Friday, November 25, 2016

How Far would You Go for Rabbit?


"Don't go down into the cellar, mommy..."


Okay, I know that the last thing some people can imagine is frying a cute little furry Peter Cottontail in a pan over a hot gas flame while introducing a fresh garlic, butter, chicken stock reduction, flour for thickness, rosemary, plus salt and pepper to taste, and then serving it with red wine, fried potatoes, insalata and an olive oil so fresh and green that it boasts zero transparency. But that's exactly what I crave when I arrive in Rome every fall season for my extended writing retreat in Italy.

In fact, how much do I spend just to eat coniglio (pronounced 'coneelio')? When you consider the cost of the hotel which is located in the Piazza Novona area, and the cost of taxi and train transport, and the cost of the meal itself plus a bottle of red wine, we're talking about $400+.

Point is, I could easily get off the plane in Rome and hop the train directly to Florence where I rent my apartment. That move alone would save me some dough. And naturally, this being Italy, I could no doubt enjoy coniglio up here in Tuscany as well. But there's something extra special about the recipe I enjoy at this one particular trattoria in Rome. Heck, I don't even know the name of the place, but the owner has gotten to know me by now, and whenever I arrive he smiles, shakes my hand, asks me how my writing is going, and he doesn't bother with handing me a menu. He already knows what I want.

So what does coniglio taste like?

Some of you might toss your empty beer bottles at my head, but well, it tastes sort of like the tenderest, most flavorful chicken you've ever had. It's far more bony however and it can be a challenge to get at all those tasty bits without using your fingers. It can make for a mess and if you eat coniglio the way it was meant to be eaten, the meal can take a while. You don't measure the time in minutes however, but in how long it takes for a bottle of wine to go from full to empty.

Coniglio done right...
I enjoyed my meal three nights ago and I can still taste it. What did the last poet/novelist Jim Harrison once say about a good meal? That he'd happily spend five hundred dollars on it even if his bank account is in the red. Because a good meal is not a thing to be consumed, it is a memory that lasts and lasts. I savor my memory.

Speaking of memory, many of you will recall my novel THE REMAINS, the story of Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister who were abducted by a madman back when they were kids, only to be victimized by him again three decades later upon his release from prison. Now Rebecca is back in the continuation of her story. It's called THE ASHES. And today is its release day. Like a great meal, a good book should be savored and it should not just pass the time, but provide you with memories as though the story on the page were one you experienced yourself. I hope you pick up your copy of THE ASHES today, and spend the weekend reading it. You won't be disappointed.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

   

How Far would You Go for Rabbit?


"Don't go down into the cellar, mommy..."


Okay, I know that the last thing some people can imagine is frying a cute little furry Peter Cottontail in a pan over a hot gas flame while introducing a fresh garlic, butter, chicken stock reduction, flour for thickness, rosemary, plus salt and pepper to taste, and then serving it with red wine, fried potatoes, insalata and an olive oil so fresh and green that it boasts zero transparency. But that's exactly what I crave when I arrive in Rome every fall season for my extended writing retreat in Italy.

In fact, how much do I spend just to eat coniglio (pronounced 'coneelio')? When you consider the cost of the hotel which is located in the Piazza Novona area, and the cost of taxi and train transport, and the cost of the meal itself plus a bottle of red wine, we're talking about $400+.

Point is, I could easily get off the plane in Rome and hop the train directly to Florence where I rent my apartment. That move alone would save me some dough. And naturally, this being Italy, I could no doubt enjoy coniglio up here in Tuscany as well. But there's something extra special about the recipe I enjoy at this one particular trattoria in Rome. Heck, I don't even know the name of the place, but the owner has gotten to know me by now, and whenever I arrive he smiles, shakes my hand, asks me how my writing is going, and he doesn't bother with handing me a menu. He already knows what I want.

So what does coniglio taste like?

Some of you might toss your empty beer bottles at my head, but well, it tastes sort of like the tenderest, most flavorful chicken you've ever had. It's far more bony however and it can be a challenge to get at all those tasty bits without using your fingers. It can make for a mess and if you eat coniglio the way it was meant to be eaten, the meal can take a while. You don't measure the time in minutes however, but in how long it takes for a bottle of wine to go from full to empty.

Coniglio done right...
I enjoyed my meal three nights ago and I can still taste it. What did the last poet/novelist Jim Harrison once say about a good meal? That he'd happily spend five hundred dollars on it even if his bank account is in the red. Because a good meal is not a thing to be consumed, it is a memory that lasts and lasts. I savor my memory.

Speaking of memory, many of you will recall my novel THE REMAINS, the story of Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister who were abducted by a madman back when they were kids, only to be victimized by him again three decades later upon his release from prison. Now Rebecca is back in the continuation of her story. It's called THE ASHES. And today is its release day. Like a great meal, a good book should be savored and it should not just pass the time, but provide you with memories as though the story on the page were one you experienced yourself. I hope you pick up your copy of THE ASHES today, and spend the weekend reading it. You won't be disappointed.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

   

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Political Correctness is Dead




Words matter.
Words are expression and they are freedom.
Words are what I do for a living.
I've waited a week to write this, because I wanted things to calm down a bit after the election. While lefty (and in some cases, righty) protesters engage in riots, and Hollywood A-listers cry in their Dom, and little weasels like Harry Reid (an evil little nothing of a man who allowed politics to get in the way of passing Kate's Law...but that's for another essay) try to compare the new president elect to Hitler, I sit back and breathe easy. Not because one candidate was chosen over another necessarily (I didn't like either of them), but because at the very least, denying Hillary Clinton the White House means political correctness is about to breathe its final breath before being dead for a very long, long time.

It always struck me as funny that one entire faction of American voters, especially younger people, saw the Republican nominee as a fascist, when in fact, the US and its constitutional freedoms have been under attack for eight years. We had a president who governed by executive action rather than work with congress. A state department that deliberately white-washed keywords like Radical Islam,  Jihad, Muslim terrorists from their playbooks. And a presidential candidate who broke the law by maintaining a server in her basement. I mean, even the POTUS emailed her under a fake handle. How is it that an outsider...a non-politician...like Donald Trump was made to be the bad guy when the whole damn system is so corrupt?

Again, I don't want to endorse any one candidate over the other, but when we live in an atmosphere where a writer like me has to think twice about the language he's planning on using in a book for fear of insulting someone or some group, we are headed for fascism. And like Hemingway said before me, fascism is a lie told by bullies. There's only one type of government where a writer can't be free in the language he or she chooses, and that's fascism.

Don't believe the outgoing administration wasn't borderline fascist?

Here's how one goes about destroying a free society:
Take away one's freedom of speech...Political Correctness.
Take away one's legal right to bear arms with strict gun control measures.
Undermine the police and their authority by taking the side of the "victim" under all circumstances.
Demoralize, de-fund, and destabilize the military. 
Pit race against race.
Establish a welfare state whereby people are dependent upon the government for their very existence and work is disincentivized.

I could of course go on and on, but by all means, don't say anything that might be construed as insulting or you might not only be berated and hated by the an intolerant left, you might one day be arrested in the middle of the night.

I'm not sure what the next four years will bring. But I'm happy that for the first time in a long time I can say Washington Redskins without someone giving me a dirty look. Or I can tell a woman she looks hot today without being construed as sexist. Or I can use words like Radical Islam and jihad in my writing and not be threatened with a red line.

I don't need a free space, and I don't need my deadlines to be postponed because I'm too upset over the people not having elected to put a woman who became wealthy beyond anyone's wildest dreams while working as a government servant in the White House (don't forget this is the same woman who stole a whole bunch of white house furniture during Slick Willy's tenure). A woman who openly lied about her own lies and then lied again in order to cover up the original set of lies. I only need the freedom to do what I want, say what I feel, and to put it all down on paper without fear of reprisal.

I've always run as an independent because I'm a writer and need to view both sides of the story equally. And while the current president elect might not have been my first choice (not by a long shot), the end of dangerous censorship-like political correctness is. We should cherish our freedom, not openly allow established career, on-the-take politicians to trample on them with ideological jackboots. The people of the US have spoken and a new world order is about to take hold. It won't be politically correct, that's for damn sure. But that doesn't mean as human beings we shouldn't be nice or have basic human respect for one another.

Like I said, words are powerful tools. Use them carefully and use them wisely. But use them without prejudice. Feel free to use them with abandon.

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Sunday, November 6, 2016

The Writing: Just Do It


Pre-Order The Ashes!



Last evening I was happy to be a speaker at this year's The Next Bestseller Workshop in New York City. The three day event is sponsored by the lovely Jennifer Wilkov of "The Book is Your Hook" fame. This wasn't one of those events where I prepared a speech and delivered it verbatim to the crowd of students, but instead, was interviewed by Jennifer, kind of like the Actor's Studio program you can catch on PBS now and again.

What amazes me always about writing students or newbies is not so much a hunger to know how to hit the bestseller lists, or to catch a movie deal or to nab even the ever illusive mega book deal. Many would be writers want to know what the average day of the author is like. How do we get so much writing done when life is constantly getting in the way? The distractions...the kids, the cooking, cleaning, the taking the dog to the vet... That kind of thing.

How in the world do you do it? the students ask.

I always tell them the same thing. The answer is not necessarily nice, or even kind. It is the reality of the writing life. The answer is that you must be selfish if you're going to make it as an author. You must devote countless hours to being alone at your writing desk. You must put off all those daily chores that serve only to distract you if you're going to devote an almost priestly devotion to the writing.

Lately, authors are besieged with get-rich-quick books and courses on everything from the keywords that will propel your book to the top of the Amazon list to the secrets behind Facebook Ads or even How to write 100,000 words an hour, or something like that. The books usually feature covers with piles of one hundred dollar bills on it, and the courses can cost you five hundred bucks or more.

If you wanna spend your money on this stuff, go for it. But in the end, the only thing that guarantees success...the only thing that you, the writer, can control...is your writing.

Sit your butt in the chair, forget everything around you, and do it.
Just do it. And then, do it again...

WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Did you love THE REMAINS? Pre-order THE ASHES, the second thriller in the Rebecca Underhill Trilogy.