#AtoZChallenge - BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! - D is for di Gesu (Michael)

As it's the first Wednesday of the month, it's time to post for the Insecure Writers Support Group. Just a short one today before we move onto Michael di Gesu.

Today my post is Discretion When Editing.

I'm sharing some of the struggles our golden oldies had:

OSCAR WILDE would spend an entire morning putting a comma into one of his poems, then spend the afternoon removing it.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied. When asked what the hold up was, he said: 'Getting the words right.'

VLADIMIR NABOKOV said his pencils outlived his erasers.

TRUMAN CAPOTE believed in the scissors more than the pencil.

So where does discretion come in? Writers in the past lived in a different era, a less hurried era, and they had the luxury of time to 'get it right'.

TRUMAN CAPOTE would stretch out on his couch, cigarette in one hand and a sherry in the other. His friends became consultants in the publishing process. He would read extracts aloud to his friends. 'I've got to be puffing and sipping.' Ah, those were the days...

But today, deadlines must be met. We might revise in a state of agitation or ecstasy. We can feel dumped, dejected, depressed, despondent...enough Ds?

So discretion might mean knowing when to stop editing. Can we afford a whole day moving a comma?

So now I move onto my regular A - Z posts... 

on the theme - BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! 

Yesterday we had Cathy Olliffe-Webster.

Today:

D is for di Gesu (Michael) @ ...in time

Michael explains - since I couldn't get to my earlier pics, I thought I would send you something that meant so much to me as a kid. The first time I went to Disney World in Florida. One particular attraction left me speechless and even though it has been there for over forty years, it still packs a punch. I had revisited there last year, and took some amazing pics of it. 

The ride/attraction is called "It's a small world." AND since we have friends from around the globe, I find this extremely appropriate for the occasion.

I was born in NYC, NY. USA

I grew up in the suburbs only twelve miles from midtown Manhattan. I lived in the smallest house amongst the mansions... My parents worked non-stop to be able to afford the neighborhood and my brothers' and my private school.

It was an amazing yet frustrating experience. As you could imagine growing up with kids who had everything was hard when my parents could only afford the basics. I began working at eleven with a paper route and baby sat for income until I was discovered by a photographer to model... That's when my life changed ...

My favorite home is a toss up between two places, so completely different. My lakefront condo that was located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the current condo I live in now, a chic condo located across from Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan in Chicago, IL. The two residences are very different from each other, both beautiful in their own ways ... one beach and nature oriented and one urban. Both an exciting place to live.

My best childhood memory was in the summer at the New Jersey shore when I was three. We were at the arcade and my dad won a game and he let me pick the prize ... Not either of my brothers. I was so thrilled and excited. It was the first time ever. I picked a two-foot stuffed mouse. I will never forget it. I loved stuffed animals as a little boy and I had that mouse for years.

My worst childhood memory was when my black lab got sick and died ... he was my best friend.

Michael's living/work room, where he's penning those bestsellers!

I currently live in a vintage 1920's condo, located in Chicago,IL. The classic nine-foot plaster-molded ceilings and hardwood floors speak to the designer in me. The moment I walked through the marble entry with crystal chandeliers and plastered dome with etched Greek figures, I knew I was home.

Latte in Quebec City

More about Michael: After fifteen years of modeling in New York, I spent the past eight years as an interior designer in Chicago. I decided to take my creative talents and write/illustrate my first m/g novel, Amber and the Whispering Willows. A year later, I wrote The Blinded Gardener, an edgy y/a contemporary. I've been editing for the past six months and I am in the process of querying. I never knew how wonderful it could be to write novels ... I'm addicted. 


Visit Michael's blog, ...in time here...

Fascinating to learn more about Michael today. Visit tomorrow to find out about Sarah Pearson and maybe find out how those Empty Pages are going.