This month, I have best-selling author Nicky Pellegrino on the blog. The words in her novels conjure up the sights, smells and tastes of Italy, inspired by her summer holidays there as a child. She now calls New Zealand home and loves to ride horses, cook and read, as well as writing.
K: What is an early book / author that inspired you to write? What are you reading now?
NP: There wasn’t one specific book… but I was a big reader. Growing up, I was really shy and books were my friends. My favourites were always the page-turners, the novels that totally transported me to another place or era. Favourites include everything from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee to The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield to the Georgette Heyer novels.
Right now, I read a novel a week because I have a regular column in the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. Recent reads include The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris, When It All Went To Custard by Danielle Hawkins and The Farm by Joanne Ramos.
K: What is your daily writing schedule like?
NP: I don’t really have a daily schedule as I also work as a freelance journalist so fiction writing often happens in the spaces – evenings, weekends and holidays. And it’s pretty slow progress as I spend a lot of time editing the work I did the previous day, before I can get into the story. I edit A LOT. The delete key fell of my last laptop!
K: What are you most proud of?
NP: Not sure pride is an emotion I feel – I have a noisy inner critic that won’t let me get too full of myself. But it’s nice to think that my work is out there in the world and readers are enjoying it and it’s always gratifying to hear from people who say that one of my stories helped distract and amuse them through a particularly tough time in their lives.
K: What do you hope people get out of your work?
NP: I want to take them to Italy. I hope they taste the flavours I describe, smell the smells, and feel as if they’re actually part of the story. Basically, I want them to forget they’re reading and just be there.
K: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
NP: Everything… and nothing! I think you have to find stuff out for yourself through experience. Maybe, if my younger writing self knew what a struggle it can be at times, and what a tricky industry publishing is, she might not have sat down and written that first novel, Delicious, with such enjoyment!
K: Well, I for one am glad you did not know the struggles and went ahead and started writing! I definitely can relate to that little inner critic. Thank you so much for your answers.
The Book
The Bio
Nicky Pellegrino was born in Liverpool but spent childhood summers staying with her family in southern Italy. A shy, tall, gingery child she never really fitted in with her exuberant Italian cousins and had a tendency to stay quiet and observe things. When Nicky started writing fiction it was her memories of those summers in Italy that came flooding back and flavoured her stories: the passions, the feuds but most of all the food.
Nicky now lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband Carne plus a menagerie of dogs and horses. She works as a freelance journalist and her novels are distributed in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and have been translated into numerous languages.
She loves cooking for friends, drinking red wine, walking on New Zealand’s amazing beaches, riding her horse through the forest and lying in bed reading other people’s novels.
Find out more at nickypellegrino.com
If I had to talk to my younger self, I would say ” never give up. Life is tricky, and success happens when you least expect it, ”.
Great advice, Jen! Hope things are going well. I would say, do what you love NOW. Don’t wait, don’t second guess yourself.
Nicky, I had to laugh at the comment regarding the delete key fell off your last computer. I have seen your book, it is on the book list.
Informative and enjoyable interview, Kim.
Thanks for stopping by, Suzanne 🙂
Your welcome 🙂