Friends and fans,

I am finally at the stage where I will be finishing the book in a matter of days. I have enjoyed the process of blogging the book toward completion and I thank each one of you for reading my work along the way.

I am asking that you please share the project with one friend who might enjoy my work.

Updates to follow as I find and agent and move forward toward publishing. 

Here is the link:

http:www.lookingback2014.blogspot.com

In time, Silvio would return to Tuscany and I to Casa Amor. I was finally going to reach a pinnacle in my life that could not be understated. I was going to be married and living in the home that I had longed for, for years.

I made the offer in September. Since cash was an option to close on the real estate in question, I would be able to close quickly and move in as soon as Silvio would approve and vacate the premises. I was in no hurry and neither was he. I was still grieving from the loss of my father, but I would soon be grieving in the most wonderful place on earth. In my mind, Casa Amor was heaven on earth.

Silvio and I closed in late October. Since it was an all cash deal, the negotiations and transfers were nil and the deal funded and closed smoothly. I knew that I would be settled in by Christmas, and hopefully at that point in a holiday mood. I reasoned that it was possible, but it was going to be tough. On one hand, it was a place that I longed to be more than any other place in the world. On the other, I would be without Mom and Dad this year. I hoped and prayed that both of the children would be home for Christmas.

November came and went. Since neither Liam nor Isabella could come in for Thanksgiving, Brad and I ate out. I saw no sense in making a large dinner for just the two of us. We were to be married after the New Year in March. With my eightieth birthday in February, I wanted the wedding to be before then. "Who gets married at eighty", I pondered? Well, with the exception of a month, I was on the docket.

With Dad gone, Belle in Atlanta and Liam in Connecticut, I poured all of my heart and soul into my relationship with Brad and my new book. Before the death of my father, I was twenty-five percent complete. By November, I was fifty and I had high hopes that the book would be finished by March/April and be in the hands of readers that summer.

Silvio didn't need the money. He simply sold his crop to the highest bidder. And before I could ask, he showed his hand and said, "So I assume this is about Casa Amor, am I correct?" I nodded in the affirmative and he sated, "It is absolutely NOT for sale......"

A pin could have dropped in the room and everyone would have heard it.

He then leaned in and very quietly said, "Except to you!"

To this I absolutely howled with excitement in a gasp and nearly fell off my chair while trying to hold back the flowing river from my eyes. When I finally regained my composure, Silvio got serious and said, "But you will ave to give me a fair price." To this I agreed, and I asked him to name his price. The house was easily worth $6M to the right buyer and I knew in my heart that Silvio did not owe a single dime on the place. "Would he be fair", I thought?

He got quiet again, and said, "After another bottle of wine, we will decide on a price." This actually "popped the air" from the balloon in the room and we were able to enjoy our wine, coffee and dessert. Tiramisu, a Super-Tuscan; Tiganello, and Starbucks coffee was on the menu for the dessert portion of the meal. Brad and I were prepared to pay north of $4M, but we wanted to get the place for under $4M. We were ill-prepared for his offer, which came while Silvio was removing bits of his dinner from his mouth with a toothpick.

"I'll take $3M!"

"3M, did you say", I said quietly?

"Yes, for you...$3M only", came the reply.

I got up from me seat, walked around the table to Silvio and his wife and kissed them both on the lips. I couldn't believe what I had just heard and promised them to have cash available within a few days and be able to close at their request. There was one thing I had to know...

"Silvio, will you return to Tuscany", I asked?

He stated that he indeed would return to Tuscany. He explained that he had only held onto the property in California because I had been renting it for so many years. He knew in his heart at the beginning that I could not afford to buy Casa Amor, but he held onto it; he said, for the pure joy of renting it to me each year. And since I had named the place, and even he had adopted it; he said he had prayed for the day that I would one day ask him to buy Casa Amor. He believed it belonged to me...long before and even if I could never afford it.

Now, he would return to Tuscany...and retire with his Villa and olive groves.

Gallivanting around downtown was fun that afternoon. Brad had an air of genuine calm about him in his "old age" that made him fun to be around. For the most part, he had not a care in the world. For many years, I was the same way except for my bought with severe depression after Brady's death. And sure, one worries about their children in different situations from time to time, but mostly, I was "happy-go-lucky" myself. I believe a lot of the stress-free living was due to the fact that we were both in positions financially that we did not have to worry about the basics and the additionally ancillary. New tires on the car or even a blown engine for that matter would be a small thing to have happen.

We had lunch at a bistro and continued to stroll around downtown San Diego in the Gaslight district until 4:00 PM. By then, I was beginning to bite my fingernails over the pressure of the meeting I was about to have at dinner with Silvio. It had nothing to do with intimidation! Silvio was a wonderful and kind man; now a friend, and I knew that he would say that he would consider our offer even if he had no interest in selling and simply and kindly tell us no later. It was simply that I wanted so badly to own Casa Amor.

I watched the clock for nearly an hour; sipping on a glass of wine, between five and six. At promptly six, Brad and I got into the Suburban and headed for La Jolla. We made it to Osterica at 6:25 PM. Silvio had pulled in a few minutes later, but early nonetheless. We ordered a Brunello di Montalcino and began lite conversation.

Silvio started by asking us about our summer. With the exception of my father's death, it was an excellent summer. And truthfully; knowing that my father had now been reunited with my mother was solace enough to make it a good summer. Novel sales were also a highlight and the extra month at Casa Amor was grand...as it had become my oasis that I could always find respite in.

Silvio talked about his summer in Tuscany. It had been more hot than usual, as the temperature had been nearly five degrees hotter on average by the day than in previous summers for the past fifty years. Global warming? Who knew! Irrespective of that fact, his olive groves liked the additional sunlight and his crop was easily sold at a higher price than usual to become extra-virgin olive oil.

I arose early next morning; as did Brad, and we poured over our finances together. I must say, it was the first time in a long time that I even cared to look. I suppose the excitement of the idea of owning Casa Amor was gnawing at me. It kept me up that nite, so I worked on my novel prior to Brad arising at 4:00 AM. It had been the first time that I had put pen to paper since the death of my father.

Our discussion that morning was not centered around if we could buy Casa Amor. It was simply about how much we would have to offer Silvio. We made guesses about Silvio's position...had it been in his family for years, or was he a self-made millionaire who owned a small villa in Tuscany? Either could have been the case, but the answer to both questions would cause for unsettling answers in our minds.

After kicking around number after number, we came to an agreement that we would offer $3.5M and would be willing to pay as much as $4.25M for Casa Amor. And even at that, we wondered if Slvio would sell.

Silvio was Italian, so when he phoned that morning to ask where we should have dinner, we invited him to dinner at Osteria Romantica. There we would wine and dine him and twist his arm until he agreed to sell Casa Amor. The more he resisted, the more Brunello di Montalcino and Tiramisu we would supply him with. We agreed to meet at 6:30 PM, that evening.

Brad and I decided that we would go "stir crazy" with both enthusiasm and worry if we stayed in the hotel. Instead, we opted to have a bit of fun in the city. We would go downtown, grab a Starbucks and hit every bookstore in downtown. The goal was to see which bookstores carried our novels and how many copies they had for sale on their shelves. Certainly not a normal activity, but we each needed this silly affair to take place before we would sit down to dinner and make an offer at a place that had become my love affair for the past several years.

Adams Avenue bookstore had been touted as the best bookstore in town, so we took a drive over there first. Of the fifteen books that Brad had in print, Adams had ten on the shelves and exactly twenty-two total copies. Not bad. I did have a leg up in the fact that I was a newly published author. In fact; to my surprise, I had quite a nice place in the window of the bookstore and my total copies in print for sale there numbered twenty-seven. "Score", I thought...even though it seemed petty! We visited Mysterious Galaxy bookstore and also Warwick's and found much the same story. I could claim my victory for a day, and Brad graciously let me claim it in a big way.

Ellen and Brad has a "master plan" to take the Canadian tour by storm. Instead of the usual one-day event at a Barnes & Noble, we decided that we would try to do a signing at as many local bookstores as possible over a five-day period in each city. That way, Brad and I could additionally enjoy the cities as we traveled and sold copies of my book thru Canada.

First stop:  Vancouver! Vancouver, British Columbia, was a city I had always wanted to visit anyway. Heralded as a culinary mecca, I had already informed Brad that he would be taking me to both the high and low places in the way of eateries in the city. By day I would sell books, and by nite we would eat and drink our way thru Vancouver.

On Day-1, we did do our usual at Barnes & Noble. However, the bookstore scene was much more welcoming at the independents. MacLeod's was by far my favourite. It had an interesting atmosphere with not only books on the shelf, but also mountains of books on the floor. Stacked as high as my head in some places, this was a bookstore unlike Brad and I had ever seen. Day-2 was spent at Chapters, day-3 at The Paper Hound, day-4 at The Library Store and day-5 at Albion Books.

I managed to make an appearance and get a few copies on the shelf at Golden Age Collectibles, Criterion, UBC Bookstore and International Books & Novelties. All in, we made it to nine bookstores in downtown Vancouver.

By nite, we were carnivores. I remembered watching a show on the Travel Channel one time that touted the best restaurant in Vancouver as Vij's. It was an Indian spot; and not particularly a typical cuisine in Vancouver, but it was still touted as the best restaurant by far in Vancouver. As Brad and I dined, our taste buds danced like the people on Broadway. I had never reached what I thought was Umami until eating at Vij's. Eating his fare and complimenting the spicy dishes with wines like Reislings from the Alsace Lorraine region of was just phenomenal...over the top. We additionally paired our dinner plates with Sauvignon Blanc and at the end of our dinner, Sauternes. It was perhaps the best meal I had ever had in my life.

Not terrible in their own right was The Absinthe Bistro, Bishop's, the Blue Water Cafe & Raw Bar, Meat & Bread, Minami, Five Sails and Tuc Craft restaurant. It was in total the best dining experience of my life; and I was able to share it with someone that I loved.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I received a call when Brad and I were at Vij's. The good news was that we had eclipsed the 1,000,000 copy mark; he bad news was that Dad had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He would begin chemotherapy the following week.

Knowing this, I cancelled the rest of the Canadian tour. While I would have liked to have continued on to the other four cities, Dad was a priority. He might not make it to ninety-eight, as the outlook looked rather bleak. After Vancouver, I boarded a plane. I would spend the next eight weeks with my father.

This meant missing most of the summer at Casa Amor and out the book on hold, but I knew in my heart that i was the only right thing to do. Brad understood when I told him that I would be with my father; mostly alone, until his passing. I wanted that time with him to be special.

Dad had always been a private person, but he explained when I entered the house for the first time since his diagnosis that he wanted me to be there till the end. While he did not know it, that had already been decided. Brad visited about every two weeks. He and my father developed a small bond, as I hoped they would and he asked my father if he could have my hand. At the age of seventy-eight, I had been proposed to.

Not surprisingly, the proposal was overshadowed much by my father's ailing condition. The chemotherapy was weighing on his every last bit of strength; both physically and mentally. He told me stories about the war, about his college days as an athlete, about the fun times that he and mother had and his favourite memories from my childhood and of he and the grandchildren; Liam and Isabella. His memory; despite his age, had stayed relatively intact.

Liam and Isabella flew in a few weeks later. They both could stay only a week, but I could see my father's face lite up when the grandchildren arrived. Isabella immediately started crying when she saw her grandfather. They had been close over the years, but she could see the frailty in his eyes and body. Liam was much more resilient, but I could also see the stress in his face.

What helped us all was knowing that he would be joining my mother in heaven. Undoubtedly, they had each been strong in their faith and had passed on those lessons to myself and the children years ago. My father even recalled the baptism of Liam and Isabella as he spoke with them. He requested time with the three of us individually each day.

Being his only daughter, I had been quite a special gift in his life. He adored Brady and was beginning to like Brad. After all, he had given him his blessing to marry me. A bride at nearly eighty I would be. Why God had waited so long after Brady to bring me Brad, I could nary understand; but I had never doubted his purpose for my life.

Isabella shared with me that my father had spoken with her mostly about being a dedicated mother and wife. After all, she was slated to be married as well and would soon want children of her own. While Ryan and she wanted some time to themselves initially, they each were in unison in the decision to have children. My father talked about the wife and mother that my mother was to me. He explained to Isabella that the learning curve to becoming a successful wife and mother could sometimes be a tough climb. However, he reassured her along the way that she had more than enough skills to make the transition from career woman to mother and wife seamless.

Liam got a similar discussion, but it was geared each day toward becoming the leader of his household. He was to become a provider; but that of a different kind of the average man. My father explained to Liam that the average man only thinks of his profession. He shared additionally that a job is not the "be-all-end-all" to providing for your family. To be effective, one must be a leader from the standpoint of having a leadership style based on Biblical principles. My father reinforced this with examples from his own life for seven days. By the time Liam and Belle had to leave, they were well versed in their respective areas. They had their marching orders, and were expected to carry them out.

The week went by too quickly for both of them and back to their respective places they went. Fortunately, Liam and Isabella were able to see each other that summer. Liam was an intern at the National Institute of Health and of course Belle was still in Atlanta. Since the flights from D.C. to Atlanta were cheap, Belle would fly up to D.C., which was only a thirty minute drive from where Liam was stationed for the summer.

I continued to be there for Dad along the way and Brad came every two weeks. To get my mind off the seriousness of the situation, we talked about his novel and the wedding plans. At this point, Brad was almost seventy, which was still quite young in my eyes. Have been through that decade, I was beginning to see myself as a lot closer to the end like my father than at the beginning of the "home stretch" that Brad was in. Hopefully he would still have a good twenty to twenty-five years; and I fifteen to eighteen if I were lucky.

Brad was good about being patient and spending long hours at the hospital. There were a few times that I allowed myself to leave Dad's side, but they were few and far between. Life was too precious to meet any of the final moments.

Dad passed away on a Sunday. He had "fought the good fight" for seven weeks. He went quietly in his sleep early that Sunday morning. I called Isabella first, then Liam and finally Brad. My father had made his own arrangements years before so there was nothing much to take care of. We would simply follow the requests of his last will and testimony.

Not many showed up for Dad's funeral, but who has many friends at ninety-seven. At that age, most of your friends have gone before you, and it is your younger neighbors and siblings perhaps that will attend. I, being the lone daughter; and two grandchildren were they main characters in this play at the end of Dad's life. He had lived well; and outside of the time with my mother, he had shared with me in his final days how proud he was of me and the book. He had followed the numbers even from the hospital, as he made me look them up each day before he went to sleep.

Despite the small number, we laid Dad to rest in great fashion. Brad and I thought the brevity and the privacy of the situation played out exactly as my father might have wanted. We decided to all get together as a family for dinner in Asheville at Table. Table had been a staple for Dad and Mom once a month. Pricey, but always well worth the money.

As we talked, Liam shared with the group that he had good news. He had been accepted to Yale Medical School. Middlebury, the University of Minnesota and now Yale would be added to his curriculum vitae.  Isabella and Ryan were as excited as I. Brad, too, thought that not only was it the next logical step for Liam, but he felt that Yale would be more than an appropriate place for his studies.

I was excited for Liam. I had never been to New Haven, Connecticut; not even when I had traveled thru the north during the fall with Brad to look at the leaves in bloom.  On a few occasions, Brady and I also had traveled the northeast in the fall. Fall was my favourite season until I started spending my summers at Casa Amor. Without question, it was soon time to have a serious discussion with Silvio.

My one more month went by quickly. I had sold 2,000,000 copies of my book by the end of September when Silvio and his wife returned from Tuscany. I told Silvio that I would be staying over a few days in San Diego and wanted to have a discussion with him. He agreed, and we decided we would eat together in La Jolla.

I knew exactly what I had to do. I had to offer Silvio a price he could not refuse. Brad agreed to go in on the purchase of the home. He would put up fifty-percent of the offer and I the other fifty. We were to be married after all, so what was the difference. The total amount of royalties brought in from the sales of my books now was over $5M. I knew I would have to offer Silvio at least $3.5M, so that would mean coming up with $1.75M.

Ellen wondered if Brad and I would be willing to do a Canadian tour?

She said she would be able to book Vancouver and Ontario for certain, but thought there were some other places that we would be welcome. I explained that Brad and I would discuss it and get back o her. The goal of coming to Casa Amor for the summer was to work on my novel and relax; however, we may have to do some thinking.

Brad thought that the Canadian tour idea seemed reasonable. From the west coast, we could easily get to Vancouver. From the east; after a quick flight to New York, we could drive into Canada and do the larger cities in the eastern half. We still took a week to "noodle" on it, and promised Ellen an answer in a week.

After mulling it over, we committed to five cities in Canada. Vancouver, British Columbia, Ontario, Montreal, Quebec and Toronto. In doing so, Ellen figured that we would be able to reach a minimum of 100,000 readers and perhaps sell 250,000 additional copies of my book.

Having had the "warm fuzzy" honeymoon feeling with the first book, I was beginning to focus on the mechanics and process to getting the second book written and into the hands of readers. Ellen had already committed to an advance and the amount was yet to be determined; but we knew it might be double or even triple that of the first.

I continued to talk with Dad and perhaps he went thru a small "spell", as he was being less like a grumpy-old man and more like the healthy father of a published author. He was still keeping track of my numbers, and we projected that by the end of the Canadian tour, that we may even crack the 1,000,000 copies sold mark.

I was excited to hit that number; and while I truly believed I would, I wondered how it would feel.