Speaking to the Italian Community About my Book, an Experience to Remember

I wanted to share with you of an unexpected literary event that took place today. I was asked by Italian journalist Marco Luciani (who previously interviewed me on an Italian TV show and radio station) to participate in an event at Casa d'Italia, celebrating authors of Italian origin, specifically from the province of Abruzzo. My father is Abbruzzese, and so I was honoured to take part in this event that included Mary Di Michele, a well-known Montreal author and poet who is currently a full professor in the English Department of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, where she teaches in the creative writing program.

Mary Di Michele to the left and me to the right.

Mary Di Michele spoke of her work and read from her novel Tenor of Love published by Simon and Schuster Touchstone (see synopsis below) and also some of her poems, one dedicated to her late father which was very touching. She is such a lovely person and we exchanged signed copies of our books. My daughter bought her poetry book The Flower of Youth.

Me reading the prologue from my novel Daughter of Mine.

I addressed the audience in Italian and spoke of my writing inspiration and of the role Italy played in my novel. I also read from my novel Daughter of Mine. Afterwards, I had the pleasure of selling copies of my book and speaking to interesting persons of the Italian community, among them Connie McParland from Guernica Editions. It was a pleasant evening, and I look forward to reading and reviewing Di Michele's books in the upcoming months. I'm still wowed by the whole experience!

Here are a description of Mary Di Michele's books:

Tenor of Love by Mary Di Michele

One summer day in 1897, a young singer, Enrico Caruso, arrives at the home of the Giachetti family. He has come to Livorno to sing on the summer stage with Ada Giachetti, a famous and beautiful soprano. Ada's mother offers him a spare room, and before Ada herself has a chance to meet the unknown tenor, her younger sister, Rina, arrives home from the market and falls fatefully in love.

With the help of singing lessons from Ada, Caruso wins the leading role in Puccini's new opera La Bohème. Although Caruso loves Rina, it is Ada he adores, and they soon become lovers. Heartbroken, Rina becomes an opera singer too, hoping to take her sister's place. For decades, the two sisters are locked in a struggle to be the star on Caruso's stage and in his bed, while Caruso's voice grows more and more unimaginably beautiful.

But as his relations with the two sisters break down in scandal and tragedy, the now world-famous Caruso builds a new life for himself as the star of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. There, far from the drama and passion of Caruso's Tuscan life, a shy young American woman will win his heart and, taking the greatest leap of faith of all, supplant Ada and Rina as his one true love.

The Flower of Youth by Mary Di Michele

Written as a kind of historical narrative in verse, the poems in this collection depict the coming of age and sexual awareness of the great Italian writer and film director, Pier Paolo Pasolini. The time of this story is World War II; the place is German-occupied northern Italy. Unlike his younger brother, Guido, who took up arms to fight in the resistance, Pasolini chose to help his mother set up a school for the boys too young to fight or be conscripted. The situation ignited an internal war for the young Pasolini that nearly eclipsed the historical moment: a battle within between his desire for boys and his Catholic faith and culture. In addition to the poems that juxtapose Pasolini’s struggle against the backdrop of political and cultural fascism, the book also includes a prologue and an epilogue that details the author’s pilgrimage to the site and her research into the time that shaped Pasolini as a man and as an artist.

A big thank you to Marco Luciani, Mary Di Michele and Casa D'Italia for making this experience one to remember!

Author Spotlight: Joyce DiPastena, Queen of Sweet Medieval Romances

As a book blogger, I've come to meet many interesting people in the community of authors, book bloggers, book publishers and publicists. Therefore, whenever I can, I will spotlight authors who are Italian, of Italian origin or write about Italy and its plethora of subjects.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Joyce DiPastena, an American author of Italian origin. Actually, her grandfather was from the region of Abruzzo, just like my grandfather! Joyce is proud of her Italian heritage, having told me about one of her trips to Italy with her sister. One of the things that touched me about Joyce is her kind-hearted nature. I once won a box of chocolates from one of her contests and although the chocolate company did not deliver to Canada, she insisted making alternative arrangements to deliver the box even though this would have been costly. I told her she could pass on the prize to someone else, but she told me no way, you'll get your chocolates. Thank you, Joyce!

Joyce has a degree specializing in medieval history, and let me tell you, she knows her stuff when it comes to the medieval era. A few years ago I asked about the genre she writes and why, this is what she said:

"I write medieval romances, although I tend to include so much additional plot alongside the romance that I had an agent tell me I don’t really write romances at all. But they’re all romances to me. There may be a lot of other stuff going on…mysteries, assassination attempts, medieval politics…but at the heart of each story is a man and a woman falling in love against all the odds around them.

I became fascinated with the Middle Ages back in high school, when I read The Conquering Family by Thomas B. Costain. I fell in love with King Henry II of England. Not “romantic” love. There was just something about the way his contemporaries described him that stirred a great affection in me for him. He seemed to be one of those rare kings who was actually more interested in trying to improve his country than in simply enjoying the “glory” or “privileges” of his rank. He is described as a man who hated war, even though circumstances forced him to spend most of his adult life at war. He was a man of tremendous energy and intellect. And he laid important foundations to the legal system that we have inherited from England and enjoy ourselves today.

His legacy was marred by his quarrel with Archbishop Thomas á Becket, and the son who succeeded him, Richard the Lionheart, is a more flashy character of legend. But everything I’ve read about Henry II since those high school days has only increased my love and admiration for this man. Loyalty’s Web and Illuminations of the Heart are both set during his lifetime, and although he has not yet actually appeared on the scene in any of my books, the references I make to him, small though they might be, are my own way of paying tribute to this great, underappreciated king."


I have read two of Joyce's books, Illuminations of the Heart and Dangerous Favor, both of which I enjoyed. You can find out more about Joyce and her books by visiting her website.