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WRITE LIKE YOU COOK BY VERONICA JORGE

July 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Cook, Veronica Jorge, Write, Write from the heart

Stir the pot; in this case the plot, and you’ll see how alike writing and cooking can be.

Whether you’re writing a novella, (fast food), a novel, (a five-course dinner), or a short story, (preparing a snack), the success of your preparation depends upon mastering the tools of the trade.

Need to perfect a paragraph? Slice and dice to shorten sentences and speed the action.

Introduce suspense? Use a rolling boil.

Brown and simmer to smooth and lengthen a passage and to bring your reader’s heart rate back in rhythm.

Determine your pacing by flash-freezing, nuking in a microwave, or constantly stirring with a long wooden spoon.

Remember that your protagonist has to suffer, so turn up the heat and roast them or slow cook them.

Dealing with your villain offers the most options. Fry them, stew them in their own juice, lay them out with a rolling-pin, grill them or mash them. Alternately, you can prolong their just desserts in an all-day crock pot.

Bake or fricassee, it’s your choice. Just make sure you serve up a delectable morsel each time that will keep your guests coming back for more.

So next time you sit down to write, think about what your readers like and ask, “Can I take your order?”

Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange

See you next time on August 22^nd.

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CAREFUL WHAT YOU READ BY VERONICA JORGE

June 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winnawer, Veronica Jorge

Be Careful what you read. You might get carried away.

Time travel, suspense, history, political intrigue, murder and romance; The Scribe of Siena has something for every reader.

Transported back to the past and trapped in the Middle Ages, New York surgeon, Beatrice Trovato, is hard pressed to navigate the arteries of Siena, Italy…on the verge of the plague.

And a newly developed empathic power gives her more information than she knows what to do with, forcing her to seek answers beyond her normal world of intellect and science.

But more than that, The Scribe of Siena is a search for identity and belonging.

So many people are searching for their roots via DNA, Ancestry, and Genealogy sites, and are thrilled when they discover a part of themselves that they never knew. Visiting an ancestral country and wearing ethnic clothing often follow.

Like the true surgeon she is, Melodie Winawer takes her character further and deeper. Beatrice’s real journey is out of the brain and into her heart, where she discovers that love is a power that tra Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange nscends time and space. Now she must decide whether she belongs in the uncertainty and danger of Middle Age Siena, or back with her friends and lucrative medical practice in New York City.

Beatrice’s last name, Trovato, which means “found” should give you a clue of how things turn out. But the actual story, you’ll have to read for yourself.

And for those of you who prefer to travel light; The Scribe of Siena is also available in paperback.

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A DANCE OF WORDS BY VERONICA JORGE

May 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as dance., music, Veronica Jorge, words, Write

Hispanola, which means the “Spanish island,” became the first Spanish settlement in America. It is my mother’s native country and today we know the eastern section of the island as the Dominican Republic; a fertile land abundant in mines and minerals and rich in a great variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and flowers, where the sun shines brightly year round.

The merengue, the country’s traditional music, embraces you throughout the island for dancing is an entirely social activity independent of holidays or festivals. Any gathering includes dancing because Dominican’s don’t just listen to music, they live it. Emotionally, the merengue celebrates life wherein you partake of the rhythms of love, family and friendship. The most skilled dancer moves in unity with their partner, as one.

My mother, Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange Celina Antonia Luna de Jorge, (isn’t that lovely? Like a song in itself), left her beautiful, beloved island, and part of her heart, when she came to America at the age of seventeen. Like most of our ancestors, her family traveled to America in the hope of a better future. I’m happy to say that she found it. (She had me!).

Mom is most fully herself, most fully alive when she is surrounded by her family and cooking us all of the traditional delicious foods of her country. She fills and satisfies us with her peace and joy. And like the savory aromas that waft through the air, she makes our hearts swirl to the rhythms of her warmth and love.

And that’s what I want my writing to be like; a dance of words wherein writer and reader move in sync and taste the flavors of love, friendship, loss and new found purpose, joy and laughter. Writing that, in spite of sorrowful events or hardships, celebrates life and fills the reader with hope that today is indeed worth living.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I love you!

See you next time on June 22^nd.

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WRITER SEEKS EDITOR BY VERONICA JORGE

March 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as pitching to agents and editors, Veronica Jorge

As I near the completion of my first novel, or so I hope: and by complete I mean as far as I am able to take it on my own, my thoughts turn to seeking a professional editor. Why, I wonder, aren’t there any editors who donate their time and skills to the literary world and to novice hopefuls? (Me, me, pick me, pick me!).

One can find volunteers in just about every profession, and organizations such as AARP and the Small Business Administration offer freebies for tax-returns, employment, business start-ups, and other services. Colleges allow Senior Citizens to take free courses. Even law firms provide free legal aid.

I sigh and look up at the white, blank like my bank account, ceiling. The 70s hit parade blasts on my radio playing, ‘Wanted, young man single and free.’ It inspires me to consider writing an ad of my own.

Wanted: Editor, faithful and cheap. Experienced with Kid-Lit and YA. Dowry small. Pro bono preferred. Let’s tie the knot.

Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange I imagine a reply and picture the Statue of Liberty waving at me with her torch and calling out, “Give me your bedraggled manuscript yearning to be perfected.”

With my thumb and pinky I hand signal and mouth, ‘Call Me.’

Her torch lights up.

I leap, arms stretched upward, and yell, “It’s a match!”

Veronica Jorge See you next time on April 22^nd.

Veronica Jorge

Manager, Educator, and former High School Social Studies teacher, Veronica credits her love of history to the potpourri of cultures that make up her own life and to her upbringing in diverse Brooklyn, New York. Her genres of choice are Historical Fiction where she always makes new discoveries and Children’s Picture Books because there are so many wonderful worlds yet to be imagined and visited. She currently resides in Macungie, PA.

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