Weekend Re-Cap

Great, great weekend. Saturday I took a very long nap, which I credit with helping me feel mucho better with this cold on Sunday. I lounged around in bed all day, worked on my novel, and watched Her Alibi. Remember that old movie with Tom Selleck where he's the mystery novelist looking for a story idea? Great flick.

Sunday my stepson, who is the quarterback for his football team, ran in for two touchdowns. It was awesome. This is the first game they've won this season, and they really whomped the other team. Lots of fun to watch.

And of course, Sunday night I spent sitting in front of the television, something I rarely do, but this time I made an exception - and will likely do so the rest of the week. Ken Burns' The War started last night and it promises to live up to its expectations. It's a no-holds-barred look at World War II, and there were times where I flinched from the barbarity that we human beings have inflicted upon one another.

It's officialy fall, but the temperatures aren't quite reflecting it yet. We're still hovering in the high 80's and low 90's, but I'm hoping that changes soon.

For my lunch break today, I plan on working on the plot of the novel. Lots of little issues I need to work out before I officially start writing. And then there's the research. Here's what I'm running up against, and it's a mixed blessing. Piemonte, the region in Northern Italy where my novel is set, is not as famous or as much of a tourist attraction as Rome or Tuscany. Thus, it has remained largely untouched as far as tourist traps go. Unfortunately, this also makes it much more difficult to research. For example, I'm looking for information about the hazelnut harvest as it will figure heavily into my novel. But do you think I can find much info on this other than academic articles? There isn't much, that's for sure. But therein lies the challenge.