Happy New Year! I hope this past year ended on a note as positive for you as mine was for me. Although everyday life prevented me from accomplishing all of my 2014 writing and personal goals, I did manage to finish some of them.

For starters, Italy to Die For: From the Savino Sisters Mystery Series is now available in soft cover print. I’m still working on the second book in that series. It will take place in the Piemonte Region of Italy, a contemporary novel incorporating two mysterious deaths during WWII and introducing the descendants of several characters from my Italian-American saga Family Deceptions. Of course, in the name of authenticity I just had to make another trip to Italy in June and spent a good amount of time researching the area when I wasn’t visiting with family or sampling the awesome food and wine.

After returning from Italy, I collaborated with voice actor Thomas Fawley to recreate Chicago’s Headmistress as an audiobook. Wow! Hearing my words narrated by a professional turned out to be so much fun I did the same with two of my short stories, “The Baker’s Wife” with Kathleen Lisa Clarke and “Youthanasia” with Susan Fouche. By the end of January 2015 two more novels should be available in audio format—Lethal Play with Diane Piron-Gelman and Italy to Die For again with Susan Fouche.

Do I have a New Year’s deal for you on Audible/Amazon.

You bet I do. The first five people signing up for my e-newsletter will receive an audio version of Chicago’s Headmistress, “The Baker’s Wife,” or “Youthanasia” at no cost. That’s right, it will be free for those of you residing in the United States or the United Kingdom. Sorry, Audible does not extend beyond these two countries but I’d love to add readers from all countries to my e-newsletter. There’s no obligation and you can cancel your subscription at any time. Just fill in the contact form on this website.

For more on the plus side, after nearly four years of writing my bi-monthly Loretta on Life, I have yet to miss a single deadline on topics ranging from travel, family, and cooking to entertainment, friends, and remodeling projects. Still want to turn the best of those blogs into a full-length book, but not before I finish the Savino Sisters Series.

As for the many books sitting on my bookshelves and on my Kindle, I didn’t get around to reading as many as I should have; but listed below are those I did read, all of which I enjoyed otherwise I wouldn’t have taken the time to finish them. Time, it’s all about time. More to the point, how well I manage my time.

How about you? Is time your enemy or your friend?

My 2014 reading list

Novels

The One I Was by Eliza Graham
Bones of the Dark Moon by Richard E. Lewis
Racing on a Wire by Inge Moore
The Contestant by C. J. Lea
The Detachment by Barry Eisler
Allegra by Anna Lisle
Tony Partly Cloudy by Keith Cronin
The Ghost of Calico Acres by Bonnie Turner
Blitz Kid by Eliza Graham
1932 by Karen M Cox

Short Fiction

“Miss Popularity” by Rachel Elizabeth Cole
“Kidnapped” by Inge Moore

Audiobooks

Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She’s Dead
Christiana Miller, Author; Marie Rose, Narrator
Johnny Carson
Henry Bushkin, Author; Dick Hill, Narrator

Killing Patton: Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Authors
Bill O’Reilly, Narrator

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