SURROUNDED BY BOOKS

Interview with Alfred C. Martino, author of PERFECTED BY GIRLS

Welcome, Alfred, to the blog!  How long did it take you from idea to publishing your novel?
For my previous two novels it took me upwards of four to five years to complete the manuscripts.  Often I would work on one section, perhaps later in the story, then jump to a section earlier.  But for "Perfected By Girls" I wrote from page one all the way through page three-ten without jumping around, and I was able to complete everything in just over two years.  I credit this change primarily to my two-person Sunday morning writing group, which forced me to have new material every week, and the fact that I had a very specific plotline in mind right from the start.

That's great about the writing group and being willing to try different ways of writing a story. What are you writing now or have forthcoming?
I've been working on my novels for a number of years now, so I'm actually going back to the short stories and novellas I wrote a decade or two ago. Some I want to polish; others I'm thinking of expanding into longer pieces. When I return to novels, since I've always been curious about the 1950s and 60s, I may set my next one in either of those two decades with a coming-of-age tale.

The 1950s and 60s are an interesting time period. Good luck with your future novels. I always find it interesting to learn what other authors are reading. If you could recommend a book—not your own—what book would that be?
On a daily basis, I read a lot--but much of it is in the way of political and news articles.  I enjoy the limited space that reporters and essayists have to make an argument, or explain an issue, so it still helps me learn how to be a better writer by examining how he or she turns a phrase or uses certain vocabulary.

That's an neat way to look at articles. I wish you much success in your future endeavors!

-- Cherie Reich, Surrounded By Books 

For more about Alfred C. Martino, please visit his author page on Amazon.  

The following is from JUST PRESS PLAY: The Playaway Content Blog

Alfred C. Martino: Entrepreneur, Author

Alfred C. Martino isn't just an audiobook executive, he's also an author.Alfred serves as president of Listen & Live Audio, the company he co-founded in 1994 with his partner Alisa Weberman. Since then, they've put out hundreds of great audio titles including Tea House On Mulberry Street, by Irish author, Sharon Owens, and the very popular YA series of Bloody Jack books, written by L.A. Meyer and superbly read by the Audie-award-winning narrator Katy Kellgren. All of L&L's titles are available on Playaway.

To date, Alfred has written three books for Young Adult/Teen audiences: Pinned  (Harcourt) and Over the End Line  (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and Perfected By Girls (Coles Street Publishing). All three were published as audiobooks by Listen & Live. They deal with two of Alfred's greatest passions: wrestling (Pinned and Perfected By Girls) and soccer (Over the End Line), but also with a whole lot more.

I recently took a listen to Over the End Line and found it very engaging. As a forty-something who grew up on the East Coast, it's evocation of the early-Eighties high school scene rang very true for me, as did its references to the New York Cosmos and such soccer luminaries of the day as Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, and Giorgio Chinaglia. The themes of popularity, friendship, love, and responsibility all rang very true as well.

The story should be engaging even for reluctant readers (I performed a pretty successful test on my reluctant nephew). There's some profanity, a little bit of discreetly described teen sex, and a fair amount of high-school partying, early-eighties style. This rough stuff is presented frankly enough to catch the interest of teen readers, but it's not glorified. The audio production is expertly narrated by Todd Licea.

Alfred's titles are available on Playaway.

You can learn more about Alfred at www.AlfredMartino.com and Listen & Live Audio at: www.Listenandlive.com

There's been a lot of death around me lately.

As might be expected, it's caused me to think about my own mortality, the people closest to me, and, of course, my two canine companions, Daisy and Sara. It's impossible to ignore the whitish-gray that has crept over their black muzzles, how they stiffly climb the stairs to our home at day's end, that they seem content for a long walk around the park instead of champing at the bit to run freely and muscularly, as they did years earlier.

I’m not sure what I'll do when the time comes that I must say goodbye to them. I think about it often. I try to convince myself that I'll be strong and noble and let them pass away quietly and comfortably in our home so that they leave this earth with a final feeling of the immense love I had for them. But I don’t know if that will be the right way. Perhaps it is more humane and loving to end any suffering they might have under the careful supervision of their long-time vet. Yet that seems the cowardly way out. I believe I owe it to Daisy and Sara to let them live to the final breaths that God intended for them, and not short-circuit that because I can’t handle seeing them in pain or discomfort, or watching their bodies break down.

When it does happen, whether by God or otherwise, it will be something that I will have pondered, considered, and agonized over more than any decision I’ve ever made. I don’t like thinking about it. And the shame of it is that while it’s true they have become more gray, and their energy and rambunctiousness is greatly diminished, they are old but otherwise very lively dogs.

And, in many ways, they are better companions now than when they were younger. Perhaps that's because I have slowed down, too. I have become gray in my hair, and my beard when I'm unshaven. I'm active but don't have excess energy to burn like I did even ten years ago. So, it seems, the three of us are at a point in time when our bodies’ ages are similar. I like long weekend naps, and they do too. I like to lie on my bed and watch TV to relax. They like to lie on my bed and snuggle against me.
 
They are nowhere near death so I shouldn’t be thinking about it so much.
 
And yet I do.