Claudia Ricci

Early in July, a red-shouldered hawk took up residence in my meadow and began crying and squawking and carrying on. I was puzzled, asking over and over again, "HAWK what do you want to tell me?" But this morning, writing a column for MyStoryLives, it all came together. HAWK was just a few weeks early -- crying out in joy, and pain, telling the world it's time to:

ELECT CALMA a la PRESIDENT!

A HAWK cries: "Calm a La for PRESIDENT!" and I listen... A red-shouldered hawk began squawking in my meadow back on July 7th. I had no clue why. But today I am certain she was crying out -- not unlike Oprah last night -- screeching CALM a LA for PRESIDENT!

A red-shouldered hawk took up residence in my meadow on July 7th and she wouldn't stop crying and squawking and carrying on. I had no clue why until today, 46 days later. I am certain now that she was crying out -- not unlike Oprah and Tim Walz last night -- screeching over and over again

CALM a LA for PRESIDENT!

KAMALA, in Sanskrit, translates as lotus flower, a mythical symbol in Indian culture representing beauty and prosperity...

Like Evan Gershkovich, I too worked at The Wall Street Journal when I was in my early thirties, and maybe that's why I am so deeply moved to learn he is free this morning, along with some two dozen others held captive in putrid PUTIN jails. THANKS BE TO GOD and whatever other GOOD FORCES were at work in the UNIVERSE!

My first novel, Dreaming Maples, is now available as an ebook! Only $4.99 on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3V6imTl

Writer Eugene Garber called Dreaming Maples, which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, "a riveting story of ... two grandmothers, a mother and her daughter—but for this powerful first novel, riveting is too mild. Relentlessly, through skillful chronological inversions, the novelist moves us always closer to a startling convergence of the childbearing experiences of mother and daughter, and…always closer to the precipice of psychological chaos. Once begun, this novel seizes with tigerish teeth and will not let the reader escape until the central issues of hate and love, self-destruction and self-preservation, are fully joined and resolved.”

You can buy the Dreaming Maples ebook on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3V6imTl

I got SUCH amazing news this morning from Italy! The very enterprising young man who gave my husband and I a tour of my great grandfather’s village in Paola in southern Italy last October has now found a death certificate for my great great grandmother Filomena Scrivano (Pera!) I HAVE BEEN WRITING A NOVEL ABOUT FILOMENA FOR MORE THAN 10 MONTHS! And my cousin, Donna Ricci, has been trying to track down our great great grandmother for 20 years! Donna and I were both jumping up and down with joy this morning when Antonello Zaccaria, the genealogical researcher emailed! He managed to find the death record in a dusty old file, stuck in some out of the way municipal office in the little town of Paola! I think it’s time to go back! 🇮🇹🙏

I am recalling all those wonderful days in southern Italy! An unbelievable trip — I would go back to Naples anytime!

So yesterday morning my husband told me that I was “playing God,” and that set off a day’s worth of reflection, as I write my new novel, called “Finding Filomena.”

Playing God Please just call me Author

Last week when the toxic air descended, I found myself in a bit of a panic. Reiki helped!

The Magic and Mystery of Reiki! How energy healing helped me cope with the toxic Canadian smoke!

My good friend, Nancy Dunlop, author of an incredible new book of poems called “Hospital Poems,” and I, with my new novel, “Pearly Everlasting,” will do a collaborative reading and conversation at The Book House in Albany, N. Y. on Thursday, August 20th, at 6 pm. Nancy and I both taught literature for years at SUNY Albany, and we will bring our expertise as writers and teachers together to explore the creative process in poetry and prose.