Casting A Vote for Joy by Guest Author Malena Lott

We’re very happy to have Malena Lott as our guest today. Malena is a wife, mother of three, and brand and marketing consultant from Oklahoma. Dating da Vinci is her second novel. Her first novel, The Stork Reality, was published in 2006. Malena invites you to join her on Facebook and Twitter, and to visit www.malenalott.com to read an excerpt, enter contests and read reviews.


No bones about it. My new novel Dating da Vinci, a tale of love, longing and la dolce vita, is about someone stuck in grief, yet searching for joy. And, though I obviously hadn’t planned it that way, isn’t that what this election ended up being about? As a country, we’re stuck, and we’re looking for that rope in the quicksand to pull us out.

Anyone not happy the election is over? Happy. Now there’s a word we haven’t heard much about lately. In fact, with the stories of gloom and doom, it’s easy to sucked in to the where’s-the-Prozac tsunami. But as I watched Oprah on Monday during her Election Show, where her audience had hand-picked shirts saying what they were voting for (not who), I got that clouds-parting sort of feeling. Here is a sample of what their shirts said:

“I vote for Joy.”

“I vote for Peace.”

“I vote for Change.”

“I vote for Hope.”

I’d say “gloom and doom” just got served, with people voting for happiness, healthcare, jobs, prosperity, education. All good stuff. And it couldn’t come at a better time. If I recall, the holiday seasons should be about peace, love and, yes, joy.

While darker stories are still very much the order of the day if you look at the majority of releases, I can’t believe there isn’t room for stories with humor and heart. Stories like Dating da Vinci, which Publishers Weekly called, “satisfying and uplifting,” and a book blogger said would make you, “laugh, cry and fall in love all over again.”

Now you have the choice to cast your vote for joy, by picking up Dating da Vinci to experience one woman’s renaissance (awakening), and perhaps ponder your own. I’m Malena Lott, and I approve this message.

10 Replies to “Casting A Vote for Joy by Guest Author Malena Lott”

  1. Hear! Hear! I am totally with you Malena. It is a time for Hope and Joy and how about some laughter and fun (and, sure, why not a little romance, too). Not just because we are experiencing a sea change in American politics but precisely because the road ahead will be a hard one. Now we must all roll up our sleeves, make some sacrifices and do some hard work of digging our country out of the hole we find ourselves in. It won’t be easy. So we will need to grab onto whatever Dolce Vita we can while doing it.

    Your book sounds – and looks lovely. I can’t wait to read it!

  2. Thanks, Ladies! I’m off to a book signing here in my suburb of Edmond, OK later this morning, but I’ll be back to check comments after lunch. So let me know if any of you have questions for me! Wishing you a happy weekend.

  3. Best of luck with your novel, Malena! It’s so amazing to see how optimistic people have become, even in the face of some really daunting times. Hopefully this translates into lots of happy readers!

  4. Deb Kristina,
    I love to play with meaning and metaphor and thought it would be great to explore multiple languages and characters from all different cultures. On the surface, people and cultures seem so different, but when it comes to love, it truly is universal. And for Ramona, she speaks so many languages, yet she has great difficulty communicating and sharing so having to delve back in to her dissertation on the language of love forces her to face some difficult issues for her. And tying in some history of the Renaissance and the real da Vinci was a kick.

    Thanks for asking! I had fun with it!
    Malena

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