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WORK TITLE: Masks
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://patriciacaviglia.com/
CITY: Mississauga
STATE: ON
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Toronto, Canada; married; children: daughter.
EDUCATION:McGill University, B.A.; Dawson College, CEGEP Diploma; Ryerson University, G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Canadian Pacific Railway, Mississauga, Ontario, crew dispatcher, 1998-99, business information technology supervisor, 1999-2000, rail traffic controller, 2000-05, bilingual customer service representative, 2004-10, service delivery coordinator, 2010-14, intermodal customer service coordinator, 2016-17, ebusiness specialist, 2017–; Canfitpro, fitness instructor, 2016–; Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, secretary, 2017–, co-chair, 2017–.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Young adult novel writer Patricia Caviglia was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to immigrant parents. She grew up in Montreal but returned to Ontario in 2005. She worked for many years for Canadian Pacific Railway. Writing short stories, movie scripts, and poems since she was a child, Caviglia has dreamed of becoming a fiction writer and has published the young adult novella Masks and the full-length novel Secrets in the “True Hearts” series.
Masks
Masks follows troubled teenagers in Montreal struggling to live a normal life. Rebecca Jacobs has a verbally abusive father who embarrasses her at school, and David Miller, the school’s bad boy, reluctantly agrees to be her friend. Rebecca must keep her relationship with David secret from her overprotective parents. It doesn’t help that her best friend, Diana Rainville, is trying to steal David. Masks made the National Indie Excellence Finalist list. Caviglia said on the Patricia Caviglia website that the characters of Rebecca and David were inspired by the French-Canadian movie, Tout est parfait (Everything Is Fine).
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews called Caviglia’s portrait of the teenagers psychologically acute, and the juxtaposition between the bad parenting and concerned and helpful adults a nice balance. The contributor said the two teens “grow together, with David thoughtfully striving to overcome his temper and remain a good boyfriend while Rebecca bravely struggles for honesty against fear.” Online at Nice Girls Read Books, a reviewer commented: “Patricia’s writing style didn’t flow as well as I expected and things that should’ve taken pages to develop happened within the space of a sentence. I was unable to like either of the main characters and disagreed heavily with a lot of the issues and how they were dealt with.”
Secrets
Caviglia next published the 2017 novel Secrets, first in the “True Hearts” series and winner of the London Book Festival Awards Honorable Mention. The story brings back Diana Rainville who is now twenty-two years old, and years of being a mean girl has left her without any friends. Her controlling father, Matthieu, sabotages her job prospects forcing her live at home and work for him in his company. At work, she meets Ron Pearl, a high school classmate who now drives a taxi and cares for his cancer stricken mother. Diana and Ron bond, as Diana’s mother left the family when she was small, and Ron’s father left when his mother got sick. Diana desperately wants to get out from under the control of her father.
“Caviglia creates three-dimensional characters who are realistically mixed up, and the reasons for parental desertion are complex. But not all of the book’s psychology is well-observed,” noted a writer in Kirkus Reviews Online.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2018, review of Masks.
ONLINE
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (December 18, 2017), review of Secrets.
Nice Girls Read Books, http://nicegirlsreadbooks.com/review-masks-patricia-caviglia/ (December 13, 2010), review of Masks.
Patricia Caviglia website, https://patriciacaviglia.com (July 1, 2018), author profile.
Patricia Caviglia was born in Toronto, Canada to immigrant parents, grew up in Montreal, and returned to Ontario in 2005. Her first novella, about a teenage girl grappling with emotionally abusive parents, a rebellious boyfriend and a treacherous best friend, was published in 2010. She is currently working on a sequel. Visit her at www.patriciacaviglia.com.
As an only child in Montreal, Quebec, Patricia Caviglia started making up stories to entertain herself while her parents watched endless war movies and westerns. At thirteen, she developed a love of reading and started writing down movie scripts in Hilroy copy books. Eventually, she branched into poetry and short stories which she shared with friends and teachers who encouraged and supported her efforts.
While she dreamed of becoming a fiction writer, she did not view it as a possible future. Raised by a strong practical mother, Patricia chose to do something practical with her life and started a sixteen year career with a railway. She continued to dream and write for many years while working full-time and attending McGill University. Once married, she stopped writing all together to focus on a middle-class “normal” life.
After the birth of her daughter, Patricia realized that she was her daughter’s first and most important example of a woman and she could not allow her dream to die. A French-Canadian movie, Tout est parfait (Everything Is Fine) reminded her so much of being a teenager that it inspired Rebecca and David, the main characters in Masks, which she self-published in 2010 and made the National Indie Excellence Finalist list.
In 2017, she published Secrets: a coming of age story about a young woman needing to break away from her controlling father and yearning for the mother who abandoned her as an infant.
She is currently working on the third novel in the True Hearts Series.
Current 1. Canadian Pacific Railway
Previous 1. Canadian Pacific Railway
Education 1. Ryerson University - G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education
Experience
Ebusiness Specialist
Canadian Pacific Railway
2017 – Present (1 year)Mississauga, ON
Provided internal and external customers with access to and training on company website, maintained website metrics and managed projects to improve website use and functionality.
Intermodal Customer Service Coordinator
Canadian Pacific Railway
2016 – 2017 (1 year)Mississauga, Ontario
Assisted customers via phone and email with inquiries including tracing shipments, rate quotes, tariff discrepancies, billing and invoicing questions. Handled refused unit, damaged freight or overweight loads and related documentation for resolution.
Service Delivery Coordinator
Canadian Pacific Railway
2010 – 2014 (4 years)Mississauga, ON
Performed daily shipment planning tasks such as tracking and tracing, creating billing, verifying invoices and problem solving for multiple customer accounts.
Bilingual Customer Service Representative
Canadian Pacific Railway
2005 – 2010 (5 years)Hornby, Ontario
Oversaw container loading in three rail terminals by receiving and evaluating customer requests, determining priority and ensuring safe loading of rail cars.
Rail Traffic Controller
Canadian Pacific Railway
2000 – 2005 (5 years)Montreal, Canada Area
Directed and controlled all on-track activities including train and engine movements and engineering work providing a safe working environment for employees.
Business Information Technology Supervisor
Canadian Pacific Railway
1999 – January 2000 (1 year)Montreal, Canada Area
Supported managers and directors by collecting data from facilities across Quebec, southern Ontario and north eastern U.S. to report daily status of business operations and company network.
Crew Dispatcher
Canadian Pacific Railway
1998 – 1999 (1 year)Montreal, Canada Area
Identified and filled job vacancies for train service and yard assignments over four territories, updated employee databases and protected employee rights and privacy.
Education
Ryerson University - G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education
Journalism Courses
2016 – Present
• Canfitpro
Certificate, Fitness Instructor Specialist
2016 – Present
McGill University
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Dawson College
CEGEP Diploma, General Studies
• Collège Regina Assumpta
High School Diploma, General Studies
Volunteer Experience & Causes
Co Chair
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
January 2017 – Present (1 year 6 months)Education
Chaired parent council meetings
Advised school principal on parent view of policies and concerns
Organized events such as fundraiser and community BBQ
Lead committees
Secretary
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
September 2017 – Present (10 months)Education
Participate in parent council meetings
Record meeting minutes
Advise new chairpersons on council roles and expected activities
Publications
• Secrets
Patricia Caviglia
December 2017
New Adult Romance Novel
London Book Festival Awards Honorable Mention
Authors:
o Patricia Caviglia
• Masks: A Novella
Patricia Caviglia
2010
Young Adult Novel
National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist
Caviglia, Patricia: MASKS
Kirkus Reviews. (Feb. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Caviglia, Patricia MASKS iUniverse (Indie) $21.95 7, 8 ISBN: 978-1-4502-3527-3
A teenage girl becomes caught between her controlling father and her desire for a normal life in this debut YA novella.
In Montreal, Rebecca Jacobs is much like any 16-year-old Canadian girl. She possesses a small circle of close friends, makes good grades, and notices the high school bad boy, David Miller. Though he has a reputation for getting into fights, David impresses Rebecca as smart and industrious when they work on a history project together. And if his masklike face doesn't reveal much, Rebecca herself keeps a lot under wraps. Her friends know only that her parents are very strict, not about her father's constant verbal abuse. When Rebecca's father arrives early at a school dance to take her home, throwing a red-faced tantrum about it, David witnesses the public humiliation and sympathizes, deciding to give the girl his friendship and backing through the gossip to come. The friendship soon becomes romantic, although Rebecca explains her parents won't let her date, feeling sure that David will lose interest. He supports her, though, and Rebecca is challenged to stand up for herself: to her so-called best friend, who tries to steal David; to David, when he pushes for more closeness; and at last to her parents, who call her a whore and a slut when she says she wants to date. A second dramatic confrontation at a school dance takes off all the masks. In her novella, Caviglia's portrait of a verbally abused girl and emotionally abandoned boy is psychologically acute. Some responsible, aware adults are thankfully on hand as well to counteract the poor parenting on display, providing an effective balance. Especially nice to see is how well the author handles the teenage romance. The couple's attraction isn't just because they're both hot; it's a real relationship, one that's about character, caring, and having each other's back. They grow together, with David thoughtfully striving to overcome his temper and remain a good boyfriend while Rebecca bravely struggles for honesty against fear.
Shines thanks to a convincing teen romance that brings out the best in both characters.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Caviglia, Patricia: MASKS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527247892/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=40ef06b5. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A527247892
SECRETS
by Patricia Caviglia
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KIRKUS REVIEW
A young woman tries to break away from her mean-girl past and controlling father in this novel.
Diana Rainville first appeared to readers as a minor character in Caviglia’s (Masks, 2011) previous book, best friend of Rebecca Jacobs, who finally confronted her about her selfish, boyfriend-stealing ways. Now 22, Diana has no friends left, although she’s lately begun to develop a conscience and a wish to gain independence from her wealthy, domineering father, Mathieu, 52. Freedom, though, proves difficult when Mat sabotages her job search, ensuring she’ll have to live at home and work for him at Montreal’s Rainville Digital Media. While shooting video footage for a client, a sports store expanding its inventory to skateboards, Diana runs into high school acquaintance Ron Pearl, once known for his piercings. Now he sports only one and has become taller and more manly. When not skateboarding, Ron drives a taxi to support his mother, who is dying of cancer in a hospice. Despite their differences, he and Diana are cautiously attracted to each other, and they have parental abandonment in common: Ron’s father took off when his mother was diagnosed, and Diana’s mother left when she was small. (Arianne Deschamps has actually been writing letters to her daughter for years, a secret shared between Mat and Diana’s older brother.) When Ron seemingly leaves Diana in the lurch, she’s tempted to flee to her father, who hates the guy, for support—but it’s time for family secrets to come to light. Caviglia creates three-dimensional characters who are realistically mixed up, and the reasons for parental desertion are complex. But not all of the book’s psychology is well-observed; hoarding—Ron’s affliction—is a serious disorder, not one easily solved with a good shot of determination. The tale is well-paced, but the plot copycats Masks, which also features a young woman whose chief conflict is with an angry, dictating father, who also tries to make her date the man of his choice. Since the characters don’t come from cultural backgrounds that would help explain this pattern, the conflict is a little unconvincing, and doubly so for this second outing.
Rich girl and poor boy forge a believable relationship.
Page count: 176pp
Program: Kirkus Indie
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18th, 2017
Review: “Masks,” Patricia Caviglia
December 13, 2010
Rebecca Jacobs is an unremarkable teenage girl-at least, that is what she wants the world to believe. But her private life is made public when her verbally abusive father embarrasses her at a school dance, and soon gossip and whispers buzz throughout the school.
One of the witnesses to Rebecca’s public humiliation is David Miller, the high school bad boy. Unsure about how to help her, he settles for becoming her friend. Rebecca and David grow closer with each passing day, eventually falling in love.
Masks had a lot of potential to be a great contemporary YA read. Unfortunately, Patricia’s writing style didn’t flow as well as I expected and things that should’ve taken pages to develop happened within the space of a sentence. I was unable to like either of the main characters and disagreed heavily with a lot of the issues and how they were dealt with.
I entered a giveaway for this book on goodreads and was drawn in by the overall plot. I was thrilled to hear I won the novel and was delighted by Patricia’s little note and a signed copy of the book! It was the first time I’ve won anything in a book competition and I couldn’t wait to get started!
A few pages in, however, and I was quickly discovering that Masks wasn’t a ‘me’ book. I’m sure (and judging by the reviews on goodreads) that there are a lot of people out there who will enjoy it.
The writing style didn’t appeal to me and I didn’t relate to any of the characters, especially the main two, David and Rebecca. I didn’t like how their relationship evolved and progressed. The wording and structure reads fast, as if you’re reading unfiltered thoughts of the character who’s narrating. I didn’t even realize that the main two had kissed until the following sentence. It just didn’t feel like it was solid enough to get my interest and hold it.
I can’t even describe how much Rebecca’s parents annoyed me. Her father was calling her a ‘slut’ and a ‘whore’ every turn of the page and Rebecca just accepted this. I wanted to feel anger, hurt and betrayal that her parental figures would treat her so. Instead, she accepted her reality and when finally taken away from her home by social services, she mourned the loss of her parents. Who cares if he doesn’t hit you? He abuses you emotionally and Rebecca didn’t seem to grasp that.
I thought she would ‘learn’ from her drama at home. I thought she would ‘learn’ that such a home life is unacceptable in this day and age… instead, the parents get thrown into anger management and counselling and are allowed their daughter back after a few weeks. The two then go under a miraculous transformation and allow her to date. It just didn’t seem ‘real’ to me.
I know a child’s love for their parents is kind of eternal, no matter what, but Rebecca didn’t even pause to consider her situation for more than a minute or enjoy her repreive from their intolerable behaviour. From the moment they were separated, she was itching to get back into the abusive environment and constantly covering for them.
I don’t have much to say for the leading man, David, as he was kind of bland. He didn’t do anything to particularly annoy me, nor did he do anything to spark my interest.
All in all I was disappointed with Masks. It got a slightly bit more exciting as the book drew to a close, but the ending just didn’t seem fathomable. I really wanted to like this book!
Recommended to: Anyone looking for a light read. It’s a very slim book!