You probably noticed all of my posts about Kiss Carlo by Adriana Trigiani. In addition to my book review, there were two book club discussions. That’s because Trigiani was scheduled to come to speak in our area about her book and last week, my mom and I went to hear her speak.
I found out the morning of the event that Trigiani had done some comedy writing. I wish I’d known that earlier because I would have been more excited about the event. It was obvious that she was a comedian from her first sentence. She was very personable and spoke with no script in mind. She used comments from the audience to move her speech forward and made off the cuff jokes constantly. It was really fun to hear.
She talked about writing historical novels and how often the people who come up as movers of history are men. You have to dig to find the women, and that’s something Trigiani enjoyed. She picked the cover photo in part because the model was historically significant to the era. She included real women like Gloria, the producer of Nicky’s show (I can’t find a citation for this, though). Trigiani is also a big fan of Shakespeare so she paralleled the Palazzini families like the brothers in Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Trigiani spent a large chunk of time talking about the four steps to writing. To her, it’s a simple solution. First, find the time. Wake up earlier in the mornings, start with 30 minutes, and set aside that time to write. Second, get the tools to tell your story. She prefers pen and paper. If you’re going to do this, get a notebook that’s just for your writing, that won’t be filled with grocery lists and doctors’ appointments. If you’re going to write a memoir, start with ‘What I remember’ and start with a person or a day that’s hard for you to forget. Third, think of what you want to write about before you fall asleep. Doing this, you let your subconscious mull it over for a bit before you have to write it down. Fourth, pick your subject and just start writing!
A man came with a copy of his non-fiction book and asked her for some advice on promoting his book. Firstly, she said to get an agent. Agents will help with promotion and publication of future books. With a non-fiction title, she recommended reaching out to cable news networks. They like to have debates and material that can spark debates and non-fiction is good for this. She also recommended using a social media platform to speak about social issues related to the book and use that as a form of promotion.
Trigiani was very generous with her time and spoke to my mom and me for a few minutes in the signing line about my writing aspirations. She was very supportive and my mom took a great picture of us. I’ll have to get to her YA title soon.
Until next time, write on.
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Taking On a World of Words 