I'm absolutely delighted to welcome the incredible Anne Canadeo to The Book Resort for a chat!
Her Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series is one of my absolute favorite new series ~ if you haven't read this charming cozy, you're missing out!!
Ready? Let's go...
Me: What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)
AC: A second Black Sheep Knitting Mystery. Knit, Purl, Die which will be out in late December. The story involves a wealthy, vivacious "honorary" member of the knitting group, named Gloria Sterling. She's found floating face down in her swimming pool. The police decide it's an accident, but her fellow knitters and good friends -- the Black Sheep -- aren't convinced and set out to find out what really happened to her. Once they start looking into the nooks and crannies of Gloria's life they discover a lot about her they never knew.
Me: Spiderman or Superman:
AC: Superman! No question. I was a huge fan of the old TV show when
I was a little girl. (very little :)
Me: Wonder Woman or Batgirl:
AC: Wonder Woman. I love the outfit! And she looks very strong, really fit. Who'd want to cross that babe?
Me: Chunky or Smooth:
AC: Chunky. I like a little challenge.
Me: Favorite flavor ice cream:
AC: Coconut. The first time I had it I was in Brazil. That's all I ever learned to say in Portuguese. That and "another beer, please." If I can't get coconut , I'd settle for chocolate. (what a hardship.)
Me: Favorite ice cream topping:
AC: Hot fudge. Bittersweet. Though I indulge very rarely. And it has to be the real thing that sort of coagulates when it hits the cold ice cream. (Don't get me started...I'll need to run downstairs for a snack!)
Me: Subway or Taxi:
AC: I enjoy both in different ways. And both rides have their downside too.
I like the taxis in London because they're so roomy inside, like little square rooms.
Me: Broadway Show or Movie Theater:
AC: I am not a big fan of musical theater but do enjoy a straight drama.
August Wilson is my favorite playwright. I love movies and will watch about anything(shamelessly, late at night. My dogs never tell.) But I do love indie sort of flicks and foreign films. The stories are usually more honest
and original.
Me: TiVo or DVR:
AC: I have no idea what TiVo is...is that when you record a TV show? Most of it isn't worth the bother. I think it would be a very different world if content every catches up with technology. If it even gets close...
Me: Favorite vacation place:
AC: I have quite a few. The North Fork of Long Island, and Block Island come instantly to mind. I suppose I like both places for the same reason. The open spaces and combination of a rural landscape with the water nearby. Cape Ann, Mass. is also a similar environment and I've used the setting, thinly disguised in two very different fiction series -- The Black Sheep Mysteries and the Cape Light series (which I write as Katherine Spencer.) Come to think of it, the place that I live, Northport is also that type of place.
(So I rarely feel the need to go on vacation. :)
I like a place where you can relax, walk and bike ride, or go to empty beaches. Don't even think about what you're wearing. I hate to go places that are fussy and statusy and you feel like you're the poorest person in town. Like the Hamptons (!)
I'd also love to return to Spain. Or to Sedona, a really mystical spot.
Me: Next vacation destination:
AC: I'm not quite sure. We're talking about going back to the Canadian Rockies. The drive between Banff and Lake Louise is really spectacular. We're also talking about a cabin in Maine, and going to Italy or Greece. I usually don't plan anything too far in advance. I think it sort of takes fun out of it.
Me: Favorite NYC hotspot:
AC: I am not a hotspot sort of person. I don't even want to embarrass myself by answering this.
I occasionally go out to a jazz club with my husband. But all the great clubs in the Village have practically disappeared. (And some of the great literary bars too, like the
Lion's Head. ) If I stay up past eleven, I'm usually on a deadline, working till my
eye balls fall out of my head.
Me: Guilty Pleasure:
AC: Watching corny movies late at night. Historical settings are often involved.
I am sucker for any Jane Austen novels brought to the big screen. Or British mysteries
that don't involve too much gore. Masterpiece Theater stuff. You get the picture.
Me: Good luck charm:
AC: I don't think we have enough time for me to describe my piles of good luck charms.
I have complete window sill in the kitchen filled with my little "magical thinking"
collection. For such a reasonable, logical person, I'm horribly superstitious and anything can seem possibly lucky to me -- a stone with a white stripe, a coin, a beaded bracelet that wards off the evil eye, a set of rosary beads I found on the side walk, a favorable prediction from a fortune cookie. Again, I hesitat e to embarrass myself. In my defense, I will say I spent a lot time with Italian grandmothers at a very impressionable age, who were both quite superstitious and would have had a stroke if you spilled salt or Heaven Forbid! killed a spider. (I continue a strict 'catch and release" policy, even the huge, hairy ones.) But perhaps that influence also made me see the world as a magical place, where unexpected things could always happen.
(I know, I can get help for this.)
Me: When you were a little girl, you thought you would grow up to be a….
AC: My first ambition was to be a cow girl. Seriously. I called myself Annie Oakley and galloped around the house on my "horse." After I gave up on the cow girl idea, my next great ambition was to be a poet and nab some cushy academic post...and with the Pulitzer prize or a Mac Arthur Fellowship. I did publish some 20poetry while a college student and also attended graduate school (Columbia University). But by the time I got my graduate degree I was already sunk hip deep in the world of publishing, as a book editor. I'd also worked as a reporter a short time on a newspaper outside of Minneapolis. So the academic world seemed too quiet and "hot house" to me.
Me: Last thing bought at the mall:
AC: Hmm...I'm not a big shopper so I have to think about that one. Oh yes, I bought two pairs of shorts and a "sporty-ish" summer dress. Had to look presentable for an outing with my husband's office. I did pretty well at Macy's.
Me: Item on your grocery list:
AC: I go to the store every day. (See above, inability to plan ahead). If I don't show up at Stop N Shop by 6, the manager calls to see if something's happened to me. When you work at a home, you need to get out of the house once a day and have a destination, preferably a public place to encourage good hygiene. My grocery lists are often short. I am buying (and eating) a lot yogurt these days, so that is usually an item on there. I also buy a lot of chocolate Teddy Grams and dog biscuits.
Me: French fries or Onion Rings:
AC: Fries, very skinny and crisp. But I'll only eat two or three. They bother my stomach...and my conscience. I do like Sweet Potato Fries, if I can get 'em.
Me: Pizza: New York or Chicago?
AC: New York! Are you kidding me? The best pizza in NY is serve at Grimaldi's, under the Bridge, in Brooklyn Heights. It's brick oven and super thin and yummy, with really fresh mozzarella. They serve it on those old fashioned, silver pizza stands. Like a work of art. I have stood on a long line out there temperatures below freezing. For better or worse, you can see the temperature and time while you're on that line because there's this huge clock right next to the bridge.
Me: Midnight snack:
AC: Spoonfuls of whip topping...is that disgusting, or what?
Me: Bookmark or dog ear?
AC: Book mark, but nothing that's really book mark. Usually an old receipt or shopping list. Have a lot of those, see above.
Me: Read with dustjacket or remove it?
AC: Dustjacket. If you buy a book that has one, it looks naked without it. One woman's opinion.
Me: Ocean, Lake, Desert, Mountain:
AC: Ocean about 98% of the time, the other 2% would be split between desert and mountains.
Me: Favorite book:
AC: Now that's an impossible question. Among the many, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman comes to mind. Pride & Prejudice, White Noise by Don Dellilo, Dinner at the Homesick
Restaurant by Anne Tyler, just about any collection of stories by Alice Munro.
And of course, Charlotte's Web by E. B. White. I keep a copies of most of those in my office, by my desk.
Me: Item you can't live without:
AC: Ear plugs. I can't write without them. Not very well anyway. I also can't sleep without them either. So that covers about 90% of my life.
Me: Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?
AC: Rohinton Mistry. I've only read o ne book by this author, A Fine Balance. But it was one of the best and most memorable books I've read in the last 5 years or even 10 years. It reads like a Dicken's novel and so well done on so many levels.
Me: What kid or teen books made a difference in your world growing up?
AC: Charlotte's Web. I had great difficulty learning how to read. I was probably a bit dyslexic and my family also moved in the middle of first grade. So I ended up in the new school needing remedial help. Luckily, I had a wonderful reading teacher, Mrs. Wylder. She told my parents to read aloud to me at night. My father read us Charlotte's Web. I was mesmerized. I had always enjoyed stories and at this time was even making up poems, (that I couldn't write down but would dictate to my mother.) But Charlotte's Web really made me want to learn to read, so I could read more books like it to myself. I think I really identified with Wilbur the pig.
(Especially since I was unhappy at my new school at first.)
It's still one of my very favorite, most beloved books and has great deal of wisdom to offer readers of any age. And I love the illustrations by Garth Williams.
Me: Where do you like to write your books (bed ~ coffee shop ~ an office)?
AC: Sitting at my desk in my home office. It's filled with my favorite things stuck to the walls and on the books shelves. Many photos of my daughter and family and friends. And piles of books. But gets to messy and disorganized. I often do a big clean up after a project and it clears my head. My two dogs, a brown lab-mix named Abby and a Golden Retriever mix, are always hanging out in here with me, so I need to step carefully.
Me: Describe your ideal place to write:
AC: See above. With the addition of an ocean view.
Me: What are you reading @ the moment?
AC: A Miss Pym mystery by Janet Tey. One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson. I just finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Kid Monk and also, I is for Innocent by Sue Grafton.
Me: Where do you usually read?
AC: In our sitting room, in very poor light (!) I like to sit in a chair or on a sofa. I don't like to read laying down. Or even in bed. I always bring books the beach but end up people watching or just talking instead.
Me: Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
AC: No, I usually focus and finish a book quickly. I am a binge reader. Won't read
(or have the time to read) for several weeks, then read a few books in a row.
Me: Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
AC: No. But I've been reading more nonfiction over the years. It gives me a break from the unreal world, I guess. I just read a good book on brain health. Would recommend it...but I can't remember the title. I guess I should try to follow the author's recommendations more closely.
I want to thank the lovely & charming, Anne Canadeo, for such a fun, insightful &whimsical interview. Us Long Islanders surely know how to soin some yarn, eh?
When I am back in my old hometown Anne & I will relax @ the Northport dock, grab a bite Ruby Tuesdays, grab some Cold Stone Creamery & talk books @ the Barnes & Noble all w/i walking distance -- except for the boat dock -- we can eat & talk books... Aaahhh...
