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Greetings from Venice

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Ancora Imparo said:
Hello, Eva, and welcome! I love Venice. Have happily walked round it for hours. My dad was a 'Janny' (Glaswegian for janitor i.e. caretaker) of a school attached to a convent and I got to know a lot of the nuns. When I was about ten I decided I'd like to be a nun too, and told them what I'd like – my own room (I'd had enough of sharing with two sisters), with a radio and a record player, and none of that going to mass malarky. But I loved the long dresses, I'd wear those. I can still hear them laughing :) Bearing in mind I wanted to be a witch too, we had some very interesting theological discussions :D

I hope you enjoy it here.
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Yes, I can well believe they laughed. In effect I quite enjoy the company of nuns, and since Vatican two reforms came into place, nuns have been trained differently and are more approachable. But if you asked for a record player and not a dvd player it must have been during that critical "transition" stage, 70s? That was the time when I was in the convent and it was six of one and halfadozen of the other- in effect, they didn't know whether to stick to the old rules or take on the new ones. But for me, it wasn't a question of rules, the old against the new, but what did it mean to have a vocation. Is it true that God calls, and if so, how does he do it. That was what I wanted to know. I wanted to know if I was called, did I have a vocation- and if I did, could I dare say no to God? I guess you're a Catholic too.
 
Don't worry @Eva Ulian, you'll get to know where it all is and what it all means soon enough. Just have fun finding out! :)

Yes, to both your questions: born into a Catholic family, and yes, it was in the 70s, when record players were state-of-the-art technology. Re your vocation question, sadly I'm not the person to answer it. My views on man-made religions (as opposed to God/Spirit/Universe...) might offend a lot of people so I keep my mouth shut.

I grew up in Glasgow... came out of school one day when I was about 9 and a gang of (protestant) boys asked me if that was my school. I was as honest as I was naive. I said yeah. So you're a Catholic? Yeah... Well, they beat the crap out of me. And I'm sure some poor wee protestant lass was having the same kind of trouble in another part of the city with a Catholic gang. I didn't hold it against them (much), but my lovely dad, once he'd mopped up my tears and calmed down, took me out into the garden and taught me some basic self defence I remember to this day. God bless him. (And my poor mum was wringing her hands saying Don't teach her violence, don't teach her violence! And they wonder why I grew up with conflicting voices in my head :D :D ) And would you believe I grew up and married a protestant! We still have good fun insulting each other :)
 
Hello and welcome. Venice is a beautiful city. I’ve visited Italy a lot as I used to have family there but only been to Venice once. Glad the waters have receded. But my highlight has to be attending mass at St Peter’s and seeing the Pope!!!!
 
Ancora Imparo said:
Don't worry @Eva Ulian, you'll get to know where it all is and what it all means soon enough. Just have fun finding out! :)

Yes, to both your questions: born into a Catholic family, and yes, it was in the 70s, when record players were state-of-the-art technology. Re your vocation question, sadly I'm not the person to answer it. My views on man-made religions (as opposed to God/Spirit/Universe...) might offend a lot of people so I keep my mouth shut.

I grew up in Glasgow... came out of school one day when I was about 9 and a gang of (protestant) boys asked me if that was my school. I was as honest as I was naive. I said yeah. So you're a Catholic? Yeah... Well, they beat the crap out of me. And I'm sure some poor wee protestant lass was having the same kind of trouble in another part of the city with a Catholic gang. I didn't hold it against them (much), but my lovely dad, once he'd mopped up my tears and calmed down, took me out into the garden and taught me some basic self defence I remember to this day. God bless him. (And my poor mum was wringing her hands saying Don't teach her violence, don't teach her violence! And they wonder why I grew up with conflicting voices in my head :D:D ) And would you believe I grew up and married a protestant! We still have good fun insulting each other :)
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Goodness, you're quite safe, I'm not one to get involved in intellectual discussions about religion- so long as it's on the lighthearted and human side I'm ok but nothing tecnical- it just puts a wet blanket on everything. The experience you had was an almost every-day occurrance up Caldmore way (where Jerome K. Jerome was born) because St Mary's the school I went to was near-by and so were the best sweet shops- so I was always surrounded by all kinds of kids- They used to call us the RAT CATCHERS (R.C.). However when we caught nits, you could tell because our hair was wet with the medication, they left us quite alone. Actually, the rivalty outside school helped me make friends inside the school itself, since gangs thrived within Catholic schools too. This story won a competition in "Amicus" a journal based in Scotland. It's printed on my blog here if you want to take a look. Blogger
 
Kitty said:
Hello and welcome. Venice is a beautiful city. I’ve visited Italy a lot as I used to have family there but only been to Venice once. Glad the waters have receded. But my highlight has to be attending mass at St Peter’s and seeing the Pope!!!!
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Oh Kitty, I love cats... One of them has a blog about them.... mind you I help with the typing occasionally. :D I've only seen Pope Francis from his window in St Peter's Square but I too would love to meet him and tell him personally that he is the Pope that I had always wanted! Let's face it, he talks about make-up, soap-operas, gossip, dinner as if they were part of the liturgy and vice-versa. However, one of my relatives, a priest, worked in the Vatican for a few years and on certain feast days he would return to our village to visit his parents and with him he would bring the Pope's Secretary, Mons. Fabian. The Pope has two secretaries, one official and one personal, i.e. the one he has breakfast with- Mons Fabian is the one he has breakfast with. I've known the Pope's secretary for five years and he knows I write, sometimes quite provocative stuff which I post on the web. I once told him, no matter what he hears about me, say on twitter, fb or where ever to always trust me. He looked at me and smiled- no question about it, I always will trust you. So you see, I can't let him down and he's looking forward to my novel on nuns. Maybe that's the time I'll get a chance to meet Pope Francis, and if I do, I'll bring you along. BTW My cousin, has now become Archbishop of Loreto and so has left the Vatican, therefore Mons. Fabian no longer comes to visit our village... but I do have his email!!! Here's a blog post on the last time I saw the Pope's secretary- I'm the lady in purple hanging on to his arm :D Blogger
 
I agree. He’s everything a pope should be, humble, human. Your book sounds really interesting. Off to check out your blog :-)
 
Hi Eva,
From one newbie to another, welcome. No doubt you'll like it here. Does any of your writings reflect the time you spent as a novice? Like it or hate it, it must have been interesting, and I'm guessing there's a story or four that could be told (um, on the understanding that all names, places and incidents are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, etc, etc...)
 
NoviceWriter said:
Hi Eva,
From one newbie to another, welcome. No doubt you'll like it here. Does any of your writings reflect the time you spent as a novice? Like it or hate it, it must have been interesting, and I'm guessing there's a story or four that could be told (um, on the understanding that all names, places and incidents are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, etc, etc...)
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Hello Novice Writer, a welcome to you too from chilly Ireland! That's one place I've not been to yet and that's where I am going to go next- I suppose you're Southern Ireland so you're not affected by the Brexit. I'm trying to find my way around here and sometimes put my foot in it. I noticed you do crime stories- well, there's not one Agatha Christie I haven't watched, but I supppose your kind of writing is different. Yes, my life in the convent has influenced my writing ever since. Before I entered I used to write romance and loads of poems... In fact during whatever free time we had I would spend it writing love stories. The novice mistress would look into our desks when we were asleep and see what we wrote about and said writing love stories as a spiritual exercise was not a sign of a vocation. I've written three novels so far, none published, about a religious vocation and a mysterious death in all of them. I am delighted to meet you. P.S. Yes, they are all characters and facts (but not all) based on real life, most of them are dead- though my "guardian angel" the novice assigned to oversee me, is still alive.
 
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Eva Ulian said:
Hello Rich, If I told you how many agents I have pitched that story, I would blush. But as I've mentioned in another post, when people think of religion and nuns they say "who cares, it's boring." Until they know you and rub up with reality cheek to cheek... But "STILETTO HEELS AND ANKLE SOCKS", accessible literary fiction is complete and ready for the taking at 89,000 words. :D
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I heard you read one of the pop up subs yesterday- you did a great job. I wouldn't mind you, at all, doing mine?!? ;)
 
Geoff said:
Hello and welcome Eva!
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Hello Geoff, I've just finished watching Saturday and Sunday's pop-up submissions and as soon as I find my feet around this amazing colony, I will try to pitch one of my MSs to see if it gets anywhere. Anyway, I enjoyed the Sunday session quite a lot and learnt one fundamental thing... to stop labeling my work as "literary fiction" as @AgentPete said, I'm not doing myself any justice- they just get put in a corner. In effect, if truth be told, it's more on the women's fiction side with YA appeal- if that's possible. :)
 
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