My Late Sister is a Published Author This Week

Before my sister Nina Napoleone died of cancer in 2021, she had dreams of eventually publishing her art and comic scenes featuring our father at our family business. I am proud to say that today is the day that dream is being fulfilled. Life In The Warehouse

I have been on a hunt for the past 6 months to collect Neen’s works from various locations, napkins, phones, paper plates, journals, and more. When I was little my brother and sister would send me on epic scavenger hunts to keep me busy. I was 6 and 8 years behind them. We lived in the middle of nowhere, and this became the pastime to keep me out of their hair and have a laugh at trying to watch me solve the riddles. I would find sheets of paper written in my sister’s writing weeks later in a pot or pan that I would solve. I loved them so much, and a huge part of myself was influenced by these hunts. Combine them with a love of Indiana Jones, and you see why my first overseas trip was a solo tomb excavation in the South of Sicily.

I began this journey while I was writing my own book about normalizing grief. A loud voice stopped me midsentence and told me “THIS IS NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!” That internal compass directed me to a large box I decoupaged to hold some of my most precious things of Nina. Letters she wrote to me over the years, various clothing, her purse, and all her journals. Anything that had her words, her writing, and her essence was stored in there. I have only opened it a few times since she has died and each time is a massively sorrowful grief wave. I was nervous to open it again.

That voice that was speaking in my heart told me to explore the box more, and right there on the floor for hours I began to pour over Neen’s comic sketches of my Dad that were in various journals. I saw in the margin of one of her writings. “Publish comic book. Also maybe a coloring book?” I knew right then that this was what I needed to focus on. To honor Nina, her creativity, and the sketches that my dad loved to see when she completed one. So the hunt began.

This all became something more when realizing by publishing her work, a portion of the profits could be donated to lymphoma research which is the cancer that she was diagnosed with. Maybe through Nina’s art, she can make an impact on future individuals who might get to live. Maybe that one of those donations could be the one to cure this type of disease.

Nina had one of the biggest hearts you could ever imagine. You would hear her constantly say “I just want to help. If I could help one person, I would feel like my life would be complete.” That thought honestly is what lights me up from the inside, that we could cure this together.

I am proud to announce that today is the day, that Nina’s Life in the Warehouse gets published on Amazon! I am lit from within knowing Nina is somewhere so excited for this. The thought that lights me up from the inside is having you all be a part of her story. Nina’s spirit was whimsical, ethereal, and stunningly beautiful. Her humor was magic and it shows on these pages.

And now I ask… please help me keep the secret from my Dad until Christmas. He doesn’t know how to use the internet. He doesn’t have email. So if you know him, please be a part of this secret surprise with us. Be a part of the surprise. I can feel my sis beaming right now knowing the scavenger hunt she has formed. It has been the greatest gift I have ever been given, being able to laugh, cry, search, and work towards completing this for her and for all my family to have this piece of her to share with others. It is a big day for me personally, and one I would like to share with you all.

Thank you in advance if you purchased a copy of Life in the Warehouse. I would ask that you kindly also leave a review which will help in its release today.

A little biz backstory- Our grandfather Orlando Napoleone and his brothers came over from Italy in the late 30s and in the 40’s they opened a fruit stand. Later the brothers split off to each run a food service distribution company in Pittsburgh, Pa. My father entered Aldo’s Foods out of college, as did my brother, myself, and my sister.

If you own a family business, you will get a special kick out of this book. Running a company is hard enough without the added drama of family dynamics. We wore many hats for many years. My sister while she worked there created these fantastically hilarious caricatures of my dad and his antics around the warehouse.