Author Interview ~ Patricia Pellicane

Hey all, it's another lovely day here at The Menagerie. Today on the couch we have with us Patricia Pelicane whose newest book, To Save Emmy, just released this week from Total e-Bound. Let's all give her a nice warm welcome. :-D

Welcome to The Menagerie, Patricia! So glad you could hang out with us today. Make yourself comfy and let's get started. Where are you from?

Long Island, New York.

Great, why don't you tell us your latest news.

Had two new babies (Grandchildren) born into the family last year, numbers 14 and 15. Adorable. Even more so because they go home and I get to take a nap.

How great is that! My mother says the same thing about my kids... When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I was very shy about being a writer at first. I told no one but my family. But one day I was enrolling my youngest in school and was asked, “What kind of work do you do?”

For the first time, I said, “I’m a writer.” And the woman filling out the form looked at me for a long moment then said, “I’ll put down housewife.”

Why she did that, I’ll never know, but I was never shy about it again.

LOL, how odd... I might have snatched that paper back and put writer down myself, lol. What inspired you to write your first book?

I was hooked on romances. Most of them were really good, but this one snuck in and I read it. It was awful. I remember thinking to myself. “Even I can write better than this.”

So I tried. The first book got 26 rejections. Some might call me thick-headed, some might be a bit kinder and say tenacious, but I only got mad and sent it out again. It never sold. But the second one did.

LOL, nothing wrong with tenacious. Especially if it gets your next book sold. Do you have a specific writing style?

I suppose I do but I can’t tell you what it is. Doesn’t everyone have their own style?

Yup, we all have a style... How did you come up with the title?

Titles are the hardest part for me. Often, after I’ve already named it, I write a particular phrase and think I should have named it that, but mostly it’s too late. Early on in my career, when I wrote for Pocket, Zebra and Avon, mostly the editors titled the book. No matter what I said, they came up with what they liked and used it.

I have a hard time with titles as well. Why can't I leave it "Max's Story"? Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Most often there is not, except perhaps for 'good will out'. My work is basically escapism.

Well, 'truth will out' is a good message to have. How much of the book is realistic?

Usually none.

None of it? Not even the interactions? Wow... lol. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Kathleen Woodiwiss was always my number one favorite. I haven’t seen anything of hers for a long time. But when she started writing I could only hope to be that good.

Yes, she's beautifully descriptive. What book are you reading now?

James Patterson’s ‘Swimsuit’.

Haven't read that one yet. What are your current projects?

Right now I’m starting the third book of my contract for Resplendence. I’ve promised another to Total-e-bound by mid May and more to follow. This year, so far, 9 books are to be released.

Wow, how great that you're keeping so busy! Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Always Mary, the mother of God.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Although I write them extremely hot, the sex scenes are the hardest. First of all you can’t repeat from book to book. There are only just so many words like delicious, ecstasy, and mind-boggling rapture to choose from. Second, you have to make sure all the pieces fit, and I don’t mean him and her fitting. I mean you can’t leave a leg dangling around his neck and just walk away. You can’t drop more than two shoes to the floor. You have to choreograph it and it has to make sense.

*snort* I love when I forget to remove certain articles of clothing that would make it impossible to ... finish if they were still being worn. :-D Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Hope you enjoy what I’ve done so far. Let me hear from you.

How long does it take you to write a book?

If I’m writing a full length novel it takes close to a year. I’ve done two in one year but that’s a killer. Right now I’m doing ebooks and I can get one out a month, (Also a killer) but they’re better stories if I take an extra few weeks.

Ah, so you keep pretty busy. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I write six days a week and always do at least five pages a day. If I don’t I’ll never meet a deadline.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Cook. I like to try new recipes.

What does your family think of your writing?

They’re very proud of me, but think I should be rich after all I’ve written. I think so to, but…oh well.

LOL, if only it truly worked that way. How many books have you written?

Twenty two full length novels. So far twelve ebooks.

Wow... like I said, busy lady! Which is your favorite?

I have a couple of favorites. ‘Captivated’, I wrote that under Colleen Corbet for Avon. Love the heroine in this one. 'Fires Tender Kiss' for Zebra. This one was a best seller.

Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?

Never, never give up.

What do you think makes a good story?

Conflict and passion.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

Be a mommy.

Me too! And now for our "absolutely-nothing-to-do-with-writing" questions: What animal do you think makes the best pet and why?

I’m not much into animals, I mean I don’t hate them, but after raising six kids, I’ve worked hard enough. Don’t need anything to make me work harder. Now cats are different. I like them cause they’re quiet and clean.

LOL, good points. Do you hate how you look in pictures? Why or why not?

Yeah. Have to lose weight.

Do you have any strange handwriting habits, like capitalizing all your “r”s or dotting your “I”s with heart (or anything like that)?

No, went to Catholic school. The nuns frowned on hearts for dots.

Yeah, I'll bet they did! You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

I had seven children. Raised six. My second child died. They call it a crib death. If I could get rid of anything it would be that.

I'm terribly sorry you had to go through that. When you looked in the mirror this morning, what was the first thing you thought?

Lord help us. Who the heck is that?

LOL! What’s a saying you use a lot?

Who cares? I couldn’t care less.

Where did it originate from?

Ditto.

:-D What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?

It’s not strange to me, but I love tripe. Made with sauce and oregano, onions, olive oil. Very peasant Italian.

LOL, What do you want to know about the future?

I want to know that I’ll lived to be 92, then get shot by my lover’s wife.

*snort* And what a way to go! Have you ever cried during a movie? If yes, which one and why?

Yes. The Lovely Bones. Also, the Passion of the Christ.

Have you ever made a crank phone call? If yes, explain what you did.

Of course, when I was a kid. Called for cabs and pizza to be delivered to the house across the street. We tormented that old lady. She was mean and deserved it. Obviously I was a brat.

Well, at least you admit it now... What is one thing scientists should invent?

A cure for aging.

Are you a morning person or a night person?

Definitely night. I hate to get up before 11:30 but I don’t go to sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. Sometimes even later.

Boy, I can relate to that! Do you like thunderstorms?

Love them as long as I’m inside.

LOL, don't we all. If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for?

Already told you, how I want to die. I’d wish for that and maybe a lot of money.

:::shaking head and grinning::: Well, this has been fun. Thanks so much for hanging out with us today, Patricia, it's been great getting to know you. Go ahead and hang out with the Cabana Boys if you'd like, they'll take good care of you. *wink*

Patricia Pellicane lives with her husband on Long Island in New York. Her six children live in neighboring towns as do most of her fifteen grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is reading. Patricia insists her ideas for stories come while doing dishes. “Could anything be more boring? It’s nearly impossible to keep your mind from wandering.”

I started writing in my early thirties. I never imagined writing as a career before that. I was thinking about going back to school for accounting. At the time, I was hooked on romances. After reading a particularly awful one, I thought, “Even I could do better than that.” “I tried it. I got 26 rejections which, thick-head that I am, only made me more determined. The book never got published but I was bitten by the bug and the second one did.”

In a recent interview she was asked. How hard or easy is it for you to write? Patricia returned with, “Someone once wrote. ‘Writing is easy. All you have to do is put a sheet of paper in a typewriter and stare at it until blood forms on your forehead’. Sometimes writing is exactly like that. And other times it’s a wondrous happening where words flow from mind to fingers to computer screen almost without conscious thought. It doesn’t matter which way it works for you. Once a writer begins the journey, they’re hooked. It’s a drug and you can't stop looking for that next story, that next high.”

To Save Emmy by Patricia Pellicane

She wanted the one thing he couldn't give.

It was only a favour, after all, but Nick couldn't believe his best friend could ask him for that.

Lady Emily Redford has asked her best friend for pointers on how to make love. He is astonished at the request. Why ask him? She is recently widowed. Why doesn't she know?

Emily explains she is about to take on a completely new lifestyle. She will be taking lovers. Horrified, he asks why not simply marry again? Only Emmy isn't interested in the holy state. Nick is aghast upon realising not only is she about to take lovers but her first is the worst rake in all of London.

Nick cannot allow it. He must save her from herself, but who will save him?