Writing – The Petrini Page

Dreams of Italy

I am going back to Italy. I recently read a series of memoirs by an Irish writer named Rosie Meleady, about buying a decrepit villa in Umbria and moving her family there to fix it up and run a wedding planning business. As I read, I kept thinking this was a writer I would loveContinue reading “Dreams of Italy”

NaNoWriMo Success, on My Own Terms

National Novel Writing Month ended at midnight. Technically, I did not write 50,000 words, which is the goal set by the annual November challenge. But I won anyway. My personal goal was to finish the draft of the book. And about a week and a half ago, I did! It’s about 90,000 words total (mostContinue reading “NaNoWriMo Success, on My Own Terms”

NaNo News Flash

I’ve been remiss about updating my progress on NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. The goal of the challenge is to write 50,000 words of a novel in a month, beginning November 1. My personal goal was a bit different. I had a science-fiction novel already in progress that I planned to work on, expectingContinue reading “NaNo News Flash”

Reaching “The End”

I finished the book manuscript draft tonight! I’ve been working on this for so long. But tonight, I got to the end of the final chapter. It’s about 89,000 words, which is longer than we were aiming for, but I’m pretty sure I can shorten it by cutting a lot of repetition and tightening upContinue reading “Reaching “The End””

Score One for the English Major Mom!

As a Music Composition major, my son has been writing a piece of music this week for a composition challenge at his university. Art students supplied original artworks for inspiration, and the student composers were each given a piece of art and matched up with a performer or group of performers. My son is workingContinue reading “Score One for the English Major Mom!”

NaNoWriMo Time Again!

If it’s November, it must be NaNo! November is National Novel Writing Month, abbreviated NaNoWriMo, the month when crazy people all over the world attempt to write a 50,000-word novel (or 50,000 words of a longer novel) in 30 days. I’m participating again, as I almost always do. I’m a bit of a NaNoWriMo rebel,Continue reading “NaNoWriMo Time Again!”

Bird Call

I have been writing in my backyard today with my writer’s group, which we call Kittens With Typewriters. The rest of the group has gone, but it’s so nice to see the sun after many cloudy days that I’m still on the patio. I filled the bird feeder (the Library 4 Birds) a few minutesContinue reading “Bird Call”

Chapter 43

Yesterday, I finished the first draft of Chapter 43! That may not seem like a big deal, but I have been struggling to write this one for several weeks. It required my characters to defuse a bomb, which meant more research, but it also meant creating some technology, because it’s an alien device. And thenContinue reading “Chapter 43”

Logical Fallacy

I’m noticing a pattern in online conversations with people who apparently have no understanding of logic, or who are too blinded by their beliefs to pay attention to the actual words being written. Typically, Jane will make a true statement in this format: “In some cases, ABC.” Logic-challenged John replies, “That’s not true, because IContinue reading “Logical Fallacy”

Houseguests and Turtles

I’ve barely posted on this blog in the past week or so, except for quick, general stuff like lists of writers’ birthdays and photos in honor of the occasional weird holiday. That’s because we’ve been busy here with houseguests. I’ve managed to find some time to edit chapters of the science-fiction book I’m working on,Continue reading “Houseguests and Turtles”