Jenn J McLeod - small-town storyteller

The lovely thing about Author Harvest has been ‘baling up’ new names.

This week I introduce the prolific Rosanne Dingli.

Rosanne, start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today!!!!! 🙂

Today, it’s eggs benedict layered with smoked salmon, rather than ham. This is the kind of fare I live on. I never eat bread, muffins or anything made of flour or other grains, so I eat plenty of protein, which we all know is … brain food! Enjoy.

(Off to a good start. I love Eggs Bene. I had it just yesterday – at my old cafe – as a celebratory brekki – celebrating 30 years of someone putting up with me!)

Now, Rosanne, at home…

My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

We have sculptures made by my husband as a young art student – they are ghostly white so stay visible long after sunset, among vegetation that’s unfashionably unruly.

(Not unfashionable at all. Unruly rules!)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?

I am more into cacti than fruit and vegetables. The Opuntia robusta, or prickly pear, does give a good crop every year – you must be from the Mediterranean to know how to peel and eat this amazing, delicious, memorable fruit.

(I’ve been known to be a bit of a prickly pear from time to time!)

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?

Everything’s mostly in my organizer boxes … boxes of cheese and deli meats of all kinds, lots of salad greens and tomatoes, smoked salmon, two yellow carafes of water, two different kinds of milk, lots of cream, and dozens and dozens of eggs. We often have leftovers from the weekend roast, too.

(I’m sorry. I think I drooled on your couch. You carry on. If you need me I’ll be in your fridge!)

If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)

No – I order by separates, so you might find all my trousers hanging along the top, mostly organized by fabric weight, and tops on the right, organized by sleeve length. I own mostly black clothes. I often pair black with purple, red, grey or blue. I love horizontal stripes.

(Hey soul sister! That could be my wardrobe.)

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)

Black crepe pants, black and cream horizontally-striped top with mid-length sleeves and a scooped neckline, and black velvet flats (I never wear heels).

(This is freaky! My fave top is black and cream, 3/4 sleeves, scoop neck! I’ve had it for years (yes, it is also very stretchy!) AND black pants – well, I own about a million pair. Oh, and what do you know? I just noticed the Mens’ toilet sign left of frame!)

Whose home would you like to housesit, Rosanne, and why?

I love my own home in Western Australia, but if a gun were held to my head and I had to do it, I’d choose the villa Giuseppe Verdi had outside Piacenza in Italy, until his death in 1901. He chose it because it was a peaceful place to compose in, so what could be better for a writer?

We are planning to spend time in Italy and Wales when our responsibilities as parents lighten up a bit.

(Heard of the saying, “Here’s your hat, kid!” And I have another one too. “Your parents are off to spend your inheritance. Ciao!” And if you need reminding what awaits you over there, these covers should do it!)

Country curiosities…

We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?

I saw a beautiful 1920s cloche hat made of blue velvet today – they’re coming back. I think it would suit me rather well! But it’s a winter hat. I hate the sun and keep well out of it – a Winter person through and through. I wake up when the temperatures descend to a tolerable level. I am a ‘socks and soup before a roaring fire’ kind of person, uncomfortable in anything over 25C degrees.

If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?

I’m coming back as a cat, of course. What a fantastic life of carefree leisure.

(And if those kids don’t adios soon tell them it will become Grumpy Cat!)

Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?

I have no memory for punch lines! I’ve heard a thousand really funny versions, but do you think I can remember ONE?

(I think it was because its mother sent it packing!!!! Time to leave the nest – you know?*hint, hint*)

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

Rather than a realization it was a decision. I don’t dream about stuff – if it’s at all possible, I do it. But there was a turning point somewhere, I suppose. Only it’s so long ago I don’t remember deciding. I started writing when I lived in country NSW in 1985, and acceptance for my short pieces and poetry was almost instant, so there was no big dilemma. Now if you’d asked me about when and how I decided to go on, and on, and on – the answer would have been quite different.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Staying with the discipline, time management, organization, planning, carrying through … it’s all hard.

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?

Rudolph Street. Because that’s where it all started, you see. It was my childhood home.

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

No one has ever asked me about hats or garden sculptures … and you have now, so I think that’s neatly taken care of!

(Ah, my job is done!)

Fun stuff…

What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.

I have many, many protagonists – I’ve written four novels and about 5 collections of short stories and novellas – and their personalities are quite different, although I like to write about people in or just after their mid-life confusion. Most people struggle through their late forties and fifties, and my characters are mostly that age. They would think me amazingly engaging and a good conversationalist, of course; they wouldn’t dare think anything else, and would want to ask me round to dinner all the time. I’d be in great demand, in that case.

(Mid-life confusion. LOL Love it. That’s me!)

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

With my own cat. But she wouldn’t want to be me.

If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

I’d sing “Il tango delle capinere.” I know all the words, and it’s a very strange and rare song.

What food would you be?

Black pudding, so everyone would leave me alone. Although going mouldy in a fridge is not exactly an enchanting fate.

(The strategy would work on me!)

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Sliced bread was possibly the thin end of the wedge that made the world obese. I don’t eat grains of any kind. I put my butter and salmon paste on slices of zucchini.

But I think you mean which invention … and that’s the computer, of course. The internet … wow. I couldn’t have joined the writing world in a better era.

Name 5 uses for a stapler that has no staple pins.

Paperweight, paperweight, paperweight, paperweight, paperweight.

If you saw my office you’d understand why.

How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).

I think I’m a 6 these days – the older I get, the more people figure I have reason to act the way I do. And I sometimes take advantage of that.

Tell us about the stories behind those fabulous covers and where people can find out more about you…

Death in Malta

My debut novel is about an Australian novelist looking to resurrect his career and forget his broken marriage. It’s located on the tiny island in the Mediterranean where I was born and raised.

According to Luke

This is a mysterious adventure about an Australian art conservator who discovers a biblical secret in an ancient icon, and then falls in love with the priest who brings it to her lab.

Camera Obscura

A thrilling adventure about an Australian photojournalist, who becomes obsessed with a young woman whose life he helps save. He discovers she lies, cheats and steals, but he might be able to save her.

http://www.rosannedingli.com  and http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com has more information.

Giveaway: Rosanne is giving away a PDF copy of Camera Obscura, her third novel. Two winners will be drawn from readers who admit to preferring to read literary fiction. I asked Rosanne to explain…. “By that I mean fiction that includes references to art, literature, music, culture, travel, and which is more about the journey experienced by the protagonist than about the “story”.” (Closing 09/05/13)
Now closed: Congrats to Lily Malone.