- What inspired you to write this book?
When I wrote Bella Cigna, I had a lot of
memories floating in my head of living in Rome. I had also just given birth to
my daughter and the talk between me and my friends often involved children or
lack thereof. I suppose Bella Cigna allowed me to explore some of the heartaches
my friends experienced while trying to conceive.
The Foreign Endearment series will be a trilogy. I hope to submit the second book to my publisher by the first of the year (a lofty goal, I know!). I also have another trilogy planned (one novel was written) which I hope to finish before the end of the century :).
- Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
Shhhh! This one is kind of embarrassing but I totally have a file titled I like bad boys in my Bella Cigna folder. It’s a character sketch about Anna, and IT WAS SO FUN TO WRITE!
- Where did you come up with the names in the story?
Since my characters are often international, I often use common names lists from those countries to help. Another go-to: the tennis tour. LOL. I happen to be a huge tennis fan and wouldn’t you know it? There are players from everyone on tour! Pay close attention to the teacher introductions in Bella Cigna, and you’ll find they’re all taken from the tennis circuit.
- Are your characters based on real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
My characters tend to have snippets of traits from many people in my life. For example, Anna is a mathematician, which is clearly drawn from my experience as a math professor, however, the rest of her personality couldn’t be farther from my own.
- Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
Oh, they totally hijack the story! During the first draft, I
let them take me wherever they want to go. Usually, by the third draft, I’m
feeling confident enough to chide them. “Stop crying, Sarah! It’s not an
attractive quality.” Or, “you can’t sleep with that guy, Anna. Just because
he’s hot, doesn’t mean he’s good for you.”
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