I hear their muffled whispers and understand every Italian word. Every witty comment made at my expense.
It’s like my brain is automatically translating.
I bunch the soft fabric of the dress in my hand and then reach up to feel the ribbon in my hair. I lightly skim my fingers over my chin and feel my lack of zit. I take in the costumes of the crowd, the stench of the animals, and the Italian I can now speak and understand. And suddenly it hits me.
Reyna must have pulled some kind of gypsy mojo.
Maybe this is one of those nifty “change your life” magic scenarios like in the movies. I mean, mostly I’m still expecting to blink and be right back in the midst of overpriced, gaudy tourism, but for now, the gypsy-time-warp explanation is infinitely better than thinking I’ve lost my mind. As I decide to go with that option, I feel my frantic tension melt away.
The growing crowd seems to notice my change in demeanor and begins shooting one another amused looks, but I don’t care anymore. A smile stretches across my face. Evidently, I was wrong earlier; Reyna is a psychic mind reader, because if this is her special brand of bibbity-bobbity-boo, then she made my exact daydream from earlier in the courtyard come to life.
The long red gown, the braided hair, the Italian merchant’s daughter, the time period. I am in Renaissance Florence.
I stare dumbly at the ground, the words and reality sinking in.
I’m in Renaissance Florence!
Now on to my mishmash of Monday thoughts:
- Daylight Savings Losing an hour is never fun. I forced myself out of bed an hour early on Sunday just to make sure I didn't lose the time during the day.
- From Paranormal to Contemporary I'm used to writing in the paranormal genre, and now that I'm writing a contemporary, I keep waiting for the paranormal element to pop up. LOL. I'm seriously laughing at myself over here. *There's no paranormal in a contemporary romance, Kelly.*
- St. Patrick's Day I'm 6 different nationalities and Irish happens to be one of them. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
- Marketing This weekend I had the pleasure of speaking with my marketing consultant at Spencer Hill Press. How cool is that? She is amazing, and I'm so excited to work with her on Touch of Death.
- Writing Goals At the beginning of the year, I set the goal to write three books in 2012. Somehow, I'm on the third already. How did that happen?
That's it for me. What's on your mind today?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteToday i have so much on my mind. It seems all so complicated even though I know it's up to me to let it be more simple.For the last few months, i have a wonderful circle of online friends, but still feel so alone.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're going through a rough time, Nikky. I hope you find something to do today that puts a smile on your face. Sometimes the little things are what keep me going when I feel down.
DeleteHappy St Patricks day Kelly! I'm only 1 sixteenth and I think its enough :)
ReplyDeleteAny Irish counts, right? Happy St. Patrick's Day.
DeleteThanks for sharing Rachel's cover. Great excerpt!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it!
DeleteI love time travel books. Sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI think so, too. :)
DeleteLove the cover and excerpt. Rennaisance Florence.. sounds fantastic. Rennaisance times were interesting, and in Italy.. this is one book I'm eager to gets my hands on
ReplyDeleteHappy St. Patrick's Day! :)
haha I LOLed after reading about your number 2. Needs a little getting used to eh?
Writing goals, you are on your third? Yay! Go Kelly Go. :)
My goals today - Still fighting with my chapter one. Two is ok. My character is misbehaving. :(
Thanks for sharing, Kelly.
I'm glad you like Rachel's book. :)
DeleteYes, I'm trying to get used to writing a contemporary. I'll get there, hopefully before I finish. LOL
Don't fight your character. It's her/his story. Go with it.
Wow, third book already? That is productive. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Fi. You too!
DeleteWhat a fun sounding book! And Kelly, you are better than I if you got up an hour early. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOh, Katie. You forgot to set your clocks ahead?
DeleteI'm not into the paranormal romances, but my daughter bought me a copy of "Writing The Paranormal Novel" which I will read, only to have knowledge of the elements.
ReplyDeleteStill, there is nothing that beats a well-written romance. It's been a long time since I've read one. I hope yours is stupendous!
Thanks, Diane! I appreciate that.
DeleteRenaissance Florence, good setting, Rachael! Your cover is fun too. I like the fan.
ReplyDeleteI love the fan too. I used to have one like that.
DeleteThree books?! You've been busy. I'm still working on my first one. But that's what's on my mind today too. I'm almost finished and I'm hoping to get it done either today or tomorrow. Hoping is the key word.:)
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Mariah. You can do it!
DeleteI loved Florence and the clip is cute. Happy St. Patty's to you Kelly!
ReplyDeleteTHREE BOOKS?!?!? Already? I'm struggling with just one with everything happening this year. I stand..er, sit..in awe. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the reveal girl. Mad love and cyper hugs! <3 <3
Anything for my agency sister, Rach! I'm so excited for you and can't wait to get my hands on this book. :D
DeleteLady Kelly
ReplyDeleteGreetings :-). My hand hasn't dropped off yet, so it seems you're stuck with me :-P.
An excellent cover! Though I'm not sure the dress would suit me, I could sure use the fan today. It's way too warm - says the man who walks round in shorts and a T-shirt in -30C (blushes).
Daylight Savings. Sigh. I just wish that (like some places here in Canada) we stayed the same all year round. Which one? Take your pick - but let's stop changing it round :-).
Paranormal to Contemporary? Well, if it's Contemporary Romance, and it has a happy-ever-after, that seems pretty paranormally weird these days. Or at least uncommon. So maybe your mains have a psychically powered benevolent, um, aspidistra watching over them? :-).
St Patrick's Day. I wonder what old Pádraig would have thought of Guinness?
Marketing. Oh, dear. The dreaded M word. And July is getting closer. Heeelp! (blushes).
Writing Goals. Well, I haven;t got three done. But I've got one done, one just hit first beta draft, and a sequel to Comedy of Terrors in progress. Does that count? :-).
And today's totally selfish, self-centric line? Well, writers write worlds that don't exist until readers travel there. They might be called Virtual Worlds. But there's more than one kind of Virtual... Todays blog entry at www.graeme-smith.net :-).
Hey, Graeme! I agree about the cover and Daylight Savings. I'd like to wear that dress and I hate time changes. LOL on the contemporary comment. There's tons of tension in mine. Not really a happily ever after kind of thing, so no paranormal there. ;)
DeleteHi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteDaylight Savings: I completely forgot about it! Had guests at the BnB for the week-end and almost missed making their breakfast. That's no way to build up a "return customer" clientele.
Happy St Patrick's Day to you too, Kelly. and wishing you good luck on marketing your new YA book, Touch of Death.
I'm amazed at how organized and consistent you are: you're blogs are great, you post regularly, and you've written 3 books in 2012. Do you have a life out side your writing one?
Funny you should ask that... not really. ;) Writing and being a mom pretty much sums up my life. Plus my husband works a lot so I have lots of time to write.
DeleteThanks for the kind words. I appreciate them greatly.
I got up early yesterday, too, but it didn't help me today for whatever reason. :) My kids, either. It was dark and rainy, though, so I'm sure that didn't help. :)
ReplyDeleteI am testing for my advanced yellow belt in karate next week, so I've been working on my essay for it. Plus trying to get all my other regular stuff done. Busy busy busy!! :)
Ooh, good luck with the yellow belt test! I'm crossing my fingers for you.
DeleteThree books already? I'm impressed! :-) So far all I've managed is to re-write the first two chapters of my first book of the year over and over and over again...
ReplyDeleteEvery story is different, right? I've had those that required lost of rewrites too.
DeleteStruggling with Daylight Savings over here also. I'm writing about it, and if I can get my re-adjusted head together I will manage to post. More coffeeeeee...
ReplyDeleteYum, coffee... That's a good cure for Daylight Savings. ;)
DeleteThe cover is hilarious and inviting. Love the combination of time travel and the Renaissance.
ReplyDeleteI really love the combination of time travel too! It's makes the cover very appealing.
DeleteI'm going in the opposite direction, from a contemporary to a paranormal. It should be fun.
ReplyDeleteI want that hour back, though I do enjoy the light later in the evenings.
You go on that writing spurt, lady! I am *so* impressed.
Thanks, Beverly! Enjoy the paranormal. I love that genre.
DeleteI am not Irish at all, Apache and various flavors of Latina. I committed to writing one book in 2012, not three and a dozen short stories. The book is underway but I've not started one short story. You're my shero. It must be exciting to work with your marketing person - it's becoming more real as each day passes. How exciting and glorious for you. And no paranormal in contemporary, although romance of any kind always feels 'paranormal' in the blush of attraction.
ReplyDeleteVery true! There are a lot of contemporary things and moment in all of my novels, so it's not completely foreign to me. It's just funny that I keep expecting a paranormal twist that's just not coming. LOL Creature of habit, I guess.
DeleteI'm going to have to revisit my goals for this year. Once I get into revising, things will slow down.
Happy St Patrick's Day!
ReplyDeleteOther than the usual translation work, I should see my publisher this week (I hope, if nothing comes up!), to discuss what I need to change in my second short story collection - I hope to have it published by Eurocon (Europe science fiction and fantasy convention, it will be held in Zagreb this year, at the end of April). And, even though it's still some 6 weeks away, I already think about Eurocon.
That's exciting! Good luck with it.
DeleteI am about 6 different things, too! Irish is one of them. Happy early St. Patty's Day. Wow! You certainly know how to reach a goal. Can't believe you are on your third book this year. That is amazing. I need more time in each day. I am dragging today- I think losing the hour is harder today than it was yesterday. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI agree that I feel the lost hour more today than yesterday. Strange, right? Happy St. Patrick's Day!
DeleteJust think, in the fall we will get the hour back.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a character in your contemporary novel could be reading Touch of Death. Sort of like Hitchcock when he would appear in his own movies for a second.
I replied to your post on my blog, come over and check it out. Everyone is welcome at: http://rjstarkey.blogspot.com
LOL. Have them read Touch of Death! Love the way you think, Rick. :D
DeleteThree books already this year. You're amazing, Kelly.
ReplyDeleteThe book cover is lovely. Today seems to be the day for Cover Reveals.
LOL. Thanks.
DeleteThere are a lot of cover reveals today. Maybe this spring weather is doing something to the book industry. ;)
That was a great excerpt. Thanks for sharing it and congrats on starting your third book. Wow!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome and thank you!
DeleteCute cover hehe :)
ReplyDeleteI think so too. :)
DeleteLoved the excerpt from 'Sweet Sixteenth Century', the cover, and the title too. Happy St Patrick's Day to you too. Wow, 3 books already! Way to go! Over all, sounds like things are moving pretty good for you, and you deserve it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the book, Donna. Happy St. Patrick's Day! And thank for the kind words. :)
DeleteThat's a great book cover and I added it to my wish list.
ReplyDeleteYou write fast. :)
I miss that lost hour. I can't wait to get it back in the fall.
Same here. I want my hour back.
DeleteGlad you like the book. :)
For some reason, I write better when I fast draft. The slower I go the more I come out of the story and lose the flow.
(I totally responded out of order to your comments.)
Wow! Congrats on getting to your third book of the year already. That's amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janel!
DeleteThat sounds like a fun story. Congrats to your friend, Rachel! (And to you, Kelly, for starting on your third book for the year. :) )
ReplyDeleteThanks, Claudine!
Delete