by Janice Nigro “Bird by Bird” if you’re ever to read any books by Anne Lamott, it should be this one. She wrote it as a memoir focused on her wisdom on writing, but I can’t get those words out of my head now when I think about any project I’m working on. Because when... Continue Reading →
Easy Reader News 50th Anniversary Contest: The Lockdown Diaries
About the most amazing staycation ever...the lockdown published in Easy Reader September 10, 2020. A different format since the link is not yet available on the website. Just click on the link in green which will lead you to a pdf to read. The Lockdown Diaries Easy Reader News
You need to do research for a fiction novel?
by Janice Nigro Did you know sea stars have eyes? I didn’t, not until I started writing my fictional romance novel. Yep, they have a visual organ called an eyespot. And get this, they have one at the end of each of their arms! These eyespots detect light and dark, and large structures like the reef,... Continue Reading →
What I learned writing a novel
by Janice Nigro Lockdown has reached over four months in California. From the beginning, it was clear that life could be over for any one of us in a flash. One week you’re here and three weeks later you’re not. That edict somehow freed me from any guilt about pursuing projects of passion. So I’ve... Continue Reading →
Unexpected Results
by Janice Nigro I left San Francisco, California for Bergen, Norway. In late fall. As a single woman. A few weeks before Christmas one year. Norwegians in San Francisco. Do you need to know how to dress for winter? Thanks, but I grew up in Chicago. Light cycles of shadow and dark on a backdrop... Continue Reading →
Discovering the meaning of dim sum in Seattle
by Janice Nigro Being a nomad is great. Until you realize that your closest friends live nowhere close. So when the last minute opportunity came up a few weekends ago to travel to Seattle to see some friends from the USA who I met in Norway and now live in Tasmania, I took it (yes,... Continue Reading →
“Slow” connecting
by Janice Nigro Anyone who knows me, knows I love the subtleties of language. I can spend hours, even years, focusing on a word that seems well, funny to me. Many come from the misuse of words that my international friends will make. It’s not meant to make fun, or funny (as they will say),... Continue Reading →
Falling in love with Napoli in a pastry shop
You can often recall the precise moment you fall in love. Sometimes the match looks good on paper and the connection is immediate. And sometimes it comes out of nowhere and hits you like a ton of bricks. There are no birds singing or harps playing, but your basic chemistry changes from a blip for... Continue Reading →
The bonus you get from living overseas
by Janice Nigro The idea of living overseas always captivated me. I imagined myself speaking a second language fluently and sharing my life with a man with an accent. I derived this cliché of a fantasy from some combination of movies, National Geographic, my Sicilian background, and Spanish class in 5th grade. I blew an... Continue Reading →
Please humor me while I try to learn your language
I didn’t think too hard when the taxi driver in Sorrento (Italy) asked me what I had for dinner. The words just rolled off my tongue. “Pasta ai frutti di mare.” I don’t remember how my travel companions responded. All I remember is what Bartolo the taxi driver said next. “Buon italiano!” “Good Italian!” I... Continue Reading →