Giacomo & Slick

What Do Your Characters Look Like?

Have you ever seen a movie where the characters look nothing like what you thought they would from the book? It’s a little disappointing isn’t it? And it makes it more difficult for that character to win the audience over if they start out with a negative. The question is whose fault is it? Did they cast the wrong person? Or did the author describe the character too much?

I have always subscribed to the theory that the less you explain when writing the better off you are. And I think this is especially true for characters. There are exceptions. If you’re describing a new world in a science fiction or fantasy book, or a new race of creatures, obviously you want to let the readers see what your imagination has conceived. But if the characters are human, and if the setting is standard, let your readers use their imagination.

Imagination Is A Powerful Tool

In this day and age, when movies on TV show what you could only see in X-rated theaters twenty years ago, and when even music videos allow nudity that would have banned all but adults in theaters, you’d think there would be more nudist camps. But there isn’t. Why? Because when people are naked there is nothing left to the imagination. I have a saying I try to live by when writing.

“Even perfection pales in comparison to what the mind can imagine.”

That is never so true as when someone is reading a book. One of the characters in my first book is a guy named Nicky Fusco. A lot of female readers seem to love him, but the funny thing is of the dozen or so I’ve spoken to about this, they all have a different image of what he looks like. I couldn’t have been happier to know this. I seldom describe my characters beyond a few minor details and maybe a distinguishing feature. My main protagonist in the Friendship & Honor series, Frankie Donovan, has a birthmark on his neck. Connie Gianelli, the protag of my Blood Flows South series, has a crooked nose. Tip Denton, who is Connie’s partner, has a scar on his face. I discussed something similar in an earlier post about pretty characters.

I typically don’t mention how tall a character is, or how much they weigh, or if they have bulging muscles or anything like that. I try to let a character’s traits and personality define them. And by doing it that way, the readers use their own imagination to build either a hero/heroine or a villain based on their perception of what that person should look like—in their mind. There’s nothing that can compete with that.

How Much Do You Describe Your Characters?

Many writers don’t take advantage of the most powerful tool in their arsenal—imagination. Whenever you get the urge to tell us how beautiful your characters are, or how perfect their nose is, or their body, or how enchanting the eyes are, down to the perfect shade of blue . . . stop! Don’t do it. Instead, try describing them enough to give the readers a hint, a clue, and then let their imaginations take over.

You don’t give readers all the clues of the mystery do you? Of course not. You want them to figure it out for themselves. The best part of Star Wars was imagining what the force was. Or imagining what Darth Vader looked like behind that mask. And how about the Phantom of the Opera? He wore a small mask, but our interest was piqued from other characters’ reactions, and the mystery of what he looked like.

Books Or Movies?

One of the reasons books are better than movies is because movies leave nothing to the imagination. They show you everything. And the new talent in Hollywood thinks that more sex or bigger special effects will solve that problem. It doesn’t.

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of:
No Mistakes Resumes
Murder Takes Time
Murder Has Consequences
A Bullet For Carlos
Finding Family

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

photo credit: Tracey Gill Miller via photopin cc

Filed under: books, character development, Editing, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing by Giacomo
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As many of you know, my daughter, Aliza, is a professional genealogist. She writes for several Italian-American newspapers and has posted articles here in the past. People’s interest in their family history has grown tremendously in the past several years, and with that in mind, I thought you might be interested in learning a little more about the topic. I’ll let Aliza take it from here.

Genealogy

Genealogy is consistently listed as one of the most popular hobbies in the U.S., but now it’s grown to a level that most of us in the field never could’ve imagined even just a few years ago.

The sudden increase in demand for professional genealogy services is astounding. But because the industry only recently went mainstream, most people have never worked with a professional genealogist and don’t know how to go about finding the right one, or what to expect when they do.

If you’re one of the curious ones, this article is for you.

Generalist or Specialist?

There are generalists, but most genealogists specialize. Some focus on a specific geographic region or time period and others have niche specialties like adoptions or inheritance cases. My firm, Roots in the Boot, works exclusively with Italian genealogy. If a client has Polish, German, Irish, Jewish, or other roots they want to explore, we recommend an expert in that area of research.

Working with a specialist is key, particularly for advanced level research. No one can have in-depth knowledge of the languages, history, geography, laws, etc. of every country for every time period.

Genealogy is a multidisciplinary field that requires knowledge of things that might not even exist in our world today: diseases that have been eradicated, languages that are extinct, past wars and natural disasters, occupations that are obsolete (know any bloodletters?)

My firm’s frontline experts have a minimum of fifteen years of experience in Italian genealogy—and we still learn something new every day—so trust me when I say that getting a specialist is the way to go for anything beyond the basics.

Church records written in a mix of three languages: Latin (in an abbreviated, shorthand-like form that’s common in Italian church records), Italian, and Friulian, a language of N. Italy. The complex script illustrates why the author recommends using a specialist. Image courtesy of the Diocese Archive of Pordenone, Italy.

The APG (Association of Professional Genealogists) has a directory of genealogists, listed according to specialty, on their website: www.apgen.org.

What Does It Cost?

The only way to answer that question is with another question: what do you want to do?

We’ve done small searches where we just got 5 records and others where we got nearly 500 years of family history. Obviously, there’s a big difference in the amount of work required for those two projects.

The first thing we need to know is what size project you have in mind. In cases where a client has a big project in mind but a not-so-big budget, I help them identify their most important goals and design a project to fit their goals and budget range. (Other providers may not offer a custom-design service, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.) Most professional firms that I know (mine included) bill hourly instead of billing per project or per record. This works best for both parties because what might take four hours in one search might take two in another.

Just be aware that it’s not uncommon for genealogy pros to require a minimum. A certain amount of preliminary work often needs to be done to establish a solid foundation before beginning a new search. A researcher may ask for a minimum amount of hours so they have time to do their job effectively.

And while we’re on the subject of costs, remember that a specialist’s hourly rate might be higher than a generalist’s, but you’ll probably get better results and in less time, which means your total cost will often be less.

Book early, per favore!

The recent craze in family history has created a demand for genealogy services that outweighs the supply. Many of us in high-demand specialties (Italian genealogy is one of them) are booked weeks, or even months, in advance.

If you’re planning a trip to Italy, a family reunion, or other event that requires the research be done in advance, book early (ideally, at least a couple of months in advance).

Don’t worry about unknowns

Not sure when Nonna was born? Can’t remember the city in Sicily your family came from? Don’t worry. That’s what we do.

Don’t feel like you have to call up all the cousins and dig through shoeboxes in closets for information. Just basic information—a few names and dates—is enough to start. If everybody waited until they gathered everything the family knew first, few genealogy searches would ever get off the ground.

Bottom Line

I hope this is helpful to readers who were curious and didn’t know where to find answers to their questions. If you seek the help of a pro, don’t be shy about asking questions. We know this isn’t a service that most people sought ten or twenty years ago (or even a few years ago), so I think I speak for most genealogists in saying that we expect questions and we’re happy to answer them.

Disclaimer: The tips above are meant as a general introduction to working with a professional genealogist, based on the author’s experience in her own firm and with colleagues from other firms, but some advice may be more relevant to her own area of expertise than others. Best practices, policies, and pricing can vary according to the specialty and provider.

Aliza Giammatteo is the owner and lead researcher at Roots in the Boot, an Italian genealogy firm headquartered in Las Vegas, NV. She’s also a syndicated columnist and feature writer for Italian American publications throughout the U.S. To learn more about your roots in the Italian “boot”, visit: www.rootsintheboot.com, or contact us at: (646) 255-9565 or: info@rootsintheboot.com. 

Filed under: Ancestry/Genealogy, Family, Storytelling by Giacomo
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Giacomo & Slick

Words Of Love

What you do is far more important than what you say. It’s similar to the old show and tell rule. You can tell people all day long how scary facing a rattlesnake would be, but if you drop one down in front of them it takes on a whole new light. The same thing holds true for words. It’s not what people say to you that has a lasting impact, it’s how they treat you.

Quite frequently I hear people say, “love you,” when they hang up the phone, or “love you,” when they say goodbye after lunch. “Love you, love you, love you . . .” People spit those words out with no thought, no reason, and no emotion. Maybe the first time you hear it, it means something, but after a while it has no affect. It’s like having ice cream every day.

A Different World

This is foreign to me. I grew up in a time when expressions of love weren’t thrown around like they are nowadays. But, and here’s the big thing, we didn’t necessarily need them. Maybe it was just my neighborhood. Hell, maybe it was just my family. I don’t know. But I have the greatest memories of childhood and none of them involve anyone saying “I love you.”

I have been married to my wife for 50 years. We’ve been married since we were teenagers. But if we say “I love you” to each other once a month, it’s probably for a special occasion. On the other hand, there’s no need to say it. I know she loves me and she knows I love her. I think she’d rather me say, “I’ll help you weed the garden.”

I  know some people will think it appalling that we don’t express our love every day, but this method works for us, and has been working for 50 years. Getting back to the neighborhood.

Uncle Jack & Aunt Margaret

Uncle Jack . . .

. . . was married to my father’s sister, and they lived in the house next door to us. These were row houses and in that neighborhood, at that time, no one kept a door locked. We went in and out of each other’s houses as if they were our own. When I was eight-years old, my father had a heart attack. Back then when someone had a heart attack, they were hospitalized for weeks, minimum. My mother had her hands full with three boys and a newly born girl, so I went to stay with my cousins next door for a while. On the first night, as I came in the door, I said, “Uncle Jack is it okay if I stay here for a few nights?”

Uncle Jack often had a serious demeanor, and yet he had a humorous side to him also. And when he was happy, even if he wasn’t smiling, you could see the smile in his eyes. In this instance, he didn’t bother with nonsense. He just looked at me, narrowed his eyes, and said . . .

As Long As You Don’t Shit On The Floor

It was the best thing anyone could have said. It was better than a hug, or a pat on the back, or any silly “I love you” type saying. What he said made me laugh, and when you’ve got things to worry about, nothing is better than laughter.

Over the course of the next several years, I had occasion to spend the night at Uncle Jack’s house a few more times, and he never failed to remind me that I was welcome to stay, as long as I didn’t shit on the floor.

When I was 28, I moved to Texas, and a few years later Uncle Jack and my aunt came to visit. My wife picked them up from the airport and brought them home. I waited at the door. When he came up the sidewalk, I stepped out and said, “Uncle Jack, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you don’t shit on the floor.”

He laughed so hard he began coughing, but I could see the smile in his eyes. We had a great visit, but when they went home, it was the last I ever saw of Uncle Jack. He passed away shortly after that.

I don’t ever remember Uncle Jack saying, “I love you,” but there is no doubt in my mind he did. To paraphrase a quote from Maya Angelou: “People might not remember what you said to them, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel.”

To this day, whenever I think of Uncle Jack, I picture him with those smiling eyes. And that makes me smile. And then I hear his words in my head, “You can spend the night—as long as you don’t shit on the floor.” And that makes me laugh. So even now, thirty years after he died, a memory of Uncle Jack brings a smile and a laugh.

I can’t think of a better memory to have of someone.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of:
No Mistakes Resumes
Murder Takes Time
Murder Has Consequences
A Bullet For Carlos
Finding Family

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

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Filed under: Family, Life Lessons, Uncategorized by Giacomo
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Dennis, the Great & Wonderful

It’s me, Dennis—again. Today I’m going to try and teach you humans how to discipline a dog. In order to make it simple, I’ve put together a few pointers.

Proven Formulas

1. Holler at them.

We know this works. Think about it. Don’t your kids, especially teenagers, always listen to you when you holler? Of course they do. It’s been working for a few thousand years.

In the unlikely event that doesn’t make your dog listen, you could try working with them. Praising them. Spending time with them. (I’m talking about the dogs here. I’m sure you do this with your kids.

Briella

Nap TIme

2. Beat them.

Another tried and true method. But please be careful. Don’t hit them with your bare hands. You don’t want to hurt yourself. Use a stick or something similar. Giacomo was going to use the stick on Briella, but as you can see, she’s a big girl, and he was afraid she’d take it from him and strike back.

PS: If beating them doesn’t work, try hugging them, or petting them. It’s been known to work wonders.

3. Lock them in a cage all day.

Finally, a good idea. I’ve seen some of those kids who were locked away in closets, or kept in a cellar. It sure taught them a thing or two.

We Can Help You Write

Kelly, with Slick & Mollie

If this surefire method doesn’t bring results, do something desperate. Take them for a walk. You might even do yourself good.

4. Starve them

Absolutely. Best idea I’ve heard yet. Hungry dogs always listen. Either that or they eat you.

In the unlikely event starving them doesn’t work, suck it up and give them dinner, even a few treats.

 5. Threaten them

Threatening them is easy. All you have to do is say things like, “If you do that again, I’ll kill you.” (Must be said in convincing tone, and curse words do help.)

Kelly

Bear

I can’t imagine threatening them not working; however, if it doesn’t try lowering your voice and talking nicely, like you would a child. (You don’t threaten children, do you?)

 All of the above are great examples of how to make your dog listen…because none of them work.

As you can see, Giacomo listens well to his dogs. He does everything they say, and they don’t have to resort to drastic measures. Of course, they have me to thank for it. I’m the one who trained Giacomo.

Ciao,

Dennis The Magnificent

Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write, Uncategorized by Giacomo
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Have You Thanked A Pig Today?

My name is Dennis. Most of you know me. Either that or like all humans you have a bad memory. Us pigs, though, we never forget. (No, that saying didn’t start with elephants. They stole it from us.)

Anyway, the reason I’m writing this post is to provide a gentle reminder that all of you should take a minute out of your day and thank a pig. Yes, you heard me right. You should thank a pig. For what, you say?

 Let Me Count The Reasons

There aren‘t many animals that do for humans what we pigs do. I don‘t like talking about this particular subject, but to start off with there‘s the whole food business—you know, pork, bacon, ham, sausage. I‘m sure you remember now, but I don‘t blame you for letting it slip your mind. After all, it‘s not like it‘s your life at stake. Let‘s forget about that aspect, though, and move on to other things.

There‘s an old saying butchers had about how much they used of a pig. “Everything but the squeal” they said. And they were pretty much on target.

– Pig hair is used for paint brushes, upholstery, and many other things.
– What would the NFL do without pigskin?
– Pig bones and skin are used for glue, shoes, gloves, and other garments.
– Some companies make buttons and bone china.
– They use other parts for wax, insecticides, crayons, cosmetics, soaps, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, and dozens of other items.
– Pig parts are used in more than 3 dozen drugs and pharmaceuticals.
– Pigs are a primary source of insulin for diabetics.
– Pig heart valves are implanted in humans.
– Pig parts are used for human corneas.
– Burn victims can thank a pig for speedy recovery and skin grafting; in fact, a 10-year-old boy in Zigong, China, is alive today after getting pig skin grafted onto more than 70% of his body.
– Many people with hemophilia are alive because pig blood worked when human blood didn‘t.
– And now, with new scientific breakthroughs, pigs are being genetically engineered to speed up the transplant process to allow many other organs to be transplanted into humans. On the horizon is the potential to solve the transplant problems for hearts, kidneys, lungs, and livers.
– Recently scientists have created a genetically modified pig that can develop atherosclerosis, which should make an invaluable resource for heart-disease research.

Pigs are so versatile that there are more than 180 products that are made from a pig. Here‘s a link to an article that explains the details.

Dennis at 6 weeks

Bottom Line

I know what you humans think. You think we‘re dirty, and stinky, and hard-headed. You get upset because we roam through your woods and dig up a few roots and make holes in the ground. But before you get too upset, try to remember this article, and think about all the things we do for you. After all, what are a few holes in the ground compared to the sacrifices we make?

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Dennis is a wild boar living on Giacomo and Mikki‘s sanctuary. He was rescued as a baby and lives his life free.

Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Pigs Who Write, Uncategorized by Giacomo
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Giacomo & Slick

Is Storytelling Genetic?

What makes a good story? How come some books you can’t put down, have to turn the page, start a new chapter, and others…might be good, but if you go to bed late and are tired, the book waits for the next day. How about movies. Some movies you can leave running while you get a drink or make a quick snack, with others you put them on pause, afraid to miss a second.

What gives some people that skill and others not? My aunt used to say that my daughter could make walking down the street into a funny story, and she still uses that talent in her genealogy business, telling heartwarming stories of families who have found relatives they didn’t know they had, or uncovering things from the past that shed new light on their ancestry.
My dad had the skill. He could hold a room enthralled with his stories or his jokes, but my mother couldn’t tell a story or joke if you provided cue cards. Storytelling is a lot like joke telling. Give a joke to five different people and you get five different versions of the joke. Some will have people doubling over in laughter, others are lucky to get a polite giggle. My two sons can both tell jokes. My sister and her son can, and one of my brothers, but my other three brothers couldn’t make it through a knock-knock joke.

The same goes for stories. If you give an identical plot to five writers, you’ll get five different versions of it. Pacing, mix of dialogue and prose. Short chapters versus long, choice of vocabulary. Sentence structure. All of it plays a part in the telling of the story.

What Makes A Good Story?

Think about books you’ve read or movies you’ve seen that have a great premise, a well-constructed plot, but…they just don’t click. Something was missing.
• Maybe the story dragged through the middle.
• Or the ending was anticlimactic.
• Or there just wasn’t enough conflict to keep you going.

I think we’ve all seen movies like this, or read books that failed to deliver. But there’s also the flip side. Sometimes a plot is not that intriguing. It might even have holes in it, but you ignore the problems. Sometimes the ending isn’t a huge, satisfying climax, but you still enjoy it. And there might not even be much conflict, but that, too, is forgotten as you flip the pages in a mad rush to get to the end.

Books like The Da Vinci Code come to mind when I think of these. The Da Vinci Code was a huge bestseller and one of the most talked about books in years, but in hindsight it wasn’t that great of a book. There were plot holes. Some might say the entire movie was one giant plot hole and that the plot was, at best, implausible. The writing was not phenomenal. And many of the facts were not quite accurate. And yet…the book sold about a gazillion copies.

Why?

I’ll tell you why. Because Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, knew how to tell a story. He hooked the reader at the beginning, and then he left a mini cliff hanger at the end of every chapter. When readers got to that point, they couldn’t stop; they had to move on. The book was a compulsive read, a chapter-by-chapter mystery, a page-turner. And nothing is more sought after than that. When a reader finds a page-turner, they tell others about it, and those others tell even more, and that’s what makes a bestseller.

Dan Brown might not be the best writer in the world. He might not create the strongest plots, or use the best dialogue. His characters could be accused of being one-dimensional, but no one can ever say he can’t tell a story. So the question is, did Dan Brown learn this skill? Or did he inherit it? Was his mother or father a great storyteller?

I don’t know the answer to that. Nor do I know the genetics behind any of the other great storytellers. But I know from looking at our own family that there’s something to the genetic factor, even if it’s nothing more than raw talent that has to be nurtured and honed to a fine edge.

Are You A Writer?

If you ever find yourself wondering if you’re a writer or not, perhaps you should be asking yourself a different question. Am I a storyteller? I believe that people can learn the mechanics of writing, but the storytelling—I think—has to be natural.

What about you? I’d love to hear opinions on this.

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Filed under: Publishing, Reading, Storytelling, Writing by Giacomo
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This Is Why I Write

Ask ten authors why they write and you’ll probably get ten answers, and likely they’ll be ten very long answers.

• Some authors say it’s in their blood, that they wanted to write since they could hold a pen.
  • I was too busy playing and getting into trouble as a youngster. The only writing I did was to forge my parents’ signature so we could get cigarettes from the local store.
• Other authors say they were inspired by a wonderful teacher.
  • I had a lot of great teachers, but none of them inspired me so much that I raced for a pen to jot down my thoughts.
• A few authors have mentioned being driven to put their thoughts to paper in order to share it with the world.
  • Never crossed my mind.

What Changed?

I can tell you I had absolutely no desire to write as a youngster. Not through all my years in school, though that didn’t amount to many. And I never got inspired though the early years of marriage; I was too busy supporting my family to think about writing. Then I was too busy raising kids.

I never thought about writing until my youngest son was forced to read Moby Dick in eighth grade. He was complaining about it so I said to him, “Let’s read it together.”

After getting bored to tears, I thought I’d better do something before he lost his interest in reading. We started reading fantasy books, and that’s when he lit up. Something in those books sunk a hook deep into his soul. They excited him. Made his eyes shine.

We began tearing those books apart, analyzing them chapter by chapter. What made the good ones so good? And what made us want to put down the others? Soon afterward, we decided to try writing ourselves. We plotted out an epic fantasy series, developed characters and worked through a multitude of sub-plots.

And then girls came along and fantasy books couldn’t hold my son’s interest. I put down the pen, too.

New Inspiration

When my oldest son and his wife blessed us with two grandsons, my wife and I spent many hours reading them books and telling them stories. She did most of the reading and I did most of the storytelling. Years later they pestered me to write some of the stories I used to tell them. Even though they weren’t stories I could make into a book, they encouraged me to write. A few years ago I started writing mysteries.

But Why Do I Write?

If you had asked me two years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to answer. If you had asked me six months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to either. But every weekend my youngest son brings his daughter, Adalina, up to spend a few days with my us—a treasure beyond dreams—and every weekend, my wife does what she does best—reading to a little one. When my wife reads, she pours her soul into it and the kids know. She could make a recipe exciting.

To Get Back To The Question

• I don’t write for money. If I did, I’d write erotica.
• I don’t write to send a message or make a statement.
• I don’t write because I’m one of those authors who has to write.
• I don’t write because I have words inside me that have to come out.

I want you to look at this picture of my wife reading to Adalina!

Adalina & Mikki reading

That is why I write.

In the hopes that someday, someone, somewhere, might get as excited about one of my books as Adalina does about hers.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of:
No Mistakes Resumes
Murder Takes Time
Murder Has Consequences
A Bullet For Carlos
Finding Family
He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

If you enjoyed this, please share.

Filed under: Family, Life Lessons, Storytelling, Writing by Giacomo
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Every now and then I do a post to give thanks to the huge number of wonderful people I’ve met since I started on this publishing journey. These are people who go out of their way to help others, usually strangers, and they do it out of the goodness of their heart. Literary agents are often spoken of accompanied by a curse, but like any profession, there are two sides to the story.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Back when I was shopping my first book around, I queried about a gazillion agents. (I’m not actually sure how many a gazillion is, so let’s just say it was close to that.)

• The Ugly never responded. (I’m sure they did this out of the goodness of their heart, not wanting me to lose hope.)
• The Bad responded almost immediately with a form rejection. It wasn’t just a big “NO” in the subject line of the email, but it sometimes felt like that.
• The Good responded with much nicer form rejections, so nice that for a brief, shining moment I almost thought they meant it. And then I realized it was just another form rejection. A clever one, a nicer one, one that took them a few minutes longer to write the first time they made it, but when it came down to it, it was still a form rejection.

Over the course of months I received requests from agents to look at the manuscript, sending my heart soaring into the clouds. When those rejections returned they were even more disappointing. None of the rejections bothered me, I said, but the real person inside of me shouted, Liar!

Okay, perhaps I should say I learned to deal professionally with rejection. I got to the point of being able to spot a form rejection a mile away. Some of the agents got clever, like saying, “I’m sorry. Your writing intrigued me, but the project does not seem like one we could successfully represent at this time.”

Or how about, “I’m sorry, but although your project sounds interesting, I don’t feel I could give it my enthusiastic representation at this time.”

Then There Were The Real Rejections

Once in a blue moon. (Just how often is that anyway?) I got a real response, a response from an agent who really cared. An agent who was in the business because they loved it, breathed it, lived by it. Such an agent is Barbara Poelle. She works for Irene Goodman Literary Agency and she represents some fine authors.

You might think that she is also my agent the way I sing her praises. Alas, no. She isn’t. Not for lack of trying, mind you. I sent her a query. She asked for the full manuscript within hours. A remarkable five days later she got back to me. When I saw the email I felt certain it was an acceptance, an offer of representation. How could she not want this masterpiece of literature? Well, maybe not that, but certainly a masterpiece of storytelling. Well… let’s move on.

Her response was music to my ears. Unfortunately it was all drums, and I hate drums. She said no. She said she wanted to like it. Really wanted to like it…but…well, I screwed up. She didn’t say it in such an unkind way though. Not Barbara. She pointed out where I had gone wrong and she wished me luck and good fortune, and…you get the point.

Her sincerity came through in the email. I wrote her back, thanking her for her quick response and most importantly for her politeness and help. I said I didn’t relish the task ahead of me, as this would represent tearing my book apart and reworking some of the plot, polishing off a few characters, and fixing dialogue issues on others. But I was ecstatic that she gave me such good feedback.

She immediately responded with an abundance of notes she had made while reading. Unfortunately, those notes represented more work for me. More problems with my masterpiece. After I swallowed my pride, then washed that down with a bottle of Chianti and a plate of pasta—and after I quit questioning her parentage and even their ancestry, and other things about her I won’t mention here—I realized she was right. Damn her!

So for the next three months—yes, three months—longer than it took me to write the novel to begin with, I slaved over the revisions. I took the book apart, changed plot, cursed Barbara Poelle, changed characters’ names and styles, deleted characters I loved, cursed Barbara, put in new characters, deleted chapters, fixed plots, cursed Barbara. Did I mention that I cursed Barbara? Well, I did. But when it was all said and done, I had a novel that was far better than what I started with. That masterpiece was no longer a masterpiece, because now I could see flaws, but it was a hell of a lot better than what I sent her.

Another Chance

So…I sent her a second book of mine. I know what you’re thinking. This is where he reveals that he signed on as an author with her. Unfortunately no. She liked my second book also, but…yes, there is always a butt but, she still didn’t feel as if she would be the right agent for my work. She even used the old George Costanza line from Seinfeld—the “it’s me, not you,” line.

Once again though, she offered sage advice. She told me that my plotting was…well, I won’t go into the praises she sung. Not enough room on this blog, but she said that it appeared as if I liked writing my villains and secondary characters more than my main character. She felt my female lead was one dimensional. How dare she? Once again though, after more consideration, and pasta, and Chianti (I think I’m going to have to try that combination before I write next time) I realized she was right.

So I tore apart another novel, ripped the clothes and skin off a character that I thought was beautiful and wonderful—until Barbara came along. And once again, I had a far better novel.

I continued querying agents, and I ran across a few more good ones. Some bad ones, too. Several of the agents showed interest, but unlike Barbara, they wanted me to do things to the storyline that, to me, didn’t make sense. Things that would have ruined it.

I eventually opted to publish myself, not because I gave up on the agent route, or even the traditionally published route. The decision had more to do with me doing the book the way I wanted to do it. Telling the story my way. Having the cover I wanted. The price I wanted.

Bottom Line

Am I happy that I self published? Absolutely, and I have Barbara Poelle and others, to thank for helping me produce the best books I can.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of:
No Mistakes Resumes
Murder Takes Time
Murder Has Consequences
A Bullet For Carlos
Finding Family
He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

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Giacomo & Slick

Writing With Distractions

I often read, with some degree of envy, about writers who are going off on a writing retreat. Leaving the world for a weekend or even a whole week, and taking their computer to a mountain hideaway, or a beach resort, or a cabin in the woods.

“I just can’t focus at home,” I noticed one offered as an reason for going. “I have two children.”

“My spouse interrupts me too much,” another one said.

And yet a third made mention of the continual need to “get up and feed the dog and cat.”

It was when I noticed the singularity of “dog and cat,” that I sat back in my chair and shook my head. A dog and a cat. I would kill to be bothered by a dog and a cat every night, and you could throw in an interrupting spouse, and two children. If these people think they have writing distractions, they haven’t lived on an animal sanctuary.

Living The Dream

That’s what we called it twenty years ago when my wife tricked me we decided to start an animal sanctuary. It began simply enough, with a rescued potbelly pig, and then another. Add in a couple of abandoned dogs, and then a few more pigs. Toss in a wild boar, a horse, a feral cat—and pretty soon we had 45 animals. All the animals were outside, in one of three separate barns. Mind you, these animals weren’t suffering. The dogs had a 12 x 20 air-conditioned room with tile floors and cushy dog beds. And the pigs had a similar sized room with plush carpeting in a huge walk-in closet, replete with fluffy blankets and even a pillow for Queen Shinobi, the oldest of the potbelly pigs.

Writing was a joy. I had an 18 x 30 room all to myself, with a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out the back of the property. I could see all the dogs—and that’s where the troubles started. All the dogs could see me. They lined up on the fence and stared in the window, and zeroed in on me with such pitiful eyes. If it thundered, they’d cry and whine. One of our Australian shepherds got injured and I brought her in until she healed.

She refused to leave, and I relented and let her stay. Pretty soon, other dogs got injured. I swear it was a conspiracy, and they were hurting themselves on purpose. Before long they took over the room and I was relegated to the kitchen table. My room had become their room.

We Can Help You Write

Another long day

Suck It Up

It proved to be a minor inconvenience, as I simply moved my writing to the kitchen, where I stared through 6’ of windows into the lovely room that used to be mine. But the dogs didn’t respect my privacy, so I had to install a metal gate between the kitchen doorway and what was formerly the writing room became the dog room.

Prior to bringing the dogs in, I had very few disturbances, the occasional trip to refill a wine glass or to grab a snack being the worst of them. Things changed. This is now…

A Typical Night

I decided to document a typical night to give you an idea of what writing with distractions really means. This was from Friday night.

• I let a cumulative total of 36 dogs in and out the back door. This constituted 8 separate trips.
• I filled one water bowl 3 times and the other 4 times.
• I got up from the table to threaten them 6 times for excessive noise.
• I was serenaded by a tree-frog duet on the kitchen window.
• I was scared into jumping out of my seat when one of the newly-acquired feral cats swatted at a bug on the window next to my ear.
• I had to stop a shoot-out to escort a lizard out the door, one who obviously gained entry during one of the many trips to let the dogs out.
• I stopped a love scene to find out why the dogs were barking ferociously, only to discover it was our favorite garter snake trying to make her way home. (That’s another story.)
• At 11:00 I stopped to get more wine, knowing that writing cannot take place at that time because the train passes by and when it does, the train whistle blows, which triggers the coyotes in the woods next to us to howl. The coyotes howling triggers my dogs to howl, and it usually doesn’t stop for several minutes.
• By midnight things are normally settled down and the dogs are asleep. But God forbid a thunderstorm comes within 30 miles. If that happens, our giant great dane, Briella, will jump the gate and race to get close to me. Side note: Have you ever tried writing with a 180-pound dog up your ass? Trust me, it can’t be done. 

If my writing sometimes seems disjointed, please forgive me. I was probably crying at the time.

Nap Time

Bottom Line

I often hear of authors writing 5,000 words a night. I’m awe stricken and filled with envy. If only I had a room to work in, I think. Then I look at my huge writing room, filled with Great Danes, and Australian shepherds, and rat terriers, and mutts, and I think, what fun would that be?

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of:
No Mistakes Resumes
Murder Takes Time
Murder Has Consequences
A Bullet For Carlos
Finding Family
He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

If you enjoyed this post please share.

Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Uncategorized, Writing by Giacomo
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In order to try and stay sane, I’m switching this blog to Monday, when I post my career-related blogs. That way I can do both on the same day.

In the meantime, enjoy one of my favorite posts of all time, Life is Like a Rosebush.

Aunt Rose has passed away since this article was written, but she almost made it to 97 and she kept her spirits up until the end.

Giacomo

Filed under: Uncategorized by Giacomo
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