If you are partly “Italian-American” (as I am), and that ancestry stems from you being a product of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. between about 1870-1914 (as I am), it’s likely you grew up with a complicated relationship with Italy. My maternal great-grandparents were all Italian immigrants. My grandparents were born in the U.S. … More Sneak Peek: Our Grandparents
Many years ago, I was lucky enough to glimpse – from a vehicle, a good distance away – a snoozing lion in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. It was a sunny mid-morning, he was partly hidden by high grass, and I recall him being utterly indifferent to all of the attention from the ever-increasing numbers … More Hunted By The Internet
My fellow Americans, as we know the summer travel season is now well underway: Turns out Americans die abroad much the same ways as at home. Most non-natural deaths are not a consequence of terrorism or war. Other than in certain places, they are due mostly to accidents and suicides. At that State Department page, … More U.S. Citizen Unnatural Deaths Around The World
I spent a good part of yesterday with new characters “Brad” and “ClĂ©mence,” as well as with a couple of “old timers,” and filling in additional details and description in several chapters. In the process, I dropped in a couple of thousand more words at least. I became so immersed in it all, I lost … More A Short Stories’ “Sabbatical”?
My first flight was on the Eastern shuttle between New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Washington, D.C. I was age 9, and traveling with my grandparents. We three made the short flight to visit for a week with my uncle, aunt and cousins, who were then living in northern Virginia. I kept that Eastern shuttle’s ticket … More Fear Of Flying
Last weekend, I searched British TV in vain for a Humphrey Bogart film. I was simply in the mood, and was depressed when I couldn’t find one. Naturally, I informed (as one does nowadays) everyone on the planet who happened to be reading Twitter. And a Twitter friend came to the rescue. He pointed out … More “Are you a typical American?”
The other day, I changed my About.me background photo for the first time in a while: I like that site. It’s sort of an “artistic” version of LinkedIn, and I find it’s used by some interesting people. I may know you courtesy of it. [Waves.]
While cat sitting for friends last month, I’d noticed this coaster on their dining room table. I photographed it because, being a man, I’m not entirely sure how to take this: And it made me chuckle. We saw them again last night; they have just moved house temporarily until they move permanently to Cambridge in … More For Instant Happy Woman?
It’s surprising to open an Amazon email and see one of your books at the top of the list among others Amazon appears to consider “similar” to it: I screen grabbed as much of it as I could. Two unmistakably have “romance” in the title. I may have to “investigate” those, and others (I kept … More “The Competition” Identified
R. J. Nello 