Summer by the Sea

On Saturday we had a special visit along with some friends and family in my son's new digs with its great views of Long Island Sound.

We enjoyed lobster rolls, hot dogs, quiche, cookies, fruit, wine, and just kicked back to talk and enjoy all of it on a gorgeous summer afternoon. In quiet moments we heard the lapping of water against the stone wall just below his balcony.

and then....
There were some recently received copies of my book From Salt to Sage and I had the very excellent pleasure of signing them.

This is a most thrilling time for me as the book begins to land in the hands of friends, acquaintances and unknown readers. I look forward to all the comments and reviews no matter what they are. I am especially looking forward to my upcoming SOMOS reading in Taos, NM on August 9. I will use this blog and facebook to announce other readings as they are scheduled. I will also insert selected poems and brief excerpts from the book in this space (or the blog I've just set up on WordPress but don't quite understand yet--oh, dear!), so please stay with me as I discover new paths on this aesthetic and practical journey I'm taking. The book is available on Amazon and from the publisher Nighthawk Press.com.

...from "Gray"

"There is a chill in the air and no shadows. In the pale March light, the sky is flat translucent white. A small piece of it can be seen through gaps between brick buildings and bare branches, but only if you bothered to look up. The frail elderly woman who wears a gray too-large wool coat is my mother. We help her into the back seat of the clean new silver Oldsmobile that belongs to my brother. Elvira sits on the plush burgundy seat--her feet do not quite reach the floor. The seatbelt is high and rests across her thin neck." 

Another Year & A Book!

Last year in early spring I announced that I was "back" and would post regularly again. Well, the time between then and now developed into a year of things lost and found. Sometimes I felt like a leaf dancing in the wind--or art itself. Other times I stood at the edge of a dark whirlpool of sadness, emotion (love, anger, death). Somehow, with help from my friends and family I got through it all and although many issues are still pending, there is light and I know the universe will unfold as it should.

Back in in the northeast under last winter's gloomy, cold gray snow-filled skies, at my desk, finally in a room of my own, I worked on the manuscript with my editor 2000 miles away.  The collection was a long time in the writing and I begin this new series of postings on a high note. My book, "From Salt to Sage," a collection of personal essays with a smattering of poems and photos, has been released by Nighthawk Press. Please check it out on Amazon. It can be ordered directly from the publisher's website: nighthawk press.com. Please join me on Facebook, too. I'd love to hear from you. (My full name in case you can't read it is Lorraine Lener Ciancio--I'm having terrible time posting photos with the "new improved blogger" by Google!!!).