Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way? I’m also working on a feature-length film. I just had a second biography published about Jackie Kennedy (JUST BEING JACKIE) and sold a third children’s book about dogs.
Which is where I’m writing this interview from. I was eventually hired as a lecturer by the University of Miami. I worked on some features, a television series, etc. I wrote a few short films, one of which won a College Emmy Award. From there I got a second MFA in Screenwriting - a form I fell in love with. I wrote my first children’s book there - a children’s biography of - who else, Audrey Hepburn - and it was bought in 2008 by HarperCollins.
The University of Miami gave me a Michener Fellowship and I was on my way. So, I applied to MFA programs thinking that would ease whatever hesitation my parents would have about leaving my job as it is a terminal degree.Īs it turns out, they were very supportive. I also knew I couldn’t just quit my job and go write a novel. I loved my job so I poured myself into it. By that time I knew I wanted to arrange my life to write as much as possible. So, I went back to my desk and wrote the first line and emailed it to myself. Audrey Hepburn had been a role model of mine for a long time and I knew quite a bit about her life. Instead of offering the idea to an agent or a writer, I felt that maybe I could do it. A vision of her face on the book cover struck me as if “this must be done.”
Around that time, though, I was walking down the street on my way to lunch when I saw a poster of Audrey Hepburn in a store window. I was acquiring authors and publishing books. I worked my way up from intern to Associate Editor. I loved my time in children’s publishing. An internship finally came through with Disney Publishing at Hyperion Books for Children, their original character division. I pounded the pavement, tried to get as many informational interviews as possible. My uncle lets me move into his place until I found something. I applied for hundreds of jobs online from my fifty-pound laptop in Naples and got zero interviews. While I had begun to see the allure of South Florida, my dream had always been to move to New York. I majored in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and minored in Italian.Īfter graduation, I had no job and no prospects. Of course, as soon as people there found out I was from Florida I became very popular right around spring break. I couldn’t wait to get out of there after high school and went to college at Boston College, which I loved. Everyone fought for the last word and the last bite. I grew up in a big, loud, hungry Italian family with three brothers and two dogs (always two). I was born and raised in Naples, Florida. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far. Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Cardillo.
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