reading and writing friday

Some news to share in my little world of reading and writing:

I. Winning!

My lion Leonardo and I won 4th place in both member's and jury's choice in The Shameless Lions Writing Circle awards for our poem, which you can find here.

You can also find Leonardo's guest post about his father here.

I'm beginning to think that 4 is my lucky number!



I'd like to thank Seamus for all of his hard work, jury gathering, and vote counting, and also the jury and other members of the Circle who took the time to vote.

Warmest congratulations to my fellow winners and to all members of the pride (so many outstanding pieces, choosing my favorites wasn't easy), and a special roar out to our good friends Wanderlust Scarlett and Viaggiatore who were awarded 1st place, Member's Choice for Best Looking Lion. That *is* one stylin' lion!

II. Writing!

There is a wonderful writing workshop going on over at author Rosina Lippi's place called the Story Machine Workshop. Today will be Day 4's exercise, but don't worry about joining the party late. You can catch up rather quickly as I did yesterday.


There are prizes available for participants--it is called, after all, the I-read-your-work-and-give-you-feedback contest, which means that yes, one lucky winner will have Rosina Lippi, a widely successful author, read his/her work and give valuable feedback.

There are also prizes for each day as well, and you have until Sunday to comment on the week's posts to be eligible for prizes--but I hope you'll also try your hand at the exercises. So much fun and a lot of great advice!

III. Reviewing!

Fellow Shameless Lions Writing Circle member Dewey over at The Hidden Side of a Leaf is hosting this month's Bookworms Carnival--the theme is novels.

The deadline to submit posts is today, and be sure to check back there for the round-up! There are bound to be some great summer reading list suggestions.

IV. Reading!

Speaking of summer reading...

One of my lovely Australian readers came and visited me yesterday with her Calabrian husband--they are here on holiday, but I'm so excited to learn we may have some more English speakers nearby on a more permanent basis!

We went on a gorgeous walk, taking in the natural beauty and precious silence surrounding my town (whenever we weren't talking and talking and talking (in English!)), and then they left me with these:


Bet you'll never guess what I'll be doing this weekend.

V. Swapping

Many of you know about this and are already members, but for those who don't, Jessica of In Search of Dessert and Shelley of At Home in Rome have gotten together and formed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Books:


This is a bookswap and a godsend for those of us without great access to books in English--but it's not only for expats. Far from it, in fact, as we already have many members from all over the world.

If you like to read and you like to swap, head on over to The Sisterhood and check it out!

Buon weekend a tutti!

***UPDATE: ATTENTION WRITERS!***
I just saw an advertisement for an online magazine looking for someone
to write a piece about the Coliseum in Rome.
2000 words/$100

In bocca al lupo!