Author Guest Post with Ann Chiappetta: Imperfections

For Lainie, feeling unwelcome is only the beginning of her struggles. Her mom is addicted to painkillers, her stepfather is a felon, and her dad traded her in for a new family.

Welcome to the May 8th stop on the blog tour for Imperfections by Ann Chiappetta with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more guest posts, reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

About the Author

Day in the Life of the Author

Hey all, it’s Ann Chiappetta, aka Annie C. I recently moved to Western Pennsylvania with my husband of over 33 years. We love it! We’re both retired and glad we’re  now in a modest home with our pets and garden. It sounds boring and pastoral, eh? We spent so many years in New York commuting, paying way more for way less. It was time to go to a place where we could relax, or chillax, as the younger generations tend to say, 😊

My day is  part structure and part freestyle. After the coffee is in my system, I connect with my writing life. A quiet room,  maybe an open window and the sweet birdsongs assist with beginning my day.

I spend time shifting from promoting my books or submitting my poetry to chatting with family and friends. I also volunteer for  a nonprofit blindness organization. Being blind has little to do with being a writer. I’d write even if I could see. Based on my history of becoming a poet and author, I turned toward to writing because I lost my sight and needed to find a creative outlet that did not rely on vision, but inner vision.

How long have I been blind? I’ve been living with blindness for thirty years now and it’s a part of who I am. I began life with vision and lost it before the age of 30 so I do still retain many visual memories. 

What else can I tell you about the writing life? It’s what keeps me grounded. It’s what connects me with people. Making meaningful connections is the recompense for me. If one person  is effected or if what I write resonates with others, it’s worth more than dollars in my KDP account. Sure, money helps. I do dream to be discovered (is that still a thing nowadays?) but I am satisfied to write and offer my books to the masses.

Where do I find inspiration and ideas? From being curious and not shrugging off an idea, even if it sounds kind of weird.  I do my research. I get carried away sometimes, like, if I read a certain style of book and I finish it and say, “I can do that,” and off I go, riding the wave into the book writing universe.  Most times I succeed and learn something new and beneficial, sometimes I bomb. At least I do my best and try.

This is what Imperfections means to me, a shift from a traditional narrative. I hope you like it and I hope to hear from you. Thanks for reading.

About the Book

Imperfections
by Ann Chiappetta

Published 1 March 2024

Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Page Count: 212
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

For Lainie, feeling unwelcome is only the beginning of her struggles. Her mom is addicted to painkillers, her stepfather is a felon, and her dad traded her in for a new family.

So what if she’s kicked out of high school? Determined and attractive, Lainie sets out to make her own path.

Shane, the young man she begins dating and believes is trustworthy, transforms into a possessive and cruel boyfriend. When Efren, Shane’s older cousin, enters her life, Lainie grasps onto a shred of hope, falling in love. Shane’s obsessive and abusive treatment of her, however, casts a deep shadow over Efren and Lainie’s chance to find  safety and a future free of the fear of Shane’s  sadistic retribution.

Will their love persevere, or will Shane’s pervasive and negative influence push Lainie and Efren apart, forcing them to love secretly?

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Excerpt

This was the one place Shane didn’t go, the one location I felt safe, thanks to the security.

I was returning to my car when I noticed Ray standing next to it.

“Lainie, what’re you doing here so late?” he asked.

I’d forgotten that he’d been staying here until his Malinois bitch, Gemma, whelped.

The weight of what had just happened emptied me. The adrenaline rush left me and I wanted to bury my head in a pillow and cry. But I couldn’t. I closed my eyes and leaned my back against the car for support.

“Shane?” he asked.

“Who else?” I said.

He put an arm around my shoulder. We headed to the office. I appreciated the strength and protective feeling of his gesture and wanted to break down right there and cry, tell him everything, but I held back.

I perched on the arm of the couch while he made tea. I wanted to tell Ray what Shane had done, but I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t trust anyone with that knowledge. If I told anyone, they would think I was weak, incapable of defending myself, and then unfriend me or pity me. I had to hang onto what was good in my life and not ruin it with something so shameful.

About the Author

Ann’s award-winning poems, creative nonfiction, and essays have appeared internationally in literary journals, popular online blogs, and print anthologies. Her poems have been featured in The Avocet, the Pangolin Review, Plum Tree Tavern, Magnets and Ladders, Oprelle, Western PA Poetry Review 2024and Breath and Shadow. Ann’s short story, The Misty Torrent appeared in the Artificial Divide anthology published by Renaissance Press (2021).

Ann is the recipient of the 2019 GDUI Excellence in Writing award and the WDOMI 2016 Spirit of Independence award.

Independently published since 2016, the author’s seven volume collection includes poetry, creative nonfiction essays, short stories and contemporary fiction.

Diagnosed in 1993 with a rare form of progressive retinal disease, Ann accepts vision loss as part of her life but doesn’t let it define her as a whole person.

The author resides in western Pennsylvania with her husband, retired guide dog pet dog and cats, striving to develop a mutually-beneficial relationship with her assistive technology.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads

Giveaway Alert!

Ann Chiappetta will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

May 8	Westveil Publishing	May 15	Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
May 22	Hope. Dreams. Life… Love	May 22	Long and Short Reviews
May 29	Literary Gold	Jun 5	Fabulous and Brunette
Jun 12	Books+Coffee=Happiness	Jun 12	The Pen and Muse Book Reviews
Jun 19	The Avid Reader	Jun 26	Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
Jul 10	The Faerie Review	Jul 17	Our Town Book Reviews
Jul 17	A Wonderful World of Words	Jul 24	Gina Rae Mitchell
Jul 31	Sandra’s Book Club

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.