Patricia Sands

Author

Author Promotion

Get to know author Patricia Caviglia

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Patricia Caviglia is a bright new voice on the roster of Canadian writers. An exotic mix of Brazilian, Italian and French cultures influence the personality of this young woman in her mid-thirties. After growing up in Montreal and tasting life abroad with a six-month stay in Italy in her twenties, she moved to Toronto 5 years ago. Somehow she manages to juggle a full-time career, raising a three-year-old daughter, and a dedication to writing. Her first published work, Masks, is a novella that has a message for all ages but is primarily directed to the YA readers.
What was your primary inspiration for your novella Masks?
In 2008, I was at a crossroads in my life. I had become a new mom and realized I was my daughter’s first and most important example of a woman. I felt that I could only teach her to pursue her dreams by pursuing my own – even if, in the end I failed. I hadn’t written in years, but it had always been my dream to be a published author. I went for it.

How do you initially develop your characters and do you find they begin to take on a life of their own as the story progresses?
I don’t think I develop my characters at all. Something will trigger their existence in my mind. With Masks, a movie [Tout est parfait (Everything Is fine)] about a clique of suicidal boys reminded me so much of being a teenager that I couldn’t shake off the feeling. A few days after seeing the movie, Rebecca, the main character in Masks, appeared in my mind.
My characters always have a life of their own. They have their interests, likes, dislikes, thoughts, pasts, dreams, bad habits, etc. Although they may only exist in my mind, they are fully formed people. If I want to know something about them, I ask them. I don’t debate whether something fits their life or not.
This sounds a little crazy but I’m sure a few fiction writers would say the same.

Are you drawn more to crafting short stories or is there a novel waiting to be unleashed?
I enjoy writing both. At times, I don’t feel like writing and have to push myself. Writing a short story can be just as hard as writing a novel. It all depends on the story. But with the short story, if I force myself to write, I know I will reach an ending fairly quickly. That makes it easier to motivate myself. With a novel, the page count alone leaves me a little ill. When I look at the bottom of the screen and see 235 words as the total word count, I think “Only 69 365 to go for a novel.” That’s scary!
Having said that, I love writing. Whether it’s a well crafted letter or e-mail, a blog post, a short story, song lyrics, or a novel, I enjoy it all.

As writers, we all have hopes as to what our readers will take away from a story. What were yours with Masks?
My stories don’t have any morals. I read because I enjoy a good story. I write because I enjoy writing. I hope my readers will enjoy my story. I hope that for a few hours, they will get lost in someone else’s life.

How does your writing reflect your personal view on life?
I like to dream about the possibilities, but I live with both feet firmly planted on the ground. I write stories that could be about anyone one of us. I’m sure there is a technical term but I don’t know what it is. I think of myself as a a real life fiction author.

You are such a busy woman. With a full-time career and a delightful three-year-old daughter, how do you find time to write?
I sleep little and mainly write after I get home from work around 10 PM for as long as I can. Last night, I was revising Masks for Kindle Publishing until three thirty.

Was there anything that came as a big surprise to you in your journey to become a published author?
I was surprised by how supportive my friends have been. They are proud of me for having finally published. They have always seen me as an author and were happy for me when I decided to pursue my passion.

What advice would you offer to writers who are considering publishing for the first time?
Start building your social media network when you decide publication is what you want. Blog, Tweet, Facebook. Do it all. If you don’t know it already, you will be hitting your head against the wall for weeks and months trying to figure all this stuff out. You need it to build an audience and promote your work. Get familiar with the sites.

I understand you are currently working on a couple of manuscripts. Are you willing to share anything about your next novel with us at this point?

One is a story about a rock star. I am debating how to publish it. It might be a serial of short stories. We’ll see.The other project is an offshoot of Masks. The main character is Diana Rainville, the awful best friend. It takes place a few years after high school and she’s still dealing with the consequences of her betrayal. I really like her. I hope readers will like her too. Lastly, I am currently revising Masks and releasing the new version as an e-book only on Amazon and Barnes & Noble on April 3.

To read samples of Patricia’s work and keep up with her latest projects, visit her website and leave your comments at http://www.patriciacaviglia.com

 

Interview with writer Melissa Foster

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I first met the talented Melissa Foster when I surfed into the relevant, informative, and entertaining (I kid you not … all that and more!) website she founded and hosts. Through many exchanges of communication, talking on skype, and the sharing of ideas, philosophies, and eventually personal experiences it is a pleasure now to also call her my friend.

Melissa is an author and the Founder of The Women’s Nest, an online social and support community for women. She writes an on-going column in Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Prior to writing, Melissa owned and operated a consulting firm specializing in human resources. Melissa and her husband have six children and live in Maryland.

Melissa’s interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.

Melissa’s Motto: “Enjoy each and every day. No one else will do it for you.”

Your debut novel, Megan’s Way, is a moving story of family and friends coping with cancer but it also has a touch of the paranormal. What was your motivation behind this?

I believe that every story needs to leave the reader with a bit of wonder, and maybe even a bit of hope. Megan’s path took her away from so many people who loved her, but she wasn’t really “done” being with them. The paranormal aspect allowed Megan to complete her journey and leave when she — and her friends– were ready to accept her death. I would like to think readers will come away with a sense of wonder of what may be discovered after we leave this earth.

How do you initially develop your characters and do you find they begin to take on a life of their own as the story progresses?

Every time I’m asked this question I cringe. It’s an important question, but my answer seems too silly to be real–but I assure you, it is. I don’t write about a character until I can feel her/his feelings, see her/his face, and have a feel for their personality. Some stew for a while before they’re ready to find themselves on paper, while others appear a bit vague, but each of them grow and change as the story develops. I’m even surprised at what they do and who they become. Getting to know the characters is one of the most fun aspects of writing.

The setting for Megan’s Way is Cape Cod and you display an intimate knowledge of the area. How so?

I’ve been visiting the area for 42 years, and I never fail to find many new and beautiful sights every year. There are few things in life as beautiful as mother nature and as interesting as the differences in people, and Cape Cod is home to some of the most beautiful sights and interesting people I know. The smell of the ocean and the bay coalesce, creating an aura of an ever changing environment–from the landscape to the air itself. For me, that brings a level of creativity that is hard to match.

As writers, we all have hopes as to what our readers will take away from a story. What were yours with this novel?

My wish is that readers come away with a feeling of hope, and a renewed sense of forgiveness. Everyone has secrets, and the reasons are not often fully revealed, so it takes trust in mankind and acceptance of those we love to see past our own judgments and to accept that the decisions made by others might be the best they are able to make at that specific moment in their lives.

How does your writing reflect your personal view on life and what you bring to your daily interactions?

In some cases it’s very closely aligned, and in others it’s so far off the mark that I wonder how I can even write such things.

You are such a busy woman. How do you manage to find time to write when you also paint, run the very popular women’s website The Women’s Nest, and, most importantly, are the mother of six?

Time is an interesting thing. There’s never enough, sometimes I wish for less, less time to worry or stress about things, while other times I wish for more–whether it be to spend with the kids or write, it seems there’s never enough for either. I write when the kids are in school, and at 2:45, my formal writing time is over, and my kid time begins. I don’t write during the summers at all. That’s my time to spend with the kids, and to focus on them. It’s also my rejuvenation time. Writing for almost six hours each day is like a dream come true to me, but being with my children is an equally exciting dream come true.

The Women’s Nest is my fun place, or my escape, like a girl’s day out every day of the year. I never have enough time in that sense, because I’ve made great friends on the Women’s Nest, and would love to sit and chat all day long! My painting, I’m sad to say, has taken a backseat to my writing. After I donated six murals to the Hospital for Sick Children, I jumped full-time into writing and have only briefly looked back. My mural site, Kids Murals By Melissa, remains active, and perhaps someday I’ll return to it.

Overall, though, I don’t think I’m any different than any other mother. I have my kids, my work, and my hobbies (let’s not forget my always-supportive husband). Once you have two children you are outnumbered anyway, so having six versus two is no great shakes. You’re just a little busier and are blessed with seeing many beautiful faces each day. Happiness and controlled chaos is about all one can hope for:-)

Was there anything that came as a big surprise to you in your journey as a novelist?

Everything! From my characters to the fact that people would buy and enjoy my book.

What advice would you offer writers who are just beginning to work on a novel?

Write and don’t look back. Don’t think of what readers will think. Just follow your heart and be careful not to try to take everyone’s advice (including mine). Be true to yourself. If you’re happy with your writing, others will be, too.

I understand you are currently working on a couple of manuscripts. Are you willing to share anything about your next novel with us at this point?

Always! Thank you for asking. I’m just completing a commercial fiction manuscript called Chasing Amanda. Here’s a brief description:

Nine years ago, Molly Tanner witnessed a young girl’s abduction in the busy city of Philadelphia , shifting her occasional clairvoyance into overdrive. Two days later, the girl’s body was found, and Molly’s life fell apart. Consumed by guilt for not acting upon her visions, Molly escaped the torturous reminders in the city, fleeing to the safety of the close-knit rural community of Boyds, Maryland.

Molly’s life is back on track, her son has begun college, and she and her husband have finally rekindled their relationship. Their fresh start is shattered when seven-year-old Tracey Porter disappears from a local park near Molly’s home. Unable to turn her back on another child, and troubled by memories of the past, Molly sets out to find Tracey, jeopardizing the marriage she’d fought so hard to hold together. While unearthing clues and struggling to decipher her visions, Molly discovers another side of Boyds, where the residents–and the land itself–hold potentially lethal secrets, and exposes another side of her husband, one that threatens to tear them apart.

I’m also hard at work on my third fiction novel, (working title) Come Back to Me.

Pat, thank you so much for taking the time to interview me. I loved The Bridge Club, and look forward to your next novel, as well as having you on the Women’s Nest as a guest author.

It’s my pleasure, Melissa. You are a wonderful role model for all women and truly one of the most positive, upbeat people I know. Write on!

Click here for Melissa’s website and here for The Women’s Nest

Terry Fallis, Lisa Genova – what a week!

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I have been so fortunate this week to meet and speak with two outstanding authors, both of whom were very inspirational to me when I was writing The Bridge Club. I have followed the careers of these two novelists with great interest.

Today I attended Podcamp at Ryerson University with my friend and fellow author Patricia Caviglia. Walking out of the building, we had the lovely surprise of meeting Canada Reads winner, Terry Fallis, on his way in. With absolutely no one else around we introduced ourselves, congratulated him, and chatted for ten minutes about the wonderful success of his novel, The Best Laid Plans, and the writing world in general. He is as charming and friendly in person as he appears in the media and it was a thrill to have that time with him.

Last Thursday I attended an author event at the Chapters/Indigo flagship store at Bay and Bloor. There I had an opportunity to speak with Lisa Genova who wrote the amazing Still Alice and has just published Left Neglected. Also speaking at the event were Jeannette Walls and Elena Gorokhova It was interesting to hear them compare their experiences and habits as writers and discuss their motivations for writing these best-selling novels. This event was presented by Chapters/Indigo and hosted by CEO Heather Reisman who has probably done more for encouraging reading over the past few years than any other Canadian with her “Heather’s Picks” and support of literacy programs in schools.

Girlfriends are good for your health …

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A friend just sent this to me and I want to share it with you.

They Teach It at Stanford

As reported by a woman who had just finished taking  an evening class at Stanford. The last lecture was on the mind-body connection – the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head  of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a  woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.

At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.

Women connect with each other differently and  provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult  life experiences. Physically this quality “girlfriend time” helps us to create more serotonin – a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being.  Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf?

Yes.  But their feelings? Rarely.

Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health.  He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There’s a tendency to think that when we are “exercising” we  are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged—not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!

So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo let’s toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it’s very good for our health.”