Writing Non Fiction Stories with Communication Consultant Patricia Crisafulli MFA

Zaakirah Muhammad

Today on the See Life Different Podcast We have Patricia Christafulli She is an award winning Best time selling author of the well we got two books going on but the main book that we got going on is what it is to the secrets of Onita Harbor. And she really launched the Onita harbor mystery series as a part of her MFA that she got at the ripe age of 52 years old. And we're going to talk about that of what it was like to really do kind of interwine nonfiction with fiction and the ideas of the mystery of life. And of course, how to really overcome those obstacles because I heard you say, 52? and here I am thinking about my life. Yes, we're going to talk about that about what it's like to overcome all those voices of negativity and fear. And Crisafulli is also a communications director, and she loves being able to combine her love of writing her love of creativity into her work at her day job too. And she is also an award winning, communication consultant. So we're gonna have a communication conversation. So this conversation Is for you if this is what you are looking to hear, hey, Patricia!

Patricia Crisafulli

thank you so much. That's exactly right. We're going to be talking about talking and talking about writing,

Zaakirah Muhammad

right? That's exactly what it is because that's where it starts, right. It starts from a conversation food or conversation exactly what makes us humans, right.

Patricia Crisafulli

And storytelling is as old as human civilization. You know, the elders gathered people around to explain how the universe worked. I like to think that the wise women gathered people around to share generational wisdom. We are still doing that, except now we do it in podcasts, and in books and in blogs. Because life experience is rich. It's very personal, but it's universal. And you know, in my areas of writing, whether it's communications consulting or it's fiction writing, these are the the absolute themes of life that are completely integrated, and every person's existence.

Zaakirah Muhammad

Absolutely, absolutely. And so now I kind of I want you to go all the way back, all the way back. Since it's such a blessing in disguise right that you literally get to live your dream out loud, but take it back to the moment where you knew this was not it. You know, when you were the kind of saying no to your dreams.

Patricia Crisafulli

So many times along the way. That's one good thing about being I'm right now okay, I have to say it so it's not a negative I am now 62 And I have said no to my dreams so many times along the way. This little voice is a little scared boys. No du Gard. No, it's not for me or no I can't. But luckily there was a bigger, deeper voice going well, heck yes. If not you then who and what are you waiting for? So those kind of battling voices. But I knew I wanted to write from the time that I was seven years old. You know, I always told myself stories. I grew up out in the country in Northern New York State and store a lot of the kids to play with so I played with the voices in my head which will you know, luckily it turned me into a writer as opposed to something else. But I can remember swinging on my swing and telling myself a story and then I said well, I you know now that I know how to spell like six hole words and kindergarten high. You know, I wanted to see if I could put these thoughts into something on paper and try that at seventh and wrote this big epic that was four sentences long. Clearly there was something missing in the translation, but I fell in love with writing kept it up all my life. But you know, how do you make a living? As a writer when I didn't know anyone who did this? I didn't have role models. Well, you know, you find them in the world. You know, as a little girl, I read Laura Ingalls Wilder if she could do it, then I could do it. I didn't know her. But I have these books that I loved and somebody else wrote them so surely we can and again, this is a message for now if you don't have someone in your immediate life who can be that coach or role model? Oh, my goodness, the internet is here. We're all here. People will support you. You can find someone so that's like Lesson number one. Oh, you know the, the path that it took me into was journalism, more specifically into business journalism, which seemed like a very far departure from my love of wanting to create stories. But that's, I kept saying, well, it will at least I'm writing well, at least and yes. And I learned a tremendous amount. I started a business. I actually loved journalism, what I loved was finding out about people and telling their stories and and even though it was the business setting, I loved ideas, and I loved entrepreneurship. So then came the cross of the roads of my own life of what I'm going to do next at the time, I was 40 and said, I know I'm going to become I didn't know the term Communications Consultant I'm like, I can write and I bet you people need people like me and business complete fluke had no business plan, just you know, talk to like three people started talking to people. Suddenly clients came to me 22 years later, my entire business is been built on word of mouth with very large companies, where I am like an adjunct to their corporate communications department. In fact, it's grown so much that my son is worked with me as my business partner now which is very funny 29 He's been with me for five years, and he brings his whole other you know, vibe and generation so you just never know what you're starting when you're starting. But through this through line on the business side, right, the dream of telling stories of writing stories of capturing them in fiction never left my heart, and I kept trying to explain it away. Oh, it's a hobby. Oh, it's a passion that you know, is maybe not worth pursuing or it's really hard and it is all of those things, but I was like, well, but But why? Why can I

pursue this? Why why why do I deny myself this dream? So it 52 I went back to school at Northwestern we were living in Chicago at the time for a five year program. A really learning the craft of fiction writing because I was getting feedback like you know, potential good but you know that but that thing that and I wanted to find out what that buck was and get over the buck to make it. Oh, and you can and obviously so, you know, you went through it, developed my creative thesis, brought it to New York. They said, Well, what you've actually written is a mystery. And I was like, really? Because again, I had I thought it is something else. They said, Well, you see what you're doing here and the demand in the marketplace and other than that, learn the genre. Did that. Who Thank you Woodhall press. I am the proud debut novelist for them with the secrets of Onita Harbor, which launches vo Anita harbor mystery series. Mystery Of course is a very popular genre. Why does it appeal to me especially as an entrepreneur and storyteller what we were talking about earlier mystery isn't is like a yes it's the who done it right you know who committed the crime Why did the body and up in the library law and and what in one case but there's another mystery there's other mysteries there's there's clues and there's I my case, I always have artifacts in my stories that somehow parallel the present and the past that exists in the heart of all of our stories. There are there are clues to the next chapter of your life and in mind, there are things that we know maybe it's a family story, or maybe it's something culturally about, you know, how my family came to the United States or maybe it's something about an artist we admire. We've seen this painting or heard this music like who is that? Who who who whenever we asked the word who it's a mystery, whether it's bigger little and it's inviting us into a story that we need to tell ourselves and I think in pursuing who does the answer is going to be me or you or us in pursuing that we give ourselves permission to find our passions tap into them and open doors for ourselves and for each other.

Zaakirah Muhammad

I would literally about to add what could what I was hearing cure when we do find the who we also find a wedding why, right?

Patricia Crisafulli

That's right. I do think it starts with who write that, because the who is the identity, but we do find the what and we do find the why and how if it's a who done it, how do they do it? Or how can I do it? I mean these these questions are up and pulling at us as human beings for time immemorial. And I we we do ourselves a disservice if we turn our back on mystery because what is it? It's that engagement with what wants to lead us deeper into history. Mystery, and belonging,

Zaakirah Muhammad

history, mastery and belonging. The same thing that can be applied to a novel is the same thing that can be applied to life. I love it. I love it. I love it. So I want to go back to literally who right because like you say like you get on this journey. And it's not a journey that you fully take a loan. Right So who would you say were the pivotal people there in the pivotal moments or that people if we were to wipe programs or but but name names, something that really would just pick it up for you in that moment.

Patricia Crisafulli

Absolutely. You know, from the time I was a little girl. My mother read to me as she's been gone for many, many years, but she read to me she gave me a love of stories. My two sisters, my sister Jeanne, who is such a devoted Big Sister loving everything my late sister Bernadette, who literally her last words to me earlier this year, were telling me about the book what's going on. I mean, like they cheered for me and fellow riders on the journey my friend Laura, my friend Sam, my dear agent Delia, my wonderful neighbor, Ella. I meet people who read and discuss stories and live stories with you, or with whatever your passion is. For me it was these fellow travelers who aren't just saying, Oh, you're great. I love them because that only so it's so far. We also need those. Those. I wonder if you might have thought of this. When you ask for feedback. We'll give you feedback. And his case for me I needed to go to the source and that was the MFA program at Northwestern it was tough. The first time I went through an MFA workshop, Professor Goldie Goldbloom, an amazing novelist, and an fabulous teacher and she she had a very, very supportive workshop, but it was all about kind of digging into not only what's working but what isn't working. So that night, I sat in my car and I'd already been published. I've already was actually a best selling author and nonfiction. I sat in my car it was kind of like,

Unknown Speaker

ah, what just happened? It was so intense and

Patricia Crisafulli

I thought it was awful. But then I read my classmates notes were like oh, that didn't work for me and no, and then somebody wrote really, really liked it. That kind of it's like two runners when you're I love to run to but when you're running or you're biking or you're rowing or two swimmers, I wish I were a better swimmer. Like you keep pace with the other person not as competitive but like they're sometimes you're you're literally making way for them. But you're you're you're each person lifts the other one into into stride. And I think when we do that specially as women in whatever our pursuits it's let me give you some feedback. Let me tell you what my my impression was on this. Did you ever think about that, like we give each other energy that's not just like, oh, it's fabulous. It's wonderful and you're perfect. But no, it's also that I believe in you. And I love you and I really wanted you to know this one thing that left me questioning and then the person goes oh my gosh, whether it's for a pitch to an investor or it's a plotline or it's tasting a recipe and a restaurant could be the difference between very good and excellent and get through the door. The person I know how to make the biggest truce with and actually be friend was my inner critic

Zaakirah Muhammad

that went out waiting for that debate and I was waiting for it. Yeah, absolutely. I think that that's where it really goes like you can have the family the band, the people in the program, the kids fed program, the leadership program, that financial program, but what about you enter us right?

Patricia Crisafulli

Oh, I have an inner critic who is just relentless. You know? You know, I tried for years in so many coaching and therapy to quiet my inner critic like and she knows exactly where to get me. Kind of like you know, when I got a best selling book and nonfiction said well, but it's not fiction that isn't that you're doing like she's got this snarky voice and it always gets me and and finally, I couldn't get her to shut up. So what I discovered was I had to make friends with my inner critic, which is not to take everything that inner voice says, as gospel, but to sift through it and say, Is there a bit of wisdom here? So when my inner critic was talking to me about, you know, like, gets me in the vulnerable point. Well, how are you going to promote this novel now that you're right, I needed to make sure that I was doubling down on social media presence and getting onto podcasts and doing like I answered the inner critic with positive steps. And I thought, well, I didn't take the criticism, but I looked for the wisdom and the what I could do next you know, who she was talking to was me. And it's just me talking to me and found that the sense of panic and anxiety that the my inner critic used to generate with me turned into a sense of I can figure this out. And that was a big breakthrough took 61 years, but it was saying, What is this inner critic? Why is this why is this voice of anxiety churning up? Can I answer it? Is it valid is anything valid? And if it is, by answering that I can actually do myself a favor and guess what you know the panic has gone down? I mean, I'm sure my inner critical find something else to talk about. But again, and this I thank you for sharing. Know you don't get to run the whole program. But I will take that suggestion.

Zaakirah Muhammad

Absolutely. That part right there! Just really being able to kind of listen intently and know when to say no to Yeah, I love that

Patricia Crisafulli

exactly. Right. Exactly. What do you say? You're wrong on this one? But in answering it, I'm answering myself doubt. I'm answering my anxiety to say no, no, I got this one. Or if there is something more I can do to say, You know what, that's a doggone good idea. I am gonna move on this. Not in the reactive way, but to think about it. What should I do and to strategize,

Zaakirah Muhammad

debit pay their favorite I love that. And those

Patricia Crisafulli

and no surprise of course, because we write what we know. You know, in the secrets of Onita Harbor, my my protagonist, Gabriella, who has got all the issues that we all talked about an inner critic, and she's burned out and she's not living her dream. She is divorced from her passion, or so she thinks. And she's living the most ordinary life she's had she sees her life as defeat at the time. And I thought women readers, especially because that's probably my key reader would resonate with this because I think we've all felt like this like, wait a minute, I woke up and was like, Where did my dream go? And that's literally where she feels. And so in infusing so much of my own life journey, which I think is again is universal to so many of us, giving her a way to rediscover her passion, reconnect with her passion, but it's not a I don't want to give any spoilers. It's not where she thought it would be. In the who and the how, and the where, and belonging, that mystery has actually leads her deeper into her own life. So again, the vehicle is is the mystery of AMITA harbor. It's the genre mystery which very popular these days, but I think it's also a metaphor for our own journeys, our hero Winder journeys to what is being asked of us when the ordinary and the extraordinary intersect as they do in big and small ways. And everyone's like, and including in the fictional characters around us.

Zaakirah Muhammad

Absolutely. Absolutely. Put it that way. I love it. I love it. I love it. Now, where can they our listeners, find the book?

Patricia Crisafulli

Ah, well, you can find the book and it's called the secrets of Onita harbor. You can find it at your store and if they don't have it, you can ask them to order it because bookstores love to order book and it's also in the usual online places. And if you'd like I can share with you some links that where they can find out more about it and they can find that my website is www.FaithHopeandfiction.com It's a free literary site. You can find me you can find other writers. You can also find my book.

Zaakirah Muhammad

I love it. Yeah, so we'll definitely put the link in the show notes so that all the listeners have to do it. Just click on it and go get it.

Patricia Crisafulli

Yes, thank you. But you know In, in final words, be the hero of your own story. Your story is always being written. It is never too late to rewrite, and it's never too late to start a new story. I did. You can and it's the never ending tale that will continually inspire us.

Zaakirah Muhammad

Perfect, perfect. Oh, we're ready for the fun segment that I love to ask. Almost all of my guests. Are you ready? I'm ready. Okay, so all I know is to help people discover and embrace their story of their life and you know, uncover they started with extraordinary. What do you want your legacy to be?

Patricia Crisafulli

Oh, you know, I want my legacy to be that I help someone see new possibilities in their own life. Whether that's somebody who knows me as a friend or a relative or my own child and my new daughter in law, or it's somebody who read something I wrote, I want someone to say well, no, I never thought about that before. I guess I can. If I can contribute in any way to someone saying, Well, I guess I can do that or I can try. I will have served a purpose on this planet

Zaakirah Muhammad

Powerful and I love it. And now the second question is, If you could travel anywhere, where would you travel to?

Patricia Crisafulli

Wow. You know, I have to say I was going to come up with something really, really, you know, exciting. But I went someplace that I would travel back to I would go back to Italy. I would go back to Florence and Siena where I did research for this book. And I would walk among the the generations of artists and artisans, the masters and also the common people like the lies that you see that the traces of those lives and I'm half Italian, so it's it's like it's ancestral. I would definitely go back to Italy and feel those cobblestones under my feet and know that I am just the latest and a whole lot of generate those cobblestones

Zaakirah Muhammad

so perfect. It's so timely because I just I just knew you were gonna mention that someplace to go back to. I just that it's not her intuitive as a creative Yeah, okay, and now, we're gonna wrap up a conversation with also more links. Where can people connect with you everywhere in LA?

Patricia Crisafulli

You know, the best place is LinkedIn. For my business writing. Just find me it's under Patricia Crisafulli. You'll find me on LinkedIn.

Zaakirah Muhammad

How do you spell Crisafulli?

Patricia Crisafulli

CRISAFULLI and it's Patricia PatricIA. And then my personal writing is my website. FaithHopeandfiction.com but between those two places, you will find me and and bits of my story because I don't hide anything. I don't hide my business life and I write in life or my writing life or my business life. I thought I had to keep them separate but here's what I found people are people, readers or readers. And I was shocked at the number of my business clients. Investment bankers to entrepreneurs said you hide the mystery. Oh, I want to know about that. So we don't have to hide parts of our lives. We don't have to hide that we paint or sing or dance or garden or cook or create or don't or bicycle or hike or do Ironman or anything. It's all beautiful. It's all good when we can be fully ourselves, whatever that looks like. We are not only being authentic, but we are tapping into deeper power that helps us create more ideas and share more and give more to this world.

Zaakirah Muhammad

We couldn't instead have edited the perfect place to drop the mic thank you Patrticia for being a guest

Patricia Crisafulli

Thank you This was a joy. Wonderful. Thanks.