It’s been brought to my attention that some readers here might
not know that I got my start writing stand-up. (30 years later, I have to work hard to
simply stand up, but that’s another column.)
It’s also quite possible that since I collect husbands with
Celtic last names (Campbell and O’Connell), readers might not know that I am predominantly
Italian.
So when I was asked by Gemma Media – a terrific
publisher of short, easy to read adult books- to write a crime series
for them, it was just possible that my Italian background might come
through. As it did for The
Goddaughter series. As it did for…okay,
all the others. I’m an Italian gal masquerading
as a WASP, and I couldn’t keep a straight face if they ironed and botoxed it.
Melodie Campbell is Canada’s “Queen of Comedy” – The Toronto
Sun
Comedy is my lifeline. Laughter
is my survival kit. I love the Merry
Widow Murder series that I’m currently writing for Cormorant books. It has humour in the form of my beloved character
Elf. But I miss the old standup days.
Writing PIZZA WARS brought me back to my early
comedy-writing days. It’s perhaps my
most loopy book. Take a city (Hamilton)
that’s known for steel mills. Take a
population where a good many came from Sicily between the wars.
Take all that, try to fit it into a Police precinct, arm the
place with Officer Rita “Mom” Gallo, and you can have some pretty funny things take place.
After all, who needs a gun when you have a wooden spoon?
Now available! At Amazon, and all the usual suspects. (If you like The Goddaughter books, check out PIZZA WARS!)