Another Sneak Peek…
Last Friday, I shared the first part of the prologue of Too Many Women in the Room. You can read it here.
Here’s Part 2 of the Prologue:
He forced himself to slow down and hoped she would catch up, maybe even overtake him. Before making a move, he wanted to get a lay of the land. No point putting on the moves if she didn’t measure up. Though lately, he’d been less discerning.
Twenty years ago—heck even ten years ago—women in their twenties and thirties returned his winks and smiles, often boldly and with no qualms about what followed. But turning fifty-five had brought those encounters to a virtual standstill, and he had tired of the chase. Was this a harbinger of what old age would look like?
Within seconds, a flash of black appeared at his side. He counted to ten and then gave her a sideways glance. A frown replaced the smile.
Definitely in shape, but she had always taken care of herself, not allowing an extra morsel of food to cross her lips and sticking to a daily exercise regimen. Her face…well, her face showed the passages of time. And tonight, without a trace of makeup, she appeared older than her years. Forty-five. No, fifty. More than fifty. He struggled with the math and gave up.
Head-to-toe black did nothing for her. Once upon a time he would have volunteered that information, but tonight he hesitated. He couldn’t be sure how she would react, especially after the debacle at dinner. He tried to recall what she had said, but nothing came to mind. Perhaps she had said nothing at all. It would be like her to hide behind her passive-aggressiveness.
He forced a smile. “I didn’t expect to see you.”
No response, just a constant gaze and an expressionless face that was starting to worry him. He tried to look away but couldn’t escape those odd-colored eyes. A muddy green with hints of amber. Had she worn contacts in her younger days?
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Zen Humor
Inspiration…Blowing in the Wind
Pink tutus and pointe shoes.
Walls of mirrors and hours of practice.
The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
These are the images that come to mind whenever we think of little girls and their ballerina dreams.
A world away and a world apart from Mabinty Bangura.
Born in Sierra Leone during the Civil War, Mabinty was orphaned at three years of age after her father was shot by rebels and her mother starved to death. Suffering from vitiligo, a skin condition that produced white freckles on her neck and chest, she was called a “devil’s child” by the other girls and women at the orphanage. Known as Number 27, Mabinty ranked at the very bottom of the orphanage’s ranking system. Her only companion was Mia, Number 26, who was shunned for being left-handed.
On a windy day, a magazine swept up against a fence in the orphanage yard. Fascinated by the beautiful young girl on the cover, Mabinty quickly tore it off and hid it under her clothes. Later she explained: “She was in this beautiful tutu and she was on pointe. And she looked so happy to me at the time, and it was perfect timing because I was going through so much and she gave me hope to keep going.”
When a couple from New Jersey arrived to adopt Mia, they decided to also adopt her defiant friend. Away from Sierra Leone, Mabinty realized she was finally in a safe place. She took out the magazine photo and showed it her new mother, who enrolled her in dance school.
Following the dream wasn’t always easy.
After preparing to play Marie in The Nutcracker, she was told that someone else would get the part because the world was not ready for a black Marie. Another instructor commented that she did not have the classic ballet body. At five feet four and a half inches, she was considered too short and her feet did not have that coveted classical line. And the pink and white standard colors for ballet wear clashed with her ebony complexion.
Undaunted, Mabinty (now known as Michaela DePrince) pressed on and worked hard to give her feet a classical line. Her mother hand-dyed her costume straps and pointe shoes a deep brown. At one point, Michaela did consider quitting ballet, but changed her mind after seeing black dancer Heidi Cruz perform with the Pennsylvania Ballet.
In 2012, eighteen-year-old Michaela De Prince became the youngest member of the acclaimed Dance Theater of Harlem. At eighteen, she joined the Dutch National Junior Company as a second-year member and apprentice to the main company. Three years later, Michaela was promoted to the rank of Grand Sujet for The Dutch National Ballet’s main company.
In 2013 Michaela collaborated with her mother to write her memoir, Taking Flight. The mother-daughter team has also worked together on Hope in a Ballet Shoe and Ballerina Dreams, a Step-into-Reading book for young readers between the ages of six and eight years old.
This amazing young woman, who radiates poise and quiet confidence, hopes to inspire other girls to purse ballet. In a recent interview, she said: “I take what’s in my past and put it in my body. My life is proof that no matter what situation you’re in, as long as you have a supportive family, you can achieve anything.”
Taking a Sneak Peek…
It’s official!
The Wild Rose Press will release Too Many Women in the Room on Friday, May 19, 2017. Today, and for the next two Fridays, I will share sneak peeks of the Prologue.
While the rest of the novel is written in the POV of the protagonist (Gilda Greco), the Prologue is written in the victim’s POV.
Here’s Part I of the Prologue:
He couldn’t believe he was following his wife’s advice. After twelve years of paying lip service to deep yoga breaths, mindfulness, and all the other New Age crap she espoused, he had finally found a use for it. His midnight run usually sorted out all the stress, but tonight was different. He still couldn’t shake the venom that had been directed his way.
To make matters worse, it had come from eight women, eight very different and very annoying women. He had bedded four, but right now he couldn’t imagine having sex with any of them. As for the untouched four, well, only one interested him, and it had nothing to do with her feminine wiles and everything to do with her healthy bank account.
He would have to take something to get through the night, something a lot stronger than his wife’s herbal teas. The remnants of an old Percocet prescription came to mind. Two capsules might do the trick. The thought of a panacea, albeit a chemical one, calmed his racing thoughts. A good night’s sleep would make a world of difference. And tomorrow, he would sort it out.
The light patter of feet distracted him. Definitely a woman’s gait. Her breath was even, neither shallow nor panting. Younger, maybe in her thirties. His pulse quickened, and a smile spread over his features. A welcome distraction. Just what he needed to erase the built-up stress. To hell with deep breathing, affirmations, and Percocet.
Buy Links
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Life Lessons from Noah’s Ark
While writing this post, I’m enjoying a cup of my favorite tea–Flora Echinacea Elderberry with Cranberry and Rooibos–and smiling contentedly as I contemplate not going out in the rain. When it rains several days in a row, I prefer to stay warm and dry indoors.
The cool, wet weather motivates me to plan and work ahead. These past two days, I’ve filed and decluttered, cleaned my condo, written several posts and reviews, and worked on the launch of my upcoming cozy, Too Many Women in the Room. But improved work habits aren’t the only benefits to be gained from rainy days or the anticipation of rainy days.
Here are 9 life lessons from Noah’s Ark:
1. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
2. Stay fit. When you’re 60 years old, you may be asked to do something really big.
3. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
4. Don’t miss the boat.
5. Build your future on high ground.
6. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
7. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
8. When you are stressed, float awhile.
9. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Source: Inspirational Jokes
Happy National Find a Rainbow Day
Today is National Find a Rainbow Day, a time to reflect upon the beauty and magnificence of those multicolored arcs that remind us of the hope and possibilities that exist in Nature and in our own lives.
Here are my 10 favorite “rainbow” quotes:
Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Maya Angelou
There comes a point in your life when you realize your hardest times are your best times, too—you will see the rainbow of your life. Roy Bennett
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. G.K. Chesterton
If you want to see a rainbow you have to learn to see the rain. Paulo Coelho
When you reduce life to black and white, you never see rainbows. Rachel Houston
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
Dolly Parton
One can enjoy a rainbow without necessarily forgetting the forces that made it. Mark Twain
Rainbows apologize for angry skies. Sylvia Voirol
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky…
William Wordsworth
Don’t miss all the beautiful colors of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold. Author Unknown
Do you have a favorite “rainbow” quote?
Available for Pre-Order: Too Many Women in the Room
Many Winding Roads to Success
Whenever I need a strong dose of inspiration, I refer to the following story about one of the most prolific writers of our time.
A laundry worker, who lived in a trailer, earned $60 a week at his job while his wife worked night shifts. The man had a burning desire to be a writer and spent his nights and weekends typing manuscripts to send to agents and publishers. Each one was rejected with a form letter that gave him no assurance that his manuscript had ever been read.
Finally, a warmer, more personal rejection letter came in the mail, stating that, although his work was not good enough to warrant publishing, he had promise as a writer and should keep writing.
He forwarded two more manuscripts to the same friendly publisher over the next eighteen months, and as before, he struck out with both of them. Finances got so tight that the young couple had to disconnect their telephone to pay for medicine for their baby.
Feeling discouraged, he threw his latest manuscript into the garbage. His wife, committed to his life goals and believing in his talent, took the manuscript out of the trash and sent it to Doubleday, the publisher who had sent the friendly rejections.
The book, titled Carrie, sold more than five million copies and, as a movie, became one of the top-grossing films in 1976.
The laundry worker was Stephen King.
Source: Stand and Deliver: How to Become a Masterful Communicator and Public Speaker (Dale Carnegie Training)
In Praise of Spinach
Today is National Spinach Day, a day set aside to honor and consider all the delicious ways we can incorporate this nutritional powerhouse into our diets.
Here are 10 interesting facts about spinach:
1. During Catherine de Medici’s reign as queen of France, spinach was served at every meal. Many modern dishes made with spinach are known as “Florentine” in honor of Catherine’s birth in Florence.
2. The earliest written record of the spinach plant was found in Chinese, suggesting the spinach plant was introduced in China via Nepal.
3. Medieval artists extracted green pigment from spinach to use as an ink or paint.
4. China is the world’s largest spinach producer with 85% of global production.
5. California accounts for almost three quarters of national production. Other spinach-growing states include Arizona, New Jersey, Texas, Colorado, Maryland, and Arkansas.
6. In the 1930’s, U.S. spinach growers credited Popeye with a 33% increase in domestic spinach consumption.
7. Alma, Arkansas—the home of “Allen Canning Company” which cans and ships spinach—holds an annual spinach festival each April. Alma proclaims itself to be the “Spinach Capital of the World”…a title also claimed by Crystal City, Texas.
8. An excellent source of protein, calcium, folic acid, fiber, and vitamins A, C, and K, spinach is also loaded with cancer-fighting antioxidants.
9. A half cup of raw spinach counts as one vegetable serving.
10. Studies have found that eating cooked spinach and carrots – versus raw – results in much higher blood levels of beta-carotene, an antioxidant thought to guard against heart disease and lung cancer.
On a personal note…
I look forward to my breakfast smoothie. Here’s one of my favorite recipes:
I start with one scoop of Sun Warrior Vegan Protein Powder (vanilla flavor). Recommended by my nutritionist, this brand contains brown rice protein and works well for anyone who is sensitive to eggs, dairy, and soy. I add one-half cup of blueberries, one cup of baby spinach leaves, and one teaspoon of cinnamon. I then add six to eight ounces of water and blend.
Do you have a quick-and-easy spinach recipe to share?
Joanne Guidoccio 