Swept by History by Margot Justes

I spent a long weekend in Alexandria, Virginia visiting my daughter. I took my granddaughter with me, and I must say she was incredible. I  plan to make this an annual event with her. She said she loved it, even though she got a work out.

It was hot and humid and the little munchkin didn't complain. A few stops at Starbucks along the way helped, bottles of water and hats were required at all times.

We walked all along King Street, took a boat ride to Mt. Vernon and visited Washington's home. My granddaughter is interested in American History and she certainly got quite a glimpse.

We spent a day in DC and visited the Vietnam Memorial. It is one of the most poignant and profound memorials I have ever seen. 

The Lincoln Memorial is nearby and we climbed up and paid a visit, and the view of the Washington Memorial is quite amazing from that site. We walked by the White House, and she took many pictures through the fence.

The Smithsonian was not left out, we stopped at the National Gallery and daughter Dina introduced me to an amazing portrait done by Chuck Close. A marvelous, huge portrait of a remarkable, worn, feisty and spirited face. Truly an astounding piece. Finger painting at its best. I will have to visit again. I'm making plans to go back end of September. After all, I have to visit my daughter.

To round out our history lesson, we stopped at the American History Museum.  

Cheers,

Margot  Justes
Hearts & Daggers
A Hotel in Paris
Hot Crimes Cool Chicks
www.mjustes.com

Are blogs effective by Margot Justes

Blogs take a bit of time to write, at least for me. I know that marketing has to be a factor in sales, and that name recognition goes to marketing and sales.

A midlist author needs that crucial name recognition to build a readership, and so it goes. E-book sales are a huge business and growing rapidly, and many of us are taking the plunge and going indie, and trying to build on that name recognition.

How to do it? One way is to blog and post all over e-net creation. That is an upside, our name is out there. There is also a downside. How many read all the blogs that are posted?  People are busy with everyday life.

Are blogs effective? Do the readers really get to know us through them? Is a shorter version of communication better? There is Facebook and Twitter, and many other social networks that take far less time and are a faster way to communicate.

What do you think? Are blogs effective, or have they outlived their usefulness?

Cheers,

Margot  Justes

Hearts & Daggers

A Hotel in Paris

and coming soon Hot Crimes Cool Chicks

www.mjustes.com

Words on Paper and Time by Margot Justes

It's been a while since I've blogged. Time has a way of disappearing. There is work, the one that actually pays bills. There is family and somewhere in between there is solitude. The type you need to put words on paper. The solitude where you escape to a world of your own creation. Somewhere in between there has be time to do errands, take care of house and make time to read.

Then of course, it's time for bed and you realize the day is done. Time has flown.

That is what happened to me the last few weeks. I have a deadline for my short stories.

Amy Alessio, Mary Welk and I are back together for a short story anthology.

Coming soon to a Kindle near you, Hot Crimes Cool Chicks.

I have a request for a full submission for my paranormal manuscript, and have to wait until my editor is ready-should be end of this month. Have to work on another novella due in September, and so it goes.

The one thing I have learned is time is precious, and anytime I can spend with family, is always my priority. Except for today, got an afternoon call from Solonge (older daughter) and she asked if there was time to go boating-I said no. She caught me in the middle of cooking-yes indeed-I was actually in the kitchen making chili.  A dear friend is ill and I promised him some homemade chili. It's actually quite excellent, if I say so myself. It was something small but important for me to do. I gave Solonge an option for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Back to my point, I really have one. Time is short, we need to pick the things that are truly important to us and do them first, and if there is time, well then we go on to the next item on the list.  I think we'll find that no matter how hard we think our life is, there is always, always someone worse off. Enjoy your life and make time meaningful.

Cheers,

Margot  Justes

Hearts & Daggers

A Hotel in Paris

www.mjustes.com

An Incredible Talent by Margot Justes

Renaissance in a literal translation means rebirth. I'm specifically writing about the later Renaissance period that started in the 14th Century in Florence, Italy.  The massive movement affected, politics, literature, industry and of course art; and that is just gliding over the surface.

The impact on art was profound, a new realistic approach to painting where perspective became important-more specifically something called linear perspective-where parallel lines converge so as to give the painting an illusion of depth and distance. That is the accepted definition.

When we look at a painting, we don't say 'ah, I see the linear perspective', we just see a painting and recognize distances and depth and sometimes an added dimension.

There is a recent BBC article written by Robin Banerji about the quintessential Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, despite being dead for centuries.

The latest article states that his anatomy drawings were quite accurate and better than the 19th Century Gray's Anatomy, and according to the article his anatomy studies were "hundreds of years ahead of its time." A series of drawings of the skull were anatomically correct and  perfect. The article goes on to say that the drawings were as good as what can be drawn today.  Leonardo died in 1519, that puts things in perspective.

Among his many talents, Leonardo da Vinci could paint what he saw perfectly.  That is not as easy as it sounds. I imagine it as he photographed it in his head and later developed it on paper.  A perfect visual image rendered in pigment.

 Till next time,

Margot  Justes

Hearts & Daggers

A Hotel in Paris

www.mjustes.com

Family Vacation by Margot Justes

I spent a week with my whole family at sea; a Celebrity Cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.

Even Dina who hates cruising-but went for the family-admitted this one was not all bad. She did get to go to 3 wine tastings, the last one was a course on proper glass selection. Her new motto, "Life is too short to drink wine from the wrong glass." Apparently the correct glass makes a
huge difference in the taste of the wine.

On our last dinner, Dina reminded the sommelier about using the correct glasses, and soon the master sommelier brought the large, wide rim and ultra thin goblets to our table. I have no idea what wine was selected, all I can tell you is it was red. I'm not a wine drinker, and saved my calories for chocolate.

The two little munchkins loved being at sea. My grandson said he wants to go on a cruise for his birthday, which is this May. Somehow, I don't think that is going to happen.

This was my first cruise on Celebrity, but not my last. The service was exemplary, even cold water, juice and ice towels were provided as we boarded the ship from the excursions. It was very hot and very humid. There was a tent with a couch and a couple of lounge chairs, just in case you wanted to take a break before going back to the ship, or while waiting for your
excursion.

There was even an artist in residence, Graham Denison, a palette knife artist. I
watched him work and found it fascinating that a couple commissioned a painting
using colors that are currently in their home. I wonder what happens if they
change the paint on the walls?

Mr. Denison is British, and his work has a distinct European flair, scenes from Paris, Venice and Portofino dominated the available selection. Bill and Solonge liked his work so much that they bought an enhanced serigraph, a scene from Portofino; and no it will not match their decor at home.

I found the glass furnace on board ship to be truly astounding, there were lectures provided by the blowers in residence and sponsored by the Corning Museum of Glass. All the pieces that were completed during the lectures were signed by the artists and sold at a charity auction on the last day at sea.

I'm looking forward to another Celebrity cruise.

Till next time,
Margot Justes
Hearts & Daggers
A Hotel in Paris
www.mjustes.com

On the Hunt for Another Leonardo by Margot Justes

According to Yahoo news, there is another Leonardo Da Vinci fresco hidden in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. Imagine that.

Centuries after his death, he still makes headlines. I try to keep up because in my vampire tale Blood Art the Mona Lisa plays a prominent and demonic role. How could I not be interested?

This story has a fresco hidden by another wall, and the original fresco is suspected to be a Da Vinci original.

Speculation abounds, but the general belief is that Leonardo started painting the "The Battle of Anghiari" around 1505, but there were issues with the paint and it was never finished. It is believed that Giorgio Vasari, another artist covered the Leonardo fresco with a wall to protect it and then painted his own fresco.

Chemical analysis, indicates the possibility that the fresco might actually exist. The data in not conclusive, but there is enough information to pursue it further.

The process in gaining the information was and continues to be intricate, and controversial because researchers had to drill six holes in the Vasari fresco to gain the chemical details needed to identify the Leonardo fresco.

The project is not without protest, art researchers feel that the Vasari fresco is being damaged, and that it "was nothing more than a Dan Brown Style publicity stunt."

However they were able to identify the composition of the black paint used 'exclusively' by Leonardo. To further enrich the story, the battle is said to have been painted at the same time as the Mona Lisa.

One other touch to the mystery is a message Vasari left on his fresco. "Cerca Trova" ("Seek and You Shall Find.")

We can agree or disagree on the process. Is it worth potentially destroying a master fresco to find another one, that may be beyond restoration, or may not even exist save for a few strokes of black pigment. Art historian are debating the very same thing.

In all the recent Leonardo speculations and potential new finds, centuries after his death he is still being discovered. A Renaissance man for all the ages.

Till next time,
Margot Justes
Hearts & Daggers
A Hotel in Paris
www.mjustes.com

Celebration by Margot Justes

We're celebrating my older daughter's MBA graduation by
going on a cruise during the kiddies spring break.

My grandson already said he won't be swimming in the pool
because there are sharks in the water. He thinks we're going on a power boat
like the one his parents own. I can't wait to see his face when he sees the
size of that ship.

My granddaughter is looking forward to spending time with
auntie Dina, who hates cruising and still hopes it won't happen.

To be honest her first and only cruise was a long one, and most
of her excursions got cancelled for lack of interest, and our stop in Costa
Rica was missed completely because of a medical emergency. To top that off,
last night on board was a bit breezy. She did however enjoy seeing the Panama Canal.

I keep telling her to give it a chance, and she keeps
telling me she did-and she hates cruising, but agreed to go because of the
family. I keep reminding her it's only seven days. So far that is not working.

Personally, I can't wait, really need a break, and I've
never been to Puerto Rico.

In the meantime, today I finished the re-reads of A Hotel in Paris, and it will be out on
Kindle this week. I celebrated the
finish with a delicious brunch at the Cuisine of India.

Next project is a new novella set to come out in September,
and I have to go over Blood Art and
send it to an editor.

Till next time,
Margot Justes
Hearts & Daggers
A Hotel in Paris
www.mjustes.com