Author Spotlight - C. D’Angelo
Debut author C. D’Angelo shares her unique publishing journey and tells us about her novel The Difference, which will be released on July 29.
Tell us about your novel.
Rachel’s felt lost since her grandpa and idol died years ago. Although she has it all in life—a New York City apartment, a psychotherapy practice, and a near perfect boyfriend—she doesn’t feel fulfilled. Not even her quirky interests, like anything about the Titanic, bring joy anymore. Stumbling into an ancestry journey, she realizes her grandpa was unusually secretive about his immigration from Italy as a child. How can the man she adored and thought she knew everything about have refused to reveal such important information? She starts a mission to find her roots so she can gain an ounce of happiness and a ton of clarity for her future. If she can’t reveal the family secret and fill her emptiness, she may lose her relationship and worst yet herself.
What are your interests outside of writing?
Do we have all day? I have so many passions that I wish there were 48 hours in a day. My first love as a child was drawing, and that has stuck with me through adulthood. I draw in black and white most often, but have gotten more adventurous lately and added color with watercolor paint. So wild, right? I then learned to cross stitch from my grandma when I was a child, which is second nature to me now. I grew up in an extremely musical family, so I learned instruments early on, but now focus on playing my ukulele. I used to play organ and flute, so yes, a former bank geek. Through the years I also picked up crochet, sewing, embroidery, digital drawing, and any other artistic endeavor you could imagine. Then there’s the travel! My favorite place to visit is…wait for it… Italy. I also love England and tropical places like Hawaii and Jamaica. Give me a city or a beach and I’m a happy lady.
What are you currently working on?
I am querying The Visitor, a book about a woman fighting to save her new age store from being demolished by her developer high school ex-boyfriend and nemesis. It is set in New Orleans and has a paranormal twist. I hope to release it asap, but the publishing world can be slow as molasses, lol. I also have planned my third book’s plot and will begin writing it most likely in fall. It includes music and wine. How can its topics be any better?
What do you hope readers take away from your debut?
I always want to inspire others and create hope. Life circumstances can change and I believe people do have choices and power, even in the darkest times. The Difference allows the reader to go on an emotional journey with Rachel, showing that anything is possible. My aim is always to share relatable stories for many cultures and populations, though my books are about the Italian and Italian American culture. So, when people finish reading my book, I want them to sit in reflection, be energized to movement, and carry on the messages they interpreted throughout my narrative.
Share your publishing story.
I have many unexpected turns in my story. I began writing my book in January 2013, but took many breaks, then finally finishing in May 2018. Once the first draft was finished, I have been going nonstop because the writing bug bit me. I took a year to edit before sending to agents and publishers. After only querying 5 months and to less than 15 people, I got my first contract with a small press from participating in #PitMad on Twitter. Side note, if you are a writer and want help with your pitches, I have Pitch Party Prosperity, my services to assist in strategy and pitch writing for pitch parties. But back to my publishing story, I was with the small press for about a year and a half before making the difficult decision to leave and self-publish, due to multiple reasons. I couldn’t fathom querying The Difference again and waiting who knows how long to publish it after I had waited all this time already. So, I got it ready within 3 months and here we are with it finally being published on 7-29. I can’t be more excited to hold it in my hands.
Connect with C. D’Angelo
About The Difference
When anxiety-prone Rachel Granza learns that her growing sense of emptiness is affecting her relationship with her almost perfect boyfriend and that she’s jeopardizing any possibility of a marriage proposal, she knows she must pull herself out of her funk. But how? A dream apartment in New York City, a thriving psychotherapy practice, and her unique obsessions with topics like the Titanic don’t even make her feel grounded anymore. Red alert!
Trying to find happiness and meaning again—in more than her beloved Italian food—she stumbles into a genealogy mission to discover childhood information about her idol, aka her grandpa, who died years ago. He never spoke about his Italian immigrant past and now she’s determined to find out the reason for his unusual secretiveness.
Rachel’s ancestral roller coaster has roadblocks galore, but she needs the answers to her family’s hidden history. They’re her only hope to know more about her hero, salvage her relationship, and most importantly to save herself.