Joseph M Rinaldo

Rambling On… has attracted some interesting characters, authors and readers alike. The next guest is certainly no different. He is focussed on achieving bestseller status and has four novels already published, and available to buy, with more to follow. His website mirrors his public facing image – tidy, professional, well groomed. Indeed my next guest already all demonstrates many of the characteristics of a successful and established author and we are yet to read a page. So who is he?

Joseph M Rinaldo - like myself he’s a man who wields numbers in a world where to succeed you must seamlessly wield words. Let’s see how Joseph M Rinaldo, Joe, gets on with Rambling On…

Over to you Joe…

Q1: How long have you been writing and who were your key influencers?

A1: I’ve been writing about ten years. As for my influences, this question is not: Who does your writing style mirror? But people often read the answer and hear, “He likes Dan Brown, so that’s what his books are like.” I read a book by Bob Woodward about the CIA during the Reagan years. Shortly after that I wrote A Spy At Home. Garrison, a CIA operative in A Spy At Home, sees his professional life as a wasted career. The idea germinated while reading Mr. Woodward’s book, however, none of the factual account from his work made it into my novel.

Q2: What are you currently working on and why should readers buy it?

A2: Valerie’s Retreat. The reason you’ll enjoy this book is relate-ability – Valerie’s a very likeable woman. The reader will be on her side. However, as Valerie makes more choices, the reader will have to decide the strength of their allegiance. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn also encouraged readers to re-evaluate their allegiances to the characters. Both novels keep the reader on edge by bringing in surprises just as the reader thinks they have the story figured out. Gone Girl remaining plot seems so obvious in one chapter, only to be completely turned upside down in the next. Valerie’s Retreat follows this recipe to keep the reader guessing.

Q3: What is your motivation for writing?

A3: The actual impetus for me to begin writing came while I was reading Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks. When I got to the part where he received a million-dollar advance, I thought, “Holy cow! He’s a good writer, but I know I can do this, too.” I’ve been writing since that day in 2004.

Q4: What is your favourite hobby?

A4: My family and I love boating. We have little boat that we pull behind the truck and launch into the water every summer weekend we can. I dream of owning a big yacht on the ocean someday. Valerie in my novel Valerie’s Retreat loves to be around the water, too. I can’t give away the ending of the book but her dream of owning a marina is part of her escape plan after she and her boyfriend rob a bank. She’s likeable, and women will relate to her. Wait until you see who she convinces to rent space at her marina! I’m not saying she gets away with the robbery; you’ll have to find out for yourself.

Q5: Where does charity start for you and what have you done that might be considered charitable?

A5: My daughter has Down syndrome, which includes the characteristic of being mentally retarded, so my wife and I coach or chaperone special Olympics events in basketball, bowling, and powerlifting. I get the impression that some people equate charity with doing a chore but these events are usually lots of fun for us. In my novel A Spy At Home, Garrison retires from the CIA after serving undercover in Africa and returns home where he cares for his adult son with Down syndrome. I hope the fun and excitement of Special Olympics shines through in this book.

Q6: What is your favourite quotation and by whom?

If you say I can – you can; if you say I can’t – you can’t. Either way you’re right. The biggest obstacle we have to success is ourselves. I have no idea who said that, but I suspect it was the parent of whining child.

Q7: How many books have you written and what are they called?

A7: I have four books published that are available on Amazon. In Valerie’s Retreat the forty-one-year-old protagonist meets a wonderful man sixteen years her junior. Even though they seem to have nothing in common since she is a Head Teller at a bank and he’s studying for a doctorate in Archaeology, the pair clicks. A Spy At Home is a memoir of a former spy who near the end of his career comes to the realization that his life’s work of promoting rebellion in third-world counties for American interests was a waste. Out of bitterness, he steals over nine million dollars on his last mission. The money was meant for a pro-American rebel group in an impoverished country. His retirement is spent learning what he missed at home with his family and wondering if the CIA will figure out he has their money. Hazardous Choices describes the difficulty a young man has trying to fit in during his first year of college. In Chicago he served as a gangbanger for the vicious Neptune Knights, and in a small Kentucky town where he received a scholarship to play division two football he tries to fit in with the other students. His understanding of the world doesn’t make much sense in this environment. A Mormon Massacre tells about a young man in his early twenties who had been raised hating the Mormon church. To fight what he believes is a cult, Jeremiah goes undercover as a convert to rescue women from abusive plural marriages.

I understand people are hesitant to give independent authors a chance. If any of the books I’ve mentioned interest you, please go to the free “Click to Look Inside” and sample the first chapter. If a book grabs you that quick, you’ll probably be glad you got it. Also, if you are in a book club that reads one of my books. I’d be honored to join your discussion. Feel free to contact me through Facebook or my website, www.josephmrinaldo.com.

Q8: Fitness Freak or Couch Potato?

A8: Do I have to have the same for all of my life? As I get older workouts are easier to skip. When my wife and I first started dating, we walked constantly. In addition to walking with her, I’d jog 3 or 4 miles. Now we’re on differing work schedules, so we don’t walk together much. I use an elliptical and a treadmill in the basement, so I still lean toward the fitness freak, but you wouldn’t call me that. My daughter lifts weights regularly, just like Noah in A Spy At Home. This keeps me lifting weights with her on nights we don’t use the treadmill.

Q9: How do you research your work?

A9: My research falls into two categories: intentional and inadvertent. For A Spy At Home I was reading Bob Woodward’s book as previously mentioned and the story popped into my head. Mr. Woodward’s book provided the foundation but I just happened to stumble across it. For Valerie’s Retreat she runs to another country so I had to research extradition treaties between the USA and this other place. I also had to do some research for Franco’s dream. He’s Valerie’s boyfriend and a doctoral candidate in Archeology. Valerie’s sixteen years older than Franco, but their age difference has been thoroughly researched since my wife is sixteen years older than I am. I am proud to say that the story of Valerie the Cougar is something you can relate to and nothing like the reality TV Cougars.

Q10: What genres do you write, what made you choose them?

A10: The stories that pop into my head get written down. They haven’t fit nicely into a genre, which I think makes them more interesting. I just read 11/22/63 by Stephen King. The book was great, but I have no idea what if any genre it fits into. A Spy At Home is a Romantic Thriller, but I hope the book is deeper and more sophisticated than those two words imply. A Spy At Home is a novel. Yet, several people told that as they read the book they forgot if it was fiction or non-fiction. I don’t know exactly where it lands on the genre scale, but I thought that was the best compliment a novelist could receive.

To buy the paperbacks or download Joe’s latest novels on kindle, follow the link below to his author page where all his titles can be purchased. But before you go why not watch Joe’s preview trailer of the novel A spy at home, available to watch at the bottom of the page…

For U.S. Readers – Joseph M Rinaldo

For U.K. Readers – Joseph M Rinaldo

The Joseph M Rinaldo interview took place on 09 April 2014.

Simon Duringer © 2014.

Simon Duringer is both a Goodreads author and Independent Interviewer. His multiple 5* Amazon/Goodreads rated thriller Stray Bullet is available to buy on Amazon using the following US or UK Link;

UK Link

Stray Bullet

US Link

Stray Bullet