Welcome to the 2023 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event! 

  

  

How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close one week after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 8th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.    

Pat Mitchell will be at the Rhode Island Author Expo   

On to the Showcase! 

 

What name do you like to write under? Pat Mitchell 

Where do you call home? Cranston Rhode Island 

What genre(s) do you write? Various. So far Memoir and YA fiction 

What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger Was there a reason that genre(s) appealed to you the most?  I loved a variety of genres especially about animals. I remember books about the horse Stormy of Chincotegue, and a series about Big Red the Irish setter. I always related to animals telling their story. 

What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why? The ones I mentioned of Course but I loved witty books like The House at Pooh Corner and piles of collections of Charlie Brown and Snoopy books. I could identify with their sarcasm and humor. I also loved classics like A Wrinkle in Time and From The mixed up files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler. I enjoyed adventures with well defined characters that didn’t really fit in with the norm. P 

What are some of your favorite books today? I love historical fiction and Phillips Gregory is a favorite author of mine. She writes a lot Tudor and Elizabethan era books. For comedy it’s David Sedaris. Other than that I’m really drawn to biographies and memoirs, including those by Michelle Obama and Elton John. I love understanding what motivates people to act the way they do, whether it be childhood trauma or their current situation. Overcoming obstacles is very uplifting and inspiring and I like delving into people’s characters. 

What inspired you to become a writer?  When I was in fifth grade I had a teacher who would punish us by making us write essays. I loved writing sarcastic essays and trying To make him laugh. I got a lot of essay assignments even when I wasn’t in a lot of trouble. I enjoyed expressing myself because I was a bit shy and I felt a connection when someone laughed at my words. I got interested in journalism for a while in college then found my nice in creative writing. Unfortunately I lacked confidence in myself and waited a long time to write my first book, a memoir of my mother’s life called A Girl From the Hill. When I got so much positive feedback I felt I could tackle fiction and write Goodbye Pound Cake. 

 

Goodbye Pound Cake

Inspired by the memory of her mother to register for this year’s Newport Bridge Run, Rhode Island’s most popular long-distance running race of the year, 14-year-old Michelle Natale envisions herself getting fit, sporting a perfect body, and finally silencing the Hyenas and their boyfriends at Apple Valley Middle School who bully her and call her Pound Cake. But when Michelle invites her best friend Mandy on the journey from overweight outcasts to beautiful winners, Mandy declines. Instead, she takes a different path to happiness, and the two friends nearly destroy everything that’s most important. Michelle learns from her relationships with her science-nerd father, her obnoxious big brother, her dreamy new running coach, her mini-me dog, and even Elvis Presley bringing messages from beyond, that true beauty comes from family, friendship, healthy choices, and being happy with who you are. 

Tell us a little about how “Goodbye Pound Cake” came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else?  I’ve always been fascinated with mother daughter relationships and feel the voice of Michelle, the protagonist, is mine. I wanted to express as a mom and a daughter how poor self esteem and body shaming can really do a lot of damage to women and girls. Girls learn this from their mothers sometimes, or from friends and try to strive for a perfection that doesn’t really exist. I have had my own challenges in this area and wanted to express that it’s not hopeless. Learning to love yourself and take care of yourself is important even at a young age in order to break the cycle of shame around body image. 

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? The character that change the most was Mandy, Michelle’s best friend. She made choices that we’re not smart and we’re not safe instead of being a loyal sidekick she became an important part of the story end of the lesson that self-love is important. 

Which character was the most challenging to create. Why? Actually, the character of Dillon was the hardest to create because while I wanted him to be perfect in so many ways so that Michelle admired him I also want him to be very real and have a very real problems. Balancing that was difficult. 

What do you like best about being a writer? I like the idea of someone reading my work, and connecting with me, connecting with my thoughts and understanding me better because of what I’ve written, even if it’s not about me directly. 

If you could collaborate with any author past or present, who would it be? What would the title of the book be? (If possible) - Give us a one sentence blurb. Truman Capote would’ve been fun to write with! Breakfast at Tiffany’s could’ve taken on a whole new meaning with the two of us working together. Holly Golightly would’ve had a much better sense of sarcasm perhaps. 

You can follow Patty Mitchell here - 

www.pattytmitchell.com 

https://www.facebook.com/PattyMitch 

Instagram - @Pattytmitch 

Patty is giving away a copy of “Goodbye Pound Cake.”  To enter comment below --> Name a time in your life that you felt most like yourself? 

 

(Comments are open for one week)