HOST JACKIE TANTILLO – Had She Been Born In A Different Generation With Guest Author Amy L. Bernstein

HOST JACKIE TANTILLO - Had She Been Born In A Different Generation With Guest Author Amy L. Bernstein 28:38

Amy is a former non fiction writer, journalist, speechwriter who’s now concentrating on fiction, including mystery, romance and young adult works. Her most recent books are “The Potrero Complex” and “The NIghthawkers.” (Please check on Amazon and/or Bookshop.org to find her books).

Gloria Felice, Amy’s mom, was a perfectionist layered with chronic anxiety and perhaps a lack of self confidence. So in turn, Gloria perhaps overcompensated by running an extremely orderly household. So there were a lot of rules. ie “the kitchen was closed,” Amy explains so her mom could keep the kitchen clean and organized for a certain amount of time. Gloria was very domestically focused and an exceptional cook. One of Amy’s favorite meals was her mom’s fried chicken.

Amy’s mother was born in 1933 and was hoping to attend a free thinking college but her parent’s refused so she settled for one year at Colby College in Maine and shortly married her husband at 18-19 years old. Amy says, “she didn’t have a strong enough ego to be defiant. She would have had such a different life. She wanted to write and didn’t have the confidence to do that.”

Felice had five children in seven and a half years and as the eldest, Amy took on the responsibilities of helping take care of her younger siblings. Amy explains that she was “an extremely obedient, good girl who never got into any trouble , which I now look back on and regret. I wish that I had acted out. I think I saved my acting out for my 60’s.”

When it was time to leave home for college, because Amy’s mom hadn’t gone out into the world, worked outside the home and hadn’t had her own life experiences, Amy didn’t really have that close a relationship with her mother. Amy felt she didn’t need her. Amy felt her mom couldn’t give her what she needed because her mom hadn’t experienced any of these things that Amy was searching for. My guest made a conscious decision to have a completely different relationship with her own daughter compared to what Amy experienced from her mother.

Amy always felt safe and loved by her mother however Amy’s tried “to have more of an adult friendship with her own daughter-to let her see me as a true person with emotions and flaws.”

Amy’s still grappling with what kind of relationship she actually had with her mother. She knows that she was loved and taken care of and has similar characteristics, but “she made very conscious choices to be very different.” Amy realized “that’s not who I wanted to be.”

Latest Fiction Works:

https://linktr.ee/amylbernstein

https://amywrites.live/

Dystopian Mystery Thriller

Romance Novel

The Nighthawkers, The Potrero Complex, Fran the Second Time Around, Dreams Of Song Times

Jackie Tantillo Podcaster

Jackie Tantillo loves being on both sides of the microphone –as Voice Over Artist and Producer/Engineer and in front of the camera as an On Camera Talent. She has been featured in National and International On Camera and Voice Over Commercials and Industrials. Over the years, she has mentored students with an interest in production and broadcasting and has volunteered with elementary school aged children in theatre production. Jackie is able to draw from her many years as a spokesperson and radio talent to bring warmth and insight to her many endeavors, including representative for organizations such as D.A.R.E., March of Dimes, Muscular Dystrophy and Easter Seals. A mom and the youngest of seven siblings, Italian American born in Rota Spain, Jackie or ‘Juani’ as her family and friends call her, comes from a very close knit family. Her knowledge of conversational French, Italian and Spanish has broadened the scope of her work. She lives in New Jersey and loves spending time with her family in the outdoors and traveling.