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.
Amazon (US ebook)
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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?
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 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
Hi Joseph,
ReplyDeleteGood morning and welcome to the Snarkology! Hope you're having a fantastic Friday. :-)
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!
ReplyDeletePlease forgive the delay in responding to the post - we were out of town.
Joe Rinaldo