Bookpleasures.com welcomes as our guest New York Times and Los Angeles Times best selling author, Carol Gino RN, MA.

Carol has been a nurse, author and teacher for many years. She has worked in all areas of nursing including Emergency Room, Intensive Care, the Burn Unit, Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Pediatric Intensive Care, and Hospice Care for the terminally ill.

Carol has appeared on many television and radio shows including; The Today Show,  Charlie Rose,  Houston Live,  Regis, AM Los Angeles,  AM San Francisco and she has been featured in several publications: People Magazine, New York Magazine, American Journal of Nursing,  Nursing, and other Nursing journals.

Her first book, The Nurse’s Story was published by Simon and Schuster, sold to nine foreign countries and is still in print internationally.  It was a feature of  the Book of the Month Club and Nurses Book Club. It was on Publisher Weekly’s list for six weeks and was #2 on the Los Angeles Times Bestsellers list.

 The Nurse’s Story was serialized in the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post and the screenplay was completed by Mario Puzo and submitted for a feature film or major TV series.

Carol was the longtime companion of The Godfather author, Mario Puzo for over 20 years, until his death in 1999, and in 2001 she completed his book The Family, which was published by Harper Collins. It was a best seller.

Her latest book, a memoir titled, Me and Mario – Love, Power & Writing with Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, offers an intimate look into the man and the myth and the magic between them. Often funny—sometimes raw—always true. It’s a journey of love, friendship and playful competition that pushed them both in life and writing.

It was a creative partnership that spanned 2 decades. Filled with Puzo’s tips on storytelling, fellow authors and writers-to-be will love this inside-look into the mind and art of a legendary author and the woman who he chose as his closest friend and last love.

 Norm: Good day Carol and thanks for participating in our interview. 

What do you consider to be your greatest success (or successes) so far in your career?

Carol: Norm, success is such a funny word...for me, success is sharing my books which were written to give a voice to the voiceless...to tell stories that showed how in the most difficult situations many “ordinary” people act heroically.

I try to tell stories that show how we can be better human beings, because if any of us can, all of us can. Sort of like the 3 minute mile. I have a great gift of being able to see the potential in most people and at a time of such cynicism and distrust, I think it’s important to remind ourselves that each of us has a special gift.

Whether something is a gift or a tragedy is a matter of perspective. I guess within all my books there is the message that we are all connected, and truly never alone. That anything that unites us is of value and anything that separates us is immoral basically...so I write to honor diversity but also to show the truth of our similarities. 

Norm: What has been your greatest challenge (professionally) that you’ve overcome in getting to where you’re at today? 

Carol: The struggle to choose which stories to tell and which stories offer the most value. To honor the difficult challenges we all face, and yet to show there is always a chance for learning or for a hopeful outcome. 

Norm: If you could relive a moment in your life, which moment would you choose and why? 

Carol: Norm, that’s so difficult...I have had so many amazing moments in my life...which is not to say that my life wasn’t difficult because it was, but still it was in perfect balance with the beauty life offered me.

I mean life did knock me on my butt more than once. I was a single mom with two kids. I had a couple of strokes, lung cancer, a grandbaby who died, no money, then lots of money...but in each case there was also enormous beauty that balanced the hardship.

With the first stroke came a spiritual emergence and a completely different vision of life with a near death experience which saved me from many fears. With an operation, the lung cancer was cured, with the stroke, I was able to learn to walk again. With the grandbaby’s loss, there came an angel...not saying that was the trade I would have made...but there was a gift that helped me throughout all my life. 

But my favorite moment that I wish to relive?? I remember standing in a hospital corridor looking out the huge plate-glass windows as the red sun came up in the red, red sky, making everything in the hospital lobby pink. The smell from the operating room came sneaking through the doors; came running up my nose screaming Hope. We were going to Save people! We were going to do Big things! At the beginning of that day, my first working day, I stood by the elevators, thinking, I'll never be this happy again. This is where I belong. Somebody should have turned me into salt. (That was why I wrote The Nurse’s Story) 

But there is also another moment. I was with Mario (Puzo) on our way to Venice in a small motor boat surrounded by water everywhere. Suddenly, I saw this incredible vision of a magnificent glimmering city begin to rise up before us. Like some magical sequined dragon, it glistened in the afternoon sun, still wet from the sea as though from its own birthing. Pastel castles with luminous gold and silver rooftops appeared as we got closer. It was so magnificent, it took my breath away. Within me, at that moment, something new had been born. I could see myself in time and in eternity! (I write about that moment in Me and Mario) 

Norm: How do you get started writing and how long did it take you to get your first major book contract? As a follow up, why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books? 

Carol: I wrote because I had to. My passion was nursing, and caring for patients. I worked in hospitals for too long and knew that people needed information to make decisions about living and dying. But they seemed to be coming in on conveyor belts.

And I knew in order to touch enough people to change the healthcare system, I’d have to write to reach all those people who I would never have a chance to touch. In that book I told what was going on in the hidden corridors of hospitals. And tried to show the value of nurses as well as patient rights. Now with HIPAA laws I would have been hung. Yet nothing much has changed. 

Norm: How many times in your writing career have you experienced rejection? How did they shape you? 

Carol: Well, my first book was picked up by an agent pretty quickly but I handed it in as a 750 page manuscript which makes me laugh now. So it took a lot of cutting and rearranging before publishing. At the time, each of those edits seemed like a rejection. But when I wrote Rusty’s Story (a true story about a girl with epilepsy who was wrongly diagnosed and locked up in a mental institution) they wanted me to change the ending and suggest that medicine “cured” her when that is not what happened.

But I couldn’t do it because I didn’t want other people to have hope when there is no real cure for epilepsy. I stood firm and allowed my contract with the publishing house for the hardcover book deal go and settled for only paperback. I had to make that choice and it was a difficult choice. Between values and commerce. 

Besides that, when I wrote books about angels before angels were “in” as a New Wave genre, the books were rejected so many times, I had to open a publishing house of my own. 

Norm: In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of the writing process?

Carol: When I first get an idea for a book, it comes with all kinds of energy and excitement. Maintaining the energy and the belief in the story, trusting the process, and choosing to focus on one book or idea rather than all the others is the biggest challenge for me.. 

Norm: Do you write more by logic or intuition, or some combination of the two? Please summarize your writing process. 

Carol: That all depends on the subject. If I’m mission-driven like I was with The Nurse’s Story or Rusty’s Story or even Then An Angel Came, I was trying to educate people so that they could protect themselves from judging themselves harshly for information they didn’t have, in those cases logic was the prime motivator. But at some point in the writing, my intuition tells me that for better storytelling, logic is often too dry and we need other elements to drive the story...that’s where intuition comes in. 

Norm: How did you become involved with Mario Puzo and what was it like to collaborate with him? 

Carol: I was taking care of his wife, Erika as a private nurse when she was dying at home. More accurately I was helping the family take care of her, when she was at home. I had already taken several courses in writing at New School in NY and at Hofstra...so we spent lots of time talking about Erika and about writing. 

Norm: What motivated you to write Me and Mario – Love, Power & Writing with Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather? 

Carol: It is a difficult time in transition of roles between men and women. I was an ardent feminist and Mario had written a book about the most romantic patriarchy ever. By any logic we should have disliked each other...but I found his loyalty to his family admirable, and I was curious because the man who wrote The Godfather was so far removed from the true man himself.

When I asked how that happened, Mario said, “Oh, that’s not the man I am, that’s the man I’d like to be. It’s an Olympian myth my dear.” 

All I said was “My dear? Ugh!” 

Norm: Could you tell our readers something about the book? 

Carol: Me and Mario is really a look at a man who was bigger than the myth he wrote. Strong women are looking for men who will love them for who they are without having to betray themselves, and I believe young men are now looking for a map of the whole man of tomorrow. Mario had both qualities.

He could stand for himself without knocking anyone else over. He was the only man, who over time, enchanted rather than disenchanted me. Besides, we made each other better. The book is all about what we taught each other about Love, Life, Power and writing. I was a nurse so I was familiar with the “mysteries” and he was a writer who taught me carpentry of writing. :) 

Norm: What was the time-line between the time you decided to write your book and publication? What were the major events along the way? 

Carol: About 3 years. I had started writing stories that I showed Mario...but he was not one to give advice. He always said “You can’t teach writing but it can be learned…” When he saw my stories, he said, “You have talent, you have a voice...but I wouldn’t want anyone I loved to be a writer..it’s too tough a job..” 

I just made a face..and said, “I’m a nurse… 

“Ah…”he said…”Okay, take a shot.” 

What changed? Erika died. I got divorced. I kept nursing. And I kept writing... 

Norm: What is the most important thing that people don't know about Mario, that they need to know? 

Carol: That he was hurt that most people thought he was a “mafia” guy. Mario struggled financially until he was 45 years old, when he wrote The Godfather. Before The Godfather, Mario wrote two books, The Dark Arena and The Fortunate Pilgrim, which became literary classics and yet made no money. But, the most important thing that people don’t know about Mario? Perhaps, the most important thing to know is that when Mario was dying, I asked him what the most important thing he’d learned during his life was...and he said, “Never harm another…” 

Norm: What purpose do you believe your book serves and what matters to you about the book? 

Carol: I wrote it as a homage to a very good man. I hope it will offer hope to those people who stick by their passion in spite of all the obstacles. And maybe they will learn what I did about writing and what each of us learned about relationships. 

Norm: What would you say is the best reason to recommend someone to read Me and Mario? 

Carol: If they need to understand themselves, and need hope in Life. If they need to know there are miracles and that sometimes life is awesome...and sometimes terrible. But any one person can change another’s life and change the path to their tomorrow. 

Norm: Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share with us? (We would love to hear all about them!)

Carol: I have several I’m working on now..:) One is called How to Feel Safe in an Unsafe World, another is called Not Just a Stroke I’ve started, My Soul Has No Wrinkles, and have to finish The Azurite and all my Rashana stories which are new tales for a new time. 

Norm: Where can our readers find out more about you and Me and Mario? 

Carol: I have a FACEBOOK PAGE

MY WEBSITE  where readers can download a free chapter of Me and Mario. We have a fun free virtual event on October 15 in honor of Mario’s 100th birthday - anyone who is interested can register at meandmario.com and can join the celebration. I will answer questions live and give away free prizes. 

I also have an INSTAGRAM account or they can write to me at admin@carolgino.com. Readers can find all my books and projects at CAROLGINO.COM

Norm: As this interview comes to an end, if you could invite three writers, dead or alive into your living room, who would they be and why? 

Carol: Dostoyevsky because his characters were so rich and the books share a culture I knew nothing about. Doris Lessing because I think we need a new narrative for a new time. Alice Walker who wrote The Color Purple and Toni Morrison who wrote Song of Solomon. 

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors Carol: Thank you so much Norm!

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