Alex Disanti will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Tell us about yourself:
Hi! I am Alex Disanti. Thank you for having me as your guest and for hosting A Separate Heaven. It’s a pleasure to be here with you.
I am a Texan who grew up in the West Texas oil patch. The Hill Country is beautiful and I love living there but a piece of my heart will always belong to West Texas. Hmmm. Maybe a book someday. I have three beautiful, wonderful grown children. I enjoy reading, writing, country, rock, and Americana music, and stargazing is at the top of my list of likes. (Those in the sky!) Tee shirts and jeans are my favorite attire. I worked in the past as a histologist (tissues and slides) and in engineering (quality assurance) for an E&C firm which built gas plants and specialized in cryogenics. Was also a welding inspector. I learned to read at the age of four and have always loved words.
What was your first book?
A Separate Heaven is my first book, a series of seven books.
Describe your first break.
I think my first break was a conversation with an agent named Bob Diforio.
What is your favorite genre to read? To write?
When I read I want something with some edge to it, nothing fluffy. I enjoy women’s fiction, commercial fiction, and good mysteries. The memoir by Karen Blixen, Out of Africa, is one of my all-time favorites, along with The Godfather. Some of Lillian Hellman’s work as well.
To write, commercial fiction is a favorite.
Are Happy Endings are must in your stories?
No, it doesn’t have to be happy, but the loose ends need to be tied.
What makes a protagonist interesting?
To me, it would be that he/she isn’t always the “good guy.” I think it is more interesting when the protagonist is a multifaceted personality.
What is the best thing about being a writer?
If you write fiction, then it is the ability to escape to another world.
What is the worst thing?
Those who assign real life situations to your fiction. It is fiction. Not a recommendation on how to behave or to live one’s life. Nor is it an endorsement of particular behavior.
Pantser or plotter?
This is a tough one for me! I never use an outline. I write in my head sometimes for weeks before writing it down. BUT I am a stickler for certain details so I research too. Not sure research equates to plotting!
What do you see the direction of your future writing taking? What can we expect next? Give us a little taste.
Well, I have to finish the final three episodes of A Separate Heaven. That will occupy 2016. My ultimate goal for it is a television series. Also have a collection of short stories I would like to publish. Beyond that a novel about a Texas family and a book about a blue collar worker whose life takes a dramatic turn when his wife leaves him.
Just for fun
Cat or dog person? Dog
Favorite food? Steak
Favorite book? Can’t pick just one. Out of Africa, The Horse Whisperer, The Lover
Favorite movie? So many. Unfaithful, Out of Africa, Giant, Julia, Under the Tuscan Sun,
Favorite holiday? Christmas. Left to my own devices I would have Christmas trees and Christmas lights up year round.
Would you rather be the princess or the villain? Why?
I would be the villain who rescues the princess. I am convinced princesses need rescuing!
Who has more fun, orcs or hobbits? The hobbit, I suppose.
GENRE: Fiction/Romance
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BLURB:
Step into a world of riveting drama. Enter A Separate Heaven, a story comprised of power, wealth, and romance, multifaceted characters, and complex relationships. A novel by Alex Disanti. From Long Island to the shores of the Mediterranean, this exciting series spanning twenty five years in the lives of the Gianelli and Hamilton families will hold you spellbound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Step into a world of riveting drama. Enter A Separate Heaven, a story comprised of power, wealth, and romance, multifaceted characters, and complex relationships. A novel by Alex Disanti. From Long Island to the shores of the Mediterranean, this exciting series spanning twenty five years in the lives of the Gianelli and Hamilton families will hold you spellbound.
Excerpt one from Book One
On October 2, 1980, Dominic Gianelli entered the offices of Carson, Wiehls and Fullerton. A client for only weeks now, his arrival caused a flurry of activity among the staff. Even the most experienced members of the investment firm were on edge. Henry Carson, owner and senior partner, was nervous and unsettled, completely out of character for him, but this was no ordinary client.
Gianelli was an enigma, recognized internationally in the business world and his accumulated assets were reported to be prodigious. Little else was known about him, although his penchant for two things, accuracy and privacy, had been evinced at their first meeting. He seemed to have come on the scene quickly, yet his profile revealed more than twenty years of steady, well-planned acquisitions and disposals. With as many European contacts as domestic, he was well respected here in New York. After all, one did not ignore this kind of wealth and, therefore, power.
He was a big man, six-feet, three inches in height, 270 pounds. Immaculately groomed, he had brown eyes and short, dark, slightly thinning hair combed back from his forehead. He seemed, by nature, a rather quiet man with low tolerance for the frivolous or inept. He had an air of confidence that was not lost on those who met him. Gianelli was a man comfortable with himself. When he entered a room, he owned it, and he knew it.
On October 2, 1980, Dominic Gianelli entered the offices of Carson, Wiehls and Fullerton. A client for only weeks now, his arrival caused a flurry of activity among the staff. Even the most experienced members of the investment firm were on edge. Henry Carson, owner and senior partner, was nervous and unsettled, completely out of character for him, but this was no ordinary client.
Gianelli was an enigma, recognized internationally in the business world and his accumulated assets were reported to be prodigious. Little else was known about him, although his penchant for two things, accuracy and privacy, had been evinced at their first meeting. He seemed to have come on the scene quickly, yet his profile revealed more than twenty years of steady, well-planned acquisitions and disposals. With as many European contacts as domestic, he was well respected here in New York. After all, one did not ignore this kind of wealth and, therefore, power.
He was a big man, six-feet, three inches in height, 270 pounds. Immaculately groomed, he had brown eyes and short, dark, slightly thinning hair combed back from his forehead. He seemed, by nature, a rather quiet man with low tolerance for the frivolous or inept. He had an air of confidence that was not lost on those who met him. Gianelli was a man comfortable with himself. When he entered a room, he owned it, and he knew it.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Alex Disanti lives in the Texas Hill Country. While writing has been a lifelong love for her, A Separate Heaven is her first novel. Early works were mainly poetry and short stories. As A Separate Heaven progressed from thought to paper, friends and family began reading the manuscript. Then, in an effort to test the marketability of the material, she enlisted the aid of what she calls her “test readers.” These readers vary in age, occupation and background. It simply grew from there. Alex’s rich detail brought the characters to life, and the ensuing chapters could not come quickly enough for her readers.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alex.disanti.5
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASeparateHeaven
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexDisanti
Website/Blog http://alexdisanti.com
http://www.amazon.com/Separate-Heaven-Alex-Disanti-ebook/dp/B0036RTYW4/
http://www.amazon.com/Separate-Heaven-Book-2-ebook/dp/B008MOYTPS
http://www.amazon.com/Separate-Heaven-Book-3-ebook/dp/B009CICPZY/
Alex Disanti lives in the Texas Hill Country. While writing has been a lifelong love for her, A Separate Heaven is her first novel. Early works were mainly poetry and short stories. As A Separate Heaven progressed from thought to paper, friends and family began reading the manuscript. Then, in an effort to test the marketability of the material, she enlisted the aid of what she calls her “test readers.” These readers vary in age, occupation and background. It simply grew from there. Alex’s rich detail brought the characters to life, and the ensuing chapters could not come quickly enough for her readers.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alex.disanti.5
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASeparateHeaven
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexDisanti
Website/Blog http://alexdisanti.com
http://www.amazon.com/Separate-Heaven-Alex-Disanti-ebook/dp/B0036RTYW4/
http://www.amazon.com/Separate-Heaven-Book-2-ebook/dp/B008MOYTPS
http://www.amazon.com/Separate-Heaven-Book-3-ebook/dp/B009CICPZY/
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