About the Author

Becoming Mariella, Janet’s debut book, is officially out in the world, and available at your local bookstore and online!

Janet Constantino was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and grew up in San Jose California where she earned a BA in Journalism from San Jose State University. She has worked at Disneyland, and as a “21” card dealer at Harrah’s Club, Tahoe; as a maid, and on a construction crew during the Olympics in Innsbruck. She was a competitive Latin Ballroom dancer, and danced in Argentine Tango showcases. As a journalist she wrote articles for California Living magazine; the Pacific Sun, a weekly newspaper from Marin County; the Point Reyes Light; and on supervision of interns, in The California Therapist. She was the Administrative Director of a medical clinic, and she has been a licensed psychotherapist since 1983. Janet is a practicing Buddhist.

In 2015 Janet earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University. The intersection of connection and independence has always fascinated her, both in her writing and therapy career. In 2021 she won second place in the M.F.K. Fisher Last House writing contest.  She has a grown son, twin granddaughters, and Janet and her current husband of 25 years live in the beautiful city of Sonoma, California with their beloved Labradoodle and tuxedo cat.

This is my protagonist Mariella's favorite dish! Legend has it named for the heroine of Vincenzo Bellini’s (Catania’s native son composer) opera, Norma. Someone famous ostensibly took a bite and said, “Ah, this is Norma!” In my version of the dish I use rigatoni, and oven-roast the eggplant slices on a baking sheet.