I’m at the anniversary party of The Long and the Short of it blog today. For the next week, there are over 80 guest bloggers on this site and today is the day for my posts. I should have a few spread out through the day. Great prizes are being awarded so, come make comments. http://lasrguest.blogspot.com/
I’m also here: http://happilyeverafterthoughts.blogspot.com/ giving away a copy of Redemption for the Devil to one commenter.
Posted in Random thoughts
Don’t forget to pop over to my publisher’s blog and comment for a chance to win!! Today, we have an excerpt from Redemption for the Devil. http://desertbreezepublishing.blogspot.com/ I’ll be guest blogging tomorrow in 2 places and will post links here. Also, today, I’m on Southern Sizzle, my regular Saturday post- talking about Wicked Wickham. http://southernsizzleromance.wordpress.com/
graffiti in Venice
Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: Desert Breeze Publishing, Redemption for the Devil, Southern Sizzlers, Venice
The Villa Borghese was built by the Cardinal Borghese to show off his art collection. It is a spectacular building. The interiors will take your breath away. The ceilings are all painted and look almost three-dimensional. The sad thing is that they take away your camera when you go in and even the books on sale there don’t have full color photos of these ceilings. I wish like heck that I could share these with you. I’ll carry them in my mind’s eye forever but am sad that I can’t share them.
One of my favorite things there is a sculpture called The Rape of Persephone by Bernini. It is exquisite. The marble is carved to look like Pluto is holding Persephone and you can even see the indentations of his fingers on the skin of her thigh. She has a look of anguish on her face and a little tear escapes from her eye. Pluto’s muscles are well-defined and the dog, Cerberus, is magnificent. His fur looks real. I was amazed at the craftmanship of this piece and the man was only 23 when he did it- there are other Bernini statues there as well. One he did when he was eleven. It was awe inspiring- two babies milking a goat. And he was only eleven!
If you ever get to Rome, this is a not to be missed gallery. Truly. 
Posted in Friday Facts | Tags: Borghese, Friday Facts, Galleria, Persephone, Pluto, Rome. Bernini, Villa
On the gondola ride in Venice, this scene caught my eye. It was such a dichotomy – we all over here on this side of the Atlantic think of Venice as exotic and spectacular. There are balconies everywhere, flowers growing and lots of wonderful colors on the buildings and great architecture. To the people who live there, it’s just home and the mundane day to day chores have to go on. I had to snap this picture (actually, the kiddo snapped it as he had a better shot, but I made him do it- LOL!) as it spoke volumes to me. I hope you enjoy it.
Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: architecture, buildings, Italy, laundry, Venice
Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tags: wordless Wednesday
One of the interesting things about Italy is that they don’t serve tap water there in the restaurants. They only serve bottled water – the question is always asked, “Still or Bubbles?” or “Still or Gas?” If you get to Europe, never, never, never go for the bubbles or gas. That is pure seltzer water. Not refreshing at all!! I learned that on a trip to Germany when I was 19. We were picked up at the airport by our host, Herr Ludwig and he went into a gas station and asked if we wanted water. When he asked if I wanted, “sparkling,” in my head, that meant “cold” – Uh, no. It was bubbles/gas. Can you say, “gag me?” Well, I had to drink it and smile since Herr Ludwig was so proud of getting me the water. I was raised to be polite no matter what I was served. So, I grinned and drank the stuff. Yipes.
This time, I was prepared and always said “still” almost before they asked. The weird thing is the water was the same price as the beer or bier as they spell it. Coca cola was outrageously expensive- the kid drinks that a lot. He also found some apple juice he loved made with green apples. It was excellent. He inhaled that stuff. I drank bier a few times when my feet got achy from walking. I call it self-medicating, and after all, it was as cheap as water, right?
Pop in to my publisher’s blog and see what I’m saying today over there. http://desertbreezepublishing.blogspot.com/
Its also my day at this blog: http://fourfoxesonehound.wordpress.com/
Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: acqua minerale, apple juice, beer, bier, coca cola, Italy
My publisher, Desert Breeze Publishing, features one of their authors every week and this is my week. My book, Redemption for the Devil, came out on July 15, 2011. I’ll be on the blog each day this week talking about the book, my favorite movies, favorite authors, an interview, etc. Each day will feature a different topic and at the end of the week, a pdf copy of the book will be given to one commenter. I hope you’ll pop in. http://desertbreezepublishing.blogspot.com/
I’m home from Italy and will be yakking all about it ad nauseum so get ready for that, too. Here’s a picture to tide you over til I get rested enough to get a long post done.
Part of the Trevi Fountain
Posted in Books | Tags: Desert Breeze Publishing, Italy, Redemption for the Devil, spotlight, trevi Fountain
Venice was also on my itinerary while in Italy. One of the unique things about Venice is that all the traffic is either by boat or by foot. There are no cars in the city. How wild is that? Here in the US, we can’t get away from roads and cars, cars, cars.
Venice was a powerful part of the trade world between the East and the West in the days before the Americas were discovered. Once that happened, Venice fell to the wayside because of the new shipping routes that opened. Venice was ruled by Doges. A Doge is like a Duke but they ruled like a constitutional monarch.
Two famous residents of Venice were Marco Polo and Casanova. Different time periods, though- one in the 1200s and one in the 1700s.
Marco Polo
Casanova
Posted in Friday Facts | Tags: boats, canals, casanova, Doge, Friday Facts, gondolas, Italy, Marco Polo, Venice
I’m still in Italy but am talking about my new release today on Lindsay’s blog- check it out here:
Posted in Books | Tags: Desert Breeze Publishing, guest blogging, Jillian Chantal, Lindsay Below, Redemption for the Devil
Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tags: wordless Wednesday
Jillian Chantal 