Turning "No-No-No!" into "Yes!"
By Pamela DuMond
Many moons ago I traveled to Europe for the very first time with my best friend, Celia. We picked Italy to be our dream destination. We were young, adventurous, and slightly clueless. We were also not swimming in dough and doing this trip on a dime.
I bought my obligatory copy of Frommer's, an awesome guidebook packed with info on inexpensive places to stay, sites to see, travel advice, and even where to grab cheap bites. But Frommer's did not tell me about the "No-No-No."
We flew to Milan, got off the longest flights of our lives, took a bus to the train station and hopped a train to Stresa, a resort town on Lago Maggiore.
Completely jeg-lagged, Celia was about to sit down on a seat (or possibly fall down,) when a stern Italian grandmother shook her finger and said, "No-No-No!"
Why? I don't know. This would be the first of many 'No-No-Nos.'
We heard "No-No-No!" on beaches when we put our towels down before paying somebody for the privilege. We picked up our towels and moved them two feet to the public beach, which was free. The sand and the view were the same.
We couldn't find a decent place to stay in Florence in Frommer's so we ended up in a divey pensione with creepy proprietors. I was taking a shower that had about as much water pressure as an old guy in a desert spitting on me when I heard, "No-No-No!" A woman pushed her hand into the shower demanding I pay her an extra dollar. I negotiated delaying the payment until I finished the shower.
One afternoon we heard about an amazing mountain town filled with ancient churches. Sounded charming. Celia drove our little rental wreck up a winding, crumbling road filled with sheer drop offs. We reached the town at dusk. White as a ghost, Celia declared, "I am not driving back down that road tonight." Fine, no problem, we'd get a hotel room. But Gerace didn't have hotels or pensiones.
I marched into a bar/coffee shop and said in very broken Italian, "Help us please. We need to rent a room for the evening."
"No-No-No!" I was told. Apparently it was illegal to rent rooms for simply one evening. (Trust me, we did not look like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.)
I persevered, I begged. I pleaded. Finally someone relented and rented us their attic room. There was no heat, one thin blanket for each of us, and the mattresses were probably a thousand years old. But we turned 'No-No-No!' into a 'Yes.' And climbed onto the roof and toasted our survival with a glass of vino.
A year ago, my lit agency dropped my agent and dropped me. It was another, "No-No-No!" on my path to publication. My friend Julie Smith Dolcemaschio, author of the fabulous crime novel Testarossa -
http://www.amazon.com/Testarossa-Julie-Dolcemaschio/dp/0982144350
picked up the ball and ran with it. She gave my manuscript, Cupcakes, Lies, and Dead Guys, to her editor at Krill Press. He loved it, offered to publish it, but told me that he ran a small indie press with no paper distribution at brick and mortar bookstores. (Check out Krill's site. There are some great mysteries there.)
http://www.krillpress.com/
I said "Yes!"
Cupcakes novel has beaten the odds for a debut novel with a small press. It's published, it's doing well, and lovely fabulous readers want the second book in the series. (Which I'm writing.)
You can watch the Cupcakes book trailer here. (Wanting your own book trailer? Contact Mike Snyder from The Trailer Guys - info at end of the trailer. Mike and his crew are the best!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdijpPkuzeU&list=FLa0q6NK6k7i2ysgvOUZ_YqA&index=1
So take heart. Keep trying. And remember that angels do watch over us through all of life's stages. Xoxo!
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." Calvin Coolidge.
Many moons ago I traveled to Europe for the very first time with my best friend, Celia. We picked Italy to be our dream destination. We were young, adventurous, and slightly clueless. We were also not swimming in dough and doing this trip on a dime.
I bought my obligatory copy of Frommer's, an awesome guidebook packed with info on inexpensive places to stay, sites to see, travel advice, and even where to grab cheap bites. But Frommer's did not tell me about the "No-No-No."
We flew to Milan, got off the longest flights of our lives, took a bus to the train station and hopped a train to Stresa, a resort town on Lago Maggiore.
 |
| Milan Train Station |
 |
| Celia in Stresa, Italy. |
 |
| Pamela at castle on Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore. |
We heard "No-No-No!" on beaches when we put our towels down before paying somebody for the privilege. We picked up our towels and moved them two feet to the public beach, which was free. The sand and the view were the same.
We couldn't find a decent place to stay in Florence in Frommer's so we ended up in a divey pensione with creepy proprietors. I was taking a shower that had about as much water pressure as an old guy in a desert spitting on me when I heard, "No-No-No!" A woman pushed her hand into the shower demanding I pay her an extra dollar. I negotiated delaying the payment until I finished the shower.
 |
| Florence, Italy. |
 |
| Florence, Italy. |
 |
| Church in Gerace, Italy. |
"No-No-No!" I was told. Apparently it was illegal to rent rooms for simply one evening. (Trust me, we did not look like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.)
I persevered, I begged. I pleaded. Finally someone relented and rented us their attic room. There was no heat, one thin blanket for each of us, and the mattresses were probably a thousand years old. But we turned 'No-No-No!' into a 'Yes.' And climbed onto the roof and toasted our survival with a glass of vino.
 |
| Altar in church in Gerace, Italy. |
http://www.amazon.com/Testarossa-Julie-Dolcemaschio/dp/0982144350
picked up the ball and ran with it. She gave my manuscript, Cupcakes, Lies, and Dead Guys, to her editor at Krill Press. He loved it, offered to publish it, but told me that he ran a small indie press with no paper distribution at brick and mortar bookstores. (Check out Krill's site. There are some great mysteries there.)
http://www.krillpress.com/
I said "Yes!"
Cupcakes novel has beaten the odds for a debut novel with a small press. It's published, it's doing well, and lovely fabulous readers want the second book in the series. (Which I'm writing.)
You can watch the Cupcakes book trailer here. (Wanting your own book trailer? Contact Mike Snyder from The Trailer Guys - info at end of the trailer. Mike and his crew are the best!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdijpPkuzeU&list=FLa0q6NK6k7i2ysgvOUZ_YqA&index=1
So take heart. Keep trying. And remember that angels do watch over us through all of life's stages. Xoxo!
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." Calvin Coolidge.
Thanks for the shout-out, Pammy! I'm so happy we could be a small part of Cupcakes' success. Next you need to write a "Social Networking for Dummies" handbook. You do it so well!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Pam!!! Looking forward to more of Annie's antics!
ReplyDeleteThis was great, Pam, and grazie mille for the shout. This adventure of yours is neverending, it seems, and that in and of itself makes for fabulous story telling. Keep on keepin' on, babe. We've got your back.
ReplyDeletexoxox
Thanks Mikey! Your book trailer was awesome. Thanks Terri - Sassy Girls Book Club on FB is amazing as is your support. Julie D - I heart you! xo,
ReplyDeleteAh, travel. And tuning no-no-no's into yesses. Both are life lessons. CUPCAKES, LIES, & DEAD GUYS is one funny, wise read and deserves to be doing great! Can't wait for the next one--and the next...
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny Milchman! Looking forward to your novel in early 2013.
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