I had a great Christmas thank you and I hope you had a nice Christmas as well.

I always prefer Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. Boxing Day is the acceptance that the special time is over. On Christmas Eve I went for a walk toward some hills near where I live. It was a dark night with a thin crescent moon and the stars were clear and white. I was struck by the beauty of the world. The magic of nature and the universe and into my mind came the thought, why worry about stupid things? I know it is not a particularly clever thought and I know that it is easy for me to be alone on Christmas Eve and conceive such an idea but deep down it is true.

Accept the things you cannot change

change the things you can

and have wisdom to know the difference.

I am sitting here now with the post Christmas blues but I am happy.

I have the following resolutions for 2015;

I ate too much chocolate so I will need to exercise and eat less

I want to concentrate on my writing

I want to read more books

I want to be kinder to others and

I want my book The Bomber, which is being released in June to be a success.

Two things made me sad over these holidays.

The first was the thought of all the poor homeless animals that suffer on our streets

and the other was the lonely people who have no one over Christmas.

One of the worst ways to suffer is to spend Christmas day alone. There are people who wake up and go to bed on Christmas day and do not speak to another human. The people who feel unloved and rejected. To these people I wish all the best for. Some are alone by choice and some by circumstance. I hope they find ways to cope.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Hey, Mr. Churchill comes over here
To say we’re doing splendidly
But it’s very cold out here in the snow
Marching to and from the enemy
Oh, I say it’s tough, I have had enough
Can you stop the Cavalry?

I have had to fight, almost every night
Down throughout these centuries
That is when I say, oh yes, yet again
Can you stop the Cavalry?

Mary Bradley waits at home
In the nuclear fall-out zone
Wish I could be dancing now
In the arms of the girl I love

Wish I was at home for Christmas
Bang, that’s another bomb on another town
While the Tsar and Jim have tea
If I get home, live to tell the tale
I’ll run for all presidencies
If I get elected I’ll stop, I will stop the Cavalry

Wish I was at home for Christmas
Wish I could be dancing now
In the arms of the girl I love
Mary Bradley waits at home
She’s been waiting two years long
Wish I was at home for Christmas

Guest four: Interview with David G. O’Sullivan.

I recently spoke with Ana Franco, she is an author, her debut book is ‘Down the Wormhole’ published through French Press Bookworks (www.frenchpressbookworks.com) It will be released March 17th 2015.

She is a lovely and kind person. I know this because she likes cats. I cannot wait to get a copy of her novel.

Please tell me about yourself.

Oh, there’s nothing really different about me from any other human being walking around. I mean, I am a super villain behind your backs and I’m scheming how to bring Darth Vader and Lord Voldemort to work with me so I can conquer the world, muahahaha! No. I’m kidding. Umm… people always called me a nerd, but I don’t think I am one. I didn’t get very good grades on high school, but shhh! I like to blog, to read, to write, to listen to music (favorite band will be Imagine Dragons forever), to play videogame (ugh, and I still haven’t finished playing The Last of Us…) and I love TV series. Oh, and movies too. I have lots of posters on my bedroom. Thinking now… I think there is one of Jurassic Park, two of Once Upon a Time, one of Arrow, one of Sherlock, one of Beauty and the Beast, one of Harry Potter, one of Star Wars, one of Lilo and Stitch and one Marvel heroes and one of Loki alone. I had one of Jack Frost too, but this poster died long ago. Long sad story. But see, I’m a very normal girl!

What do you like to read?

Oh, bits of this and bits of that! As you might have noticed from my collection of posters, I quite like fantasy – every kind of fantasy. As long as you present me a world that you’ll make me want to live in, I’ll read the story. And this is no secret as well that I love fanfics. And sometimes I read screenplays, because they’re fun to read. Oh… and yeah, there’s college books. Not that I like them, though.
What are you reading right now and what do you think you will read next?

Right now I’m reading the questions here so I can answer that. But okay, I just finished a Harry Potter fanfic (I’ll never get enough of this universe, oops) and I was reading a very bizarre book called Winkie (don’t remember the name of the author right now) – but I dropped it because… well, because it is bizarre. I don’t know what I’ll read next – maybe a book from Stephen King that my mom’s bugging me to read for a while.
Why do you like to write?

I just do. Don’t know what else to say. It’s like (brace yourselves, here comes the cliché) breathing really hard – it’s part of who I am (sorry, I didn’t feel the need to alert you about another cliché, haha).

Tell us where you come from and where you live now.

You know those cities that movies talk about in Western stories? “A very peaceful town until Edward Scissorshands appeared…”? That’s kind of it, just without the Scissorshands part

If you could invite any person, alive today or from history, to a dinner party party who would invite and why?

Audrey Hepburn! Who knows, maybe she will invite me for a breakfast at Tiffany’s…

What advice can you give to people trying to achieve their dreams?

“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, and the dreams that you dreamed of once in a lullaby […] dreams really do come true.”

Can you tell us about the new book you have coming out and your inspiration?

Yes, of course! The book’s Down The Wormhole, my new baby. I don’t really how any better way to describe it but using one of the phrases on my original pitch: “A young orphan girls bonds with four mythological gods while trying to find a true home for herself”. A girl who is named “Kitty” thanks to my sick obsession (I prefer the term “love”, though) over cats. The inspiration part is very… embarrassing. You see, I was having a lunch during at Unicamp (University of Campinas) and was thinking about a fanfic that I started reading the day before (don’t even ask what which one or about what, I forgot about it once I started working on my book) that had a lonely orphan girl befriending a charming little orphan boy from the orphanage neighbor to hers. The image of the kids talking refused to leave me alone. So, during my break, I went to my mom and told her my “situation”. And asked her for what she thought I could construct from this “prompt”. We thought and talked during the whole break – and by the end of it, I had some ideas – like about Aphrodite’s love story with Medusa, about Kitty befriending Anubis and few other less important things. I just wrote down my ideas and started to work on it later. Boom! The story gained a life of its own! =D
Can you give us a quote from your favorite book?

I have lots of favorites books, but sure, here’s one that I think you all might be familiar with: “Alice laughed: ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said; ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’ 
’I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’”

Thank you Ana! 

I love Simon and Garfunkel. I listen to their music all the time, on rainy days, at nights or when I feel like relaxing. I can even remember the first time I heard Simon and Garfunkel music. The first song I ever heard from S+G was Mrs. Robinson. It came on the radio when I was about eleven years old. I can remember being struck by the lyrics and the tune. All through University I had their music. The best of S+G was the last cassette tape I ever bought, I remember listening to Old friends after work once when I was twenty one. They have been a life long companion.

I have probably been listening to Paul Simon longer still. When I was a little child in 1986 my mother bought ‘Graceland’ and it was all she played. She would pick me up from school and we would drive home listening to it. I was enraptured by the man. The upbeat tempo, the incredible words, I love Graceland, it is one of my favorite albums. I credit Paul Simon (and my mother for playing his tape everyday) for helping me form a love of writing and words. For a few years I was unaware that Paul Simon was the Simon of Simon and Garfunkel. I was surprised when I found that out.

A story I find interesting is the woman behind Paul’s lyrics. In many of his songs he refers to a woman named Kathy, such as in America and Kathy’s song. He also refers to her in Overs and others where she is not named. Kathy is Kathy Chitty. Paul met her while he lived and worked in London in the early 60’s. Kathy Chitty today lives in a small cottage in Wales. Her influence on Paul Simon helped him create some of the world’s greatest songs. She never liked the attention and she has hidden herself form the spotlight and now does not invite anyone to contact to her about her past. Paul Simon has referred to his time with her as his ‘Most peaceful time’.

Below are the lyrics to Kathy’s song and a photo of Paul’s first album cover, he is seating with Kathy.

“Kathy’s Song”

I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.

And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.

My mind’s distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you’re asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.

And as a song I was writing is left undone
I don’t know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can’t believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.

And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.

And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I.