It Began in Brooklyn. by Vito Altavilla - Book Tour - Guest Post - FREE eBook!! - Giveaway - Enter Daily!!

Hi, lovelies!!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Vito Altavilla and his new book, “It Began in Brooklyn.,” here on FAB!!  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Vito and to increase your chances of winning!!

This eBook is available for FREE on Amazon Kindle Unlimited during the book tour!!  See below for more details.

Thanks for stopping by!!  Wishing you all lots of good luck in this fabulous giveaway!!

It Began in Brooklyn.

by Vito Altavilla

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GENRE: Memoir

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BLURB:

Joey has a fork stuck in his side! I'll never use that pail and shovel ever again. I didn't know an ashtray could hold so much... What do you mean she doesn't have a penis? The great meatball Controversy of 1952, courtesy of 'Fat Mama' An industrial research chemist who participated in several technological breakthroughs and has a number of national and international patents in concert with his business partner to his credit has a much lighter side to his life. During the course of his life time he was often the cause or in the middle of a number of humorous and unique events that he focused this book on. I am sure that the reader will often smile and sometimes laugh out loud at his very original and unique stories. When was the last time you read a book that made you laugh or at the very least smile? This book will definitely do that. Read and enjoy.

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EXCERPT TWO:

All the children were gathered in the living room ready to celebrate Selma’s eleventh birthday party when her mom entered the room and told them all to follow her to their newly finished decorated basement. This was the time when neighbors were all trying to outdo each other. I believe the expression was keeping up with Joneses.

SONNY was at the end of the line holding the birthday gift his mom had bought.  As he passed through the living room, he noticed a fruit bowl in the middle of the dining room table.  He had never seen such beautiful ripe fruit like this. He didn’t know what possessed him, but he only knew he had to take a bite out of one of those apples. He figured if he took one bite only, he could the put it facedown and no one would notice.

He had to be quick, so he grabbed an apple and bit down hard. It was wax! It was stuck in his mouth up to his gums! He couldn’t dislodge it and his mouth was starting to hurt. He finally squeezed a finger on either side of the apple and with a yank dislodged it. There was still a big piece missing which was still in his mouth.  He put the missing piece in his pocket returned the apple face down in the fruit bowl. The missing piece was invisible. However, SONNY had another problem.  He could feel a waxy residue on his teeth and as he walked toward the basement he noticed a mirror, smiled then got very nervous.  His teeth were red. The wax coating was now on his teeth. He tried to scrape it off but to no avail.  His only solution was to eat birthday cake and ice cream with the slightest mouth opening he could muster. It seemed to work. No one said anything, although they did look at him strangely when he was singing happy birthday since he sang, “Abby birthday oo oo and Abby birdday oo oo, etc.” They just never thought that SONNY had a speech impediment.

The party was over and SONNY said goodbye with his lips only slightly open and his head down.

The following week Selma came up to SONNY and asked him if he saw anyone bite her mom’s wax apple.  She was upset since it was expensive. SONNY said, “No, he hadn’t seen anyone bite her apple, but if he had he would have told her.

SONNY didn’t feel that he was lying. After all, for him to have seen someone he would have had to be looking in the mirror when he bit it.

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GUEST POST:

I never thought I would ever write a book.  It all started because of Friday breakfast meetings with some of my friends from church. We are a bunch of older guys who often entertained each other at our once-a-week Friday breakfasts with funny incidents that occurred in past years. It was at one of these breakfasts that one of the guys suggested that I should write a book since I had more stories than anyone else and was very different than anyone had ever heard before.

I was only doing occasional consultant work so I had a fair amount of free time available so I thought what the hell I’ll give it a shot.

As I sat in front of my computer I thought, if I was in the past right now, I would be sitting in front of a typewriter. There would be no computers, cell phones, internet, and most of my information would come from the newspaper, radio (very concise) library.

The milkman would deliver the milk. Leave the empty nettles outside your front door and he would replace them with full bottles.  This occurred twice a week. The iceman would deliver a block of ice once a week for your icebox (that was a refrigerator) and coal was delivered once a month down the coal shot where you would then shovel it into the furnace when needed. The ashes would be spread in the garden or on the sidewalk in winter.

It was also a more innocent and I believe a more honest time.  A time when you never heard the F word and anyone called a liar was avoided. The word sex was never heard of until high school.  Boys had short hair and slacks and girls had long hair and wore dresses.

The first shock of my life was when my mom took me with her to visit a friend. It was a summer day when my mom knocked on her screen door.  Her friend told us to come in as she was just toweling off her daughter after her bath. I, unfortunately, went in front of my mom just as her friend band dropped the rowel and I saw, for the first time in my life a naked girl.  Scared the hell out of me, I yelled at my mom she’s missing her pee pee how is she gonna live. My mom calmed down and told me she’d explain when we got home and it was very natural.  Of course, she never did.

I tell this story to give you some idea of how innocent we were but also to show how an incident of a time past is humorous today. The book is full of events that chronicle a time past that in the future became humorous. If I continue, I’ll be writing my book all over again.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Vito Altavilla has extensive experience as an industrial researcher and has participated in many technological breakthroughs.  He also has his own podcast called, "The Year Was: A Podcast About Life, Love, And The Pursuit Of A Good Time." Now retired, he lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.  In addition to all of that he is currently finishing a screenplay based on the novel, as well.

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CONNECT WITH VITO:

Website:

https://itbeganinbrooklyn.com/index.html

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20011490.Vito_Altavilla

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51165584-it-began-in-brooklyn

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BOOK BUY LINKS & FREE BOOK INFO:

**The It Began in Brooklyn. eBook is available for FREE on Amazon Kindle Unlimited during the book tour!!!**

Amazon US Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/3MW9hpk

Amazon US Paperback:

https://amzn.to/3u3WM2D

Amazon US Hardcover:

https://amzn.to/3KMQURX

Amazon CA Kindle eBook:

https://www.amazon.ca/Began-Brooklyn-Vito-Altavilla-ebook/dp/B08BT7S1N7

Amazon CA Paperback:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1098319613

Amazon CA Hardcover:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1532091834

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Vito will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner’s Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those fabulous community outreach projects and awesome giveaways on here**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.