Changes and WTF? Moments

12/30/2011 08:07:00 PM Giovanna 0 Comments

At this time of year, I become one of those types of people that seem to be surprised that a new year is about to begin, as if the start of the holiday season was not enough of a heads up for me. With that knowledge, begins a process of looking back on my accomplishments, lessons learned and changes.

A number of years ago, I decided to make a goal list of the things that I would like to achieve in the coming year. These aspirations are both personal and career focused. Now, every New Years eve, I write up a new list and then seal it with a wax seal*, creating a carefully designed package that is then tucked away and not opened again until New Years Eve of the following year.

Why do I do this you ask (cheeky grim inserted here-whether you asked or not, I am obviously going to answer the question)? It is always a bit nostalgic for me to look over my goals from a year ago and see what I have accomplished. It is a confidence booster to see all these “things” that I set out to do have been achieved. However, my favorite part of this exercise, is seeing the things on my list that I did not achieve. Many of these are things I forgot about and all are things that I no longer desire. As I sit and read over this list, I sometimes gasp at the things that I once thought were important benchmarks. I often giggle at some of the other desires and then there are the occasional scratching of the head with a wtf? expression.

Somewhere, as the year rolls along lessons have been learned and therefore aspirations and desires have changed. Some years have less changes then others. 2011 was a big game changer for me personally. So, it will be particularly interesting to open up my list from the close of 2011.

As I begin to think about my dreams and aspirations for 2012, I wish all of you a very happy new year. May all your wishes come true and may your lessons learned bring you gasps and giggles of delight and very few wtf? moments.

Cheers!

My Beast, Harry Potter and 80's music

11/16/2011 10:54:00 PM Giovanna 3 Comments

Today I decided to revisit my blog. Since I am now writing again (my first book is coming out in Winter of 2013), I thought not only would this be a good exercise in putting my thoughts to paper, but would also be a good way to allow all you to get a glimpse of me: the artist chick; who decided it was time to let her inner novelist out. Funny thing is, I don't think I could have taken this journey, to be an author, without having been a somewhat successful artist first. You see, I have always been a writer. Writing was my first source of self expression. Many of the artists I know, grew up with a constant supply of crayons and paints. I grew up with typewriter keys (Really. I did.*) Those that have known me most of my life, found it quite surprising that I grew up to be a professional artist. Not that I didn't draw/paint back in the day, but they were surprised that this secondary outlet for me, became my main source of creative expression. Well, you know what they say, “ when you let sleeping beasts lay, another more ferocious one will appear”. Okay, I just made that up. But I do believe it.

My beast has been laying very dormant in this brain of mine for too long now and has now begun to emerge. As I decided to lay aside my artist self, this beast took over and became a powerful force. Although, I can't say my beast had been completely silent all these years. Recently, the more I began to let my words spill out onto paper, the more my beast rose up and took charge; kicking the arse of my artsy waif muse along the way, sometimes at in opportune moments. Mostly, while I had been working on my book that is under contract. I have continued to do as I have always done over the years, whenever a story idea entered my head. Writing it down and saving it for later. I send myself an email, or write it on a corner of watercolor paper, or even further back, on old high school notebooks written in a language that even the best scholar would never be able to decipher. Now that I have given into my beast, I am having moments that look as if straight from a scene in Harry Potter. The one where he is in a room full of keys that are flying all around him, only my keys are pieces of paper with random plot lines and occasional lyrics from a Modern English song.

By now you are asking “what do beasts, harry potter and 80's music have to do with writing?”. Well, I am not entirely sure really. It is just my process and my way of unpacking what I seem to have put away for so long.

So, this week as I finished up my manuscript, right on time for my publisher, I sat back, relaxed and began to plan how to spend the next few grueling weeks awaiting my 1^st set of rewrites. While my beast sits across from me smiling, with a sheet of paper, and a pile of old albums.

GREAT NEWS!!

3/18/2011 05:24:00 PM Giovanna 0 Comments