Friday, July 25, 2014

Author Spotlight: Welcome Indie Author Joseph M. Rinaldo || VALERIE'S RETREAT



Valerie, a middle-aged woman, leading an average life as a head teller at a bank finally finds her soul-mate, Franco. He's sixteen years younger and studying for a Ph.D. in Archeology, but they click. 

Suddenly, the evil hand of fate causes their lives to fall into a downward spiral. They lean on each other. Trying to find happiness they happen to commit a little crime - make that a little felony, and dash out of the country. Now they're happy - mostly.

Buy Links:
Amazon (US ebook)
Amazon (US paperback)
Amazon (UK ebook)
Amazon (UK paperback) 


Hi Joseph! Welcome to the Snarkology!  Please tell us about yourself and your writing.

My name is Joseph Rinaldo, and I live in Nashville, Tennessee with my wife and daughter. As a family, we love to go boating, walking, and attending/volunteering at Special Olympic events my daughter participates in.

The actual impetus for me to begin writing came while I was reading Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks. When I got to the part where he received a million-dollar advance, I thought, “Holy cow! He’s a good writer, but I know I can do this, too.” I’ve been writing since that day in 2004.

That sounds like I’m in this for a money grab, which money for doing this would be nice, but writing is rewarding. In Valerie’s Retreat I hope to make Cougars less self-serving and more relate-able. In A Spy At home I hope people see those with Down syndrome, a form of mental retardation, as individuals to be accepted and not pitied. Hazardous Choices brings to life the difficulty a gang member would have trying to leave a gang and enter mainstream middle-class society. A Mormon Massacre follows a young man with a strong sense of justice trying to undo the wrongs created by selfish church leaders. All of these topics brought me joy and pain in the writing. Writing is enjoyable, but revising it and striving for high quality work is a hardship. Rewarding but hard.

What inspired your current book?

My background has a teeny influence on Valerie's Retreat. Valerie meets a man sixteen years her junior at a local church dance. My wife and I have the same age difference and met at the same kind of place. That got me thinking about Valerie’s Retreat, but I had to write it after REALITY TV made the older women in these relationships look so petty and sex-starved. I had to set the record straight and show an older woman who other women her age could relate to. 

The jokes Valerie must endure, such as, "Do you have to cut his meat for him?" are actual barbs my wife received during our dating process. Like Valerie, I also worked in a bank. Unlike Valerie, I never considered robbing the bank where I worked.

How do you come up with your book titles?

Titles are very difficult to create. You spend months writing a book with a story as deep and intriguing as you can make it; yet, afterwards, you have to sum that up in less than four words? After all that work, coming up a title almost feels insulting. I keep thinking, “My book is so much more than that!” Here’s my process: I write down several possible titles. My wife hates most or all of them, and we keep trying until we find one we like.

How do you name your characters?

Names are extremely important! Valerie received that name because I wanted it somewhat common but not ordinary. She could have been named Jennifer or Kim, but we all know several people with those names. How many people know two or three Valeries? As for Franco, her boyfriend, I wanted a name that made him sound just a touch exotic.

For writers reading this, as a practical matter I never use names like Ed, because I write in Word and often change the names of characters. If you do a find/replace on Ed you’ll end up with a thousand misspelled words.

Has anyone in particular been an influence on your writing? 

This question is not: Who does your writing style mirror? But people often read the answer and hear, "He likes Dan Brown, so that's what his books are like." I read a book by Bob Woodward about the CIA during the Reagan years. Shortly after that I wrote A Spy At Home. Garrison, a CIA operative in A Spy At Home, sees his professional life as a wasted career. The idea germinated while reading Mr. Woodward's book, however, none of the factual account from his work made it into my novel.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three modern conveniences would you take with you?
  • A Satellite phone, for the obvious reason. 
  • A Kindle with an exceptionally long battery life.
  • A lighter. I guess what I’m really saying is that I would want a way off the island once I got hungry.
Is there anything else you'd really like our readers to know?

I understand people are hesitant to give independent authors a chance. If any of the books I've mentioned interest you, please go to the free "Click to Look Inside" and sample the first chapter. If a book grabs you that quick, you'll probably be glad you got it. Also, if you are in a book club that reads one of my books, I'd be honored to join your discussion. Feel free to contact me through Facebook or my website, www.josephmrinaldo.com.

Quick quiz:

  • Favorite food? I’m not really into food. If I had to name something it would be either M&Ms or chocolate bars.
  • Favorite color? Scarlet and grey because I went to The Ohio State University
  • Favorite animal? Our cats; they’re very easy to get along with, as we obey them.
  • Biggest pet peeve? When people say one thing and do the opposite.
  • Dream car?  Cars aren’t really my thing either. Boats are, so the truck would have to be able to pull my dream boat.

Excerpt:

At the dance Janet looked around the large, open room with the DJ lights and stereo equipment lining one wall. The vacant tile floor serving as the dance floor stretched from the DJ’s area to the beginning of several neat rows of tables and chairs. "Why is he playing fast songs to start with? He needs to be playing a few slow songs to get everyone up and moving."
"Go tell him Janet. I think he’s new," Valerie prodded her friend. Janet had yet to miss a dance and considered herself Director of Music at this weekly gathering.
"I will; he needs my help." Janet went behind the stereo equipment and spoke into the DJ’s ear loudly over the music.
On her way back to the table, Valerie watched as Janet stopped to speak with two young men. The men, dressed in Dockers and golf shirts, followed Janet back to the table.
Janet turned to the two men and tried to speak over AC/DC’s Back In Black blaring through the speakers.  "This is my friend Valerie." Janet turned back to Valerie.              "This is Chuck and uhh, what was your name again?"
"Franco Stavini," said the six foot tall, thin but solid looking man with stylishly long hair.
"This is Valerie," she introduced them, then, looking back to Valerie said, "Chuck works with me at Kentucky Investment. He’s the bookkeeper."
"Nice to meet you," Chuck said to Valerie.
Franco nodded to Valerie, and then said to the group, "Great dance music."
"The DJ is making a point that he doesn’t want or need my advice," Janet replied.  "I told him to play some slow songs to get people on the floor before speeding it up."
"If you said it that way, I’d play AC/DC too." Valerie laughed at Janet.
Back In Black mercifully ended. The DJ played Lady In Red by Chris de Burgh.
"Dance?" Franco asked Valerie.
As they walked to the dance floor, Valerie realized this guy looked good and, although he was thin, he carried himself strongly.
Franco put his arms around her waist and noticed her pretty face when the flashing dance lights shined their perpetually moving beams over them. Her medium size standing five foot four inches fit nicely against him.
"So how long have you known Chuck?" Valerie asked, leaning closer to his ear than necessary to be heard over the music.
"Only a coupla weeks," he responded, also leaning in close. "I just moved here from Columbus, Ohio."
"What brought you to Louisville?"
"I’m an archeologist."
She burst out laughing. "How in the world did you get a job as an archeologist in Louisville?"
He smiled. "Everyone asks me that."
"I wasn’t trying to be mean."
"I know; people don’t think of Louisville as an archeological hotspot." He smiled again.
Valerie noticed his crooked but cute smile, "So what are you digging up?"
"We’re not really sure. It might be a Hopewell or Mississippian site; we just can’t tell yet." Franco tried to keep on topic as he looked at her eyes, reminding himself, don’t let the eyes drift to her chest; she'll think I'm a perv. He also hoped his breath didn’t reek after drinking that can of coke at dinner. He brushed his teeth before leaving the apartment, but one could never be sure.
"Were they Indians?"
"Yeah."
The music stopped, and a few people clapped. Too Busy Being In Love by Doug Stone filled the room. Valerie headed back to her seat, assuming they were done. As the two couples passed on their way back to the table, Janet grabbed Franco and threw Chuck at Valerie so that they switched partners for this slow song.
"I hope everyone enjoyed those," a booming voice came over the speakers. "I had a request for some tender music." Everyone turned to see the DJ speaking into a microphone. "Now we’ll pick it up a little."
The DJ re-asserted his control by playing some hard rock tunes. No one even tried to dance to the headbanger songs. With the heavy metal urge out of his system, the DJ played Randy Travis’ For Ever And Ever, Amen.  Franco asked Valerie to dance, which surprised her.
"How long have you been in Louisville?" Valerie inquired as they embraced and began to sway in step with the music.
"Only a few months. What about you?"
"Me? I’ve been here about twenty years. Where’re you from?"
"I grew up in Vandalia, Ohio, just outside of Dayton, but I’ve spent the last seven years in Columbus at The Ohio State University." Franco paused trying to think of something else to say.
"Did you dig up Indian stuff in Ohio?" Valerie realized this cute young fella was shy. That attracted her; the last several guys she’d dated never stopped talking about themselves.
"I did," Franco said, with his mind focused on her warm soft body gently pressing against his. "I,uh, went around Ohio digging into Hopewell Indian burial mounds."
"I work at a bank, so I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but, who pays you to do that?"
"That’s a good question Valerie, and not rude; I get asked that from almost everyone I meet.  I actually worked for Ohio State as a graduate assistant for the Department of Archeology. Going out to sites was just a part of that job. Now I’m doing the same thing for the University of Louisville."
"You must be a Nosy Parker," she kidded, "wanting to pry into those dead people’s lives."
"I promise not to tell stories out of school about those people," he played along. "Now tell me what you do at the bank?"
"Well, I work at an in-store bank branch. An in-store means we’re in a grocery store. Know what I mean?"
"Oh yeah, I’ve seen those."
"I’m the Head Teller for the one in Food Kingdom on Outer Loop."
The song ended, and they went back to the table to find Chuck sitting alone.
"Franco," Chuck said as The Heart Of Rock And Roll by Huey Lewis began, "I’m sorry, but I have to take off."
"That’s cool," Franco said to him before speaking to Valerie. "I rode with him so I gotta go, too."
"If you want to stick around, I can take you home."
"You don’t mind?"
"Not at all."
"Chuck, I’m -"
"I heard. See you later." Chuck brushed by Franco and said in a low voice, "Janet’s driving me nuts." He quickly headed for the door, escaping before Janet came back to the table.
Returning from the bathroom, Janet asked, "What happened to Chuck?"
"He had to go," Valerie replied.
"That’s too bad. We were dancing just about every dance," Janet said with a disappointed expression.
The DJ played several more songs before he decided to pack it in for the evening. Janet and Valerie took Franco home. Valerie walked with him up to his apartment door.
"Would it be all right if I called you sometime?" he asked nervously.
"That would be fine," she smiled. "Do you have a pen to write down my number?"
"Come on in, I’ll find one real quick so Janet doesn’t have to wait very long for you."
"Relax, Franco, she doesn’t mind waiting."
He held the door for her to enter first. To her relief and surprise, this bachelor pad struck her as being as clean and tidy as her own apartment. So far, no red flag with this guy, she thought.
He grabbed a pen and paper off the coffee table and took down her number. They lightly kissed good night.
The instant Valerie shut the car door Janet practically screamed, "What the hell are you doing?! He’s about fourteen years old!"
"Oh, puh-leez!" a giddy, giggling Valerie shot back.
"You’ll have to teach him how to drive in a few years!"
"Janet, you’re just jealous."
"Damn right I’m jealous! Did you make a man of him while you were in his apartment?" Janet howled with laughter.
"Not yet." Valerie smiled.
"So when are you two going out?"
"He said he’ll call me."
"You know what that means Val. No man ever calls when he says he will."
"I know. Whatever; if he calls, great; if not, no big deal," she said, resigned to the truth of Janet’s words.
"Did you ever find out how old he is?"
"No, Janet." She looked at her friend with mock disapproval. "I couldn’t think of a way to bring it up tactfully. How old’s Charlie or whatever his name was that you threw yourself at?"
"I don’t know, but he’s obviously a few years older than that child you clung to."
"I bet he’ll be man enough for me," Valerie giggled again.
"With that school-girl squealing, you sound as young as he IS!"
Janet pulled up in front of Valerie’s apartment, and Valerie got out. "Thanks for dragging me to that dance. It was fun."
"No problem, chicky, we’ll just have to wait and see if your young forbidden fruit calls you."
"Well, Janet, in the unlikely event he calls, his fruit won’t be forbidden." Valerie smiled shutting the car door.

AUTHOR BIO:
The protagonist in Valerie's Retreat runs off with a man sixteen years her junior. My wife is sixteen years my senior, so many of our triumphs and trials have made their way into this book. Our relationship provided a good foundation for the two main characters’ lives together. The way his and her friends react to their age disparity also derives, at least in part, from my own experience.

For approximately one year I labored as a Head Teller at a bank. This employment history enabled me to create a believable bank robbery. The theft described in Valerie's Retreat is easy to conceive and execute, but leaves a very clear path to the perpetrator. That is why the characters had to immediately run.

author website:  http://www.josephmrinaldo.com
author blog: http://wwwjosephmrinaldocom.blogspot.com
Twitter profile https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4564292.Joseph_Rinaldo
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/JosephRinaldoBooks
LinkedIn author profile: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=66250559&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
YouTube video book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKXY54oD_gg
Goodreads book page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18750966-valerie-s-retreat
Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4564292.Joseph_Rinaldo
Other novels available on Amazon:
A Spy At Home http://www.amazon.com/SPY-AT-HOME-Joseph-Rinaldo-ebook/dp/B0033WSVVC/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1400692168&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Spy+At+Home
Hazardous Choices http://www.amazon.com/HAZARDOUS-CHOICES-Joseph-Rinaldo-ebook/dp/B005SJSN0C/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1400692196&sr=8-1&keywords=hazardous+choices
A Mormon Massacre http://www.amazon.com/MORMON-MASSACRE-Joseph-Rinaldo-ebook/dp/B008R26S18/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1400692225&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Mormon+Massacre
Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/106260528956557102609/106260528956557102609/posts#106260528956557102609/posts
Library Thing profile: http://www.librarything.com/profile/readermark
Pinterest profile: http://www.pinterest.com/readermark/
Shelfari profile: http://www.shelfari.com/jmrinaldo
StumbleUpon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/readermark/likes
Other YouTube video book trailers -
   A Spy At Home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi9Fw74llNA
   A Mormon Massacre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2TKV8DnIPc
 


2 comments:

  1. Hi Joseph,
    Good morning and welcome to the Snarkology! Hope you're having a fantastic Friday. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome! Thanks so much for this opportunity to share my novel, Valerie's Retreat, with your followers. I will "share" the heck out of this post, and I so appreciate your continuing support of indie authors!
    Please forgive the delay in responding to the post - we were out of town.
    Joe Rinaldo

    ReplyDelete