Squealer by Christopher Calcara

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Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I don’t restrict myself to any particular genre. I’m not a single-genre writer. While not my first novel, SQUEALER was my first real thriller. The unfolding plot in the story drew me to the thriller genre.

What research is required?

Any factual research necessary for SQUEALER was either accomplished via Wikipedia or historical materials related to Kansas City, since it and its criminal element play important roles in the novel.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

I learned from SQUEALER’s protagonist to live more openly and honestly, and then to let the chips fall where they may.

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I find that many ideas, scenes, words and phrases come to mind late at night, when I wake up in the middle of the night, or first thing in the morning. So I keep a notebook in the nightstand to jot them down. SQUEALER benefited greatly from these “midnight meanderings”. Much of the novel, in fact, was fleshed out during these odd hours.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

In the case of SQUEALER, I was a pantser. One idea led to the next and the words flowed. In other works, I’ve plotted. In all cases, the parts are constantly moving, so in that sense, I’m a plotting pantser.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

My checkbook. A pen and index cards. If I shift my eyes a bit further to the right, I see my bulb garden outside my study window, nearly fully in bloom with daffodils, iris and hyacinth. Its purchase made quite a dent in that checkbook, but remains a sweet diversion from writing conundrums.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

I’ve returned to a novel I began a few years ago. It’s about a sister and brother, her mental illness, and their complex relationship over the years, climaxing in his adoption of her child. As of now, I’m calling it The Marchesi Girl.

Do you have a question for our readers?

What book genre would you like to see more of, less of?

With tongue-in-cheek and dark overtones, Squealer examines the life of an impressionable Midwestern Catholic Italian choirboy who grows into a mob-worthy assassin in order to avenge high school nemeses from his past.

As ‘Pete Casanova’ takes us on a journey through the heart-land, his early ethnic and religious experiences expose the motivations for his deadly actions. We come to realize why, for him, it’s never too late to seek revenge.

Squealer addresses topics of physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse inflicted on students by their teachers and religious authorities. It deals with the difficult subjects of homophobia, prejudice and bullying, but with wit … and suspense!

Read an Excerpt

I arrived through a special entrance for visitors so as not to rub elbows with the “general population.” I wasn’t there for them anyway; I was there for Sal.

There was a crowd of us, mostly wives and girlfriends; a few court-appointed attorneys I’m guessing, by the way they were dressed in ill-fitting suits, wrinkled shirts and ugly ties. We dismissed Sal’s lawyer after the trial; there was no request for a costly appeal. He admitted what he’d done, pled guilty, accepted the verdict.

As for me, I was no longer uneasy there; I became accustomed to the pen. It was like visiting someone in the hospital. (Could jail have been where Sam and Rose went when they told us kids they were going to see someone in the hospital?) After a while, you get used to the sounds and smells, the mangled patients, the uncomfortable silences.

On the surface of the glass, when I focused, I could see the reflection of my own face but I saw Sal’s too. If his head was in just the right position, our faces superimposed each other and we became the same person, but distorted.

Sal turned away, toward the guard examining the room and its civilian occupants on the free side of the pane, and he said low, “So, you ever see Pennisi?” Once thick as thieves, Sal was there and Leonard wasn’t.

“I hear he’s still connected,” I told him. “Doesn’t he visit?” I asked, facetiously.

“He don’t come within a hundred miles of this place.” Sal slouched in the government-issued plastic chair. It screeched. The guard stared at us, lips curling, nostrils flaring. “Afraid they might nab him. Stronzo.”

I couldn’t tell who he was calling asshole—Leonard or the guard. Sal didn’t mind getting his hands dirty and protected Leonard when they worked the streets together. Other than your enemies, that’s the only kind of person you wanted close to you—someone who had your back. Like Nickie’s and mine, Sal fought Leonard’s battles.

About the Author:

After earning a degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Calcara created marketing campaigns for businesses and institutions featured in print and broadcast media.

He writes fiction and semi-fiction, short stories, memoirs, plays, novels, and screenplays. He has collaborated with composers to write plays with musical scores. Joan is one such musical play that lyrically exposes the soul of Jeanne d’Arc—Joan of Arc.

Calcara was the only Charleston writer to win the 2011 South Carolina Arts Commission Fiction Project. His short stories have been published by numerous literary journals. He has lived in the South, Southwest and Southeast, and currently writes from the Midwest.

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNAGN_S_-Vr2s0JIn5nlYWw
Website: https://chrisjcalcara.wixsite.com/website
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21162911.Christopher_Calcara
Facebook: "https://www.facebook.com/christopher.caruso.14
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJCalcara
Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Squealer-Growing-Gay-Catholic-Italian/dp/B08VRMMXST/ref=sr_1_1
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Squealer-Growing-Gay-Catholic-Italian-ebook/dp/B08TB6HTV8/ref=sr_1_1

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