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“I love your writing style. I love your use of describing words and the way that you use those words to produce a visual image in the reader's mind. In particular, the way you described the clouds, I thought was wonderful. But I also found that your descriptions of events [were] so full of imagery.” ~ Dolores S. ~ |
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Born in Brooklyn, New York, Janice moved to Long Island at the age of five. Her father’s family emigrated from Trapani (region of Sicily) to Brooklyn when he was eight. Janice’s maternal grandfather came to America from the Naples area, married and settled in Brooklyn. Janice’s childhood memories include frequent visits to the three-story brownstone in Brooklyn, where most of her father’s family lived, and trips in the summer to the Mastic home of her maternal grandparents. Holidays were often spent at the brownstone—filled with aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins; and her grandmother always at the stove. In contrast, at the peaceful summer home in Mastic, Janice spent time with her grandfather as he worked in the garden, cultivating tomatoes, corn, eggplant, and peppers. She often walked with him along the canal that bordered the garden, helping him check the crab nets. The bounty was brought by the bucketful to her grandmother, who cooked Janice’s favorite meal—crabs in tomato sauce. Janice started writing Con Amore in 1999, about a year after establishing a monthly newsletter for a local Italian women’s club. During that year, she researched online and wrote brief articles about Italian heritage. In appreciation, and to help with her research, three ladies—three generations of one family—presented her with a book that changed her direction in life, Italians First: An A to Z of Everything Achieved First by Italians written by Arturo Barone. That book opened her world to her Italian heritage. |
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A romance novel by Italian American author Janice Therese Mancuso |
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“Con Amore is a fascinating text filled with delicious recipes and interesting and useful information on Italian foods and cooking. The book is well written by a writer with a flair and a love for the subject.” Ralph Ferraro, Founder, The Italian American Press |
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About Janice |
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The history of Italy fascinated Janice, and as her research for Con Amore continued, she realized that she had too much information to include in her book. In 2004, she began writing Tutto Italiano, a monthly e-newsletter about everything Italian. After completing Con Amore in 2006, Janice founded Thirty-One Days of Italians, a program to promote Italian and Italian American Heritage Month. The website has expanded to become a resource for Italian American history. In 2006, Janice began writing for La Gazzetta Italiana, an Italian American newspaper that is based in Ohio, but has a nationwide audience. Janice writes about Italian and Italian American topics for several other publications. She also teaches food safety and numerous courses (including Italian cooking) at a local community college. |
