Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?
My book is entitled A Zany Slice of Italy. This light, lively book takes place in Italy, with hilarious anecdotes about the author and her husband’s trip to visit his family in Abruzzo and finally their escape to Tuscany. It’s a rural relocation similar to Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, but with zany family members adding a "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" touch.
I published it in April of 2014. It is available on Amazon and some bookshops in Italy.
Is there anything that prompted your latest book? Something that inspired you?
After
writing many emails updating family and friends on our wacky adventures here in
Italy, I received a lot of encouragement to put them into book form. The final
impetus was when I recanted my stories to Italians here– and when they too
would burst out laughing, then I realized I had a different story to write about
Italy that I hoped many would enjoy.
Great! So, when did you know you wanted to write? Or has it always been a pastime of yours?
I have
enjoyed writing short stories from a young age. Humor has always been my
specialty so I would often write funny anecdotes, etc. about people’s lives and
then read them at their going away parties or anniversaries etc.
Do you have any favorite authors?
Bill
Bryson and Nora Ephron.
Do you write in a specific place? Time of day?
I always
write sitting down on my couch in the living room. I get my second cup of
coffee (cannot write until the first one has taken effect) and then write until
about 11 a.m. Since I live in Italy and am now a proficient casalinga –
I then start preparing lunch. My husband and I enjoy a full sit down lunch each
day, then I take a heavenly pausa, and resume writing after my
walk—which almost always proves inspirational as I often run into the locals
with the latest village gossip.
That's great!
Are there any words you'd like to impart to fellow writers? Any advice?
Find your
style and stick with it so that writing is enjoyable. And while not everyone
will appreciate your book, at least you are spending precious time doing what
you enjoy, and there will also be many that do appreciate it. While I do not
relish getting bad reviews, I always remember the story about the Man, the Boy
and the Donkey – no matter what you write, you cannot please everyone!
I also
think it is extremely important to invest in a good editor—one whose style
matches yours. I sent out my story “Stranieri Giusti” (The Right Type of
Foreigners) to five editors and asked for a sample edit. The story came back
essentially the same, but the editor I chose had a style that just merged with
mine. She had a perfect balance of fixing grammatical errors and tweaking while
letting what she calls my “unique humorous voice” still come through.
She sounds like an awesome fit. Thank you for stopping by to visit us today, Ivanka! :)
Readers, here is the blurb for A Zany Slice of Italy.
This light, lively book takes place
in Italy, with hilarious anecdotes about the author and her husband’s trip to
visit his family in Abruzzo and finally their escape to Tuscany.
Her own expectations were shattered
when she embarked on la dolce vita. what she envisioned as drinking
unforgettable Brunello by candlelight and discussing art and history with
elegant dinner guests. Instead, dinner discussions revolved around how to avoid
a “bad wind,” whether the Mafia runs IKEA, and bizarre theories on why the
Chinese in Italy never have funerals. Now she drinks her own
“unforgettable,” almost undrinkable, wine, as he pays long-winded tributes to
the vile liquid as if it were an elixir of the gods. Celebrate with our
author—for mere mortals, or their livers, could not have lived to tell the
tale.
Ivanka thought her hair would
suddenly become long and thick and her bust size would miraculously increase.
She would be dressed by Dolce and Gabbana. Yet instead of wearing four-inch
spike heels with a flowing linen skirt, she actually became less
fashionable in Italy and could model “forty is the new sixty” with her newly
adopted casalinga look.
So pour yourself a glass of bad
Italian wine, add a dose of accordion music, and spend some time in Ivanka Di
Felice’s Italy.
Here is an excerpt from the book.
As we drive
down the winding mountain road, I see the
national military police up ahead, signaling us to stop.
David hits the brakes of the ancient
BMW 320. The sudden jolt sets off a round of clucking from the chickens in the
backseat. The bamboo stalks roped to the car’s roof slide forward but don’t
fall off.
“Documenti,” orders the carabiniere
with a sinister glare.
David reaches for the insurance
papers in the glove compartment and hands them to the officer, who carefully
examines them.
“Driver’s license,” the carabiniere
says, leaning down to peer inside the car. The odors of chicken poop and pecorino
cheese waft through the window. Just then, one of our chickens starts
squawking. The officer does a double take.
David is pretty sure he left his
wallet back in Tuscany, but to stall for time, he says, “I think it’s in the
trunk. Can I check?”
The officer nods, and David exits
the car.
“Americano?” asks the carabiniere,
a puzzled look on his face. With our gypsy mode of travel, I can see
that we are destroying all of the stereotypes he believes about North
Americans.
“Canadian,” says David and asks the
officer whether he speaks English.
“Not really,” says the carabiniere,
but he further explains how he speaks English like Alberto Sordi, who was the
dubbed voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy
films.
David doesn’t know who Alberto Sordi
is, but figures his best bet is to smile and assure the carabiniere that
his English is very good.
“Thanks,” the officer replies.
They walk toward the back of the
car. David opens the trunk, and the officer laughs heartily to see its
contents: more pecorino cheese, olive oil, numerous bags of pasta, several
frozen chickens, and enough tomato sauce to last a year.
Perhaps the carabiniere
realizes it may take ages for David to search through the trunk, or maybe he is
simply pleased to hear that his English is good. At any rate, he unexpectedly
tells David, “Don’t worry about it. Have a nice day.”
Thrilled, David hops back into the
car and drives off, waving to the officer as he passes.
When we arrive home, we find David’s
wallet sitting on the desk. We receive more good news as we check our e-mail
and learn that Kids Summer Camp did not fill enough spaces; hence, we won’t
have to go back to teach the “little darlings.”
We put the chickens into their new
home and name them Barbara and Roberta, after two sisters we have become close
to here.
I glance around at the chickens, the
bamboo, and the old farmhouse and reflect on our life in Tuscany. My friends
think we spend one lazy day after another basking in the sun, drinking wine,
and living la dolce vita. I try not to disillusion them. I had the same
fantasies before I left Canada. Yet despite my reality—the chaotic, relentless
visits from fun-loving paesani and relatives; dealing with Italy’s
Byzantine bureaucracies; the difficulty earning a living—I realize my life here
is much richer than I ever could have imagined.
And now I recall that fateful peach-colored
coat of long ago, which led me to my destiny.
Ivanka Di Felice is a writer living in Tuscany. She
will assure you that it's far less pretentious than it sounds. She was born in
Toronto, Canada. She is 39 years and 94 months old. In her quest for happiness,
she followed Nora Ephron’s advice: “Secret to life, marry an Italian.” She
loves writing humorous stories and enjoys reading.
Author Links:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8188137.Ivanka_Di_Felice
What people are saying about Ivanka's A Zany Slice of Italy:
"Although the
author was initially drawn to Italy for its art, architecture, and Vogue, often
described in other books, it is evident that still lifes and stilettos do not
hold this author’s attention as much as living people do.
The author’s open, sympathetic
viewpoint captures the characters' quirky charm and the local color. Although
you certainly wouldn’t call this a philosophical book, how the author observes
and deals with individuals and situations in her life shows that she follows
her own philosophy, one that is worth looking into. If we could regard the most
sinister carabinieri and the most self-important consulate employee with
sympathetic amusement and not anger, that would be an accomplishment worth
imitating. The author can laugh at her own expense, a rare quality. Her
attitude and wit can turn even adversity into an almost tolerable and redeeming
experience. Although the author is not so naïve as to think that all Italians’
lives flow as smoothly as their olive oil, she has not met anyone in Italy who
is bitterly disappointed with life."
Ivanka's Book:
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