If You Are Feeling Lost…

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent interview, bestselling author Brianna Wiest shared the following advice for anyone who may be feeling lost:

If you are feeling lost, you’re actually making way more progress than you think you are. And you’re doing a lot better than you think you are. Most people don’t even let themselves get to the point of feeling or admitting that they are lost. They are gripping so tightly to the old narrative and the old programming to even stop and say, ‘I don’t know what’s next. I feel lost.’ So, if you feel lost right now, that is your first signal that you have left the life that was wanting to go behind. So, step one is to acknowledge that Feeling lost is a victory, even though it doesn’t feel like it right now.

The second part is in that space of not knowing, anything becomes possible. You have no idea what kind of miracle is at your feet right now. You have no idea what you’ve actually opened up within your life.

Also, part of that feeling lost is the grieving and mourning of what you’ve had to let go of, and that’s okay, too. That’s a process that takes time.

It’s also about coming up with your vision. I think it’s about finding your next muse and figuring out What inspires me now. We’re meant to evolve, and I think people miss that. When we don’t move with life, ultimately, things do come to a grinding halt, and then we’re forced to let go. So, if you’re feeling lost, there’s nothing wrong with you. Actually, there’s something very right with you.

Brianna Wiest’s latest release, The Life that’s Waiting, is now available.

Interview with Judith Works

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Judith Works. Today, Judith shares interesting facts about her creative journey and new release, The Measure of Life.

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

I lived in Rome for ten years and after returning to the States wrote a memoir about the experience, titled Coins in the Fountain. But I wasn’t done writing about people in the expat community, some of whom didn’t live very happy lives. This interested me and I wanted to examine a life different from my own experience, and so The Measure of Life began a long gestation as a story began to take shape about a woman who struggles with disappointments and eventually finds happiness.

What is the best part of being an author? The worst?

The best part is shepherding a book to publication and holding a copy in my hands when it’s published. The worst is the struggle to write an interesting story that will actually result in publication.

Describe your writing space.

My writing space is my office. After living abroad and traveled extensively, the room is filled with memoires of places I’ve visited along with a bookcase holding books on the art and history of Italy. My desk holds dictionaries, a thesaurus, style manuals, and a new desktop computer along with the printer. Hanging above is a large replica of a map of 17th Century Rome with small paintings of Italy surrounding it.

Which authors have inspired you?

Frances Mayes, who writes so beautifully about Italy, comes easily to mind. Other authors whose books I enjoy are Colm Tóibín, Hillary Mantel, and Tan Twan Eng all of whom are geniuses at setting, plot, and character.

What is your favorite quote?

“Rome is a city of echoes, the city of illusions, the city of yearning.”
Giotto 1266 -1387

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

To bring peace to the world.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

I love to travel and have visited over one hundred countries on every continent except Antarctica. Italy is my favorite, but France and Japan are a close second. Some of the less traveled places such as Togo, Zanzibar, and Bali could easily draw me back. My most recent adventures have been to Alaska and Hawaii. When my suitcase is in resting mode, I volunteer for literary events such as a local writing conference.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

As the joke goes about how musicians get to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice. The same goes for writers: write, write, and write. But don’t forget to read, especially in your genre.

What are you working on next?

I’m working on a novel about a woman who inherits an old house and finds she has a family she never knew existed.

Blurb

A story of love and loss, lies and truth, begins in Rome when Nicole shares a cappuccino and cornetto with her Italian tutor. The meeting sets off a chain of events that upends the course of her life. While Rome also brings deep friendships and immersion into a sumptuous food scene there is no escape from acknowledging the consequences of her actions. In search of forgiveness and healing, she moves to an island near her childhood home in Seattle only to find the way to reunite the remnants of her family and discover her true path is to return to Rome and face the past.

Excerpt

I read about a new concept called blogging. Intrigued, I studied the process to launch my own blog. After a lot of false starts, I managed to post about the day I bought bread in the bakery Maggie recommended and ended up meeting the old man. I titled it FIAT PANIS (Let There be Bread):

Once upon a time I met an old man out of a fairy tale. He was tiny and perched in a gigantic carved chair where he presided over a treasure trove of books and antiques. And it was the same day I first savored the goodness of real Roman bread. The kind of bread that’s crispy brown on the outside and chewy inside. The kind baked in a wood-fired oven wafting a mouth-watering aroma out the door to compel you to follow the scent back to the bakery where fresh loaves await. I squeezed through the crowd toward the clerk to make my selection while imagining ancient Romans clustered at the baker’s stall—the baker pulling the rounds of whole wheat spiced with poppy and fennel seeds from the hot oven while his wife handed them to house slaves who gossiped about their owners, and matrons who gossiped about the neighbors as they handed over a few coins.

I included colorful photos of the bakery and a loaf of fresh bread on my kitchen table along with frescoes of loaves from the ruins of Pompeii.

Buy Links

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Author Bio and Links

After I earned a law degree in midlife, I had the chance to leave the Forest Service in Oregon and run away to the Circus (Maximus). In reality my husband and I moved to Rome where I worked for the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization for four years as a legal advisor to the director of human resources. I could see the Circus that had hosted chariot races during the Roman Empire from my office window.

My husband and I reluctantly returned to the US after four years. But we pined for the land of pasta, vino, art, and sunny piazzas. Then the gods smiled and offered a chance to return to Rome with the UN World Food Program. Six more years or food and frolic in the Eternal City passed much too quickly. The indelible experiences living in Italy and working for the UN were the genesis of my memoir Coins in the Fountain.

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Giveaway

Judith Light will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Judith on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

I couldn’t put this book down and stayed up two nights in a row to finish it. Ms. Works is an expert storyteller with a keen eye for detail and a gift for creating a strong sense of place. She takes us on a transformative journey from sun-drenched Rome to the rain-soaked shores of Vashon Island in the Pacific Northwest. I immediately connected with Nicole, the protagonist, as she navigated the complexities of an unhappy marriage, an extramarital affair, and parenting three children.

If you enjoyed reading A Year in Tuscany, you will love this sweeping romantic saga.



Be the Genie

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In his recent release, The Art of Doing, Jesse Lipscombe shares simple and straight-forward tools that can help transform our lives. Here’s an inspiring excerpt:

I’m sure all of us, at some point, have fantasized about stumbling upon a genie in a bottle. I know I have. What would your three wishes be? Would you wish for a billion dollars? World peace? Good health?

If only life worked that way.

This is just another example of how we keep looking outward for ways to fulfill our dreams when we should be looking inward. You and only you are the magical vessel you need to find to achieve your goals. And the coolest part about this realization is that you’re not locked into the whole three-wish paradigm. You can grant yourself as many wishes as you like. You simply need to give yourself permission to do it first.

For some of us, that’s the hardest thing in the world. It has been ingrained in us from our very beginnings that we have to look externally for permission.

Parents are the first people to give us permission, and the first people we have to ask for permission when we want something. If we wanted a second helping of dinner, we had to ask. If we wanted to watch TV or stay out late, we had to ask. Learning to give ourselves permission is a process that happens as we grow. The more we practice doing it, the easier it becomes.

We live in a world that promotes hustle culture, where working every waking hour with few breaks is seen as the norm. We complain about our co-workers, our bosses, and the fact that we never have enough time off or don’t get paid what we’re worth. We lament that there is never enough time. What we fail to do is give ourselves permission to change it all.

I like to put it this way: A person wouldn’t ask a professional hockey player how to fix their car, so why would you ask anyone else to “fix” your life? Granting ourselves permission—permission to do something new, to act differently, to change our circumstances, even to disappoint others or fail at something—is the key to being the genie of our own bottle.

Source: The Act of Doing, pp. 107-109

The Power of Eleven Downward Dogs

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author and journalist, donalee Moulton. Today, donalee shares an entertaining quiz about yoga and her new release, Bind.

Here’s donalee!

In my new book, Bind, three women discover everything that happens in a yoga studio is not Zen. Sometimes it’s grand larceny. Hand in hand with two cops, and one damn cute dog, they discover who’s stolen a Patek Philippe watch from what was supposed to be a secure locker. Time is ticking.

Throughout the book, the first in the Lotus Detective Agency series, the women (and even the cops) find themselves in a yoga studio doing everything from child’s pose to bird of paradise – or trying to. In their honor, here’s a fun little quiz on the ups and downs of yoga.

Should yoga be done in front of a mirror?

Ahh, no. The last thing you want to see is the rearview of your downward dog. It’s said mirrors can breed judgement and self criticism – and create unnecessary competition.

North Americans love their yoga. How much you ask?

Americans spend around $16 billion on yoga classes, clothing, equipment, and accessories each year. The number of yoga and Pilates studios in the US increased to 38,000 in 2020. Here’s another figure for you: 300 million. That’s the approximate number of yoga practitioners worldwide. And a final number: $66.2 billion – the projected value of the global yoga market by 2027.

The world’s largest yoga lesson had how many attendees?

The largest yoga lesson was attended by 100,984 participants, with hats off to the Government of Rajasthan, Patanjali Yogapeeth, and the District Administration of Kota in India, on June 21, 2018. That’s nearly double the participants of the previous largest yoga lesson. Even Wembley stadium can’t hold that many people. This record-breaking community event was organised to celebrate International Day of Yoga 2018. The enormous assembly practised yoga together for two hours in the early morning.

What is the most dangerous yoga pose?

Probably not a good idea to try headstands. It’s contraindicated for much of the population for a slew of reasons — high blood pressure, glaucoma, and pregnancy, to name a few. It’s absolutely contraindicated for anyone with neck injuries. Interestingly, savasana – where you lie down with your eyes closed and relax – is one of the most difficult yoga poses to master.

The world’s oldest yoga teacher taught until she was how old?

The oldest yoga instructor recognized by the Guinness World Records was Tao Porchon-Lynch, who was teaching yoga up until her passing at the age of 101 in February 2020. Bless her heart.

Yoga should be practiced while wearing what type of clothes?

Loose clothes are best because you’ll be stretching, bending, and binding in all sorts of directions. You’ll want clothing that allows for a full range of motion. Recommended: garments with stretchy fabrics and a relaxed fit to ensure you can move freely.

The most ancient yoga text, Goraksha’s Century, describes how many poses?

The Gorakṣaśataka is one of the first texts that teaches Haṭha yoga’s physical methods. The first verse states that the text is for those who have renounced ordinary life to attain liberation. The text was written by an Indian sage said to have lived in the 9th or 10th century and who is believed to have been a student of Matsyendra – the first person to learn the teachings of yoga.

Here’s a multiple-choice question for you. Yoga can do what for your body according to scientific evidence and not just yoga practitioners?
(1) Improve blood flow
(2) Boost your immune system
(3) Enhance sexual function

They’re all right, but we want it to be (3). Yoga can work every muscle in your body. Research has shown that practicing yoga can delay aging and it boosts your immune system.

Yoga classes were originally intended exclusively for whom?

Yoga classes used to be just for men; women were not invited until 1937. And today 72% of yoga practitioners are women. Women were not allowed to practice yoga because it was believed to make them infertile or subject to evil spirits.

Prisoners in what country can reduce their sentence by getting top marks in a yoga test?

In 2010, prison officials in Madhya Pradesh, a state in India, launched a program to reduce inmates’ sentences if they completed a three-month yoga course. The prison authorities found that yoga not only improved the prisoners’ fitness but made them calmer, less violent, and more positive towards life.

What kind of yoga is growing in popularity?

Laughter yoga. You laugh for no reason to help reduce stress and depression. Laughter yoga releases endorphins and the “feel good” hormones, dopamine and serotonin. It also suppresses that pesky stress-hormone cortisol. These effects are linked to a better mood, reduced pain, lower blood pressure, a stronger immune system, and lower stress levels and rates of depression.

Author Bio and Links

donalee Moulton’s first mystery book Hung out to Die was published in 2023. A historical mystery, Conflagration!, was published in 2024. It won the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense (Historical Fiction). donalee has two new books in 2025, Bind and Melt, the first in a new series, the Lotus Detective Agency.

A short story “Swan Song” was one of 21 selected for publication in Cold Canadian Crime. It was shortlisted for an Award of Excellence. Other short stories have been published in numerous anthologies and magazines. donalee’s short story “Troubled Water” was shortlisted for a 2024 Derringer Award and a 2024 Award of Excellence from the Crime Writers of Canada.

donalee is an award-winning freelance journalist. She has written articles for print and online publications across North America including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Lawyer’s Daily, National Post, and Canadian Business.

As well, donalee is the author of The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say and co-authored the book, Celebrity Court Cases: Trials of the Rich and Famous.

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Book Blast: Mean Cuisine

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Wendy W. Webb. Today, Wendy shares her new release, Mean Cuisine.

Blurb

Beluga Stein is taking a cooking class and it’s a real killer. This time she’s traded her signature loud muumuus for ill-fitting chef attire, including a toque the size of her ego.

A well-liked chef is found dead and it’s up to Beluga and her feline familiar, Planchette, to investigate. There’s no recipe to follow, only the hope that her erratic psychic ability will hit the spot. Is a supernatural entity stirring up trouble, or something far more dangerous?

Beluga and Planchette can’t stand the heat, but there’s no way out of this kitchen while murder is the main dish.

Excerpt

Beluga Stein’s Diary

Such a day.

And while Chef Pernod tried mightily to restore order with an impromptu lecture on the differences between Grande, Classic and Nouvelle cuisines, I’m afraid the distinctions were lost when the frozen body was wheeled past us to the waiting ambulance.

The sight of such a spectacle took a toll on the chef as well, I should add. Fortunately for me there was no mention of Planchette in the kitchen, but for the rest of us the chef’s well-practiced lecture took a sudden nosedive into a stream-of-consciousness series of French words. I think I heard her say that a traditional kitchen brigade had positions with names sounding something like “poisoner,” which is rather ominous if you ask me, and “chefs who party,” which might warrant further investigation if things start to get dull. Or one finds herself in immediate need of hors d’oeuvres and a tropical cocktail.

Author Bio and Links

Wendy W Webb (aka one of the many Wendy Webbs) has published dark fantasy short stories and novels, co-edited anthologies, and has had productions of stage and radio plays. After a hiatus as a doctoral student of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomed the return to fiction with The Wild Rose Press writing the gothic Widow’s Walk, and two updated books in the Beluga Stein supernatural-humor-murder mystery series, Bee Movie and Mean Cuisine. Sunbury Press under the Milford House imprint published the paranormal, travel, “memoir,” Eye of the Gargoyle. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see any more ghosts!

Barnes & Noble Paperback | Barnes & Noble eBook | Amazon Paperback | Amazon eBook

Giveaway

Wendy Webb will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Wendy on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

10 Things I Learned During One Elevator Ride

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Bethany Maines. Today, Bethany shares her new release, Elevator Ride.

Here’s Bethany!

In my forthcoming novel, Elevator Ride, Rowan Valkyrie has put in his twenty years of service with the Marines and retired to start his own security firm. Rowan has been the stable “adult” of the family since he was eleven, but that kind of responsibility means there isn’t a lot of time to focus on his own needs. At forty-four he’s never been married and isn’t sure how to deal with a life where his brothers are successful, his mother is stable, his business is booming, and basically everything is… fine. Which of course means it’s time for the author (insert me cracking my knuckles) to introduce a love interest. Vivian Kaye – spit fire paralegal – is also searching for how to craft the next phase of her life. Vivian feels stymied at work, but also doesn’t know how to take her volunteering with a veteran focused non-profit to the next level. Together, Rowan and Vivian have to figure out where they’re going as individuals and as a couple, and of course, where to hide from the bullets when the villains show up.

Here are ten things I learned doing research for Elevator Ride:

1. The Veteran suicide rate is too damn high. One is too many, but we lose over 17 a day to suicide. My heroine volunteers for a non-profit focused on veteran’s mental health and my research was smack in the face. The numbers are staggering. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in veterans under 45 and suicide among veteran women is nearly double that of non-vets. Learn more here: https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/vet-stats

2.Nobody wants to make their will, but we all should. Part of my plot hinges on whether or not a will got signed. Don’t be a plot point. Get a will – https://www.freewill.com/

3. How to open an elevator door from inside the elevator shaft – So it turns out that the movies lied to us. You can’t just pry open doors from inside the elevator shaft. Which makes sense because otherwise idiots would pry them open from the front side, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed.

4. The cost of apartments in Seattle – Since it’s been a hot minute since I was a renter and I never rented in Seattle (it was too expensive back then and it’s even worse now!), I spent a lot of time on the real estate websites looking at apartments. Conclusions… My rich characters would live in some pretty swank places, but my poor characters would definitely be sweating the rent. The rent levels are comparable to New York City!

5. How to make paper poppy flowers. The problem with being a writer is that once you dream up a craft for your gala planning committee to do then you have to go see if they could actually do it. Which then resulted in me making poppy flowers because… crafts!

6. Nicknames for Marines. There are a lot. Jarhead, grunts, leathernecks, gyrenes… the list goes on. Who knew?

7. Chipped Ham. And speaking of Marines, they eat something called Chipped Ham. Why? Possibly as some kind of ongoing torture experiment. Research is unclear. However, research is clear on it being disgusting.

8. Texting styles. Since my characters cover a spread of years, they have different generational habits regarding texting and their mother uses the dreaded Boomer Ellipses. My hero, Rowan, being the tail end of Gen X likes to use punctuation, while his youngest brother can’t figure out why Rowan is being so passive aggressive.

9. The cost of lingerie. My heroine enjoys wearing fancy lingerie and since I work from home in my sweats that took some research. Surprisingly, a fairly fancy set can still be had for the $75 or less range.

10. Monster Energy Drinks. This one was a bit weird, but soldiers seem to exist on caffeine and nicotine, and at some point several of my veteran characters ended up commenting on their favorite Monster flavor. Since I prefer more authorly caffeine like tea and matcha, I had to go look up what I was missing. That led down a rabbit hole of how much caffeine is too much. For the record the USDA recommends no more than 400 milligrams.

About the Book

Elevator Ride – Vivian Kaye has been tasked with serving a cease-and-desist letter to Rowan Valkyrie—the most hated tenant in Seattle’s Hoskins building. But when the ambitious paralegal ambushes the seasoned security expert in the elevator, she ignites a powder keg of tempers and attraction. Rowan and Vivian clash like only a twenty-something progressive and a forty-something ex-Marine can, but when one misstep sends Vivian flailing into Rowan’s arms, the pair also find themselves tumbling into a secret office romance. Vivian is soon head-over-heels for the older CEO, but worries that he might not take her seriously. But before Rowan can fix things, a shocking attack puts Vivian in the cross-hairs of a mysterious assailant. Heartbroken, Vivian is determined to deny her feelings and put all her energy into catching her attacker. And Rowan is desperate to protect Vivian because unless he can push all the right buttons, this elevator ride might be going straight down.

Amazon Buy Link

About the Author

Bethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay.

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All About Pi (π)

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Today is Pi Day, a celebration of one of the most fascinating mathematical constants: π (3.14159265358979…). Defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, pi has intrigued mathematicians and scientists for thousands of years.

Pi Day is observed on March 14 (the 3rd month) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant figures of π.

Ten Fascinating Facts About Pi:

1. The first recorded estimate of pi dates back to around 1650 BC, when the ancient Egyptians approximated it as 3.16. The Babylonians had a similar value, while the Greek mathematician Archimedes (c. 250 BC) was the first to accurately calculate pi using a geometric method.

2. Pi plays a crucial role in physics, astronomy, and mathematics. It is also essential in architecture and construction, influencing designs from bridges and arches to the Pyramids of Giza.

3. Welsh mathematician William Jones introduced the π symbol in 1706, though it wasn’t widely adopted until Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler popularized it in the 18th century.

4. Albert Einstein, one of history’s greatest physicists, was born on March 14, 1879—making Pi Day even more special!

5. Physicist Larry Shaw organized the first official Pi Day in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where it has been celebrated ever since. The holiday has since gained worldwide popularity among math enthusiasts.

6. During World War II, the Allies used pi to encode secret messages between the U.S. and the U.K., replacing letters and numbers with digits from pi.

7. The world record for reciting pi’s decimal places belongs to Rajveer Meena of India, who recited 70,000 digits on March 21, 2015. Wearing a blindfold, he maintained perfect recall for 10 hours!

8. Givenchy sells a men’s cologne called “Pi,” marketing it as a fragrance for intelligent and visionary men.

9. In 2014, 589 students at a German elementary school formed the largest human pi symbol. In 2017, 520 teachers and students in Todi, Italy, created the longest human representation of pi’s digits, with the city’s mayor holding up the number three at the start.

10. Eating pie on Pi Day is a beloved tradition! Whether it’s pizza pie, pot pie, shepherd’s pie, or a classic dessert pie, the key is to keep it round—just like pi itself.