Ten Questions Plus One for Louise Caiola, author of The Making of Nebraska Brown

 So you know how sometimes you're walking down the street and you accidentally fall over something and skin your knee. That's how I met Louise Caiola, except it was much cooler than that...and a lot less painful.She is super cool and someone you totally want to know. That's why I asked her a bunch of crazy questions. How better to get to know someone than to get their answers to a bunch of craziness?

So here it comes....

What is your least favorite thing to do and why are you so against doing it?

 Doing interviews. Ha! Gotcha…no, my least favorite thing to do is try to come up with clever least favorite things to do. Okay, gotcha again. Redundant, much? Kidding aside - I’m going to have to go with – getting blood drawn. Why? Because they use NEEDLES for that! Nuff’ said.

We are always trying to make things better and more efficient. Even Faster. What do you wish the world would stop trying to improve on and why?

Knee-jerk answer - Pop Tarts. They are perfect the way they are. No need to duplicate, replicate, or obliterate. Just a simple pop and a tart (frosted, of course) and we’re good to go. Real answer - Robo-callers. Stop. That. Now. If I want to speak to a faux-human I’ll call a Kar...(nope, won’t go there.) People need jobs. Machines don’t. Plus those damn robots never seem to understand what I’m saying. I said REP-RE-SEN-TA-TIVE! Sheesh.

How would people communicate in a perfect world?

Via paid correspondents. In fact, I’ll have my people call your people and they can arrange for a proper reply. Over lunch. With apple martinis. 

What is your favorite song? Who is it by? Why do you like it so much anyway? And please don’t say Blurred Lines or this interview is done LOL

What if I said Mmmbop? Would this interview also be over? I’m a song-a-holic. Musical monogamy? Not for this girl. I’m fickle. One day I’m all about Lonely Ol’ Night, the next I’m like, “Done” is the bomb!” The secret is in the lyrics. Sing me a story. (Summer Wind by Sinatra would have been a better answer, right?)

Do you have a car? What do you think about when you’re alone driving in it?

“Why am I driving this car? Why aren’t I flying everywhere in my sleek turbo-powered space-mobile like those folks on the Jetsons? Did I remember to brush my teeth before I left? Ohh! *turns up radio* Here’s my number! Call me maybe! Wait, was that a cop? *slows to speed limit* Yes dude, you can get in my lane. YOU’RE WELCOME! Damn teenage drivers. Crap, I forgot to call my mother back last night. What was that dog’s name anyway? Astro? Elroy?” 

Let’s admit it, there are some useless states out there. Which state would you totally eliminate from the country…and why are you being so mean to that place, Geez?

The only useless state I know is the state of anxiety. Come on, J, I mean, there are potential readers hiding in the nooks and crannies of even the most Podunk useless places like – ha- never mind. You almost got me on that one.  

Name one thing you would change about yourself. Why would you want to change that anyway?

My socks. My incessant need to be snarky. My fear of change. My intense irritation with people who use the word agreeance. My lack of attention to details…Oh – you said ONE thing - Summer Wind by Sinatra would have been a better answer, right?

What fault in people are you most tolerant of? Why are you understanding about that but not of the one thing you just mentioned about yourself?

Their use of the word agreeance. Can we agree that it doesn’t exist, people? Oh, wait. I’m not actually tolerant of that after all. 

What one thing inspires you more than anything else?

Mortality. The swift and steady passing of days fills me with the penchant to accomplish something huge before the Big Egg-Timer of Life dings. 

Since you’re an author, what’s your favorite word? What so great about it?

Agreeance. No, I must subconsciously love the word “just” because I seem to use it a helluva lot in my work. Just a sec – “helluva” that’s a pretty cool one, too. Wait, that’s not a word, is it? “Palatial” is sort of neat, though I’ve never had occasion to employ it.

Plus one

Tell us about your newest work in your own words, no blurbs allowed. Talk about themes. Why do you love this novel so much? Why will we?

The Making of Nebraska Brown is like The Wizard of Oz and Under the Tuscan Sun had a love child. What happens when you wish yourself right out of your own life? When, all at once, your entire world has gone missing? Ann Leigh, an eighteen-year-old American is ripped from the pages of her tedious Nebraska existence & mysteriously catapulted into a strange new world in Campania, Italy. With her fractured mind sparing glimpses of an old lover, an unplanned pregnancy, a devastating house fire and a crazy family, Ann (or is she Ana?) goes in search of finding herself – most literally. So in the event now you’re like, “Wait, what?” Here’s the one minute movie version: 

Identity is a recurring theme in this novel, as well as trust. I’m fascinated by the nuances of what makes a person who they are – the whole nature versus nurture thing. Plus, I adore a good mystery – especially when that mystery is someone you love or even…yourself.

 I really liked the duality of this story – the piecing together of the puzzle that is this young woman as she straddles a life both “here and there.” My hope is that readers will become transfixed with her journey and her circumstances, and want to solve it for themselves. Plus – Ann Leigh is pretty cool. And who doesn’t like cool people? If you visit the Immortal Ink Publishing website and sign up for pre-release notification you will be eligible to win a free copy in addition to being privy to special release pricing. So please do it! http://www.immortalinkpublishing.com/books.php?id=27

Now, J, I want to invite your readership to get to know me better. I promise to try to be quasi-entertaining and avoid cussing whenever able. Follow along if you dare:

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/lcwritten and https://twitter.com/AuthorLouiseC

And on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/TheMakingOfNebraskaBrown