Archive: Around Town

When local author Diane Pellicciotti Kone published her first romance novel five years ago she had no intention of writing a sequel.  In that book a mother of a child with a congenital heart defect must deal with her dying child, and faces many challenges that help her grow ready to love again.  Spoiler Alert!  In an unusual twist, the woman dies in a car accident at the end of the book.  In 'Revenge Seeker ' it turns out that the accident wasn't an accident.

"In this book her daughter receives a phone call from the police department that they analyzed the car and found out that it had been tampered with," Kone  says.  "When she left that night to go to the juvenile rehabilitation residential center the call that she got did not actually come from there.  They are putting all these pieces together, trying to figure out how this loving young mother from beautiful central New York became involved with a grisly set of murders that are taking place in Spanish Harlem.  Consequently it all has to do with the residential center she is working in."

The book follows veteran police detective Jason Greene, and a young prosecuting attorney, Michael Giannelli, as they try to solve the case that widens to include a series of murders, and takes them to Spanish Harlem.

Lansing locals may recognize some similarities.  Kone, who was a Lansing school teacher for 33 years, did lose a daughter to congenital heart defect, and she wrote her first book, 'Goodnight, My Angel,' in part as a way of dealing with her grief and loss.  She has also taught summers at the Finger Lakes Residential Center, a state-run juvenile rehabilitation center for boys, located in Lansing, for the past 13 years.  A native of Cortland, she wove her experience of growing up in ethnic neighborhoods into her books.

Beyond these similarities, Kone says that the character of Susan Johnson is not her.

"The only part about that book that was me was the part about having a child with a congenital heart defect," she says.  "Other than that it was not me.  It was a little hard for people to grasp that, because they saw a lot of things in the book that could have been me.  People that didn't know me and read the book loved the shock ending about her dying, and also the part about her almost reuniting with the boy that she was in love with in high school."

Kone had planned to work with her daughter Amy Phanhthath on a children's book featuring special needs children.  But last year, while at Sylvan Beach she started thinking about the next phase of her story.  She began writing a trial scene, which she shared with her attorney brother, who she wanted to help with the accuracy of the details.  He urged her to keep writing and to finish the story.

"I got a lot of encouragement from him and from friends in Sylvan Beach who said to keep on writing it," she says.  "A year ago I didn't expect that I would be doing this.  Last year when I got back to New York I guess I was bored because I was no longer working, so I thought I would just try this and see what happens.  It evolved into another book."

Five months later she had finished the novel.  She and her husband now spend half the year in Florida, and she will have a book signing there in a couple of weeks.  She is contacting local store owners here as well to set up events for when she returns in the Spring.

Kone says that she got a lot of her inspiration from the students and staff at the Finger Lakes Residential Center.

"I love teaching there," she says.  "I absolutely love the staff.  The teachers are very dedicated, good teachers.  I guess I got a lot of inspiration for that part of the story from working there."

For the future there may be another sequel.

"When I was writing this book I woke up in the middle of the night and woke my husband up and said, 'Dave, I've got to write another chapter because it will lend itself to a sequel if I do,'" she says.  "But I would love to do this project with my daughter, and I think a children's book would be fun and exciting, especially with her character having special needs and disabilities.  This is a dream of hers so I'd like to do that before I get too old."

Kone's uncle Gino Latini created the cover art for the book.  Latini is a retired art teacher in his mid-eighties.  Kone sent him a description of one of the main characters, and she says he exactly captured him as she pictured him.  Kone says Latini's contribution makes the project special for her.

Kone says that when she finished 'Good Night, My Angel' she had no idea that the accident was really a murder.  At the time she was simply looking for a way to add a twist to the story.  The new book posed new challenges for her, and required research to make the story authentic.  She enjoyed talking to people who live in Spanish Harlem, and others who helped her make the story authentic.  And most of all she enjoyed being creative.

"It was just a lot of fun," she says.  "It was very empowering, too, as the first book was."

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