reading Archives — Page 2 of 4 — CHANGE IT UP EDITING

Vacation: Embracing the Pause That Refreshes

vacation writer's block — © 2013 Candace Johnson

Summer brings trips to the beach, family get-togethers, fun in the sun . . . and guilt for writers who don’t write the way they “should.”

How many recent blog posts have you read that begin with a version of “Sorry I haven’t posted in a while,” or “I’m struggling with writer’s block on my WIP”? It happens to everyone at some point, but the summer sun seems to put a spotlight on those guilty feelings. (My apologies to my friends in the southern hemisphere for being either six months too early or six months too late with this post!)

I’ve read some excellent posts recently about accepting and overcoming the guilt we’ve all felt at one time or another. Here are a few excerpts from my favorite blogs:

Dave Pagan (According to Dave): “I’ve struggled with [guilt] for so long I’ve very nearly giving up writing altogether. And it’s been relentless, beating me down until I barely have the motivation to lift my fingers to the keyboard.”

Victoria Grefer (Creative Writing with the Crimson League): “Writer’s guilt is knowing you write well, but feeling that you’re selfish, idealistic, and irresponsible for writing when you could be doing something more profitable and practical with your time.”

Cat Lumb (The Struggle to Be a Writer That Writes): “I think my lethargy has come from focusing too much on one goal; to finish my novel. I haven’t written any other form of fiction in a long while.”

Alex Kennedy (Fiction Writing for Teens and Adults): “I guess all I am saying is “Am I wasting my time doing this?” Should I be keeping my work for my dream job as a creative writer or the hope for a literary agent to scope me out and sell my work to a TV network? Is that what I want? Probably… But as a human, I don’t really know what I want.”

Kimberly Harding (Soulhealingart.com): “There is a part of me that wants to dig into this hesitancy. I want to question- am I tired? do I feel too off-center to create? Am I bored? What is going on?And my inner artist, ever the observer, simply says, “You think too much. I just want to take a break.”

Wise words all. But I think I know the perfect antidote to writer’s block:

A Summer Mini-Vacation

I know the perfect antidote to writer’s block: a Summer Mini-Vacation. #writersblock #writers #authors Click To Tweet

I don’t mean the two weeks you spend with your in-laws while you stress about all the work that will be awaiting your return to your day job as well as the word count you can almost see flying out the window.

Nope. I mean a honest-to-goodness getaway.

I speak from experience because my sweetie surprised me for my birthday and whisked me away for a four-day mini-vacation to Bimini, The Bahamas.

As people who are younger than I am like to say, “SQUEEEEE!!!”

I even took my laptop with me so I could stay connected through social media, post photos for my family and friends, and get a little work done on my “down time.” But a terrible thing happened: the resort’s wifi was slow when it worked, which wasn’t very often.

I was unplugged. And it was WONDERFUL.

We had an incredible few days of swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, eating, sleeping, relaxing . . . vacationing! Four days of basically no work.

Did I feel guilty?

I did the first day. Not by the fourth, though. 🙂

And when I returned, I was amazed at how invigorated I was to get to work, how the words just seemed to flow, and how energized I felt.

Apparently, I’m not the only person who needed a vacation. Brooke Warner of Warner Coaching wrote on her Facebook page, “Okay, back from vacation. Wow, how amazing to totally unplug. Note to self: do that more often!!”

Sara Weston (How to Be Happy Now) wrote, “The mind is so much more quiet and unconcerned with the goings-on of the world when released from the tyranny of the Internet :–).”

And your vacation doesn’t even have to be “away” as long as you are. Polysyllabic Profundities wrote, “I am in a very zen state right now. I’ve just come back from having a Hot Stone Massage and the tension that used to ride shotgun on my shoulders has dissipated to nothingness. . . . I have a writing deadline looming, but I cannot conjure the idioms that are required to complete the task. And the most glorious thing is – at this precise moment I don’t care.”

So my words of advice to all you writer’s-block-suffering bloggers reading this post is to get away from the “shoulds” of writing, even if only for just a few days or even a few hours. You’ll be amazed how rejuvenating a little break can be!

http://thesmellofgunsmoke.com/2013/08/14/the-science-behind-writers-block/

http://nowwriterightnow.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/falling/

If you enjoyed reading this and want to improve your ability to self-edit and revise your work, please subscribe by entering your email address on the right side of this page. And please know that I’ll never sell, share, or rent your contact information—that’s a promise!

And if you want more great writing and publishing information, check out my Facebook page at Change It Up Editing and Writing Services, where I share all kinds of interesting articles and links.

Candace Johnson is a professional freelance editor, proofreader, writer, ghostwriter, and writing coach who has worked with traditional publishers, self-published authors, and independent book packagers on nonfiction subjects ranging from memoirs to alternative medical treatments to self-help, and on fiction ranging from romance to paranormal. As an editorial specialist, Candace is passionate about offering her clients the opportunity to take their work to the next level. She believes in maintaining an author’s unique voice while helping him or her create and polish every sentence to make it the best it can be.

Readers for Writers: Beta Readers, the Superheroes of Your Writing Team

One of the writers I’ve come to know and admire through writing this blog is JH Mae, who asked me to write a guest post about beta readers. Please join me at By, JHMae, and while you’re over at her blog, I hope you’ll take a few extra minutes to read some of her amazing work!

*****

After you complete your manuscript, it’s time to send it out into the world.

Or is it?

If you are serious about publishing, your first readers should be beta readers.

And just what is a beta reader?

Think of beta readers as superhero partner/readers for your WIP. Correctly employed, your superheroes can save you a lot of time and money. How? I’m glad you asked!

Ideally, you want to assemble a team of beta readers. By getting focused, constructive criticism from multiple viewpoints, you’ll be able to identify (and you’ll have the opportunity to address) potential problems with your manuscript before you spend money on professional editing. Then, when you do hire an editor, you’ll get more bang for your buck. (I wrote about that in Three Things You Shouldn’t Hire an Editor to Do.

Each one of your superheroes will have a different strength, and no one beta reader will offer the same level of advice in every area. (That’s why you’ll get the most comprehensive feedback from a team.)

Some will be generalists, some will be detail-oriented, but they’ll each see your story in a new way, because

Beta readers approach your manuscript from a fresh point of view. #betareaders #writetip Click To Tweet

Happy Writing,

Candace

If you enjoyed reading this, please subscribe to my blog and never miss a post! It’s easy: Just enter your email address on the right side of this page. And please know that I’ll never sell, share, or rent your contact information—that’s a promise!

And if you want more great writing and publishing information, check out my Facebook page at Change It Up Editing and Writing Services, where I share all kinds of interesting articles and links.

How to Save Money on Editing by Preparing Your Manuscript

Most writers understand the importance of professional editing. Whether you plan to query agents and editors or self-publish your work, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

You’ve finished revising and self-editing your manuscript, and you’re ready to send it to the copyeditor of your choice. You just attach the file to an email and press send, right?

Oh please, no, don’t do that! You’ll make so much extra work for your editor if you do that—and you’ll spend more money in the process. Allow me to explain.

Your editor estimates the amount of time it will take to edit your manuscript based on the sample you submitted; time equals money, so the more time the editor has to spend making changes, the more money you will spend.

Don't spend your editing dollars on clerical tasks you can do yourself! Click To Tweet

Why spend editing dollars to have someone fix the spacing between paragraphs or remove hyperlinks? Save your hard-earned money for actual editing!

Whether your editor quotes hourly rates, or charges by the word, page, or project, every quote is based on the amount of time the editor will invest. If your manuscript isn’t broken into chapters, your editor will have to invest time formatting it that way. If your nonfiction book doesn’t include in-text citations, your editor will have to spend hours identifying material that should have source information included. In both cases, those extra hours are added to your bill and won’t be available for you to use later for proofreading or help with crafting a great query letter.

Want to save money on your next edit? Follow these tips to prepare your manuscript. Click To Tweet

Here is a basic formatting checklist you can use to prepare your manuscript for copyediting: Continue reading “How to Save Money on Editing by Preparing Your Manuscript”

How a Professional Editor Can Help You Get Published: Manuscript Evaluation

One of the biggest mistakes a writer can make is moving forward with a manuscript that isn’t ready for submission or publication. Whether you choose to query agents and publishers or you decide to self-publish your work, remember the old saying:

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

How do you know if your book is ready to meet the world? One way is to have a professional manuscript evaluation.

How do you know if your book is ready to meet the world? #amwriting Click To Tweet

You’ve shared your work with family and friends—and they’ve all raved about your storytelling talent. You’ve shared it with your critique group and beta readers, and they’ve offered some useful, constructive criticism. You’ve tweaked this, deleted that, and rewritten entire scenes and characters.

Now is the time for an honest and objective critique of your plot, dialogue, characters and pace, or opinions about structure, coherency, consistency, and organization.

A manuscript evaluation is a big-picture look that tells you what works and what doesn’t. It is not editing: a manuscript critique is an assessment and diagnostic tool that pinpoints specific strengths as well as weaknesses you can fix to improve your manuscript.

As a professional freelance editor, I interact with many writers who struggle when they finish writing and move into the editing phase. Some just throw in the towel and self-publish their books with little or no editing; some work for weeks to self-edit and revise; some search for a freelance editor who will help them “fix” their manuscript.

Don’t struggle alone, hope someone else will fix your problems, or give up. And don’t jump into the publishing pool unprepared. Instead, have your entire manuscript reviewed; if you can’t afford that, at least have your first chapter evaluated.

Whether your readers are literary agents or members of your target audience, you have to catch and keep their attention. As New York Times bestselling author John Gilstrap writes:

Something must happen in the first two hundred words. That’s the length of my interest fuse. Billowing clouds, pouring rain and beautiful flowers are not action. Characters interacting with each other or with their environment is action.”

Be sure you choose an evaluator with experience, someone who understands what literary agents and publishers are looking for, and someone with whom you can communicate so you’ll get the most from your critique.

Don’t be shy about discussing your needs and expectations for the evaluations, as well as your preferences for how you receive feedback. As with any editing service, you should feel very comfortable that the editor you hire is someone who can help you meet your goals. As I wrote here and here, be sure you clearly articulate your expectations and make sure your new editing partner is a good communicator.

I just finished evaluating a 75,000 word fiction manuscript; I sent the author a seven-page written critique filled with specific details and examples of the strengths and weaknesses I found in the manuscript. I’m also in the midst of a memoir critique that is part written evaluation and part Skype conference. As you can see, there are different ways for an author to communicate with his or her editor, and you’ll want to work with someone who can give you the evaluation YOU need to improve your work.

Don’t be the author who papers your room with rejection slips or bad reviews because your manuscript needs work! Contact me today for a professional manuscript evaluation and let me help you bring your work to the next level.

Happy Writing!

—Candace

Image courtesy of adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related articles:

How a Professional Editor Can Help You Get Published: Developmental and Substantive Editing

How a Professional Editor Can Help You Get Published: Copyediting

How a Professional Editor Can Help You Get Published: Proofreading

Caring for Your Writer—10 Easy Steps for Friends & Family

I found this funny (and truth-filled) blog at Word Savant this morning, and I just had to share:

Caring for Your Writer—10 Easy Steps for Friends & Family #writerslife #writers Click To Tweet

Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a writer! Your writer will perform amazing tricks for you, such as spending hours and hours by themselves working on something that they may never finish. Or, accumulating a small collection of editors who thank them for their work but it’s just not right for this publication.

You may be wondering how to feed and care for this moody and reclusive creature, who is “writing a novel” but won’t tell you what it’s about. Writers need specialized care, so here are 10 easy Do’s and Don’ts to take care of this special breed.

(Read the rest at Caring for Your Writer – 10 Easy Steps for Friends & Family.)

Happy Writing!

—Candace

If you enjoyed reading this, please subscribe to my blog, and you’ll never miss a post! It’s easy: Just enter your email address on the right side of this page. And please know that I’ll never sell, share, or rent your contact information—that’s a promise!

What does it mean to be a writer? (paulbrodie.wordpress.com)

A Thank-You Letter to My Father, the Voracious Reader

My father passed away in June, 2015; he was 88 years old. Like all parents do, Dad influenced me in many ways, including some I couldn’t appreciate until later in my life. In honor of Father’s Day, I wrote this letter to him in 2013 (and sent him a printed version); he told me how much he enjoyed reading it.

Although my dad never embraced electronic books (see the end of my letter), he was a voracious reader his entire life and always had a book with him. I’ll always be grateful to my dad for the examples he set. Wherever he is, I hope he’s enjoying a great book.

*****

Dear Dad,

Because you’re a self-declared technophobe, you won’t read this today, but I’ll send you a printed copy via snail mail. I may be using all my techie toys (laptop, printer, and my WordPress blog) to write this, but the message is very old school: without you, I would never be following my dream today.

You see, I’m finally pursuing a passion I’ve had my whole life. Continue reading “A Thank-You Letter to My Father, the Voracious Reader”

A Thank-You Letter to My Dad on Father’s Day

Dear Dad,

Because you’re a self-declared technophobe, you won’t read this today, but I’ll send you a printed copy via snail mail. I may be using all my techie-toys (laptop, printer, and my WordPress blog) to write this, but the message is very old-school: without you, I would never be following my dream today.

You see, I’m finally pursuing a passion I’ve had for my whole life. Remember when I’d spend hours in my room reading books and writing to pen pals? You and Mom humored me for the most part, but every so often, my bedroom door would fly open and you’d bellow, “It’s time to go outside for some fresh air!”

A Thank-You Letter to My Dad #dads #fathers #parents #dreams Click To Tweet

I hated when you did that, Dad, because invariably I was lost in a world you couldn’t have known. A word where magical things happened to imaginary people—and it didn’t matter to me whether those magical things happened in the books I read or the letters I received. I couldn’t get enough of those worlds beyond my door, and I really have to credit you for that as well.

For as far back as I can remember, your nose was always in a book or magazine. I can close my eyes and see you sitting in your chair in the living room, glasses perched on your nose and a book balanced on your lap; you always had your legs crossed (I wonder if that’s a genetic trait, because I can’t seem to sit without doing the same). I can’t remember the titles of any of the books, but I clearly remember the Look and Life magazines; you and Mom read those cover-to-cover, and I loved looking at the photos, too, until I was old enough to read the words.

Yes, you instilled in me a love for reading, but more than that, you instilled a love for writing. I seldom shared my little stories with you because I feared your disapproval, but I wrote them nonetheless, and even though you didn’t read them, you certainly influenced them. The letters I wrote to pen pals all over the world were a form of creative writing, too, as were the journals I meticulously kept, and later, as I worked on essays and research projects in school, I learned many valuable lessons about writing styles and rules and authors and grammar and . . . the list goes on and on.

Having a father who is a perfectionist and a schoolteacher is difficult for a child, but I suspect having that father is the reason I was constantly proofreading cereal boxes, street signs, and letters from those pen pals on the other side of the world, and why I was always drawn to helping others with their writing. When it came time for college, practicality won out and I convinced myself that I wasn’t good enough, that I could never make a living as a writer, so I went a different direction and never looked back.

Until a few years ago when my midlife-crisis-self decided it was time to follow my heart for a change. (Thank goodness that crazy lady finally spoke up!) My love of writing and grammar and teaching and helping others all came together, and today I have a wonderful career as a freelance editor and writer. Pat yourself on the back, Dad, because your example is what led me down that path:

the example you set as a teacher who expected the best from every student you taught showed me that everyone has the ability to find just a little bit more inside himself or herself;
the example you set as a parent who expected nothing less than perfection made me into a perfectionist, which is a noble quality for a proofreader (although less so for a writer, I’m afraid—anxiety tends to kick in when perfectionism rears its ugly head);
the example you set as a reader taught me that words are a precious commodity to be respected and revered, whether one is reading The Little Engine That Could or The Godfather or an algebra text (that last one took a few extra years to appreciate, by the way);
the example you set as a parent helped me pass my own love of reading and writing to my children and grandchildren; I can’t express the joy I felt when my eighteen-month-old granddaughter pulled me into her room to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom—a book I gave her!

So on this Father’s Day, Dad, I just want to say thank you for sharing your love of words with that little girl who loved to crawl up into your lap and listen to you read aloud. You gave me a gift that has continued to shower me with happiness for all these years, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Now please, Dad, won’t you consider putting aside your fear of technology and just consider an e-reader? You’d make gift-giving so much easier!

Love, Candace

And if you want more great writing and publishing information, check out my Facebook page, where I share all kinds of interesting articles and links.

Having a Pen Pal is an Educational Experience (homeschool.answers.com)
“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault (virtuallyspeakingworld.com)
Man has had Japanese pen pal for over 65 years (nwfdailynews.com)

Dream a Dream: Life of a Freelance Editor

In a previous post, I shared some of the reasons that went into my decision to become a full-time freelance editor a little over a year ago. I had a dream that I could make a living by editing for authors I truly cared about, and I’ve turned that dream into a reality. When I posted that blog, I received numerous comments, including this one that inspired the post you’re now reading:

“Have you ever turned down an editing assignment? What parameters do you set for yourself in considering assignments? For a brief time when I considered going full time freelance, the fear of having to take any and all assignments always brought me up short. Currently I have a day job that I’m happy with, but I’ve always wondered how freelancers manage their workload. Personally, I know that if I were totally reliant on freelance work, I would find it impossible to say “no” to anything.”

Do freelance editors turn down assignments? Yes, and here's why. #writetip Click To Tweet

So here goes:

“Have you ever turned down an editing assignment?”

Yes, I have. I always offer a sample edit to authors who are looking for line editing or proofreading; occasionally, a writer who swears his manuscript needs nothing more than a spell check sends a sample that is clearly in need of more substantial editing.

If a manuscript is so full of major flaws that it reads more like a first draft, I won’t take the job. Correcting grammar or misspelled words won’t help a manuscript that is in need of major revision, and I would rather lose the work than take someone’s money when I know I am not really helping him or her. Continue reading “Dream a Dream: Life of a Freelance Editor”

My Love Affair with Words

One of my greatest childhood possessions was my library card. My stay-at-home mom didn’t have a car, so a “trip to the library” consisted of visiting the bookmobile during its bimonthly trek to our neighborhood. The selection of books wasn’t large, but neither was I—I left that bookmobile every two weeks with a pile of books and a huge smile on my face. I could never decide which book to read first, so I’d start several at once. My mother marveled that I didn’t confuse the plots, but I never had a problem with switching between stories, and I enjoyed them all (especially with a flashlight under the covers after the official “lights out”).

If you've written anything, I'm here to help you make it the very best it can be. #amediting #editors Click To Tweet

My love affair with words began early, and it has grown and morphed over the many years that have passed since those bookmobile days. I’ve always been fascinated with the way words sound, the way they look, and the rules surrounding their use that often seem arbitrary (but seldom are).

I suppose it is natural, then, that I ended up working with words for my profession, and today I take great delight in helping writers polish their sentences, paragraphs, and pages so those strings of words express their unique vision. If you’ve written anything—a short story, your own blog, an article, a research paper, a book—I’m here to help you make it the very best it can be.

Call me today at 954-348-1963 or e-mail me at cyjohnson5580@gmail.com, and let’s get started.

One day soon, someone will be reading YOUR words under the covers with a flashlight!

Happy Reading and Writing!

—Candace

If you enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing so you’ll never miss a post! It’s easy: Just enter your email address on the right side of this page. And please know that I’ll never sell, share, or rent your contact information—that’s a promise!

And if you’re looking for more great writing and publishing information, check out my Facebook page, where I share all kinds of interesting articles and links.

Penguin Dabbles in Book Retail with Penguin Book Truck and Pushcart (digitalbookworld.com)
National Bookmobile Day #NBD2013 isn’t NBD. (daniel.favand.net)
Today is National Bookmobile Day (janellenferrigan.com)

Turning Life’s Lemons into Limoncello

Today is the official release of Lemons into Limoncello: From Loss to Personal Renaissance with the Zest of Italy by Raeleen D’Agostino Mautner. It’s a guidebook for finding self-acceptance, comfort, courage, and personal renewal on the heels of adversity—Italian style. Here’s what Steve Parillo, CEO of Parillo Tours, has to say:

Perhaps life has knocked you down one too many times. Or maybe you’ve just gone ‘stale.’ Dr. Mautner is part philosopher, part psychologist, part life coach—but entirely Italian. She offers Italian-style therapy: food, family, friends, and fun—a recipe for your own, personal renaissance. What would Freud say if he was Italian? Here’s your answer!”

The challenges we face over the course of a lifetime, especially those that involve major personal loss, can seem devastating, as radio personality and self-help specialist Dr. Raeleen D’Agostino Mautner discovered when her husband suddenly and unexpectedly died of a heart attack. The Italian rituals and lifestyle habits she grew up with—and later began researching—were instrumental in helping her stay grounded, feel comforted, and be gently redirected to a new path of joy and the next level of her own personal transformation.

I assure you that this is a book you’ll refer to many times in your life. #selfhelp #grief Click To Tweet

At some point in our lives, most of us will experience the kind of personal devastation that accompanies something as devastating as the death of a loved one. But the loss of a job, a home, a pet, finances, health, a friendship or even the loss of one’s self-esteem can send us into a tailspin, too.

When in the throes of such challenges, it is hard to believe that we will ever enjoy life again, let alone possibly come away with the courage to live the next phase of our lives with deeper appreciation and clarity. Lemons into Limoncello offers a front-row seat to the Italian ability to arrangiarsi (get by) through elevating ordinary events to the extraordinary, and is the first self-help book to prescribe a traditional Italian cultural approach as a pathway to one’s own personal renaissance at a time when it is most needed.

As the editor of this unique self-help book, I assure you that this is a book you’ll refer to many times in your life. And it’s one you’ll want to hand to a friend who is ready to move forward after adversity of any sort. The tone is warm and inclusive, and you’ll feel like you’re sitting at the author’s kitchen table with a cup of espresso and a biscotti (the recipe is in the book) as she shares her thoughts, wisdom, and advice.

You can learn more about the author:

on her website, http://raeleenmautner.com,
on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LemonsintoLimoncello,
on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/raeleenmautner,
by following her blog at http://raeleenmautner.com/blog/
and by following her on Twitter @RaeleenMautner.

Here’s one more review, this one from a NetGalley reviewer, to whet your appetite for this amazing book:

I truly enjoyed reading Mautner’s book Lemons into Limoncello. Not only did it have recipes, but it also had some wisdom in how to move on after disaster strikes no matter what type. She was able to weave her own story of painful loss of her husband untimely death along with her helpful tips for allowing the healing process to enfold in her life. Read this book, it is amazing. You will get some great recipes and great wisdom from a woman who has had her own journey.” —Jamie Holloway, NetGalley

Update May 29, 2013: Connecticut Style television interview with the author about the book: http://tinyurl.com/owml57h

Update June 18, 2013: Slideshow on Beliefnet.com: http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/Find-Happiness-and-Health-the-Italian-Way.aspx

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to my blog and you’ll never miss a post! It’s easy: Just enter your email address on the right side of this page. And please know that I’ll never sell, share, or rent your contact information—that’s a promise!

And if you want more great writing and publishing information, check out my Facebook page, where I share all kinds of interesting articles and links.

Happy Reading!

—Candace

If life gives you lemons, make Limoncello! Nicola Lavacca (mystylitaly.com)

Category: reading

Vacation: Embracing the Pause That Refreshes

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How a Professional Editor Can Help You Get Published: Manuscript Evaluation

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Caring for Your Writer—10 Easy Steps for Friends & Family

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A Thank-You Letter to My Father, the Voracious Reader

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A Thank-You Letter to My Dad on Father’s Day

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Dream a Dream: Life of a Freelance Editor

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My Love Affair with Words

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Turning Life’s Lemons into Limoncello

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(originally published September 2012)

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Lemons into Limoncello: From Loss to Personal Renaissance with the Zest of Italy by Raeleen D’Agostino Mautner is available wherever books are sold.

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