“‘I am about to buy a house in a foreign country,’ I wrote as I began my memoir Under the Tuscan Sun. A simple declarative sentence – but for me, crux and crucible. From such easy words, fate branches and transforms…”

So begins Every Day In Tuscany; from the woman who “singlehandedly started the travel-memoir craze” (Library Journal) and whose newest memoir has been called “affectionate and warm…celebrates the lush abundance and charm of daily life in the Italian countryside” (Publishers Weekly). It’s sure to please fans of Under the Tuscan Sun and newcomers alike.

As a writer of memoir, Frances Mayes says she has discovered that “who you are is where you are.” Here’s more from her recent essay, “Why I Write” from Publishers Weekly:

“Neruda claimed there are only 11 subjects to write about. He doesn’t say what they are, but one of them must be happiness. For a writer, the subject is hard to sustain. How to write a book that has no plot, an unforeseeable resolution, and not even an ‘I survived’ motif? Well, I thought, let’s just go a little against the grain. I quit worrying about conflict/resolution requirements. I’ll try, I told myself, to re-create this place in tactile, evocative words. Try to catch elusive and fragile happiness in images. But I moved into memoir when I felt myself begin to be changed by the place.” (Read the whole article on Publishers Weekly.)

• For more on Italy, food, and writing, visit the author online at: FrancesMayesBooks.com
• Check out the cities Frances is visiting while on tour: Frances Mayes’s Every Day In Tuscany Tour

   • Download the reader’s guide here: Every Day In Tuscany Reader’s Guide

Creative Idea For Your Book Group
Watch the film version of Under the Tuscan Sun. Discuss how Every Day in Tuscany continues the story and how the author’s point of view has changed over time.

”What’s up with all the headless women?”

As an editor, the last thing you think anyone is going to say to you is, “Hey, do you want to be the model for a few book jackets?”

But when our jacket designer needed more photos for the repackaged Jean Plaidy series, she realized she had the funds to hire the photographer but not a model; and thus the editor-model hybrid was born.

One September day in 2008, I spent an afternoon in the East Village with photographer Barry Marcus and our designer, Laura Duffy. There were wigs galore, luscious costumes created by Sharon Spiak, and far more makeup than I’ve ever worn. At the end of the day, we had hundreds of photos and I was exhausted—turns out, standing still is surprisingly tough work.

• See the whole photo set on Flickr

Once Laura had all the photos, she created numerous jackets, and pretty soon, I was walking into jacket meetings in which topics of discussion included my neck. When we finalized the jackets and put them in our catalog we talked to our field reps about their thoughts. One rep said, “So, what’s up with the headless women?”

Blushing, I found myself fumbling while trying to explain that we wanted the sense of allure, of distance—Jean Plaidy wrote about real historical women and having someone who doesn’t look a thing like Elizabeth I on a jacket could be jarring to a reader. Then again, the other half of me wanted to just tell them, “Well, because it’s the same woman on most of the jackets. Me.”

A couple of the finished book jackets:

So this is the headless editor, signing off. I hope you like the new look of Jean Plaidy and enjoy the final two books in the Novels of the Tudors series.

A woman tells her friends she’s engaged and there are celebrations in the streets. My congratulations! A man tells his friends and we roll out the funeral procession. My condolences.

Somewhere along the way, marriage and masculinity became mutually exclusive. Maybe it’s always been that way, but I don’t buy it. I’ve interviewed dozens of modern day grooms, young and old, gay and straight, some married for the first time, others on a second or third go-around. I spoke with them about how they approach marriage and many of their answers fly in the face of conventional wisdom. I’m surely not the voice for all or even most of them, but on behalf of some, and in response to women searching for answers, here are a few tidbits from our private, quiet exchanges:

Myth 1: Men are romantics.

“Do you consider yourself a ‘romantic’?” Most of the men I interviewed cringed at this question. A few sheepishly fessed up as technically qualifying, but not a single one embraced the word. Then each man proceeded to tell me an engagement or wedding story “romantic” by almost any woman’s standards. These men didn’t want to be branded “a romantic.” Somehow this suggested weakness, many said. But “being romantic” was perfectly acceptable.

Myth 2: Men are in no rush to pop the question.

Once purchased, the engagement ring can burn a hole in your pocket. They couldn’t wait to propose. They eagerly described their elaborate plans to pop the question. One man ripped his snow gloves off, pulled the family heirloom off his swollen pinky finger, and chanced it on the ski lift, proposing 500 feet off the ground. Another recreated his future wife’s favorite scene from Monsoon Wedding. One guy paid a photographer to hang out at the top of The Empire State building to take a snapshot of the proposal. There were Jumbotrons and aerial banners. Another paused at the 26-mile marker of the New York Marathon to get down on one knee. Others created DVD movies and multiple-choice videogames that built up to the final on-screen graphic: Will you marry me? The character in my novel also couldn’t wait to spring the ring even if that meant facing dire consequences.

Myth 3: Men don’t want to ask the father-in-law for his blessing.

True, most men dread this, and while it’s not always necessary and may feel a bit old-fashioned, many spoke about desperately wanting their father-in-law’s approval. Especially when it came to future father-in-laws with daughters only, many-a-soon-to-be groom secretly hoped to become the son this father never had. No one’s ever been good enough for a father’s daughter, and privately men want to be the exception. Men hanker for a father’s go-ahead. There is something rare and charming about a father rallying for his daughter’s boyfriend. I’m not sure I’ll ever forget what my father-in-law told me after I timorously asked for his permission: “I’m wishing you good luck, son.”

Myth 4: Men don’t want a wedding.

Most men want a wedding. A wedding is a fantasy for both the bride and groom, whether it’s a big, decadent, expensive affair or elopement to Las Vegas. But for many men, the fantasy means looking sharp in a tuxedo, riding in on a white horse, and sweeping his bride off her feet. Men typically think they don’t want to plan the details of a wedding, but when push comes to shove, they have very specific opinions about what they do and do not want. For example, I thought a photographer captured the essence of a wedding, but a videographer distorted the fantasy. My thinking was tablecloths and buffet station linens should match, but bridesmaid dresses didn’t have to. I also thought paying $15 per wedding invitation was criminal.

Myth 5: Men delay or resist marriage.

Plenty of men do. But plenty don’t. Of the men I interviewed, most were able to pinpoint a “light-switch moment” when it occurred to them that it was time to get this party started and purchase the ring. Sometimes it was something more subtle, akin to a dimmer rather than a light switch. One man described a casual conversation at dinner when his then-girlfriend started talking about how much fun they’d have doing this and doing that in the future. I could do this for the rest of my life. Another man described wanting to be financially secure enough to be able to afford the ring. Others talked about a family tragedy or a jealous incident that served as the kick in the pants. The vast majority discussed wanting a partner, an ally, someone who “didn’t play games,” and was committed to starting a life together.

• Play the Phil Scripts Lovesick Game
• Visit the author online at AlexWellen.com to request a free, signed copy of Lovesick

Watch the video: A Conversation Between Alex Wellen and His Wife:

“For casual winter evenings with friends,” Frances Mayes writes, “my favorite family style dinner starts with a big platter of antipasto passed around the table. I follow this with two pastas—a rich baked one and a light tagliatelli, usually with chopped arugula, cream and crumbled pancetta. For dessert, what’s cozier than a rustic pear or apple tart, with a dollop of mascarpone mixed with a little whipping cream.

The menu is an all-out feast, perfect for a celebration. These recipes are from Every Day in Tuscany. At the end of a winter meal in Tuscany, bowls of clementines and walnuts always appear at the table. When you’re peeling the pungent orange fruit, cracking walnuts, and sipping a little vin santo, you naturally want to linger in the candlelight.”

• Download the recipe for Antipasto Platter
• Download the recipe for Chicken Under a Brick
• Download the recipe for Il Falconiere Steamed Chocolate Cake

• Get the full menu here: Frances Mayes’ Recipes

   • Download the reader’s guide here: Every Day In Tuscany Reader’s Guide

GoodReads reviewers love Wedlock:

Jean Godwin Carroll recommends Wedlock for fans of Fans of Phillipa Gregory and says the novel serves as “a reminder that women previously had zero rights afforded to them by law during that time.”

Georgiana says Wedlock is “Entertaining and informative, a combination not often found in historical works about upper-crust Brits.”

Jennifer declares, “Truth is stranger that fiction, indeed!”

• Visit the author online at: WendyMoore.org

Read It Forward’s bookshelf: read More of Read It Forward’s books »

Shelfari readers rave about The Birthday Present:

Susan K says “[The Birthday Present] is excellent . . . . [Vine’s] books are always a bit edgy.”

Shrek M explains that “I was very much absorbed throughout the story and keen on knowing how it was going to happen what was going to happen.”

Cryonica believes that “the Jane character is fantastically well portrayed.”

Do you prefer books by Ruth Rendell, or those written under her pseudonym Barbara Vine? There’s an interesting discussion about the author going on over at LibraryThing.