Good morning, readers! Today I'm pleased to once again host author Diana Rubino. Diana writes historical romantic fiction, and if you're lucky enough to have read BOOTLEG BROADWAY, you're in for a treat. Today's guest spot features another book in her New York Saga series. This one is titled FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET, and stars ambitious Italian immigrant Vita Caputo. Diana is really in her element with this series, and it shows. She's here today to share a little about this terrific book.
An Interview with author Diana Rubino:
Tell
us about your new release.
It’s
titled FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET, the love story of an Italian immigrant
and an Irish cop. They face poverty prejudice, solve a murder…and beat all the
odds.
What
led you to write this book?
My
great grandmother, Josephine Calabrese Arnone, “Josie Red” to her friends,
because of her abundant head of red hair, was way ahead of her time. Born in
1895 (but it could’ve been sooner, as she was known to lie about her age), she
left grade school, became a successful businesswoman and a Jersey City committeewoman,
as well as a wife and mother of four. She owned apartment buildings, parking
garages, a summer home, did a bit of Prohibition-era bootlegging, small-time
loan-sharking, and paid cash for everything. When I began outlining FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET, I modeled my heroine, Vita Caputo, after her. Although
the story is set in New York the year before Grandma was born, I was able to
bring Vita to life by calling on the family legends and stories, all word of
mouth, for she never kept a journal.
Vita’s
hero Tom McGlory isn’t based on any real person, but I did a lot of reading
about metropolitan policemen and made sure he was the complete opposite! He’s
trustworthy and would never take a bribe or graft. I always liked the name
McGlory—then, years after the book first came out, I remembered that was the
name of my first car mechanic—Ronnie McGlory.
Did
you have an interesting experience in the research of this book?
Oh,
yes… I visited the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, set up to display different
eras when immigrants lived there. They also have lectures and guest speakers.
If you’re ever in Manhattan, it’s well worth a visit. The website is www.tenement.org.
How
important is setting to your story?
New
York City’s history always fascinated me—how it became the most powerful hub in
the world from a sprawling wilderness in exchange for $24 paid to Native Americans
by the Dutch in 1626.
Growing
up in Jersey City, I could see the Statue of Liberty from our living room
window if I leaned way over (luckily I didn’t lean too far over). As a child
model, I spent many an afternoon on job interviews and modeling assignments in
the city, and got hooked on Nedick’s, a fast food chain whose orange drinks
were every kid’s dream. Even better than the vanilla egg creams. We never drove
to the city—we either took the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) train (‘the
tube’ in those days) or the bus through the Lincoln Tunnel to the Port
Authority Bus Terminal.
Which
is more important: characters or setting?
I’ve
learned that most genres should be character-driven. Except for possibly
thrillers or mysteries, where the plot drives the story, in romance it’s the
hero and heroine, and in general fiction, it’s the characters the readers connect
with, grow to care about, and root for. So I’ve made all my books
character-driven. The settings provide a backdrop, and the characters get
involved with actual events that happened.
What
do you hope readers take away from your work?
I
want them to forget their problems for a while, have a laugh, and learn a bit
about history.
What
do you do when you are not writing?
I
bicycle, golf, play my piano and devour books of any genre.
Which
book impacted you as a teenager?
In
7th grade, we had to read TUNED OUT, a novel about the summer of
1967, where a teen finds out his older brother, who he idolizes, is taking LSD.
It’s set in New York, written in first person, and opened my young eyes to the
reality of drug addiction.
One
more I must mention—a short story—The Cask of Amontillado by Poe; I had to read
that in 8th grade. From then on, I became a huge Poe fan.
Creepy! I love that story. Have
you ever written a scene that ‘creeped’ you out?
Yes. In my New Adult thriller STILL CRAZY, an obsessed man stalks his former
girlfriend. Many of the scenes in that book creeped me out!
Do
you have a reoccurring theme to your books?
Yes. Love overcomes all obstacles: hatred, poverty, prejudice, and inner conflicts
such as opposing views and goals.
What
are you reading now?
I
just finished SALEM WITCHES by Stacy Schiff, and am studying THE EMOTION
THESAURUS, a thorough source for digging into your characters’ emotions.
What’s
next for you?
I’ve
always wanted to write a novel set during the Salem witch trials; I’m getting
an outline into focus.
Would
you share an excerpt from your book?
As Vita gathered her soap and towel, Madame
Branchard tapped on her door. "You have a gentleman caller, Vita. A
policeman."
"Tom?" His name lingered on her lips
as she repeated it. She dropped her things and crossed the room.
"No, hon, not him. Another policeman.
Theodore something, I think he said."
No. There can't be
anything wrong.
"Thanks," she whispered,
nudging Madame Branchard aside. She descended the steps, gripping the
banister to support her wobbly legs. Stay
calm! she warned herself. But of course it was no use; staying calm just
wasn't her nature.
“Theodore something” stood before the closed
parlor door. He’s a policeman? Tall
and hefty, a bold pink shirt peeking out of a buttoned waistcoat and fitted
jacket, he looked way out of place against the dainty patterned wallpaper.
He removed his hat. "Miss Caputo." He
strained to keep his voice soft as he held out a piece of paper. “I’m police
commissioner Theodore Roosevelt.”
"Yes?" Her voice shook.
"I have a summons for you, Miss
Caputo." He held it out to her. But she stood rooted to that spot.
He stepped closer and she took it from him,
unfolding it with icy fingers. Why would she be served with a summons? Was
someone arresting her now for something she didn't do?
A shot of anger tore through her at this system,
at everything she wanted to change. She flipped it open and saw the word
"Summons" in fancy script at the top. Her eyes widened with each
sentence as she read. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”
I hereby order Miss Vita Caputo to enter into
holy matrimony with Mr. Thomas McGlory immediately following service of this summons.
About Diana:
Diana's passion for history and travel has taken her to every locale of her stories, set
in Medieval and Renaissance England, Egypt, the Mediterranean, colonial
Virginia, New England, and New York. Her urban fantasy romance, FAKIN’ IT, won a
Top Pick award from Romantic Times. She's a member of Romance Writers of America,
the Richard III Society and the Aaron Burr Association. She lives on Cape Cod with
her husband Chris. Visit her at:
An
Interview with Vita Caputo, heroine of FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET:
Vita, we know you and Tom overcame astronomical
odds to stay together. It’s like Romeo and Juliet. I can imagine how torn you
felt when you wanted to be with Tom, but didn’t want to defy your father. Tell
us, what was your family and homelife like when all this was going on?
Well, I loved my father and brothers more than
anything, and didn’t want to defy them. Yet at the same time, I felt they
weren’t respecting my wishes. I was in love with Tom, and they hated him for
two reasons, which to me, were irrational—he’s Irish and he’s a cop. But you
have to understand their underlying reasons—cops always gave Italian immigrants
a hard time on the Lower East Side. They didn’t give Italians a fair shake.
Many of them were bullied, arrested for crimes they didn’t commit—and of course
if you know my story, you know that the police framed Papa and my brother for
the murder of Tom’s cousin, also a cop. I can understand their hatred of the
police force for this heinous act. But not the entire police force is corrupt.
Teddy Roosevelt, the Commish, certainly wasn’t, and Tom certainly isn’t. But
when you face this hatred and injustice every day, it’s easy to be bitter. Our
homelife, before I met Tom, was the usual Italian household—we struggled to
make ends meet and didn’t have much, but I always made sure we had more than
enough to eat, and to share with those who had less. I went without new
clothes, shoes, coats, to buy groceries so we wouldn’t go hungry. We argued
over petty things—like who left the stove on—but we always made up in the end.
We were very affectionate, and gave each other a lot of hugs and kisses. We
sometimes felt the world was against us—and at times it was.
What did your childhood home look like?
Did you ever see the classic Jackie Gleason
sitcom The Honeymooners? They had a walk-up flat in Brooklyn. Well, ours was on
Mott Street in Manhattan, but our flat looked much like that—it was called a
‘railroad flat’ because all the rooms were in a row—kitchen sitting room,
bedrooms in back. We shared a toilet on the landing. But compared to other Mott
Street tenements, we had it made—we had indoor plumbing. No bathtub, but a sink
with running water. We didn’t have to go to a backyard privy. The bedroom was
partitioned off by a curtain that I’d made—one side was mine, the other side my
brother’s. Papa and his wife Rosalia had another bedroom to themselves.
What is your greatest dream?
To be a Senator or Congresswoman, but I’m happy
enough as a committeewoman for now.
What kind of person do
you wish you could be? What is stopping you?
I
wish I could be calmer and slow down. I do too much—run the household because I
refuse to hire help, raise our 3 kids, work and invest our savings. I follow
the stock market and purchase stocks that have long-term growth potential.
What’s stopping me is my drive to get ahead.
Who was your first love?
Tom, of course. My
father tried to throw me together with ‘a nice Italian boy’ Roberto Riccadonna
whose family owned a music store and was ‘well off’ – but he was arrogant and
controlling. He threatened me when I told him I wasn’t interested in him. He
and Tom got into fisticuffs when I found Roberto under my boardinghouse window
singing “O Sole Mio” with a mandolin. He had a nice voice, but Tom was hardly
impressed.
What's
the most terrible thing that ever happened to you?
When Papa and my brother Butchie were arrested
for the murder of Tom’s cousin Mike. It tore me into pieces, because Tom didn’t
want to believe Papa and Butchie were the killers, but evidence pointed to
them. We made it our quest to find the real killer, and we did. It created a
huge rift in our relationship of course, but we overcame that as we got through
all the other hardships and prejudices that tried to keep us apart.
