About the story
John Marsano was your average 13 year old. Middle of the pack with his school grades and sports, he longed to escape the turbulent world of his elementary school where he was subjected to a constant barrage of taunts and mocking. But on a sunny day in early September 1982, John got a new lease on life when he entered a new world.
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About the coverThe memories of long passed high school years often brings to mind unique things for each person. The appearance of a slightly clouded sunny sky instantly comes to mind as I recall those early morning walks to make the opening bell or the journey home at the end of the day. The journey of John is one of eventual success on his own terms that stems from an almost wasted life. Transforming a trashed and very imperfect crumpled sheet of paper as the center of the sun lighting up the sky, the cover sits as a metaphor to lessons John learned through trial and error, and to salvage remnants of his mistakes.
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About the author
Marcus Daniel (Danny Pincivero in real life)
Scientist, teacher and now, fiction author, I released my debut novel, A New Day Starts Tomorrow, in the summer of 2020. Inspired by a devastating fire to my high school, York Memorial Collegiate Institute (May 6-7, 2019), and collecting many stories of yesteryear from friends and former classmates, including my own, I assembled a fiction story within the coming of age, memoir style genre. So how was it that I've written my first novel and launched my first website? We have to go back a few years (it's a little long, but I think you'll find it humorous and entertaining).
My predilection for fiction writing took many years to come to fruition. For as far back as I can remember growing up in Toronto, my mind was always steeped in imagination and fantasy of achieving great things. Dreams of becoming a famous Hollywood actor or a football star always had those close to me wondering if I had hit my head or simply refused to act my age (FYI, they still wonder that today!). Having to grow up after graduating high school, I had to exercise my pragmatic skills and accept the reality of the world in which I existed.....so, much like many of my teenage friends, I went to university.
After nearly flunking out in my first year at York University (sadly, it wasn't due to partying), I managed to gather my bearings in the summer of 1988 and re-boot my foray into that new venture of higher education. Switching my career aspirations from wanting to become a high school teacher to athletic therapist had me continuing my life journey at the University of Virginia in the spring of 1992. After completing my graduate work over the next 14 months in one of the most beautiful and inspiring places I had ever experienced in Charlottesville, VA, I returned to Toronto to start my clinical career in athletic therapy. Over that next year, I can confidently say that I scored on two, and only two, fronts. First, I earned enough money to buy my first car, a slightly used Plymouth Sundance, from my brother in law that I paid for 3 times over in repairs. Second, and most important, I met and fell in love with Mirella, who would become my life partner.
My time at UVa proved to be highly influential as I was exposed to the scientific process in great detail which I followed up with in completing my Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in the spring of 1997. Living and studying in the Burgh for 3 years, I learned 2 interesting things. I first came to embrace the strong tendency of "yinzers" to put French Fries INside (not BEside) everything! Sandwiches. Salads. Soups. If it could hold a heaping helping of deep fried spuds, they were going in! Second, I developed an affinity and intoxicating sense of accomplishment from writing during that time as I entered the cut-throat scientific world of publish or perish. I so much enjoyed writing scientific papers (still do). For those with an interest in taking a gander at my exercise science related research or looking for a non-medicinal cure for their insomnia, here's a summary (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=pincivero&sort=date). After a successful defense of my doctoral work, I moved back to Toronto in May. One month later, Mirella and I got married. One month after that, we packed Mirella's brand new Saturn SL1 and made the 3 day drive from Toronto to Spokane, WA where I started my career as an Assistant Professor at Eastern Washington University.
We made a tough decision 4 years later to pack up and leave a place with the most majestic views I had ever seen in my life in the Pacific Northwest. Having an office with a clear view of the 6,000 foot peak of Mount Spokane didn't leave a lot to be desired. However, with career climbing and moving closer to Ontario being the order of the day, we hit the road in that same Saturn and pulled into Toledo, OH, where we spent the next 8 years. Welcoming the birth of our proudly dual citizen daughter, Angela, to complete our trio that could rival Moe, Larry, and Curly, we embedded ourselves in all things Toledo. As far as I was concerned, I kept busy teaching many classes, operating a research lab, publishing lots of papers, and even earning a second Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering on the side at The University of Toledo. Extended family life and re-engaging into our Canadian culture eventually drew us back to Ontario a year after the 2008 housing fiasco.
Getting back to how I came to writing my debut novel, it's important to understand that scientific writing is a very prescribed style and process. I've always considered the act of publishing research reports as my own form of creative expression, despite the dry and impersonal nature of the writing. Writing A New Day Starts Tomorrow, was an altogether different experience. Putting pen to paper on the morning of June 22, 2019, I began an exercise filled with reflection and intense emotion of telling an adolescent story to anyone who cared to listen. There would be no graphs. No charts. No statistical analyses. Only the memories of days that were long gone.
My predilection for fiction writing took many years to come to fruition. For as far back as I can remember growing up in Toronto, my mind was always steeped in imagination and fantasy of achieving great things. Dreams of becoming a famous Hollywood actor or a football star always had those close to me wondering if I had hit my head or simply refused to act my age (FYI, they still wonder that today!). Having to grow up after graduating high school, I had to exercise my pragmatic skills and accept the reality of the world in which I existed.....so, much like many of my teenage friends, I went to university.
After nearly flunking out in my first year at York University (sadly, it wasn't due to partying), I managed to gather my bearings in the summer of 1988 and re-boot my foray into that new venture of higher education. Switching my career aspirations from wanting to become a high school teacher to athletic therapist had me continuing my life journey at the University of Virginia in the spring of 1992. After completing my graduate work over the next 14 months in one of the most beautiful and inspiring places I had ever experienced in Charlottesville, VA, I returned to Toronto to start my clinical career in athletic therapy. Over that next year, I can confidently say that I scored on two, and only two, fronts. First, I earned enough money to buy my first car, a slightly used Plymouth Sundance, from my brother in law that I paid for 3 times over in repairs. Second, and most important, I met and fell in love with Mirella, who would become my life partner.
My time at UVa proved to be highly influential as I was exposed to the scientific process in great detail which I followed up with in completing my Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in the spring of 1997. Living and studying in the Burgh for 3 years, I learned 2 interesting things. I first came to embrace the strong tendency of "yinzers" to put French Fries INside (not BEside) everything! Sandwiches. Salads. Soups. If it could hold a heaping helping of deep fried spuds, they were going in! Second, I developed an affinity and intoxicating sense of accomplishment from writing during that time as I entered the cut-throat scientific world of publish or perish. I so much enjoyed writing scientific papers (still do). For those with an interest in taking a gander at my exercise science related research or looking for a non-medicinal cure for their insomnia, here's a summary (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=pincivero&sort=date). After a successful defense of my doctoral work, I moved back to Toronto in May. One month later, Mirella and I got married. One month after that, we packed Mirella's brand new Saturn SL1 and made the 3 day drive from Toronto to Spokane, WA where I started my career as an Assistant Professor at Eastern Washington University.
We made a tough decision 4 years later to pack up and leave a place with the most majestic views I had ever seen in my life in the Pacific Northwest. Having an office with a clear view of the 6,000 foot peak of Mount Spokane didn't leave a lot to be desired. However, with career climbing and moving closer to Ontario being the order of the day, we hit the road in that same Saturn and pulled into Toledo, OH, where we spent the next 8 years. Welcoming the birth of our proudly dual citizen daughter, Angela, to complete our trio that could rival Moe, Larry, and Curly, we embedded ourselves in all things Toledo. As far as I was concerned, I kept busy teaching many classes, operating a research lab, publishing lots of papers, and even earning a second Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering on the side at The University of Toledo. Extended family life and re-engaging into our Canadian culture eventually drew us back to Ontario a year after the 2008 housing fiasco.
Getting back to how I came to writing my debut novel, it's important to understand that scientific writing is a very prescribed style and process. I've always considered the act of publishing research reports as my own form of creative expression, despite the dry and impersonal nature of the writing. Writing A New Day Starts Tomorrow, was an altogether different experience. Putting pen to paper on the morning of June 22, 2019, I began an exercise filled with reflection and intense emotion of telling an adolescent story to anyone who cared to listen. There would be no graphs. No charts. No statistical analyses. Only the memories of days that were long gone.