Monica Jo Carusi
Ohio
Cross the Veil and Near Me Dwell is my
first published work. The second book
of the series Hysteria and Revenge is
nearing completion.
Tell us a little about these lovely black and white drawings. Did you do them?
Tell us a little about these lovely black and white drawings. Did you do them?
What is your favorite genre to
write?
Fantasy/Fiction
Favorite food:
Vine ripened
tomatoes.
Tea or coffee?
Coffee
Pizza or ice cream?
Ice Cream
Where would you like to visit?
Ireland and
Scotland are my interests abroad, but I would love to take an Alaskan cruise.
Favorite musical artist. Do you listen to
music when you write? What? My musical tastes are eclectic. Bon Jovi, Wynton Marsalis, Blake Shelton,
Neil Diamond and Mozart are my favorites of their respective genres. I prefer silence while I write but background
sounds don’t bother me.
What makes you laugh?
Geek humor
Favorite work of art or sculpture.
I have two. The
Huth Factories at Clichy and Battle
of Lights, Coney Island. Both are
meeting points of disparate subjects.
van Gogh brought together agriculture and industry while Stella joined
structure and motion. If you read my work you will see that intertwining the unlikely
is an interest.
How old were you when you started
writing?
Grade school.
Describe your perfect evening:
Dinner with
friends
Where do you get your inspiration?
Everywhere and
everyone. Cross the Veil and Near Me Dwell began while sitting with my father
in the hospital. There isn’t much to do
at such a time but surf the internet. An
ancient Roman and a Victorian matriarch crossed my screen in succession and the
thought of a conversation between them gripped my imagination. However, the inspiration for characters in Hysteria and Revenge (soon to be
published) came from three young people who read my first work and thoughtfully
offered suggestions. I truly enjoyed
researching the timeperiods they would have lived and watching them come to
life in the story.
What do you do when you get a
writer's block?
You are going to think I am crazy, but I sit
with my hands on my laptop and type.
Sometimes what comes out is interesting and sometimes it’s drivel but I
am always anxious to see what I wrote.
Once the germ or seed is planted, the story takes off and grows into
whatever it is supposed to be. My job is to tend it and prune it like an ornate
tree.
Who is your favorite author?
James
Patterson.
Best book you ever read.
The Quincunx by Charles Palliser
Last book you read.
The Water Brought Us by Muriel Miller
Branch
What would you do for a living if
you weren’t a writer?
Something medical and technical
Who is the one person who has
influenced your personal life the most and why?
My niece. She is kind, compassionate and generous. When things are difficult, she keeps going
and still takes care of others before herself.
She doesn’t whine, complain or crawl under a table and cry even when she
has every right to do so. She has my
admiration and may be the best person I know.
If you could sit down and have a
conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it
be and why?
Samuel Clemens. I find him to be a fascinating
character. He lived an interesting life
and used humor to relate to his audience.
Even though his personal life (deaths of children and wife, discord with
one daughter) was rather tragic, he managed to maintain the Mark Twain
persona. As someone who enjoys
researching daily life of different historical periods, I would dearly love to
interview Mr. Clemens.
What advice would you give someone
who aspired to be a writer?
Write. Do not be concerned with anything but the story line. Get a first draft down and go from there.
Write. Do not be concerned with anything but the story line. Get a first draft down and go from there.
LINKS:
(Paperback and hardcover also available via Amazon)
Friesenpress: http://www.friesenpress.com/bookstore/title/119734000007424046 (paperback
and hardcover)
Note from Carol:
We prepare these posts at least a week in advance. They are proofread and reread and read again. But every once in a while when I hit that PUBLISH button, everything goes nuts. Formatting is completely thrown out the window and what is on my final edit screen is not what shows up online. I am having that problem today. If this post is not uniform in font and size, it will be reformatted and reposted at a later date. My apologies to Monica Jo. It is the ghost in the machine.
Hugs
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