BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY 2nd Blog

BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY INTERVIEW

Welcome again friends and newcomers to A Writer's Journey at Staten Island, NY!! Today's post will give you an even better understanding of my two books.

Today, until midnight, there will be time to enter the contest by leaving a comment. Two winners, randomly selected, will win either . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang or The Cat Who Wanted a Dog. For Those already having these books, I will substitute another ebook I think you will like. This contest for Rave Review Book Club runs through April ending with a super grand prize. Go to the site and browse other author's as well.

I hope you will enjoy this interview of Noelle by Nancy Jardine. I have written the answers to Nancy's questions based upon things that Noelle said while alive. Her ending statements are what I believe she would have said and felt, using author intrusion and also things she said to her nieces and nephews after passing on from this realm.   

How does a mother explain love?

How does a mother let her child go?

A child so beautiful, funny and bright

Who breathes life into every moment,

Draws bird pictures

Does cartwheels in autumn leaves

Sings down country lanes

                                                        There is no explanation

...And The Whippoorwill Sang  Interview By Nancy Jardine

On Welcome Wednesday I have opened my blog to many different sorts of writing. Sometimes it has been my own, sometimes guest posts from an author, and at other times it has been an author interview.

Today, I have a friend visiting from the US who has brought along a character from her memoir...And The Whippoorwill Sang. So, in a sense, it's a character interview. But it is a poignantly different type of investigation.

Micki Peluso's account is a recreation of her own experience, the loss of a young teenage daughter a main theme of the writing. It demonstrates how Micki, and her family, have dealt with such sad bereavement.

Doing a character interview can be a fun thing to do that's, often, only vaguely challenging. When the character is from a story that happened in real life, and died in tragic circumstances, it's quite another kind of test for the author to recreate. 

I'm so pleased that Micki Peluso has allowed us to have a little glimpse of her daughter, Noelle Marie Peluso. As such, Noelle is not really speaking in the present; more like how her life was many years ago before her time on earth was abruptly and shockingly ended and how she connects to her family situation now. Think of the answers being given for both a time in the past, and from a perspective of present interaction.

Welcome to my part of the world, Noelle. Let's get to know you a little bit. 

Can you describe yourself in only six words for my readers, please, Noelle?

I am 14 and in love.

That is quite a description and you seem to be having a fun time! Where are you currently living?

I live in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in this great haunted 100-year-old farmhouse with my parents, five brothers and sisters and ghosts. I love it here, except for the bats that single me out.

Had you been there all your life?

No, it seems all my life we just keep moving. I even wrote a poem about it. Each time a new baby arrives we must move to a bigger house, and then mom insisted we leave our house and friends in Long Island, New York and move to Las Vegas, Nevada because of the drug situation. My little sister, Nicole called it ‘Lost Vegas,’ but me and Kelly, my sister and best friend, hated it there. My oldest sister, Kimber, was seventeen and loved it. Mike, sixteen and Dante, fifteen liked to explore the desert and their high school was cool. My school was in a trailer and I hated it. We were younger then: Nicole only four, me eight, Kelly, eleven. Mom kinda liked Las Vegas because her best friend lived there, but daddy, like me, also hated it because he couldn't find a high paying job like in New York. 

How do you mainly spend your days just now?

Well, we all have chores but I usually skip out on mine. I’m the clown of the family, tricking my brothers and sisters to do my jobs while I keep them laughing at my TV imitations. I do a great Groucho Marx.  Kelly got me a job with her, babysitting for a bunch of kids. Course I got Kelly to do the work while I played with the little toddlers and babies. I earned money to buy my new school clothes. Mom sews a lot of our clothes and Kim, Kelly, and I love them, but Nicole wants ‘store bought’ clothes. Mom says someone must've switched babies at birth. Nicole agrees with her.

You're only barely into your teens but what career path do you think would be a good one to follow?

At 14 there's not much else besides babysitting to do to make money, but I want to be a lawyer when I grow up and have six kids just like my mother. She's the best mom a girl could have and I want to be just like her. She never got to go to college but I will – I have great dreams for my life especially since I fell in love with Chuck. I feel he's my soul mate.

What's your favorite reading material?

I love to go to the park down the country road from our house and read Harlequin romance books. Sometimes I meet Chuck there and we talk. He kissed me for the first time the other day and it was heaven! We know we’re meant for each other.

Young love, indeed! That sounds very mature in some ways, quite sure and definite a statement, and yet at 14 there's still a lot to learn about relationships with boys. If you had to change things. What would you do first?

Well, I had a rough time when we first moved here and I went to junior high school. I got depressed because the snotty girls who come from rich families ignored me. I convinced mom I was sick a lot and missed school. She'd make me scrambled eggs and we'd hang out together. She had a similar time in high school and gave me good advice. When kids make fun of you, make them laugh with you and not at you. I realized I was a bit of a comic and took her advice. Soon I was accepted and made many good friends. I became a star basketball player and joined the band, which helped. Mom asked me if I knew the song ‘Long Long Ago, Far Far Away.’ We had just learned it and mom said, then go play that trumpet far far away. Guess you know where I get my sense of humor.

Those are very positive approaches to tackling what can be a very nasty problem. If not Chuck, who or what else would be the love of your life?

I love life. I enjoy each moment. Kelly thought I was nuts one day when we bought new school clothes and then decided to go for a bike ride. I couldn't decide what to wear so I put on layers of my entire new clothes at once. Kelly's a little too organized and rigid and said she was saving her clothes for a special occasion. I told her I thought a bike ride was special enough. After all, you only live once. I love my family more than anything, but my love for Chuck is new and different and I’ve never been so happy.

What is your favorite way to travel?

Certainly not traveling in our station wagon, all six of us and our huge St. Bernard, Luna, who upchucks, making everybody else throw up except Dante. Dad gets furious, but mom brings bags for us. Course Luna didn't know how to use them. Mom always looked out the window so dad wouldn't see her grin. But traveling out West in a dilapidated camper built for four was so fun-- at least for me and my brothers. Kelly kept asking if we'd left the country and Nicole cried, wanting to go home. Kim loved it, until we forgot her and left her in the desert at a gas station. Mike laughed but Kim looked shook up even as she claimed she knew we’d come back for her. When I was 12, Grandma took Kelly and me by bus to Canada to visit a Catholic shrine and that was a blast. Lucky for me, Grandma and Kelly had a sense of humor, as well as a lot of shock over my shenanigans.

What is your biggest goal?

My goals were violently taken away from me on August 23, 1981. My friend and I were walking to the park to hear a concert. I begged mom to let me go and paid her a dollar to do the dishes for me. She laughed and finally gave in. The last words I said to her as I ran out the front door, was, ‘Bye Mom.’ I was telling my friend as we walked that I hoped Chuck would be there. That's all I remember. The next 10 days I was between two worlds. I could not move and I heard the doctors say I wouldn’t live. Mom and my family were with me day and night and mom told me I was in an accident but would be all right. I fought to live for my mom and dad and family and began communicating by blinking my eyes for yes and no. I heard the doctors try to convince my parents take me off life support, but they refused. I'd always said if I was paralyzed I would not want to live, but I couldn't let my family down.

On one visit, after seeing tears running down my cheeks, mom whispered in my ear that it was okay if I wanted to go Home and followed the light to Heaven's realm. I felt free at last . . . And soon after I left my body. I know now my goals were met, according to God's will, in my short life. Now my goal is to remain close to my family, appearing to those, especially my 10 nieces and nephews, who can see, hear or sense my presence. I told the little ones who could see and hear me the clearest that mom would survive her heart attacks. And she did. Now my goal is to wait for my loved ones to come home to me. Time doesn't exist here as it does on Earth. Years are but a second and then we’ll all be together again. And so I wait.

Beautiful answers, Noelle, thank you. 

A little fun now for the readers, Noelle. Which do you like best?

Candy or fruit? Candy

City or countryside? Countryside

Reading or walking? Reading

Puccini operas or Rihanna? Neither

Thank you very much indeed, Noelle, for being interviewed today. 

https://www.twitter.com/mickipeluso

 

http://www.amazon.com/Whippoorwill-Sang-Micki-Peluso/dp/1466497076/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347680072&sr=1-1&keywords=Micki+Peluso

 

https://www.facebook.com/AndTheWhippoorwillSang/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBqEUid2lq0&t=129s

                                               The Cat Who Wanted a Dog

True story of a cat who wants his own little dog but is in for a big surprise Hi boys and girls, I'm Toby, a handsome cat if I say so myself. I do whatever I want but Grandma and Grandpa think they own me! My favorite thing is to take Grandma's shiny jewelry and hide it. Grandpa is still looking for his favorite pen. I have one friend, Casey, a wild cat who lives outside but she tells me through the screen door about the outside world. I was a happy, cool cat until---well, read what I wrote about the day Grandma invited the 'Monster' to visit. Yikes!

And Kids, please try to color in the lines when you color me. I am a bit fussy about my hair. When you read the book you'll find out why!!!

Here's what I look like in real life. I'm also a doctor. Cat's purring causes sound waves that heal us and our human and animal friends. I even make house calls. I can sense when an animal or dog is sick. Grandma things that's pretty cool but Granpa says we are both crazy. 

REVIEWS

ByD.L. Finnon January 13, 2017 ebook &: Paperback|Verified Purchase 5 stars

This is a children’s book based on a true story about a cat named Toby. What is unique about this book is you can color in it, too--so it is worth buying in print form just for that. I got this to read to my grandchildren ages ranging from: eight to one and a half years old. I sat down individually with each of them starting with my six-year-old granddaughter, who is just starting to read and loves cats and dogs. This was the perfect story for her, plus the bonus she could color in it after! She had the crayons out the minute we finished reading. Everyone else got to enjoy her coloring, including her eight-year-old brother. He listened quietly and asked a lot of questions about the animals. He was very engaged in the tale of Toby. Although, he passed on the coloring portion he liked the story. The youngest, at one in a half, could not sit through the story, but was more than ready to color and loved the pictures of the cat and dog. She is usually being told not to color in books, so a nice addition for her! What an endearing story, that we could all relate to no matter what our age! I will be reading this many times to my grand kids, and it will be a little different each time as the coloring continues.

5.0 out of 5 starsDelightful!

ByBette A. Stevenson August 31, 2016

Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase

After reading Micki Peluso's memoir and several of her short stories, I could hardly wait for her first children's book to arrive in my mail box. The day it arrived I was not disappointed. Peluso's unique sense of humor shines through in this delightfully written and illustrated coloring book for kids. I highly recommend it for children of all ages. Whether a read-aloud or read-along, the whole family is sure to smile. And lessons on friendship will long be remembered. My grandson loves The Cat Who Wanted a Dog and so does this still-laughing-out-loud grandma. ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author of award-winning picture book Amazing Matilda (Children's Literature): The Tale of A Monarch Butterfly and other inspirational books for children and adults.

https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Who-Wanted-Dog/product-reviews/1532936141/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent