The Cielo Journal

'Sparrow's Revenge' honored at NY Book Festival

This just in: "Sparrow's Revenge: A Novel of Postwar Tuscany" received an honorable mention at the New York Book Festival. "The Cielo: A Novel of Wartime Tuscany" received the same honor two years ago. Thank you, New York Book Festival!

Devil's Bridges story in the Dallas Morning News

My story about "Devil's Bridges" in Europe appeared in the Travel Section of the Dallas Morning News, complete with the blurb at the end about how the bridge at Borgo a Mozzano is featured in my novel "Sparrow's Revenge: A Novel of Postwar Tuscany."You can find the story here

"The Cielo" is a finalist in another contest

On the heels of the announcement that "Sparrow's Revenge" is a finalist in the Midwest Independent Publishers Association contest comes word that "The Cielo" is a finalist for the 2008 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year. Why a book published in 2006 is considered is beyond me. The winner will be announced May 30 at the BookExpo America in New York.

"Sparrow's Revenge" a finalist in midwest competition

Hello. I learned this week that "Sparrow's Revenge: A Novel of Postwar Tuscany" is a finalist for Best Fiction in the annual Midwest Independent Publishers Association competition. The winner will be announced at a reception in St. Paul, Minn., on May 13.

An amazing book festival

My wife and I just returned from the Virginia Festival of the Book, and it was a fabulous experience. Our son Jim lives in Charlottesville, and he's been telling us for years about the festival. This was the fifteenth anniversary and it ran from March 18-22. There were, I think, about 170 panel discussions, talks, luncheons, programs and all sorts of events spread around Charlottesville. I was lucky to be asked to be on a panel on historical fiction on Thursday. On Saturday there was a huge book fair at the Omni Hotel, followed by an authors' reception on the wonderful University of Virginia campus. Great fun, all around.

And still more attention for "Sparrow's Revenge"

Several things have happened lately.

First, "Sparrow's Revenge" received an excellent, and long, review by Nick Schenkel, director of the West Lafayette (Ind.) Library on his NPR radio program. Here's a little of what he had to say:

"Sparrow’s Revenge offers a richness of place. Dark though the plotting may be, the Tuscan sunshine is yet every present in this novel. Too, Sparrow’s Revenge offers us a panorama of characters, for whom irony is the commonplace, not the reality of real life but the contradictions of each person’s personality as part of the warp and woof of daily living, a novel that begs the question: can fact not be as equally confounding as a good piece of fiction?

"Too, I respect the author’s respect for my intelligence as a reader. There are no quick fixes for either character development or plot in Sparrow’s Revenge. And Salsini’s love for the people and the land of Tuscany makes this a true delight to read as more than a good story."

Second, I was part of a discussion on book marketing at the Spring Writers Festival sponsored by the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

And finally (for now), I went to New York last week to tape a program in the Italian American Writers Series on a public access television network. It was conducted by Vito De Simone, who also interviewed me about "The Cielo" two years ago. 

I'm very grateful for all of this.

 

Devil's Bridges featured in travel sections

I was fascinated by the Devil's Bridge at Borgo a Mozzano in Tuscany and it became a crucial element in "Sparrow's Revenge: A Novel of Postwar Tuscany." A photo I took is on the cover of the book. 

I became even more fascinated when I discovered that there were about 25 'devil's bridges' in Europe, all constructed about the same time (the Middle Ages) and all having the same Faustian story.

So I wrote an article about the bridges and submitted it to travel sections of newspapers. It appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday, Sunday, March 1,and was in the Indianapolis Star on Feb. 1. It's also scheduled to run in the Dallas Morning News sometime in March. (You can also find it on this web page.)

More publicity for "Sparrow's Revenge"

I've been very grateful for all the publicity "The Cielo" and now "Sparrow's Revenge" has received. But I must say I was surprised when I saw the January issue of 50 Plus, a thick monthly newspaper published in Hartland, Wis. The subtitle is "It's not an age. It's an attitude."

I was interviewed by the editor in December and thought he's published a little story about the book. Well, the little story took up the entire front page and a full page inside. There's a 4.5 by 5 inch picture of me along with photos of the covers of the two books on the front page.

I'm very grateful.

And that's not all.  

Primo Magazine, "for and about Italian Americans' published a rave review of "Sparrow's Revenge" in its November-December issue. Among other things, it says;

"Salsini's book reminds us of the power of the past and how the effects of war can haunt us for years after the conflict is over. The question arises: How does one overcome a war's injustice? Salsini's powerful and moving tale allows us to consider one answer in what he and most of us would agree is one of the most beautiful places in the world."

In addition, Fra Noi, a thick monthly newspaper in Chicago, published my essay on 'devil's bridges' in its December issue. 

All very rewarding.

Time to catch up on Sparrow promotions

I really should make more entries, but this has been a very busy time. Regarding "Sparrow's Revenge," I had both a radio and TV appearance: "Lake Effect" on WUWM was aired on Dec. 4.  That followed the "Morning Blend" television interview on Nov. 14. And just last Sunday, Dec. 14, I was interviewed on Tony Maggia's Italian American radio program out of New Jersey for a half hour.

In addition, La Gazzetta Italiana in Indiana printed my press release about the book, the Italian Tribune in New Jersey printed my article about Devil's Bridges, and I was interviewed by the editor of the 50 Plus newspaper for an article that is to appear in the January issue.

Oh, and over Thanksgiving, I made a quick trip to Italy. More research, you know. 

A great turnout for the bookstore reading

They had to bring in more chairs and still people were standing as I gave my talk and reading about "Sparrow's Revenge" at the Schwartz Bookstore on Downer Ave. last night. It was great to see former students, people from the condo, people from church, old friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in some time. Must have been about fifty people there. And many bought books, both the sequel and "The Cielo." 

Great fun.