This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Judith Light will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
I have two responses because I have two books in different genres: Coins in the Fountain is a memoir about living in Italy. I wrote this book because I wanted to inform and entertain my audience with stories about my husband’s and my adventures and misadventures over our ten years in Rome.
My new novel, The Measure of Life, is in the category of women’s fiction. For some time I have wanted to tell a story about women who are what’s known as trailing spouses. When their husbands accept employment overseas, they and the children are thrust into a totally new environment, leaving their own jobs and children’s schools behind. Often everyone settles in, but sometimes the stresses are overwhelming. My character finds herself adrift and her life spins out of control when she lands in Rome without support. How will she overcome the setbacks?
What research is required?
For Coins in the Fountain I used my own memories, tons of photos, and my daughter and husband’s memories along with fact checking locations in guidebooks.
For The Measure of Life, the novel, I had to decide which of the many Rome coffee bars, shops, and monuments needed to be in the story. It had to be just enough to set the scene and affect some of the heroine’s actions but not turn the story into a travelogue. So, I left out the Vatican and the Colosseum but used a few churches, bookstores and coffee bars. One important scene takes place in an archeological site north of Rome, a place that has always captured my imagination.
I relied on personal knowledge for the sections of the story that take place on an island near Seattle.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
For the memoir I learned I did a lot of dumb stuff!!
For The Measure of Life, I learned that overcoming a rift within a family is very difficult but that efforts must be made and success can be in reach.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
For Coins in the Fountain, I followed the natural course of a timeline so plot was not an issue.
For The Measure of Life I had a basic plot in my mind and on notes but then I allowed the characters themselves begin to fill out the details of the plot naturally as they interacted with each other.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
The first things I see are a trio of small pictures – a painting of fishing boats and fishermen on the beach from Sicily, a watercolor of a hill town in Tuscany, and an etching of an old farmhouse from the same area. Beyond is the door to my office which has a rust-colored silk Korean robe with gold medallions that I bought in Cambodia hanging over the door and a small calendar made of bone and bamboo sticks from Bali dangling from the door lever.
Anything new coming up from you? What?
My current work in progress is a novel about a woman from the Midwest whose life is upended when she inherits an old house in the Pacific Northwest and finds previously unknown family members lived there.
A story of love and loss, lies and truth, begins in Rome when Nicole shares a cappuccino and cornetto with her Italian tutor. The meeting sets off a chain of events that upends the course of her life. While Rome also brings deep friendships and immersion into a sumptuous food scene there is no escape from acknowledging the consequences of her actions. In search of forgiveness and healing, she moves to an island near her childhood home in Seattle only to find the way to reunite the remnants of her family and discover her true path is to return to Rome and face the past.
Read an Excerpt
Deirdre knocked on the front door right on time. No one in Rome ever showed up on the appointed minute for a social occasion. I opened the door in my violet silk dress and bare feet. “Hang on, I can’t find my shoes and I need to finish my makeup.”
“Oh my gosh—I should have said it’s casual. Are you sure about the dress? Remember it’s Vashon.”
“I’m dressed now. I haven’t had a chance to go out for months.” I ran upstairs to finish.
Deirdre said, “Uh, a bit much for here,” when I returned wearing open-toed platform heels complementing the purple dress. After a pause, she added, “Oh, don’t worry, it’s fine and we’re late anyway.” I could tell she was flustered about something. When we parked in front of the gallery, I could see people holding glasses of wine while they looked at the photos. All looked comfortable in jeans and sweaters like Deirdre. I could feel my face was beginning to match my dress. People paused conversations to welcome Deirdre and her unknown and strangely dressed guest: me. Some stared briefly. Not unkind looks, but more of astonishment their friend had found such an alien.
A woman rescued me by saying, “Hi. I’m Meg.”
About the Author:
My husband and I reluctantly returned to the US after four years. But we pined for the land of pasta, vino, art, and sunny piazzas. Then the gods smiled and offered a chance to return to Rome with the UN World Food Program. Six more years or food and frolic in the Eternal City passed much too quickly. The indelible experiences living in Italy and working for the UN were the genesis of my memoir Coins in the Fountain.
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Thank you for featuring THE MEASURE OF LIFE today.
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