Interview with YA author Ann Chiappetta

YA author Ann Chiappetta joins me today to chat about her new contemporary fiction, Imperfections.

During her virtual book tour, Ann will be giving away a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Ann Chiappetta, M.S. Poet and author.

Ann’s award-winning poems, creative nonfiction, and essays have appeared internationally in literary journals, popular online blogs, and print anthologies. Her poems have been featured in The Avocet, the Pangolin Review, Plum Tree Tavern, Magnets and Ladders, Oprelle, Western PA Poetry Review 2024and Breath and Shadow. Ann’s short story, The Misty Torrent appeared in the Artificial Divide anthology published by Renaissance Press (2021).

Ann is the recipient of the 2019 GDUI Excellence in Writing award and the WDOMI 2016 Spirit of Independence award.

Independently published since 2016, the author’s six volume collection includes poetry, creative nonfiction essays, short stories and contemporary fiction.

Diagnosed in 1993 with a rare form of progressive retinal disease, Ann accepts vision loss as part of her life but doesn’t let it define her as a whole person.

Welcome, Ann. Please tell us about your current release.
For Lainie, feeling unwelcome is only the beginning of her struggles. Her mom is addicted to painkillers, her stepfather is a felon, and her dad traded her in for a new family.

So what if she’s kicked out of high school? Determined and attractive, Lainie sets out to make her own path.

Shane, the young man she begins dating and believes is trustworthy, transforms into a possessive and cruel boyfriend. When Efren, Shane’s older cousin, enters her life, Lainie grasps onto a shred of hope, falling in love. Shane’s obsessive and abusive treatment of her, however, casts a deep shadow over Efren and Lainie’s chance to find safety and a future free of the fear of Shane’s sadistic retribution.

Will their love persevere, or will Shane’s pervasive and negative influence push Lainie and Efren apart, forcing them to love secretly?

What inspired you to write this book?
I wrote my first novel, Hope for the Tarnished in 2022 and discovered I still had another story to write. I’ve experienced plenty of things during my life up until now and I am using some of these to assist me in writing books. This novel is the second and explores how destructive obsession can be. The novel also shows how someone could cope with it.

Excerpt from Imperfections:
Shane wasn’t who he once was, and I needed to do whatever I could to help her feel safe. Witnessing the abuse and shame she’d endured because of his sick obsession twisted me, and I wanted nothing more than to pummel his snotty little face until he begged for mercy. How could anyone abuse someone like Elaina?

She strode past Shane and into my suite with the final armful , ignoring him.

“I’m done,” she said.

“I hope she doesn’t disappoint you in bed,” said Shane.

The anger boiled, but I kept myself in control. “Enough of that. This isn’t the time to rearrange your face, you snotty wanker,” I said, my voice thick with anger.

I waited until Shane dropped his gaze, then I said, “I hope that day comes soon, cousin. I hope you step over the line so I can make some improvements to your complexion.”

He retreated to his room. I heard the lock engage, and I permitted myself to feel a little regret at not defending Elaina’s character with direct contact of my fist against that arse’s face.

I entered the room. Elaina had stacked her belongings, her life, into a corner of the sitting area. It saddened me to know that a few cases and boxes were all that remained after Shane had stolen and sold the rest to get high.

There was so much about her that I wanted to know. Why her father never helped her. Why she didn’t ask for help from her relatives in New York. I knew her mother was an addict and that she and Elaina did not speak. She was enrolled in East Bay Community College and was close to earning an associate’s degree. She wanted to obtain a bachelor’s degree in kennel and stable management. So focused, and yet she seemed sad.

The fair gowns hung on a hook in the closet. Her fingers caressed the pewter and black one.

The gesture brought me a sense of gloom, as if she were saying goodbye. After I had crept into Rita’s box and listened to her sobbing, the moderate measure of guilt I felt for punching Shane, the wanker, then asking Rick to assist in throwing him over the fair gate, had been assuaged. Shane should have gotten a sounder beating, but he was still blood kin. That was the only thing that had saved him from my rearranging his mug.

Listening to Lainie’s sobs, I realized I wanted to pick her up off Rita’s back and be the one to absorb those tears. I needed her to trust me. She was so vulnerable and isolated that I wondered if she would ever take a chance on sharing the abuse I knew she had endured during her time living with Shane. I hoped when she finally decided to trust me, I would be able to handle it.

What exciting project are you working on next?
I am working on three projects. The fiction project is a third novel as yet unnamed. The characters are older, in their late twenties and thirties. The setting is northern California and northern New York. It will weave in romance, some mystery sub plotting and a few other surprises. I am also collecting poems for a third book of poetry and a collection of vignettes for a nonfiction book on therapy animals.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I wrote a poem in seventh grade and it was in the school’s newsletter — my teacher said writing it meant I was a writer. This began my love of writing and reading . I journaled for years and filled a blank ledger with poems. The best part of college was the writing.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do write full-time. I split my time between content writing for paying gigs and the practice of writing and improving my crafting. I take part in focused poetry writing groups and workshops, present on writing topics, coordinate and lead a nonprofit organization for artists who are blind or who live with low vision. Some of the work for the nonprofit is light, on those days I catch up on other projects or scheduling interviews, things for which I can check off on the ever-present TO-DO list.

Weekends are for movies, reading, gardening with my husband, cooking and shopping.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I always have to troll my work for double spacing between words.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A veterinarian.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Yes. It’s never too late to write your dream book. I know a poet and fiction writer who is eighty and releasing his third book. Independent publishing opportunities have advanced past those sloppy examples publishers warned about twenty years ago. Don’t be shy about exploring your potential.

Links:
Website | Blog | Facebook

Thanks for the chance to share my words and work!

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