Jenny Wheeler: Nicky Pellegrino's last book was called A Dream of Italy and it was one of the hottest sellers of 2019. Now she's back with a new heart wrencher, Tiny Pieces of Us, combining her familiar themes of friendship, food, and romance, but this time underlined with a gritty story.
Hi there, I'm your host, Jenny Wheeler, and in today's binge reading episode, Nicky talks about the new book, her new podcast and the big life changes she’s facing that are creating new opportunities.
Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:
The real story about organ transplants
'Winning formula'' with a gritty edge
On not living a safe small life
Mourning the loss of a slew of magazines
An exciting new book podcast
Learning new things under challenging circumstances
Where to find Nicky Pellegrino:
Website: https://www.nickypellegrino.com/#home
Facebook: @nickypellegrinoauthor
Twitter: @nickypellegrino
What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.
Jenny Wheeler: But now, here’s Nicky. Hello there, Nicky, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.
Nicky Pellegrino: Thanks for having me on.
Introducing Nicky Pellegrino
Jenny Wheeler: You're very, very welcome. We're coming back for a second time but that's fully justified because there's been a heap happening in your life. You've got another new book out, you've started a podcast and there are also lots of other life changes going on. It seemed like a very good time to revisit what you're up to.
Nicky Pellegrino - heartwarming romance and women's fiction
Nicky Pellegrino: It does feel like a lot has happened. I think many people feel like that with the COVID-19 outbreak and the way it changed all our lives. So yes, it feels like there have been a lot of changes and there are probably quite a lot more ahead for me too.
Jenny Wheeler: Your latest book, we'll get to that first. It's your twelfth, Tiny Pieces of Us, and its launch was somewhat disrupted by this pandemic, wasn't it? Tell us what happened.
Nicky Pellegrino: It was meant to come out right in the middle of level four on March 30th. We were going to have a big, fancy launch and I was going to go to lots of book festivals and I was very excited and of course, my diary is a mass of crossings out.
None of that happened and the launch was postponed. It’s moved around a bit, but we've now settled on June 30th, the end of this month. Obviously there won't be the same big, fancy launch and masses of festivals, but I am hoping that we'll be back to normal by then and all the shops will be back to normal and people will be able to go and at least buy the book.
A deeply emotional gritty story
Jenny Wheeler: Perhaps I ought to interject here for those who aren't familiar with your work or haven't heard the first interview we did, because a lot of our listeners are in the States. You're one of New Zealand's most popular romance and women’s fiction authors, a name in this country. Everybody's heard of Nicky, but this one, Tiny Pieces of Us, is deeply emotional. It's a slightly darker theme than some of your previous books, isn’t it?
A Dream of Italy - Nicky Pellegrino
Nicky Pellegrino: Yes. I think all my books have got the theme of friendship and food and Italy, but with each one I have tried to do something a little bit different with the structure. For instance, A Year at Hotel Gondola was a book within a book.
It might not have been visible to the naked eye, but with each one I was trying to do something a little bit different and push myself on as a writer. With Tiny Pieces of Us it’s a grittier story. It's about people who've had organ donations.
The truth behind transplant stories
There are a lot of the same elements of my previous work there, but I think it's certainly a much more emotional read and more happens.
