#Guest: Elliot K. Carnucci is a Big, Fat Loser by Catherine DePino

Catherine DePino has sold thirteen books for parents, teachers, and children to mainstream publishers. She self-published her fourteenth book, Elliot K. Carnucci is a Big, Fat Loser: A Book About Bullying because she wanted to give it a wider forum. Her background includes a BS in English and Spanish education, a Master’s in English education, and a doctorate in Curriculum Theory and Development and Educational Administration from Temple University. The author worked for many years as an English teacher, department head of English and world languages, disciplinarian, and curriculum writer in the Philadelphia School District. After this, she worked at Temple as an adjunct assistant professor and student teaching supervisor.

Catherine has also written articles for national magazines, including The Christian Science Monitor and The Writer.

For many years she served on the board of The Philadelphia Writers’ Conference.  She holds membership in the Association of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Her new self-help book, 101 Easy Ways for Women to De-Stress, Reinvent, and Fire Up Your Life in Retirement,appeared on the market in March, 2014.

Links

Website

Facebook Author Page

Fire Up Your Life: 101 Ways for Women to Reinvent Themselves

Where to Buy: Amazon

 

1. At any given time do you work on only one story at a time and maybe plot out the next one or are there many ideas racing around your head?

Usually when I work on one story, I throw myself into it, giving it my full attention until the final edit Then, after I complete the book, I start thinking of another idea for a book, sometimes fiction, sometimes non-fiction. I enjoy writing for different age groups. Elliot K. Carnucci is a Big, Fat Loser: A Book About Bullying targets middle school kids but has something for everyone. Elliot is a ninth grader who faces harsh bullying from his classmates. The child of divorced parents, he lives atop his dad’s business, a funeral home in South Philadelphia.

I’ve had parents and grandparents tell me they enjoyed reading about Elliot. There’s a sub-plot involving Elliot’s quirky grandmother, Nonna. To the surprise of the entire family, she falls in love with Armand, a walrus-faced plumber. I tried to interject humor throughout the book even though it’s about a serious subject. Readers need comic relief with such a heavy subject. Also, some seniors who like oldies music told me they enjoyed walking down memory lane with Duke, the school custodian and Elliot’s mentor.

2. Is there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write in?

I’d like to try writing paranormal books for teens involving the Tarot. I’ve read Tarot cards for many years and find it fascinating. It’s the kind of thing people either love or hate, but for me, it’s fun and has opened up a whole new world. I’d like to write a book using psychic phenomena as a backdrop, but for now I’m concentrating on bully prevention (fiction and non-fiction), and grammar/writing improvement. I’ve written five books about bully prevention, three for children, one for parents and family members to help children cope, and one for teachers to use in mandated bully prevention programs. I’ve also recently published a grammar book to help adults improve their writing and speaking abilities. Before that, I wrote grammar books for teachers to use with their classes. All of my grammar books use a holistic approach that links grammar directly to writing. I’ve found that learning it in isolation doesn’t work.

3. Do you add an element of romantic suspense in your stories?

 

I interjected a romantic element in Elliot K. Carnucci is a Big, Fat Loser when Elliot started liking his classmate Rosalie. All the boys at school were in love with her, so it was highly unlikely that she would give Elliot a second look. Many readers were surprised when she did. There’s also romantic suspense involving Elliot’s grandmother and her boyfriend. Will she marry him and become Angela Carnucci Cacciatucci or live in the funeral home forever with Andrew, her funeral director son, and Elliot, her grandson?

4. Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you create for yourself? 

I’d have my very own writing studio in my Ocean City, NJ, seashore house with white wicker furniture and splashes of colorful flowers. I’d pipe in oldies, jazz, and classical music and write to my heart’s content.

5. If you could turn your novel into a TV show, which novel or series would you do? Where would it be set? Network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS), Cable (AMC, BBC, Lifetime) or Premium Cable (HBO, Showtime, Starz)?

If I could turn Elliot into a TV series, I’d want it to be on cable. It would chronicle Elliot’s and his friends’ success in helping other bullied kids turn their lives around. Of course, the setting would be in the funeral home where Elliot lives, with plenty of spooky hijinx to excite both kids and adults. We’d also learn more about Elliot’s mother, Rayna, who has recently moved back to the east coast from the west coast where she launched a career in commercials. Will his mom and dad get back together or will they stay divorced? Will Elliot’s grandmother Nonna stay with Armand, or is the marriage doomed to fail because she’s a totally liberated woman who won’t let a man tell her what to do? The series would also feature Elliot’s friends, Roy and LeBron, who stood by him when the other kids looked the other way while he faced cruel acts of bullying.

6. Finally, tell us about your latest release!

Out of all the books I’ve written, Elliot is my favorite protagonist. Although some may consider him nerdy, he has an endearing side in that he’s a true friend and he does whatever he can to help others in need. He shows this when he helps Anna Santiago, a girl who once made fun of him at school. At her father’s funeral, Elliot reaches out to her and comforts her.

Although Elliot is brutalized by a few bullies at his school, he perseveres in trying to find a solution to his problems. I consider him a true hero. I’ve used a high school as a setting for my story because that’s where I worked all my life, first as a teacher, and later as a department head.  I know the inner workings of schools and aimed to reflect that in the story. I’ve found that most school families have their share of loving, compassionate workers who go out of their way to help students. Mr. Boardly, the school custodian and Elliot’s greatest ally, works with Elliot to help free him of his bullying issues. By the way, I I patterned Mr. Boardly on Scotty, a caring custodian I knew who always had time to help kids and teachers in any way he could.

I’d love it if you’d write to me at my website, www.catherinedepino.com  to let me know what you thought of the book. If you have any comments or questions, please send them my way. It will make my day.

Catherine will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Be sure to comment!

Blurb:

   

The kids at Ralph Bunche Middle School love to pick on Elliot Kravitz-Carnucci. He struggles with his weight, looks like a geek, makes top honors, and lives above the Carnucci Home for Funerals in South Philadelphia with his distant, workaholic father and Nonna, his quirky, overbearing grandmother.

   

Since his parents divorced, he splits spending his time with his funeral director father and his mother Rayna, who dreams of becoming the queen of commercials on the west coast.

   

At the hands of his peers, Elliot experiences a series of bullying episodes that escalate from entrapment in a school supply closet to a brutal “swirly” (head dunk in the toilet) that lands him in the hospital emergency room.

   

Elliot has a small circle of loyal friends and a mentor named Duke, an aging school custodian, who root for him to overcome his bullying issues so that he can enjoy his life as a teenager and a budding singer/performer. Can Elliot win his fight against the nasty bullies, or is he doomed forever? Read this funny, sad, and crazy book to find out.

 

Excerpt:

“Help–I can’t breathe–let me out. Somebody help...”

I pounded the inside of the musty supply closet until my knuckles turned blue. Did anybody even have the key?

           

What if they don’t come? What if I’m trapped here all night?

           

I could hear loud voices and laughing, so I knew Kyle Canfield and one of his friends from the basketball team were there, waiting to see if I would cave in and plead for mercy.

           

The bell blared. Classes changed. Kids stampeded through the halls. Then, silence.

Finally I heard someone shout, “I’ve got the key, Doc.” 

          

“Thanks, Duke,” Doc Greely, the assistant principal, said to Mr. Boardly, the man who’d sprung me loose.

Mr. Boardly, the head custodian, better known as Duke, offered me his arm, and I stumbled out of the closet. He was as thin as his mop handle, but all muscle–no flab like me. A scruffy white beard covered half his face.

           

He slammed the closet door shut and bolted the lock. “One of the hall guards reported noise coming from this area. We came as soon as we heard.”

           

Duke patted my shoulder. “Let me know if I can help, Elliot.” I could hear his keys clanging as he walked down the hall humming “Duke of Earl,” that old sixties song he loved. That’s where he got his nickname.

“Up to their old tricks again, Elliot?” Doc asked on the way to his office.

#Guest @pmterrell and her new release The Pendulum Files

p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 20 books in five genres. A full-time author since 2002, Black Swamp Mysteries is her first series, inspired by the success of Exit 22 in 2008. The books include Exit 22, Vicki's Key, Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, Dylan's Song and The Pendulum Files. Vicki's Key placed as one of four finalists in the 2012 International Book Awards. Her historical book, River Passage, won the 2010 Best Drama Award, and her romantic suspense, The Tempest Murders, placed as one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards.

Prior to becoming a full-time writer, she founded and operated two computer companies in the Washington, DC area. Her specialties were computer crime and computer intelligence and her clients included the CIA, Secret Service and Department of Defense. Computer technology often weaves its way through her contemporary suspense/thrillers.

She is also the co-founder of The Book 'Em Foundation and the founder of The Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, an annual event to raise money for literacy campaigns. She also serves on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library and the Robeson County Arts Council, and served as the first female president for the Chesterfield County/ Colonial Heights Crime Solvers.

Where to find her:

website

blog

twitter

facebook

When I wrote Vicki’s Key, the second book in the Black Swamp Mysteries series, I needed to introduce a man that Vicki would fall for fast and hard. Being a research fanatic, I searched for studies that had been conducted on exactly what most women find attractive in a man—and what keeps them coming back for more.

The result was the introduction of Irishman Dylan Maguire. My research must have been on target because he was supposed to be in just one book. But when my editors and readers read the book they told me in no uncertain terms: Dylan will be a main character throughout the entire series. Period.

It all started with accents. It turned out that the accent that women love the most worldwide is Scottish followed by Irish and then Australian.

One characteristic women love is a great sense of humor. So when I was contemplating making the character Scottish or Irish, I gravitated toward the Irish because of their love of a good time, their reputation for being easy-going, their gift of gab and their love of humor.

Women still gravitate toward the tall, dark and handsome. So of course Dylan is taller than most with black hair and a body a woman can’t stop looking at (nor would she want to).

He has hazel eyes. We don’t hear much about hazel eyes anymore because green and hazel eyes are not as common as they once were. About the only place where those eye colors are common are in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

It turns out that women love a romantic man—someone who enjoys showering her with love, roses, attention and a good time. But they also want a man who can protect them. Dylan has been shown throughout the series to have a soft streak when it comes to the woman he loves; he is a true romantic. But he is also quite capable of defending her, even if it means murder.

I love writing the Black Swamp Mysteries series because the characters are so multi-faceted. With each book, we learn more about Dylan Maguire, particularly in Book Four, Dylan’s Song, in which he returns to his native Ireland to search for a missing CIA operative. From his accent to his muscle to his personality, he’s definitely a character I will be writing about for a long time to come.

And who would I want to play Dylan if the series was turned into film? My pick would be Kevin Ryan, an Irish actor who hails from Dublin.

p.m. will be awarding a beautiful Celtic cross necklace to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Comment on every stop to enter!

Blurb:

CIA operative Dylan Maguire joins forces with psychic spy Vicki Boyd to find out who is bombing merchant vessels bound for the United States from China. Their mission will lead them to Black Sites, the high seas and into covert operations. And when an assassin escapes from prison determined to finish the job he started, they find their personal lives and their missions are about to collide in ways they never could have imagined.

  

Excerpt:

Brenda was leaning her head against the window as if asleep and now she began to move her fingers ever so slightly toward the door handle. She kept her eyes on his reflection; he was focused on driving, his eyes locked on the road just as it had been before. Only his right hand was holding the steering wheel now; it had slipped to a three o’clock position.

A slight movement caught her attention; it was so subtle, she almost thought she’d imagined it. Then she spotted the glint of metal across his body, though the road still held his attention. Her fingers locked onto the door handle as the metal rose slightly up and away from his body. He turned his head as his left hand snapped forward.

She jerked the door open as the shot rang out. She felt something sharp and hot against her shin as she kicked herself away from the car. She tumbled onto the pavement before hitting the shoulder, the gravel feeling like a million razors slicing through her flesh. She heard her own voice as if it was disembodied, screaming as she forced herself to roll across the sharp gravel before plummeting down the incline, compelling herself to continue rolling even as she realized she’d been shot in the leg.

She heard the car’s brakes slamming, the tires squealing as the man struggled to bring the car to a stop. At seventy miles an hour, it should have taken the car further from her even as she rushed to escape. But when she came to her feet and looked back at the road, she estimated he was about three hundred feet further down the road—not far enough.

She ran toward the tree line, which now appeared too far away. As a second shot rang out, she knew his sights were set on her back, and she struggled to run straight, fighting the impulse to run opposite of him. It kept her profile smaller but when he shot a third and then fourth time, she could almost feel the bullets whizzing past her.

The third and fourth shots sounded increasingly louder and she knew he was running after her. Her breath was loud and labored, her blood pounding in her temples. Even as she drew closer to the shadows of the trees, she could feel herself slowing down. The adrenaline that propelled her down the slope and to her feet was fighting against the pain in her leg.

She could feel the blood oozing down her shin and pooling in her shoe, causing her to slip and slide along grass already slick with dew. Another shot rang out, whizzing so close to her hair that she thought it had passed through it.

She threw herself into the shadows, pushing herself beyond her leg’s endurance to keep going, to get into the pine forest, weaving and bobbing forward and eastward, away from the car, away from the interstate. Hopefully, away from him.

She wanted to stop; she wanted to pull some article of clothing off herself and wrap it around her shin to keep the blood in, to keep the flesh together, but she didn’t dare hesitate. She heard the branches cracking behind her; he was there and he was closing on her. Even as she propelled herself forward, she knew all he had to do was follow the movement of the branches ahead of him to know exactly where she was.

Where to Buy: Kindle

Paperback

Smashwords