Coins in the Fountain: A Memoir of Rome by Judith Works
Book Details:
Book Title: Coins in the Fountain: A Memoir of Rome by Judith Works
Category: Adult non-fiction, 283 pages
Genre: Memoir / Travel Memoir
Publisher: Booktrope
Release date: January 2016
Tour dates: February 29 to March 18, 2016
Content Rating: PG
Book Description:
Innocents Abroad collide with La Dolce Vita when the author and her husband arrive in the ancient city of Rome fresh from the depths of Oregon. While the author endeavored to learn the folkways of the United Nations, her husband tangled with unfamiliar vegetables in a valiant effort to learn to cook Italian-style. In between, they attended weddings, enjoyed a close-up with the pope, tried their hands at grape harvesting, and savored country weekends where the ancient Etruscans still seemed to be lurking. Along the way they made many unforgettable friends including the countess with a butt-reducing machine and a count who served as a model for naked statues of horsemen in his youth.
But not everything was wine and wonders. Dogs in the doctor’s exam room, neighbors in the apartment in the middle of the night, an auto accident with the military police, a dangerous fall in the subway, too many interactions with an excitable landlord, snakes and unexploded bombs on a golf course, and a sinking sailboat, all added more seasoning to the spaghetti sauce of their life.
Their story begins with a month trying to sleep on a cold marble floor wondering why they came to Rome. It ends with a hopeful toss of coins in the Trevi Fountain to ensure their return to the Eternal City for visits. Ten years of pasta, vino, and the sweet life weren’t enough.
Part memoir, part travelogue, Coins in the Fountain will amuse and intrigue you with the stories of food, friends, and the adventures of a couple who ran away to join the circus (the Circus Maximus, that is).
Meet the author:
Life was routine until the author decided to get a law degree. Then a chance meeting led her to run away to the Circus (Maximus) – actually to the United Nations office next door – where she worked as an attorney in the HR department and entered the world of expat life in Rome.
Her publishing credits include a memoir about ten years in Italy titled Coins in the Fountain, a novel about expats in Rome, City of Illusions, and flash fiction in literary magazines. She continues to travel in her spare time, having fitted in over 100 countries. And when she is in Rome, she always tosses a coin in the Trevi Fountain to ensure another visit.
Interview with Judith Works
What genre do you write and why?
My memoir, Coins in the Fountain, was written to tell armchair travelers and
dreamers about what it’s really like to live in Rome with all the marvelous
food and art. My first novel, contemporary fiction titled City of Illusions, looks at the darker side of expatriate life and
explores the effect that life has on a marriage. I’m now working on my second
novel that tells the story of a woman whose husband is murdered in Rome and the
aftermath as she searches for meaning in her life.
What is your next project?
I will be featured in a magazine
that pairs modern jewelry designs with short stories. I’ll receive the photo of
the specific piece of jewelry next month and then will have to dream up a
thousand –word story inspired by the piece.
What is the last great book you’ve read?
I’ve read a number of great books
recently: One that comes to mind is Ruth
Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being,
about a Japanese girl’s diary that washes up on the shore of an island off the
west coast of Canada and a kamikaze pilot in World War II.
Where do you write?
I’m fortunate in that I have a room
of my own. It’s sunny in the mornings and filled with memories of my travels –
a painting from Ethiopia, a watercolor from Rome; an icon from Bulgaria, a
carving from New Guinea, a design of tribal symbols from Togo. And of course,
loads of books about travel, history and Italy, and the inevitable Thesaurus, a
number of dictionaries and all the other things writers accumulate.
Do you write every day?
I do try to write every day
although sometimes it isn’t possible when I’m traveling. Even if I only write a
few lines I think the practice is important. We have a number of writing groups
locally that have drop in opportunities – we agree on a start line, write for
10 or 15 minutes and then share our work.
What is writing schedule?
My normal writing schedule is get
going about 5:30 or 6:00 and get to my computer by 6:30. I’m an early bird and
almost never write in the evenings.
In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop.
Have you ever written parts of your book on paper?
I’ve never written parts of either
of my books on paper except if I’m editing on hard copy and want to insert a
new paragraph. On the other hand, I always write by hand in the writing groups.
I find it is an entirely different brain function but my handwriting is so
terrible I have trouble reading what I’ve written.
If you could go back in time where would you go?
There are so many places I’d like
to visit for a day I would have trouble deciding which one: A day in Pompeii
before it was buried in ash with the eruption of Vesuvius; a Renaissance
banquet in Florence; Anne Boleyn’s trial (not the beheading); Versailles before
the French Revolution; the signing of the Declaration of Independence to name a
few.
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