Linda Dini Jenkins
Linda Dini Jenkins is
a published poet, playwright and creative writing instructor.
She is the author of
Journey of a Returning Christian: Writing Into God (Chalice
Press: 1994) and Sono italiana: a journey back to the beginning
(Riverside Press, 2003). She has been published in a wide range
of literary journals, including: Poeti italo-americani, Vermont
Voices, South Florida Poetry Review, Phoebe, Peregrine, and
Tampa Review. She is co-author, with Barbara Worton, of the
play, If I’m Talking, Why Aren’t You Listening?, and is the
author of another play, Things I Never Told My Mother.
For more than 30 years, Linda has been in the communications
business. She is an expert interviewer, writer and focus group
director. In another life, she was an account manager at Ogilvy
& Mather Advertising; copy manager for the in-house
communications group at Thomson Financial; co-founder of a
private investment banking boutique; and general manager of an
ad agency that specialized in television syndication
clients.Today, her freelance clients include some of the world's
largest financial and academic institutions.
Her first poem was published in the Massapequa Public School
District’s anthology when she was eight years old and she has
been striving for a Pulitzer ever since. Great Little Books LLC
will perhaps help get her closer to this goal.
Linda teaches creative writing for church, community and senior
organizations. A native New Yorker, she now lives in Midlothian,
Virginia with her husband Tim and Maxine, the Wonder Dog.
About the Book: TRUE STORIES, PRACTICAL TIPS AND
LESSONS FROM THE ROAD
Explore Tuscany, Lombardy, Naples, the Amalfi
Coast, Brugge, Paris and a moveable feast of
other destinations — and see what happens when
an avid planner and a devout rule breaker try to
make a life together. This captivating and
beautifully illustrated collection of personal
essays, stories and poetry recounts the ups and
downs and adventure of travel, and tells the
tale of surviving a marriage and keeping
friendships strong, even when the circumstances
aren’t always ideal. Linger over the evocative
photographs, savor the recipes, make good use of
the tips for travelers and enjoy these charming
tales from the road.
Books-and-Authors.net: Where did you grow up and was reading
and writing a
part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?
Linda Dini Jenkins: I grew up east of New York City, on Long
Island. I was born in Freeport but my family
moved to Massapequa when I was six years old. As an only child,
reading, writing and music were my constant activities. I loved
the poetry of e.e. cummings because he had a world view that
resonated with me, plus I loved that he broke the rules by not
using capital letters! I also read Emily Dickinson, because I
could identify
with her isolation. When I was fourteen, I won an essay contest
and I could pick any book I wanted as a prize. I chose Harper
Lee’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and the librarian wouldn’t give it
to me without a note from my mother saying it was okay!
Books-and-Authors.net: UP AT THE VILLA - TRAVELS WITH MY HUSBAND
is a wonderful insiders view of travels in Tuscany, Italy,
Paris, ect... In your opinion what makes this a different travel
book from others in the genre?
Linda Dini Jenkins: Well, this book crosses several genres, so
it’s a little different in that regard. First and
foremost, it’s a travel memoir, but it also tells a story
through poetry, recipes and travel guide information — and it’s
all wrapped around a love story to both places and a person, my
husband.
Books-and-Authors.net: Have you always enjoyed traveling? Does
travel expand on your creative spirit?
Linda Dini Jenkins: Travel was always an adventure for me. When
I was a girl living at home, we took
vacations every year and my parents would take me to state parks
and historical sites (Civil War battlefields, Juliette Gordon
Low’s birthplace, museums) and, although I’m sure I didn’t
appreciate it as much as I should have, it was always a treat to
leave the daily routine and do something different. As an adult,
I see how important leaving the day-to-day can be in terms of
being a great prompt and guide for the creative imagination.
Books-and-Authors.net: UP AT THE VILLA - TRAVELS WITH MY
HUSBAND has many thought provoking and interesting information
not found in many travel books like "How to cook a snail" and
"The Secret of the Scorpion" - Explain.
Linda Dini Jenkins: Well, the snail story is easy: I didn’t want
anybody getting sick after cooking snails as
casually as Tim did on our trip, so I thought it best to find a
fairly simple recipe that would provide a similar result. Snails
are very complicated things to cook! I’ve learned at my readings
that people’s two favorite stories are the snail story and the
scorpion story. I included them to be entertaining stories, for
sure, but also to illustrate the
humor and complications of a marriage, and I think they succeed
on both levels.
Books-and-Authors.net: UP AT THE VILLA - TRAVELS WITH MY HUSBAND
has some poetry - Explain. Did you take all of the photographs
in UP AT THE VILLA -
TRAVELS WITH MY HUSBAND?
Linda Dini Jenkins: I have been published as a poet since the
late 1980s (well, actually, my first poem
was published in the school system’s newsletter when I was eight
years old, back in 1957). But I have been writing in other
genres for about 20 years. I have written two plays, one with my
oldest friend Barbara Worton, and have seen them both produced,
which was both thrilling and nervous-making all at once. And I
started to write non-fiction essays about five years ago, which
is what gave me the courage to try to put this book together.
Many of the photographs in the book are mine and Tim’s (the
eponymous husband), but the book’s designer (the fabulous Dom
Rodi) also did a lot of research and found shots that
strengthened many of the stories enormously.
Books-and-Authors.net: What do you hope to achieve with UP AT
THE VILLA - TRAVELS WITH MY HUSBAND?
Linda Dini Jenkins: Well, my primary objective is to entertain
people. That’s what a book like this should do. If they’re not
entertained, they won’t read it. But in addition to that, I
wanted to give travelers permission to laugh at themselves and
know they’re not alone when they encounter all kinds of
predictable (and not so predictable) glitches on the road —
language barriers, shopping for food, dealing with ferry strikes
and learning what the left lane on the autostrada really means.
Also, to show that it's quite possible to travel in a group and
stay sane.
Books-and-Authors.net: What was the last book you read?
Linda Dini Jenkins: I usually have a few going at once.
Right now I’m reading THE BEST DAY, THE WORST DAY by Donald Hall
and also THE PERFECT SUMMER: ENGLAND 1911, JUST BEFORE THE STORM
by Juliet Nicholson.
Books-and-Authors.net: What's next?
Linda Dini Jenkins: For reading? On deck are A YEAR IN THE
WORLD by Frances Mayes and JO JONES, a novel by Anne Lamott, one
of my favorite non-fiction writers.
For traveling? A summer venture with Tim from Santa Barbara up
the coast to Oroville, California, to do a little ancestry
digging. Then, in September, a trip to Italy with Tim and my
best friends to help celebrate a very big birthday.
Books-and-Authors.net: Do you have any hobbies? What are they?
How do they enhance your writing?
Linda Dini Jenkins: My hobbies are cooking and photography. Like
music and theatre – other loves of mine – I believe that
anything that stimulates the senses can enhance your creativity.
Being creative or being in the presence of creativity leads to
more creativity. Sometimes all it takes is a walk in the woods
or along the beach. Sometimes I get great ideas in the shower.
You just have to be in the moment, which is not always
easy these days.
