Now that you have your newly-edited manuscript down to 143,122 words, (not including the 36,310 words of the ‘Back Section’ which includes recipes, a guide to additional reading, a history lesson, a wine list, and other information you deemed pertinent to your readers as addendums to your manuscript), you start looking for a book publisher. The only problem there is that you have no idea how to find a book publisher. Someone wiser than you, or maybe someone who just overheard someone else talking to another someone about this, suggests you get a “literary agent”. But you’ve no idea how to find one of those, either. So: 1) You go into your husband’s office and ask him, “Have you any … [Read more...]
I am no Longer a Person; Now I am Officially a Writer
May 2009 marks two years since I wrote my first blog. These two years have been an extraordinary writing journey for me. I started ‘blogging’ because my literary agent recommended it as a way to build my writer’s platform , but discovered that it offered me much more than that. Blogging helped me make friends from parts of the world I’ve not yet even had the opportunity to visit, taught me how much more alike across the globe we all are than I’d even suspected, and made me think about my perspectives on so many social and political issues. All because of comments left for me on my written posts by other bloggers, and comments left on the posts of others whose blogs I loved to … [Read more...]
Farewell to My Friends on VOX
I had a lot of fun posting on VOX.com. I learned that something which I'd always hoped was true, is TRUE: The more people seem different from me, be it their nationality, their skin coloring, their sex, viewpoints, religion, or location - the more I see we are the same, once we really get to know each other. Also, because in the United States we’re still in “Black History Month”, (a separation from plain old “American history” that I think is ridiculous, but that’s a subject for another post), I want to leave you with this one civilization-altering photo taken from Life magazine in 1968: Black Power Salute 1968 Mexico City Olympics During the Olympic Games in Mexico … [Read more...]
…. But, the Story Could Have Also Gone This Way…. (Satire)
Chicago, 1976 The 15-year-old boy was tall for his age, very dark, and rather skinny. Wearing a cheap, ill-fitting suit that only emphasized his gangly frame, he stood in the courtroom facing Judge Joseph Gary’s bench. His court-appointed public defender, Robert Klein, of the law firm Fielden, Neebe and Scwab, stood beside him. The judge spoke, “Mr. Klein, your client is accused of armed robbery at Giordano’s Pizzeria downtown. How do you plead?” “Guilty, your honor,” replied Mr. Klein, “but with a request for a commuted sentence.” “On what grounds?” demanded Judge Gary. “He shot Leo Spizzirri right in the leg. Leo dropped a five gallon container of tomato sauce. It splashed all over the … [Read more...]
How to Make Harlot’s Sauce….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQtfzwWm2k4&] … [Read more...]
We Were All So Very Good….
.......but When We Were Bad, We Were Even Better! With Warmest Wishes from Patricia Here are my wishes for Blog Neighbourhood Friends for 2009: For Foxsy...A very happy birthday, a new great start and, down the road a ways, a loving partner who appreciates all that she is.... For R.G. Ryan, Shushnow, Margy and Baria...Spots on the NY Times Bestsellers' List! For grrrace and Michelley-Shell...the true realization and recognition of their talents and their remarkable worth.... For Libertine...yet another liberating year! For Street Vein, Kzinti, Ninja, Charms, Flamingo Dancer, and Jack Yan...even more remarkable insight to fill up our brains in the coming year.... For Bookmole and … [Read more...]
The Little Saint Nicholas
In light of the horror which took place in India, and another horror which is at this moment taking place in Greece (see photos at the end of this post) and has now spread to Spain and France, I think it's appropriate to post this excerpt from my memoir and dedicate it to my friends in India and Europe, with hopes that people will come to their senses and understand that there is always a a peaceful way to get one's point across.... The Little Saint Nicholas in Greece "The Little Saint Nicholas" (Excerpted from Harlot's Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss and Greece) At the end of our new road, there was a little white stucco church.It had a clay tile roof and was no … [Read more...]
Just This One Holiday*
Sleeping Santa Just this one holiday… Forget that times are hard and that you don’t have the money to buy what you want, wear what you want, go where you want. Instead, remember that every holiday is another chance to have fun, to be happy, even with the less- than-you-wish-that-you-had. And having fun under tough circumstances proves to you that you are brave enough to thumb your nose in the face of hard times. Just this one holiday….. Give yourself a break. If you don’t want to bake it, buy it store-bought. If you’re too busy to send cards, send emails. If your house is not “clean enough,” let it stay that way, because it will need cleaning just as much after the holiday as before. … [Read more...]