Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have four books published that are available on Amazon. In Valerie’s Retreat the forty-one-year-old protagonist meets a wonderful man sixteen years her junior. Even though they seem to have nothing in common since she is a Head Teller at a bank and he’s studying for a doctorate in Archaeology, the pair clicks. A Spy Home is a memoir of a former spy who, near the end of his career, comes to the realization that his life’s work of promoting rebellion in third-world countries for American interests was a waste. Out of bitterness, he steals over nine million dollars on his last mission. The money was meant for a pro-American rebel group in an impoverished country. His retirement is spent learning what he missed at home with his family and wondering if the CIA will figure out that he has their money. Hazardous Choices describes the difficulty a young man has trying to fit in during his first year of college. In Chicago he served as a gangbanger for the vicious Neptune Knights, and in a small Kentucky town where he received a scholarship to play division two football, he tries to fit in with the other students. His understanding of the world doesn’t make much sense in this environment. A Mormon Massacre tells about a young man in his early twenties who had been raised hating the Mormon church. To fight what he believes is a cult, Jeremiah goes undercover as a convert to rescue women from abusive plural marriages.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel, Valerie’s Retreat, follows the life of a forty-one year-old woman who happens to fall in love with a man sixteen years younger. My wife is sixteen year older than I am, so that might have helped foster this idea for a book. 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.
Valerie doesn’t consider herself a “Cougar”. Franco, her boyfriend, happened to attend the same church singles dance on the same night. They talked, talked some more, went on a date, and presto- they’re boyfriend/girlfriend. That’s how it happened with my wife and me. “Cougar” makes the women dating younger men seem somewhat predatory. That isn’t the case at all with Valerie or my wife. For the record, my wife never considered robbing a bank either. Well, maybe considered, but never planned it out.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I really just sit down and write. In fact, people that have rituals or only write in certain places leave me confused. Do they really enjoy writing, or are they more interested in doing the rituals and saying they’re a writer?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
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.
What are you working on now?
I have three books rolling around in my head. I never share what I’m working on. My fear is that someone might write the book faster and better than I do. Let me say that I hope to have the time and the resources to write full-time someday.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Somehow you have to get people talking about your book. The best way I’ve learned is to tell people about it. Tell them through Facebook, blogs, blog interviews, and verbally face-to-face when you meet another book lover. I’m also willing to attend book club discussions when they review one of my books. Simply contact me via Facebook or through my website, www.josephmrinaldo.com.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Have someone who will read your book and tell you if it stinks. That’s harder than it sounds, because most people won’t want to hurt your feelings. Also, this person needs to be an avid reader. Find out if your manuscript is mentioned in the same sentence with big-name writers. If not, you need to get some honest critique before going forward with its promotion.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you say I can – you can; if you say I can’t – you can’t. Either way you’re right. The biggest obstacle we have to success is ourselves.
What are you reading now?
I just finished a book about how major college football and the NFL encourage players to destroy their bodies without helping them succeed after football. My book Hazardous Choices dealt with small-time college football which avoided the issue of players hoping to get paid for playing professionally. Hazardous Choices focused on a former gang member from Chicago trying to fit in with the other students in a small Kentucky town where no one would understand what he went through growing up.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to keep presenting my novels to the public. Whether good or bad, I enjoy hearing people’s comments on my books. I understand people are hesitant to give independent authors a chance. All I ask is for the reader to try the “Click to Look Inside” on Amazon. See if my books grab you in the first few pages.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The first book would be Edible Plants and Animals on Desert Islands. Seriously, I’d bring Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn because the main character is so troubled. I hope people enjoy Valerie’s Retreat for the same reason. Count of Monte Cristo would be another I’d bring. This book reminds you not to give up hope no matter how bad your situation seems. Those would be the ones to keep me going until I found a way off the island.
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