Sunday, January 16, 2011

Atypical So Cal, atypical Italian. Hoping for more.

January in southern California is usually sunny and clear. Cool air, perhaps, but warm sun; I can rely on that. Not this year. Like the atypical (and intense) mid-December rain, temps last week began in the 30s and hit 80 yesterday, not our usual January.

Compared to the popular winter image of Christmas, December 25 with my family in So Cal was also atypical, made “white” only by my dad’s famous homemade ice cream. Ice cream, on Christmas, people always asked. Yes, each year, we could always rely on that. Ice cream paired well with the mild weather.

In my 7/11/10 post I wrote that Half Italian is not heavy on the stereotypes we sometimes see on TV; in that sense, my Italian family was also atypical. In my 8/30/10 post I mention the barbecued rabbit we had every Easter, not your typical selection for a holiday whose pop icon is a generous, happy bunny. Rabbit as a meal wasn’t uncommon with other Italian families I’ve spoken to, but it definitely shocks people whose roots are purely white-bread America.

Will the atypical continue? Will an agent believe this unpublished author’s work is marketable, and be able to convince a publisher of the same?

- PJ

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