Author Interview - Roberta Capizzi, Author of The Melody in our Hearts

Hi everyone! To celebrate Valentine's Day, I interviewed Roberta Capizzi, author of The Melody in our Hearts -- a story about the value of true friendship, the power of dreams, and the unpredictability of love. Roberta describes herself as an avid reader, art lover and a dreamer. Roberta is also lovingly giving away a copy of her book. (More info at the end of the interview)

 
1. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE?

Well, I've always loved reading and I've always been a daydreamer. I guess I put my crazy daydreaming into writing, so that it would look less crazy? And because I didn't like reality -- I wanted to create a world of my own, where I could control things and events.

2. CAN WRITERS CHANGE THE WORLD?
Of course! I believe dreams (and dreamers) can change the world, the problem with the world is: people don't believe in dreams and happy endings anymore. Writers are dreamers at the end of the day, aren't they? If only they could write a happy ending for every person on Earth, I guess the world would be a better place.

Stranger Than Fiction is a 2006 film starring Will Ferrell, an IRS auditor who suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire life, from his work to his love interest and to his death.

Imagine if they could change the events simply by writing them in a book -- like stopping wars, violence, crimes, etc. simply by adding a happy ending? That would be absolutely awesome!

3. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK AND WHY?
Tough question! I love lots of books, for many different reasons. I love a book for the characters, I love another book for the settings, I love another one for the story. One book made me laugh, another made me cry. I think I'll have to pick the one book that made me realize how much I loved reading (and the first book I read twice when I was a child) -- it's a children's book: The Eyes of the Amaryllis by Natalie Babbitt.

The Eyes of the Amaryllis was a 1977 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year.

4. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR NEW AND UP-AND-COMING WRITERS?
Never give up hope. Never let anyone put you off. If you're heart is in it, then just go for it. Write for yourself, not to please others. Write the story you want to read -- the story you have in your heart. If you love what you're doing and what you're writing, you can never go wrong.

5. IF YOUR BOOK WAS TURNED INTO A MOVIE, WHO WOULD DIRECT IT? WHO WOULD STAR IN IT?
Well, I don't really know who I would want to direct it; seeing the great job they did with Nicholas Sparks' movie adaptations, I guess I would choose any of those directors, probably Lasse Hallström, Scott Hicks or George C. Wolfe.

Ryan Reynolds absolutely hates wearing shirts.

As for the characters, I'd love Ryan Reynolds and Reese Whiterspoon to play the two main characters, Ryan and Valerie.

6. IF YOU WEREN'T WRITING, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING NOW?
I'll be reading! :-) Well, since I'm not a full-time writer, I'd probably be boring myself to death in my office job (my day job) wondering: "What am I doing here?". But since discovering my passion for writing, even my day job isn't so boring anymore, because when I do get bored, I just unplug my brain from the rest of the world and start fantasizing about the next scene in my novel. Good thing my boss won't be reading this interview!

7. IF THE WORLD ENDED TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TODAY?
I'll probably finish reading all the books that I've meant to read for ages but never had the time to. I'd try to finish my novel -- don't like leaving things half finished -- and I'd also like to see a few places I've never been before, but I guess in one day it'd be a bit hard (unless I managed to steal Santa's sleigh without him noticing!)

Thank you Roberta. It was a pleasure talking to you.

Click here to find out how to win a copy of Roberta Capizzi's book, The Melody in our Hearts.

Click on the cover to buy The Melody in our Hearts on Amazon.
You can learn more about Roberta and her books below:

Twitter: @SligoRoo
Blog: https://robertasdreamworld.wordpress.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6869696.Roberta_Capizzi

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on Twitter: @Tuan_Ho444

If you enjoyed reading this, please subscribe to this blog in the top left hand corner.

Until next time, something wonderful awaits!