Jenyfer Matthews

Mona Risk has published two books with Cerridwen Press FRENCH PERIL and TO LOVE A HERO. Her book BABIES IN THE BARGAIN is published with The Wild Rose Press. Mona lives in sunny Fort Lauderdale, FL. When she is not typing her latest book on her computer, she is probably babysitting her grandchildren, three adorable little girls and a toddler boy, all under four years. Or she may be walking on the beach, looking at the waves and plotting new stories. Mona and her husband love to travel and have visited more than fifty countries over the years.
You can visit her website: www.monarisk.com
Or stop by her blog: www.monarisk.blogspot.com

Blurb:

What could be more exciting for a young American architect than to live in a French chateau owned by a young count and to work on the restoration of a chapel in the Loire Valley? But when her professor is poisoned because he knew too much about a missing statue, Cheryl’s summer job changes into a dangerous treasure hunt and Count François is faced with a difficult choice:

Are the statue and his chateau worth endangering the life of the impetuous young woman who’s turned his life upside down?

Review Your Book Review, 4 Stars

Mona Risk, author of French Peril, offers her fans another great read. In French Peril, she creates a swirling air of mystery around the excavation of a chapel ruin. Murder, mystery, and intrigue seem to follow Cheryl as she assists Francois on his project. Risk has a talent for character development. {…} French Peril is a great contemporary romantic read.

The Romance Studio Review, 4 hearts
This is a wonderfully exciting romantic suspense novel. The characters are appealing and the setting is very romantic, a chateau in the Loire Valley. There is an interesting cast of characters. The plot is full of action and the reader is never sure who is on the side of good or evil. As a matter of fact, very few are who they appear to be.

Cast of Characters
French Peril:

Cheryl Stewart: I’m worried about my mentor, Professor Howard. He went to lunch with a prospective graduate student from Malaysia, but became sick during the lunch and was rushed to the hospital for food poisoning or heart attack.

Professor Howard asked me to go to France on his behalf and help a French count with the restoration of a chapel and the search for a valuable statue that had been missing since World War II.

What could be more exciting than spending a couple months working in the plush Loire Valley, in France? I will have to live in the count’s chateau. The same count I saw at Harvard three years ago. The handsome playboy was so busy entertaining gorgeous women he didn’t give me the time of the day back then. I bet he won’t remember me.

François de Valroux: I am searching for an invaluable statue of the Virgin Mary that used to adorn the chapel of my chateau. The statue disappeared during the war. Was it destroyed? Stolen? Did my grandfather hide it?

I have been waiting impatiently for Professor Howard, who did a lot of research on the subject. I can’t believe he skipped our appointment and sent his graduate student instead. On the other hand, Cheryl is such a lovely young woman I can’t say I am too disappointed. Between you and me, I can’t resist a pretty woman. What can I say, it’s in my genes. I come from a long line of glorious adulterers and fabulous lovers.

When the Boston Hospital calls to announce Cheryl’s mentor died, I do my best to console her with a hug and a kiss, and pledge to protect her. It’s my pleasure. Huh…I mean my duty.

For her own safety, I ask her to keep the search for my statue secret from the five other students training on the chapel reconstruction.

Edith Blaise: I consider myself François’ current girlfriend. I want him badly but I also have a weakness for his title, his fortune, his chateau and its treasures. I won’t let anyone interfere with my goal of becoming the next Countess of Valroux. Certainly not the American student, a nerd who lives in a pair of blue jeans and finds her happiness in old stones and computers.

Adriaan Van Deem: I come from Amsterdam. I’m studying archeology and I can’t resist the appeal of old stones. Especially if they have a high monetary value. It wouldn’t hurt to befriend the American student who seems to know a lot about the missing statue.

Juan-Pablo Rodriguez: My correct name is Don Juan-Pablo. I hail from the Universidad de Madrid and I am preparing a doctorate in the history of Romanesque churches. I’m a gallant man who always compliments a beautiful woman. Of course, I also like artistic treasures.

Roberto Cantari: I live in Milan, but I was born in Sicily. Women love my dark looks and I love women. People often ask me if I have mafia blood in my veins. Who knows? My nonna prays all the time that I remain an honest man. I respect my nonno, the most powerful and richest man in Palerma. I would do anything to please my grandparents. Anything…

Chuck Minho: I was born in London. I am a quiet man who doesn’t talk much, but I don’t miss anything going on around me. I don’t like the looks the American girl gives me. Dirty looks. As if she suspects me of killing someone, just because I look Chinese.

Karl Boderman: I’m studying art, painting and sculpting at the University of Berlin. I can’t believe the show these young studs put on when a pretty face shows up. I don’t trust any of them. If you want my opinion, I don’t think they are who they say they are. But then, neither am I.

Bernard: I am the old butler. I was raised in the chateau. My father served François’ grandfather. I love François as if he were my own son and I want to see him married to a good French woman. Mademoiselle Edith seems to love him. She’s always visiting and staying in the chateau, in the room next to his. But I think François is attracted to the American student. He asked me to put her in the room next to his, on the other side. I don’t like that, François sandwiched between the women’s rooms. I don’t like it at all. Especially that the rooms in this old chateau have secret passageways.
My fondest dream is to find the statue and put it back on the altar of the reconstructed chapel. But someone hit me in the dark and asked me questions about the statue.

Cheryl: I pledge to go after Professor Howard’s killer and find the statue to honor my mentor’s memory. Things would be easier if I weren’t so attracted to François…

François: Cheryl is careless and exposing herself to danger all the time. I’m constantly worried about her. She has turned my life upside down with her determination and bubbly laughter. I’m ready to give up the search for the statue to ensure Cheryl’s safety, but she won’t let me.

Together we need to find out:
Who poisoned Professor Howard?
Who hit Bernard?
Who broke into Cheryl’s room?
Where is the statue?
Would François call off the search to protect Cheryl?

Buy this Book!

Last day of vacation photos, promise! Just be happy you got the short version. Friends and family will shortly be sent the link to the extended play album!

The last full weekend I was on vacation, my father and step-mother took us out for a picnic and canoe trip on the Swamp River. I always like to get out on the Swamp River. Not only is it a very lovely and serene spot, but I remember going out there to fish with my own grandfather when I was a child. Even if we didn’t fish, it was a nice circle to take my own children out there.

After a picnic of bratwurst roasted over an open fire on greenwood sticks (yum!) and smores (double yum!) we took a ride in the canoe. My children love the thrill of a speed boat and I’ll admit that speed has its thrill, but in a place like this, a canoe is the way to go.

I could have taken pictures of the reflections of the sky in the water all day…

See that hill in the distance? The next plan for the afternoon was to hike up a trail to the top of that hill (locally known as Camp Five Mountain) in search of blueberries

A lovely little water lily that was growing amongst the wild rice along the banks of the river. Try picking a water lily while riding in a speed boat

A view of Swamp River, where we were canoeing, from the top of Camp Five Mountain

It wasn’t much of a trail up the mountain and very buggy, but we were rewarded for our efforts!

Dessert! My daughter wanted to collect the most berries which is why she tossed in all the raspberries she found as well!

Just in case you thought I was foraging for all of my food while in the woods, thought I’d toss this photo in. I’ve eaten “happy pizza” in Cambodia and buffalo milk latte in Cairo - now I can add moose burger in Minnesota. Not sure I’d go out of my way for another one, but it wasn’t bad.


This weekend author Mona Risk will be here to introduce you to the cast of characters from her recently released book French Peril. If you like a thriller set in an exotic location, you’ll want to stop by and check this one out!

I was in Minnesota for about a month. Most of the week days I spent in town, visiting with my mother, poking in and out of the various gift shops that make up most of the town’s businesses, taking the children to the playground or to play mini golf.

The weekends were a different story though. On the weekends my father and his wife would take us on outings - long outings that required packing food and water bottles and bug spray. The three mile hike up the Fingerpoint trail shown yesterday was the first such outing. The next was a five mile hike through part of Judge Magney State Park, along the Brule River.

I’ve known this hike was in the plans since last year when we walked the park trails with the children. They enjoyed it so much and had so much energy to spare at the end that my step-mother commented that next time we’d do the longer version, to which my son enthusiastically replied “okay!” I just wasn’t sure I was going to join them until this year!

Five miles sounds like a long way, and it is. But in reality, it wasn’t too bad. Once we reached the river, we took frequent breaks so my step-mother’s dog could swim and the kids could wade and there was plenty of interesting stuff to see along the way.

(click any picture below for a larger view)

Just in case you thought I was exaggerating about the distance - or you were interested in seeing it for yourself

A toadstool growing in the middle of the trail. Looked so pretty just sitting there in the sun…

It’s never a problem to get my son to walk in the woods where there are such yummy thimble berries to be found and eaten! He snacked the whole way!

Pretty, but inedible.

See - I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a long walk!

Anyone know the name of this wildflower? My step-mother told me but I forgot…

Pretty much the extent of the wildlife we saw that day!

It was just sitting there, waiting for me to take its picture…

But what a reward! The Devil’s Kettle water fall, Brule River. So named because there is a hole on the left that about half of the river plunges down into and supposedly no one knows where it comes out…My step-mother’s dog almost found out this year, trying to retrieve his stick from the current upstream. There were a few tense moments there, but I’m happy to say he let the stick go and came back to shore. Smart dog!

Tomorrow, the last of the vacation photos (promise!)

I have so many pictures of my time in Minnesota - what do you want? It’s a picturesque place! - I can’t possibly share them all here. I took the most pictures when I was out hiking in the woods so those are the ones you’ll get to see

My first stop in Minnesota was Duluth. We stayed in town a couple of days after flying in so I could do a bit of back to school shopping (school starts tomorrow - woo hoo!!) and take the kids to do a few town things, like visit the zoo. As zoos go, it is fairly small but it had some nice exhibits and was just big enough for the kids to get a good run around.

I try to resist taking animal pictures because they never turn out very well, but this guy was practically posing for the camera!

Calm down - it’s not a real tortoise…

Once I arrived in the woods, the first really long hike we took was actually just over the border in Ontario - called Fingerpoint Trail. The trail head actually starts in the parking lot of the Ontario Welcome Center and following the trail to the summit is actually about a 3 mile walk.

See that bump? The top of that knob is our goal…

The view from the top of the knob - beautiful!

This is a beach along Lake Superior where the trail passes. If you collect driftwood, this is the beach for you!

This shiny log caught my eye - hasn’t dried out quite as much as the others and was shining like gold in the sun

The children loved to play on the various beaches along Lake Superior - any excuse would do. It’s hardly the worst place in the world to hang out for an hour so I spent a lot of time there while they stripped down and swam. I thought after the first time that the frigid water temperatures would put them off, but what do I know? So while they played polar bears, I snacked. Look at all the wonderful beach food I found:

There is nothing tastier than wild raspberries - picking them yourself makes them taste better!

Wild beach peas - they only grow in the rocks and gravel along the beach.

These are best eaten raw - like most fresh peas. Yummy!

Tomorrow - more pictures from the deep woods…

All this week, I’ll be sharing photos from my summer vacation. It killed me not to be able to do that all along while I was actually on the spot, but it couldn’t be helped. If looking at other people’s vacation photos isn’t your thing, it could be a boring week for you. I have picked out a handful from the more than 200 I took, but I forgive you if you don’t hang around!

Our first stop was Asbury Park, New Jersey - which also happens to be the inspiration for my first book Here To Stay. Since I only recently found out that Here To Stay will be released in print sometime this fall, it was a particularly nice time to revisit Asbury Park.

I have loved Asbury Park since the first time I visited. Its hey-day as a weekend and holiday getaway was way back in the 40s & 50s and by the time I discovered it in the 90s, it was deserted and decrepit. And a potentially dangerous place to hang around. Stories abounded of people being mugged on the boardwalk in broad daylight and the old buildings were crumbling. Very few businesses existed on that section of the boardwalk and there were fewer people still taking advantage of the beach. I could never get my mind around how such a lovely location could be so neglected and forgotten. Aside from Bruce Springsteen, surely someone somewhere cared about Asbury Park enough to invest some money in it?

Until July of this year, I hadn’t been to Asbury Park in almost seven years. It was a wonderful surprise to see it doing so well. The old buildings are being restored, the Convention Center - once a creepy, echo-y shell of a building - now houses several businesses and hosts events, and the boardwalk is lined with shops and restaurants and people. I can remember when we didn’t go out after dark for fear of our lives. Now it is difficult to find a time when the boardwalk isn’t crawling with people. It’s wonderful.

Asbury Park beach, August 1998

You’ll have to take my word - this is the same stretch of beach in July 2008!

Asbury Park boardwalk, heading toward Ocean Grove, 1998
This same stretch of boardwalk is now lined with shops and activities. I’d have taken a picture this year but it would have just looked like a mass of people!

Asbury Park Convention Center, 1998

This used to be an empty shell of a building that you had to pass through to make your way down the boardwalk

Asbury Park Convention Center, 2008
This shot was taken in late afternoon when most of the sun bathers had gone home for the day. We had dinner at a neat Irish pub in the Convention Center one night. I also noticed a poster advertising an upcoming Bob Dylan concert being held there. Definitely more than a pass through now!

An old amusement park located just beside the boardwalk, 1998

Here’s what’s left of the amusement hall. Judging by how well they are trying to restore most of the older buildings, this one must have been in really bad shape. Nice to see that some of it was able to be salvaged. Though that clown face is enough to keep me from going inside!

Victorian lovelies, Ocean Grove, 1998

These houses start just after the boundary line between Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. The demarcation line isn’t so stark as it used to be but I never could figure out why a few hundred feet made such a difference. But just look at them! Is is any wonder I wanted to put story into one?

Tomorrow and the rest of the week: the wilds of northern Minnesota…

Although Blair entertained herself by creating stories from the time she was five or six years old, she never considered being a writer because her mother was a highly successful children’s book author, and it never occurred to her there could be two writers in the same family.

During the years she wasn’t planning on becoming an author Blair taught public school music, sang professionally, including a stint in the National Company of The Sound of Music, was editor of an educational publishing company; and, after moving to Florida, ran a costume rental business, The DreamWeaver - Costumes and Creations, for which she designed and made eighty percent of the outfits.

Blair won the RWA’s Golden Heart contest in 1999, was a RITA finalist in 2003. Her first (of six) Signet Regencies was named Best Regency of the Year by Romantic Times in 2003. She also won the Best Romance award from the Florida Writers’ Association in 2002 and finaled twice in the EPPIE awards, the e-book equivalent of the OSCAR.

Blair says: “I get up in the morning with a gleam in my eye because I know I’ll soon be sitting at my computer, creating a world of my own choosing.”

Coming September 4, 2008
Steeplechase
by
Blair Bancroft
Cerridwen Press Cotillion Collection

Harlan Dawnay, Lord Davenham, handsome and dashing heir to an earldom, offers a marriage of convenience to a suitable young lady he scarcely knows, only to discover she has no intention of being ignored in favor of his friends or his mistress. Lady Sarah Ainsworth, age seventeen, is not yet interested in marriage. She accepts Lord Davenham’s offer solely because she secretly admires him and has high hopes for the future. But when Davenham steadfastly ignores his young bride, including not coming to her bed, Sarah embarks on a series of adventures guaranteed to drive any young husband wild. From unsuitable friends to unsuitable flirtations, from gambling to calling on Davenham’s mistress, Sarah forces him to pay attention. Until one final adventure almost ends their marriage before it’s really begun.

LEGENDS OF THE PEN

Authors, beware! There be Monster Myths here!

“Everyone knows . . . !” “The rules say . . .” “My critique partner says . . .”

Tired of hearing those phrases? Well, so am I. Though please keep in mind that the following essay is my personal opinion, and I am definitely not saying, “My way or the highway.” There are as many ways to write as there are writers. This article is intended to make you think—to give you ammunition against rigid minds who not only have to have rules but want everyone to do exactly as they do. Take heart. A great deal of what “they” say could be called Legends of the Pen.

My comments are based on fifteen years as an author, sixteen contracted books, and judging more than 300 contests over the last seven years. I’ve also learned a great deal from my many years on RWA’s Clues-N-News, BeauMonde, and other author e-loops. To rephrase, do not believe every “rule” you hear. Think. Question. Reason.

And now . . . we’re off into the realm of offending almost everyone! But it will be worth it if I can assure some of you that there is more than one way to get that book down on paper.

Backstory. One of the biggest myths being propagated at the moment is No Backstory. Some contest entrants, sensing this doesn’t work, carefully put the backstory into the Synopsis, not stopping to think that a reader never sees the synopsis. No, you don’t want to start your book with a twelve pages of backstory, but clarity is absolutely vital. Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Readers do not want to be lost in a slew of unintentional mystery, with no idea who the characters are, their relationship to each other, their desires, motivations, etc. In contests I constantly see these concepts beautifully laid out in synopses, then not one word of it makes it into the manuscript. Some backstory is essential. Identify, clarify. (Contest judges should always read the synopsis last, approaching the manuscript cold, just as a reader would.)

Show, Don’t Tell. A concept most authors have mastered quite well. But in several contests I judged recently, the authors seemed to have been advised to tackle this problem by writing page after page of dialogue—pages without descriptions, introspection, or action. The entries read like play or film scripts. Yet in those media there are visuals to guide you on stage or screen. In books, there’s nothing but the picture painted by the author’s words. Solid dialogue can be as deadly as solid narration unless you add all those colorful extras. How do the characters look while speaking? How do they sound? Where are they? Do they wave their arms, stalk across the room, sit slumped on a couch? Best of all, what is the primary character thinking?

The best definition I know of “Show, Don’t Tell” is that you, the author, must take the reader inside the head of the primary character in the scene. Make the reader see what the hero or heroine sees, hear what they hear, feel what they feel. Do not sit on the outside like a storyteller by a dying campfire chanting about a boring ancient event.

Editing. “Keep writing, no matter what!” All right, there may be some people who have to follow that advice or they’d never finish, but I believe most published authors would agree that Editing is vital. And editing as you go works best for most of us. For example, I often end up with little more than bare bones on my first draft of a chapter. It’s only when I go back and edit that I add all the juicy bits of description and color. If I didn’t edit at the end of every chapter, I wouldn’t have what I need to build on for the next chapter. I’d be trying to add skin to a skeleton without muscles! Everyone must develop their own editing methods, but editing—adding, deleting, tightening—is absolutely essential. I edit at the end of every chapter, again at the end of every five chapters. Then straight through from the beginning, checking continuity, clarity, descriptions, color, etc.. And then I go back and do it again.

Multiple Point of View. There is no question that the best advice for beginners is to stick to the point of view of Hero, Heroine, and possibly a Villain. Especially if you’re aiming at Category. But, if you’re writing Single Title and can handle the switches, multiple POV is frequently used. The secret is in making sure you understand what Point of View is - that if you are telling the story from one person’s POV, you need to stick to that POV, usually for an entire scene. Switching within a scene is usually a trick best left to experienced authors. But don’t let anyone tell you you can’t use multiple POV. However, “head-hopping”—constantly jumping from one POV to another in the space of one scene—is a definite No-no.

Synopsis - Planning. This one has a lot of myths attached. For example: You have to do a storyboard. You have to interview your characters. You have to write a detailed twenty- to thirty-page outline. Truthfully, all you have to do is whatever works for you. For me, it’s naming my characters, at least the hero, heroine, and secondary characters at the beginning of the book. As I name them and list their relationships, they begin to take shape for me. But everyone has his/her own method. If storyboards, detailed outlines, brainstorming techniques from a “how to” book or whatever, work for you, then by all means don’t hesitate to use them. Just know there are no absolutes. What works for one person may be a roadblock to someone else.

Synopsis - Writing. Unless you know the editor you’re targeting requires a long synopsis, 3-5 pages, double-spaced, is generally recommended. You can use a Log Line at the beginning, if you wish. This is two or three lines giving the gist of your book in a nutshell (like a TV guide). Beneath that you can put brief character sketches of the Hero, Heroine, and possibly the Villain. (I try to keep all this short enough to fit on page 1 of the synopsis.) Then, in present tense, you tell the story from beginning to end. You do not add backstory or characterizations that are not in the manuscript. You, as an author, do not comment about the manuscript. You do not say Word One that is not on the pages of the manuscript itself!* Keep your overview of the story line for your query letter. Do, however, try to keep some of your Voice in the telling of your story. Never easy, but your Synopsis should sound like you, not a neutral Readers’ Digest version told by a stranger.

*Note: I feel strongly about this because, as a contest judge, I have read so many manuscripts where everything was laid out beautifully in the Synopsis and then the author jumped into the manuscript, assuming the reader knew everything that was in the Synopsis. Please remember: the reader never sees the Synopsis. Everything you want the reader to know must in the pages of the manuscript itself.

Format. Manuscripts should be submitted in classic manuscript format. (Never attempt to imitate book format!) Just because typewriters back at the end of the 19th c. could only type Courier is no reason why any of us should still be confined to this ugly, anachronistic type font. That said, it is necessary to understand there is a reason for typing manuscripts in Courier. The publishing world determined word count back in the days when Courier was all there was. Therefore if you want to know how long your book is by NY standards, you have to know how long it is in Courier 12. If you can figure this out (see my article on Word Count),http://www.blairbancroft.com then you can submit in any clear type font.

Wandering Body Parts. I believe we all have better things to do than worry about Wandering Body Parts. We’re writing fiction in the vernacular. We “talk” Wandering Body Parts, so why not write them? (I say, as my fingers fly over the keyboard.)

Writing - Craft or Art? Okay, some aspects of writing can be taught, but my personal feeling is that you learn a great deal more from reading the best authors in your particular sub-genre. Be wary of swallowing whole everything you read in “How to” Books. Keep in mind they are frequently written by people who came to these conclusions while trying to figure out why they were unable to write a saleable work of fiction. How-to books written by successful authors, editors, or agents are your best bet for helpful information, although I’m still inclined to see writing more as an art than a craft. Basically, take what is useful to you from these books and don’t sweat the so-called “rules” that don’t work for you.

Strong Writing. This entire article was prompted by a “craft” discussion on one of my author e-mail loops, a discussion that inspired me to sit down late one night, and write the paragraphs that appear below. Fortunately, I didn’t let them disappear into cyberspace with other old e-mails. What I wrote that night off the top of my head emphasizes my belief that good writing is more Art than Craft. That writing comes from the Soul, not from following the so-called rules in a book. Never be afraid to be yourself.

Strong Writing - No Myth. Although an editor undoubtedly grimaces over bad spelling and grammar, I can almost guarantee she/he is not counting the number of times an author uses “was” or “-ly.” An editor is looking for a story that captures her interest. Every time she chooses a book she lays her job on the line. (“Is this book strong enough to sell enough copies to justify my job?”) So if she is gracious enough to tell an author that her writing is “strong,” that’s a true compliment and encouragement, not a reference to nitpicking rules out of “how to” manual.

Strong writing is telling a good story. Strong writing is creating great characters. Strong writing is letting those characters speak naturally, without their words being stilted or superfluous. Strong writing is painting vivid word pictures, whether it’s a crowd scene, a sunset, or an intimate moment. Strong writing invokes emotions, makes the reader care about the characters.

To repeat Number One: Strong writing is a tale well told.

Buy Steeplechase now!

Though I don’t currently own a car, I really like driving. I can remember every car I’ve ever owned, some with more affection than others, and when I’m thinking up a new character I usually know what sort of car they would drive even if their car never appears in the story. So when I saw this Blogthings test, how could I resist?

You Should Drive a Pink Car

You’re the type of driver who really loves your car. You can make a car last for ages - or take good care of a vintage ride. You’re independent, creative, and very expressive. You consider your car a part of you … and you want to make it as funky as possible.

Go on, take the test. But don’t blame me if you kill an hour or two at Blogthings…it’s addictive…

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow when Blair Bancroft will be my featured author. She’s got a blurb for her September release Steeplechase and also lots of great tips for all the aspiring writers out there.

Congratulations Lisa - you’ve won a copy of my book ONE CRAZY SUMMER! Drop me an email and let me know what format you prefer and I’ll get it right out to you.

I made it home without any major mishaps - in fact, it might have been my most uneventful trip yet! In the end I had five LARGE bags, but each only averaged about 40lbs so I was well within my limit. It was an incredibly LONG day since I had to wake up at 4am to catch a 6am flight out of Minnesota to make my way back to JFK. My youngest fell asleep on our direct flight back to Cairo before we ever took off and slept all the way back (hallelujah!) but I don’t sleep well sitting up so I pretty much just sat there and read. I finally read the first “In Death” book by JD Robb. Definitely going to get more of that series.

We arrived back 11am and just…stayed up. The kids were thrilled to catch up with all of their friends and pretty much disappeared for the rest of the day. I wasn’t so ambitious myself, but I did stay up. I finally herded everyone to bed by 9pm and crashed myself at 9:30pm after being up for nearly 24 hours straight.

Today, my task is to put away all of the treasure I hauled home for me. It’s going to take awhile …

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it d-r-a-g-s and sometimes it just flies by. My summer vacation has gone by much too quickly and today I’m on my way home.

Going home is bittersweet. On the one hand, I am looking forward to being in my own home again, in my own environment, and not living out of a suitcase. But living in Egypt isn’t always easy and truth be told, I’m not super enthusiastic about going back. Neither are my children. They’ve really bonded with their grandparents this year. To the point where they were threatening to revolt and just stay behind - see ya next year, Mom.

On the other hand, I’ve been so busy doing other things this summer that I haven’t done anything “productive” at all. My creative juices, kind of dry at the end of June, are totally flowing again. I have several ideas for new quilts and lots of ideas for writing. Once I get over the jetlag, I’ll have lots to keep me occupied in the coming year. Yes, in my mind, September and not January starts the new year.

So right about now, I’m flying somewhere high overhead on my way home. Keep commenting on Elizabeth Jenning’s Friday Feature - I’ll announce the winner to my weekend contest when I get home. See you soon…

Elizabeth Jennings has always loved words—big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones… She’s been a wordsmith all her life, as a simultaneous interpreter, translator and now as a writer. She lives in southern Italy, which she loves, together with her wonderful, high-maintenance husband and son. Who could ask for anything more?

Dying For Siena
by
Elizabeth Jennings

Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.

That just about sums up talented mathematician Faith Murphy’s life. After a disastrous one-night stand with hockey heartthrob Nick Rossi, she flees to a conference in Siena, Italy. She expected her Boss from Hell, Roland Kane, to be unbearable. She wasn’t expecting him to be dead.

A head injury has destroyed Nick Rossi’s hockey career. Maybe if he hadn’t been devastated and drunk, he wouldn’t have seduced Faith Murphy. By the time he realizes she might be the woman of his dreams, she’s run off to Siena. It’s Palio season in Siena. The Palio, a no-holds-barred medieval horse race, has the whole city in a lather. Nick knows Siena like the back of his hand. He knows he can get Faith back if he follows her to Siena. But there’s the little matter of suspicion of murder in the way…

Cops don’t have time for murder in Siena during Palio season. Police Commissario Dante Rossi finds it hard to focus on murder when there’s a horse race to be won. But when his cousin Nick shows up in pursuit of a pretty American who’s the prime suspect, all bets are off.

BONUS: Leave a comment for Elizabeth and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Jenyfer’s book ONE CRAZY SUMMER!

The Story Behind the Story
or what inspired
Dying For Siena
Elizabeth Jennings

Hi all! thanks so much for this opportunity to blog. It’s always so great to connect with readers. And, hopefully, readers who love Italy, because that’s what I’m going to blog about—my Cerridwen Press novel, Dying For Siena, which is set—surprise!—in Siena, Italy.

I loved writing this book. I particularly enjoyed researching it since it meant spending tons of time in Siena. I know…the sacrifices writers are willing to make for their art!

I know Siena very well and not from a tourist’s point of view, either. For many years, it was my privilege to live in nearby Florence and to work as a simultaneous interpreter, which meant travelling a lot in general and in particular, meant often commuting to Siena. When you work in a city, interact with its citizens, get your hands dirty with local life, so to speak, you gain a knowledge of that city no tourist can ever have. Tourists by definition float above reality.

For several years, together with a great team of interpreters, we worked at a conference of applied mathematics at one of the most beautiful conference venues in the world, the Certosa di Pontignano. Just look at it:

http://www.unisi.it/servizi/certosa/

Isn’t it gorgeous? We lived there in a refitted monk’s cell for the week of the conference, eating and drinking (superbly well) with these amazingly eccentric, mind-blowingly intelligent and incredibly delightful mathematicians. And I knew that some day I wanted to write about just that—a gaggle of unworldly scientists in an ancient Charterhouse, and a murder.

As far as I know, the only murder mysteries set in Siena are The Palio of the Dead by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, a supernatural thriller novella, The Miracle by Frederick Forsyth, and Dying for Siena by moi. That’s rather surprising since Siena is so amazingly beautiful. Its beauty is iconic, the red brick palazzos, the glorious and unique central square in the shape of a shell (the more poetic image is the shape of God’s cupped hands), the perfect landscape with the pencil-thin and elegant cypresses…everyone is familiar with these images.

The reality is even better. I’d almost go so far as to say that there is nothing ugly, not one thing, inside the city walls of Siena. And even the ‘suburbs’ – the 20th century brick houses built outside the city walls—are incredibly pretty.

So it surprises me that not more novels are set in Siena. But maybe it’s not so surprising that more murder mysteries aren’t set there because, well…Siena has no crime. Or murders.

There are a number of sociological theories about this, but basically I believe there is no crime because the city is so caught up in the passionate emotions and rivalries and vendettas and back-stabbing of the Palio, the no-holds-barred medieval horse race run in the Campo twice a year for over seven hundred years, that they don’t have time for crime.

The city of Siena is divided up into 17 small neighbourhoods, the famous ‘contrade’. Each contrada has its symbol – the Snail, the Wolf, the Turtle, the Dragon. Each contrada fields a horse and jockey in the Palio and each Sienese is fiercely loyal to the contrada where he or she was born. The 17 contradas are enmeshed in an intricate 700 year old network of vendettas and alliances. Most of the vendettas are 600 or 700 years old, and felt as fiercely as if they had come into existence yesterday.

The Palio is grimly serious. And when I say no-holds-barred, that’s just what I mean. There are no rules once the starting gun (a medieval contraption called a mortaretto) goes off. You can jab and push and whip other jockeys (with your whip made of horse phalluses) and as long as your horse crosses that finishing line first, you’ve won. The horse can even be riderless and win, and often is.

Passions run so high during the run-up to the Palio—Palios, actually, there are two of them, one in July and one in August—that fistfights break out regularly. A husband and wife from two different contradas—please note that in densely-built Siena, the contradas flow into each other so you can have one door in the Eagle contrada and the door a couple of feet down the road along a continuous wall in another—will split up in Palio season, the wife returning home to her native contrada. It is absolutely unthinkable that she cheer her husband’s contrada on. Everyone identifies fiercely with their contrada. A woman who gives birth outside Siena will bring along a vial of dirt from her contrada and put it under the bed so that, technically, the child is born in the mother’s contrada.

Of course, corruption is rife, and very much expected. Each contrada raises money each year to bribe the jockey of the contrada that looks like it has the best chance of winning. A lot of money changes hands, though the jockeys don’t always stay bought. They take their beating afterwards with a great deal of philosophy and laugh all the way to the bank.

With all of this going on, who has time for normal crime?

I went to the Questura, Italian police headquarters, in Siena. Everyone was darling and showed me every inch of the gorgeous palazzo, with unparalleled views of the glorious cathedral. Undoubtedly the most beautiful police station in the world.

The Questura is not heavily geared towards crime-solving. The fingerprint set is behind—way behind—the coffee machine. I asked the Commissario if he could outline the procedures followed in his questura in the case of murder and he looked alarmed. He told me that he’d only been here a couple of years and so he didn’t really know. Then he stood, stuck his head out the door and yelled for Arturo, asking when was the last time there was a murder.

Arturo rubbed his chin and thought. The best he could come up with was a taxi driver who was found dead in his taxi ten years ago.

It’s enough to drive a mystery writer to drink.

Luckily, the local Chianti is divine.

If you’re going to be in southern Italy in September join me and Elizabeth at the Women’s Fiction Festival!