.

Home grown and home-cooked:

P1070154 — Vegan Thai with other veggies

Greenwich Village Manhattan:

Turophilia (excessive love of cheese) Greenwich Village, sign outside the cheese shop

Octopus, beer and a dolmata at Boukies, Greenwich Village

Australia:

P1060761 — Stuffed squid at a tapas bar in Melbourne, DeGraves Street

P1060975 — Joe’s? I think, Sydney, by the river

P1060977 — Smoked salmon at Joe’s in Sydney

San Francisco:

Paris:

Self portrait — I guess you could say wine was a big feature in Paris! This was dinner on the deck of our apartment.

Crepe de Frites Maison Robert on Champs Elysees

Tomato jam mozzarella bonito and basil sorbet, Opera House

Green pea soup cold with cream and goat cheese on toast, Opera House

Opera House, Grey Goose is the house vodka

Amsterdam:

Thai food

Appetizers ready to go out to the deck of the houseboat

Texas:

Torchy's Tacos, The Independent — Torchy’s Tacos, The Independent

More Manhattan:

Days 16 019 grilled camembert — Grilled camembert at The Eatery

Days 16 021 meat loaf ravioli mac and jack — Meat loaf ravioli mac and jack at The Eatery

Days 16 018 sweet italian sausage risotto croquettes — Sweet italian sausage risotto croquettes

Days 20 21 050 A — At The Boathouse in Central Park

Days 20 21 052 A — The Boathouse, Central Park

Days 20 21 085 A — Flor de Mayo, Peruvian restaurant upper west side

Days 20 21 088 A — Flor de Mayo, Peruvian restaurant, upper west side

Day4 Hot Pretzel — Hot pretzel in Central Park

Flor de Mayo, Peruvian restuarant, upper west side

Shmear, a deli in the upper west side — Shmears at a deli in the upper west side

Pain au Chocolate at the Pushkin cafe across from the Museum of Modern Art — Pain au Chocolate at the Brasserie Pushkin across from the Museum of Modern Art

Blackbottom cheesecake from The Bake Shop

Grasshopper (mint chocolate chip) from The Bake Shop

November 13, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Food, Travel, Writing

The Last Straw world-wide release and a free cookbook

Dinner last night was vegetarian Thai curry. Half the vegetables came from our garden, which still clings to life despite cold nights.

We make this all the time at home so I submitted it for the recipe gift book my publisher does during the holidays. You can get the recipe on page 55 of the FREE Holiday Garden Gourmet cookbook at The Wild Rose Press. You’ll also find lots of other recipes from Wild Rose Press authors, all organized by type of recipe in a free, downloadable PDF.

While you’re there, if you would like my novella, The Last Straw, in another format besides Kindle (mobi), you can now get a PDF or epub version. Here is the link: The Last Straw.

Note: Last night we added tofu to the mix, which isn’t in the recipe, for extra protein. You can see the little white cubes in the second photo. Just toss them in at the end and let the meal simmer for about 10 minutes to heat the tofu.

Enjoy!

November 5, 2013November 4, 2013 Nicci Book Reviews, Romance, Writing

Book review, Return to Audubon Springs, RoseAnn DeFranco

Homecoming, past lovers and secret baby… this book hits a lot of romance themes that I enjoy. Brimming with passion, conflict and humor, this book made me laugh and bite my nails and brought a tear to my eyes. Emma returns to a beautiful family house left to her as an inheritance with a big catch. She has to live there for 2 weeks a year and share the house with her very sexy ex-lover, Rafe. She tries to make Rafe leave by driving him crazy. Her ruse of being on a macrobiotic diet in order to drive him crazy had me in stitches.

The secondary characters, Rafe’s family, Emma’s friends, Emma’s mother and brother and especially the love child, Elana, populate this book with a rich, vibrant and realistic community.

This book is free on Amazon Kindle from 11/5 – 11/9/13!

Today, the author is here to answer a few questions. RoseAnn, welcome! I have a lot of questions for you, so here goes.

First, my favorite of all: are you a pantser or a plotter?

RoseAnn DeFranco: Hi Nia! Thank you so much for having me here. I’m thrilled to know you enjoyed the book. I’m a plotting pantser. My stories start with the characters. I take my time, live with them for a while, and figure out what makes them tick. From there, I naturally see the BIG MOMENTS or Turning Points FIRST. I tend to write or at least sketch out those moments and then go back and write to those points.

NS: That sounds like a great technique. I noticed you made effective use of a realistic and emotional device: the special kiss shared between mom and daughter. Did this come to you as you wrote it, did you layer it in later, or did you plan it ahead of time?

RDF: It came to me naturally in the first draft. I loved reading the book The Kissing Hand to my daughter. The exchanges you see between Emma and Elana are right out of my own history with my daughter.

NS: Wow, no wonder the mother/daughter relationship was so tender and realistic. You’ve lived it. Tell us, what came first with the idea for this book – setting, conflict or characters?

RDF: Setting definitely. Audubon Springs is based on my personal favorite Jersey Shore town. A couple of people that hail from Jersey already correctly guessed the town! Emma and Rafe’s house is actually a combination of my two favorite homes on Ocean Ave in the town.

NS: That’s wonderful. I used to spend summers in Manasquan with my family growing up. Those summers are favorite memories for my sister and me so your book was especially enjoyable.

Let’s talk about the conflict. The conflict is pretty explosive. I was biting my nails wondering if I could forgive Emma! You did it, though! It was a bold plot. Were you nervous about handling the secret baby, being able to redeem the heroine after keeping such an important relationship from the child’s paternal family?

RDF: It was definitely a concern of mine! I once attended a seminar about conflict with Eloisa James. She said that it is the Author’s job to make the conflict so horrible that you can’t imagine how the H/H will work it out. At the start of the book, Emma feels very justified in her previous decisions. As the story progresses, this secret creates a lot of internal conflict for her.

NS: Wow, that’s a great tip. Thanks for sharing it. How long have you been writing?

RDF: I’ve been writing for about seven years, seriously for about four.

NS: What other books have you written?

RDF: Return to Audubon Springs is the first in a three book Contemporary Romance series scheduled for release in 2014. The Series is called the Brothers of Audubon Springs. I wrote two other Contemporary Romances prior to starting this series. I pretty much got my feet wet and worked out my writing chops on those stories. In addition I have a Young Adult Fantasy, Forbidden Signs, which is the first in a planned three book series. It was a finalist in two writing competitions in 2012. I’m currently seeking the right home for it in traditional publishing, but if that doesn’t happen, I have plans to self-publish it.

NS: I am in awe. What are your goals and dreams with writing?

RDF: Ultimately I’d love to be one of those Authors who can give up my day job to focus exclusively on my writing. I have plans for a lot of stories, and as you know, writing takes time. Something I always seem to be short on!

NS: Wow, you are this prolific and you don’t write full time. I am so happy for you… you will get there. Thank you for joining us here today. We look forward to having you back as you publish more books.

RDF: Thank you! It was my pleasure to chat with you about Return to Audubon Springs.

Amazon Link (free today through 11/9!): http://www.amazon.com/Return-Audubon-Springs-Brothers-ebook/dp/B00FDSL792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380163799&sr=8-1&keywords=return+to+audubon+springs

Goodreads Link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18586846-return-to-audubon-springs

Bio:

RoseAnn DeFranco grew up in upstate NY with her nose in a book and a song in her heart. Following the pursuit of a musical theatre career in NYC, she turned her creative energy to writing funny, steamy romance with heart. A NJ shore transplant, she enjoys time spent at the beach with her family and would love to one day live in a quaint shore town like the fictional town from her BROTHERS OF AUDUBON SPRINGS series. More information about these Contemporary Romantic Comedies can be found at radefranco.com.

Blurb:

When Emma Grant returns to her family’s Audubon Springs beach house to fulfill the stipulations of her father’s will, she has every intention of forcing her former lover out of the house for good. She’s never fit into her wealthy family and would prefer avoiding her past, but with her brother threatening to reveal her young daughter, she has no choice.

Rafe Iuliano has other plans. The wealthy Grants tried to bribe him out of Emma’s life years ago, but he’s determined to prove once and for all that a master carpenter is worthy of Emma and the house.

Their ridiculous and steamy battle for the house reignites the love and passion that bloomed between them years ago. But when Rafe discovers she’s kept their daughter a secret for two years, can he overcome anger and pride to claim his family and the love of his life, or will the deception drive a final wedge between them?

Excerpt:

“This is your fault!” Emma shouted.

“My fault?” Rafe blinked through the thick coat of flour. “You’re the one who started this.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you—Miss Macrobiotic Princess!” They used the barstools for support, and pulled themselves up from the slippery floor. “You’re immovable just like your mother.”

“And you’ve got about as much depth as a toenail. For the life of me, I can’t remember why I was ever with you.”

With a predatory look in his eyes and gait, Rafe advanced. In two long strides he pinned her to the counter, his hands grasping her hips. “Don’t!” His voice, low and dangerous, and his near proximity overwhelmed, charging her body with a jolt of electricity rendering breathing impossible. His gaze locked on hers for an eternity, then without warning, he dipped his head and licked lavishly at the syrup on her chest and neck.

Need and heat consumed her at his touch, fraying what was left of her nerves. She dropped her head back, shivered, and her knees buckled. He held her steady, fully pinned against the counter and continued to feast on her neck. Then with a shake as if waking from a dream, he stepped away, taking his heat with him.

Emma swayed and gripped the counter. Goose bumps rose on her flesh at the storm brewing in his eyes.

“Say or do anything you want to push me out of this house, but don’t ever say you don’t remember.”