November 2021

Inspiration & Perspiration:
Danielle Trussoni’s Newsletter

November 2021 Newsletter

“Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” — Thomas Edison

Hello from the Writing Cave,

It’s the beginning of my favorite season, a time when the leaves burnish to orange and red, the days shorten and the air is filled with a chill. Growing up, I remember November being a time of both excitement—my birthday is November 9th—and preparation for winter. 

Now that I’ve moved to San Miguel, the turn of the weather isn’t quite so dramatic. The nights cool, and its necessary to pull out a sweater after the sun goes down, but there won’t be snow. 

This was my first Halloween spent in San Miguel and so, I’ve been learning a lot about the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration, which is celebrated on November 1. Families create altars in their homes, where they honor and remember loved ones who have died. Remembering someone allows them to return to visit, and so offerings are left on the altar: food and wine and flowers.

There is a tradition of dressing up in a ‘Catrina’ costume, or as an ‘elegant skull.’ The tradition comes from the Mexican artist Jose Guadelupe Posada’s images and is a staple of Day of the Dead celebrations. I decided to join the fun and have my face painted:

If you’re not ready for the haunted season to end just yet—and why should it?—check out my latest New York Times horror column for eight books to add to your TBR list. The column was published yesterday and was featured on the cover of The New York Times Book Review.

I was excited to see that Stephen King enjoyed the column. He retweeted in and wrote this:

Recently, I’ve asked my social media community to send in any questions you have about writing, publishing, or reading and I’ve received quite a few—the answers to which you can find on Instagram. One frequently asked personal question I received is:

Why did you move to Mexico? 

People may not know this about me, but I have always been interested in travel, and learning about new places. I have lived in London, England; Fukuoka, Japan; Sofia, Bulgaria; Aubais, France; and now San Miguel Mexico, as well as New York City, which is another planet in itself. So after 8 years in New York, I was ready for a change. I wanted to live somewhere beautiful, within a relatively easy flight to the States and that had beautiful weather. San Miguel has been a perfect fit so far!
       
       

Another common question I get is:

Will there be a third Angelology book?

I’ve just finished a new novel and now my agent is getting ready to send it out to editors. Stay tuned about the publication date. And I will be publishing another part of the Angelology series soon… Hopefully in the spring! Thanks so much for being patient.

     

There’s still time for you to sign up to join me for my Writing Workshop in March 2022. There are only 2 spots remaining. We will spend five days working on chapters and stories from longer works such as memoirs and novels, then celebrate at the end of the week with a cocktail reception. If you’re interested, please respond to this email and let me know. I’ll save you a spot.

Thank you as always for following along with me here and on social media. If you have any questions you’d like me to answer in my next newsletter, please respond to this email.

Yours,
Danielle 

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