The most challenging part was when I decided to give a 180 degree turn to the mother’s character. But mothers are notable characters; I should know I am one. And you can’t give birth to a masterpiece without a solid mum in there somewhere.
Rose D. Patruno – 17 March 2023
The Back Flap
Keeping a family secret can kill you if it’s a magical one, literally.
In a world where Magic has been a part of everyday life since WW2, Ingrid “Inga” Bergman is a girl who wants to go to college and live a normal-magical life, like any other girl. She’s your girl-next-door type with the above-average look but average magical abilities. She didn’t go looking for trouble.
But trouble found her.
It starts with her study sessions with a handsome, magically gifted young man her mother warns her about. Girls are going missing, which is a dangerous place for a girl just starting. But Inga’s troubles come from somewhere far closer to home… maybe even herself?
A magical freak seizure is nearly fatal to her and makes her uncover an important secret from her childhood—and now she is the prey of the millennia-old dark Mage hunting her kin.
Which way shall a young witch go?
A book for smart female witches in the tradition of Harry Potter but for adults, Hidden Heir is the treasure you’ll be delighted to uncover. It has many rewards a dark mage villain, a paranormal love story, and a heroine who’ll cast a spell on you. This contemporary fantasy will enchant you for hours on end.
About the book
What is the book about?
A witch who cannot spell-dry a pair of socks (let alone turn someone into a frog!) dreams of breaking into Finance. Alas, it’s hard to focus on your Macroeconomics essay when your mum wants you to drop everything to work for her, your Magic can put you six feet under any time, AND shady characters want you to be the Dark Side’s cookie. But at least she has a cinnamon macaron of a boyfriend to help her through it all.
When did you start writing the book?
I started with a short story written in the Spring of 2013 as a small prequel to what is now the second book in the series. I participated in writing stories in other contests on the Italian equivalent of AO3 and Wattpad. My story grew through the following two years, as did the characters and the world they lived in. It was like mixing up a magical spell of mine. Ultimately, they got so big I had to release them into the world.
How long did it take you to write it?
Well, if we count that first short story, it’d be ten years, give or take some weeks (the earliest proof I have is an email dated May 5th). However, if we look at the multi-chaptered version, it’d be eight years. Writing it was the easy part. I enjoyed it, but sending it to editors and friends for constructive feedback took a little longer.
Where did you get the idea from?
In late 2012 I stumbled on an amatorial contest for Romance short stories. One prompt tickled my imagination: falling for the tutor (here meant as an older student or a student with better grades, not something inappropriate).
Back then, I was working on what is now Book 2, and Inga and Biagio’s backstory fit the prompt. It got me moving my book in the right direction. Sometimes inspiration is like a gift from the Gods or a good website. I guess I believe in magical coincidences.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
The most challenging part was when I decided to give a 180 degree turn to the mother’s character. But mothers are notable characters; I should know I am one. And you can’t give birth to a masterpiece without a solid mum in there somewhere. Brainstorming and research were easy, but putting it all together and writing it… not so much; it made me examine my relations with mum and covered a range of genres from comedy to tragedy, with a bit of horror in between. It was my therapy, and therapy takes time to work through.
Also, if I look at past versions, two dropped subplots weren’t easy to write about (although one will be used in Book 3), be it because they were a venting of some private matters or because the events I had to research and write about made me physically sick. So that’s a good way of keeping you on tenterhooks till book 3.
What came easily?
Some things came to me very naturally.
The first one is the setting. When constructing “today’s magical society,” I knew that having it would make some things stand out, known as platform 93/4 or Hogwarts Express in this world. Sadly or thankfully, I had History to take inspiration from when thinking about how magical elements would transform society. WW2 was the logical choice for the turning point, as the association of Nazism with occultism has been part of popular culture since at least the early ’40s. What would happen if Indy had used the Ark in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Another one is Biagio. I wanted to break from the mould of the “Alpha Male” even if it slowed down the romance plot. I wanted to write about a better man, not a Beta man.
Are your characters entirely fictitious, or have you borrowed from real-world people you know?
A writer will often get inspiration from her own experience, so people should be cautious if they turn up in a book, especially if it’s a murder mystery. This experience, the emotions she felt, the events she faced, and the joys, fears, and anger she met are the fuel of her writing. These emotions, joy, fear, and anger, offer consistency to the character she provides to her readers. And the more an author offers from herself, the better a reader can feel the consistency, the reality of nature.
This does not mean a book’s character is a natural person. For example, Biagio is someone other than someone I have met (I know no magus nor any high-end society member). However, several men I have met have allowed me to create a consistent character who is true to life, and I can picture it in my mind’s eye. And if I ever meet a RealLife!Biagio, I’ll still say he doesn’t exist and keep him to myself.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. But are there any particular authors that have influenced your writing, and if so, how have they affected you?
Neil Gaiman is my mentor in creating a coherent, logical world with Magic. At the same time, Tolkien taught me the importance of details, although I will only go as far as creating my own Sindarin (for this series, at least!
I also like Louise May Alcott; the book may be called Little Women, but she wrote some prominent characters, as I hoped.
Do you have a target reader?
My first target is a woman (men or whoever are also welcome) stifled by those who were supposed to love and support her. I want them to know that they can achieve anything they put their heart into, no matter what it is (an Economics degree is as worthy of a dream as baking macarons).
My second target is their friends and lovers, who should step in and become the acquired family this woman needs. There is a time to cry together while eating sweets, but once the tears are dried, do not hesitate to encourage and remind them that they’re a capable person worthy of love and respect.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so, can you please describe it?
It would be so simple to answer, “well, I am a natural writer; let’s say I am the Mozart of writing, and every word, sentence, and chapter comes so easily I just do not think about it.” But, still, well, it’s not the case… which I think is as most writers would feel 😊 Also, it has a lot to do with macarons.
First of all, I appreciate my reader putting a lot of trust in me. An author is a guide through an unpredictable land of adventure. So I have to be professional and responsible, even enjoying myself.
This means me focusing on removing distractions and setting up a good writing environment. Then, dividing my time into writing, planning, writing, researching, and ensuring each section of the story fits together like jigsaw puzzle pieces. And if you’re planning sequels, then each of those jigsaws is a small piece in an even greater jigsaw.
I have adopted a rigorous writing process. I define the number of words I have to write each day, the time of the day I am going to dedicate to writing, the timing of my writing duty, and the timing of my pauses. These periods have been agreed upon with my family (husband and kids), who know they have to respect this process I have set up. So they have decided to, or there will be consequences; as a writer, those consequences can be imaginative. I even have an excel spreadsheet that checks how many words I have written a given day, how many chapters I have reviewed, and how much research I have done. And if I accomplish my target, I know that at the end of the month, I will allow myself to buy the box of macarons I am dreaming of.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I was a pantster until the mid-2010s when Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey reading made me understand the importance of a “route.”
Whenever I plot a story, I go by stages: first, the key scenes, with a short sentence that gives me a general idea. Then I think about what happens along the way. Sometimes, I even plan a few chapters.
At the same time, I don’t crystallise my ideas and leave the door open to unexpected turns, which makes the story more exciting! Because I don’t know how it will turn out, sometimes I can find myself shouting at a character for doing something awful; I hadn’t predicted they would.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
What’s the difference between a box of macarons and a first draft? You should leave that first draft alone (also, nobody else is likely to try and sneak off with your first draft)
I finish the draft and let the manuscript sit untouched before diving into edits. This is something that I learned about myself while writing fanfiction. If I let myself go back, it’s more likely that I would fall into an editing rabbit hole and end up with an unfinished manuscript. However, with the third instalment of this series, I was so unhappy with what I wrote during NaNoWriMo that I broke this rule and started over again. I’m still not happy with it (it’s a first draft, after all), but not to the point I’m tempted to throw it into the Seine! This is another difference with macarons; they should never go in the Seine.
Did you hire a professional editor?
As I mentioned, my respect for my readers is the most important thing. This means I must show them the best book I can write. Since I’m an ESL author and despite learning English from a great teacher, I know I need help.
Some people are better than I am at specific tasks, which are vital in writing. Editing is one of them. The relationship between a writer and an editor is vital, as the editor knows your goal and story and has all your confidence. The writer-editor relationship is like a marriage, but you pay them. You can’t throw plates at them (which is why you should never hire a spouse as an editor. It’s expensive in wages and leaves). As a writer, I have to accept that the editor has expertise in reading the novel and detecting its potential weaknesses, to which I’m blind to them (being the writer).
I have met an excellent editor who has reviewed my novel several times over the past three years. I don’t think I would have been able to offer my reader such a quality in my story without her. So definitely, I recommend any writer invest in this relationship. It might be costly, but this is the cost to offer your readers quality and show the respect you owe them.
Also, editing is often described as “drowning your darlings,” so sometimes you need that second strong pair of hands.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
I can live in an apartment where my three men (my husband and two kids) play and practice music. Well, the truth is they are more practising than playing, leading me to sometimes have the impression I am part of the “Groundhog Day” movie… hearing the same sub-tune over and over… and over and over… and over and over (it also allows to know our neighbours better upstairs when they come and ring to “kindly” ask for quieter atmosphere).
More seriously, when I am alone (which fortunately happens relatively often every day), I like to place specific music as part of my writing process, depending on my need. I will not have the same type of music whether I’m reading, writing scenes requiring emotional involvement, or more precise description scenes if I am short in time to write my quota of words. I like to listen to Jazz for one purpose and movies or video games soundtracks for another. Then, in the evening, I switch to Classic music and then to Ancient music. Having this music also allows me to put myself into specific working conditions. It’s like having a special Spotify list for the different parts of my novel.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
Yes, I submitted to various agents and publishing houses, but it all came to nought. Maybe the manuscript wasn’t as perfect as I thought (after all, I rewrote it at least eight times!)… perhaps it wasn’t “a good fit” (yes, there are people out there who don’t like macarons! shocking, I know).
Did you get your book cover professionally done, or did you do it yourself?
Having trained in graphism (drawing is one of my favourite activities, and in Paris, I took classes in watercolour, anatomic drawing, portrait, sculpting, live drawing, and oil painting… which are skills I use in my writing), I could have drawn the book cover myself.
However, some people have made a profession of book cover art; they know their onions. Anyone can cook, but there’s a reason you pay for macarons. Therefore, I wanted to compliment my cover with the art it deserved.
As an Italian, I consider that Italian artists outperform any other design in that respect (history talks for us, everyone thinks of Italy as the best designers, and that’s what I keep telling my husband, who only considers French achievements). I asked an excellent artist, Alessandra Danti, to work on my cover.
She took my vision and brought it to life on the cover in a way I didn’t feel I could do myself. Sometimes when you’re too wedded to a novel, you can’t always see it.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book, or are you just winging it?
As a writer, my primary expertise is writing. I have no marketing skills whatsoever. And I have to accept and respect that some people have specialised in this field and have developed solid expertise, helping numerous authors launch innumerable books. Or else you end up throwing your book out of the window at passing strangers and abandoning copies on the Paris Metro, hoping a stranger will pick it up.
So I asked an excellent company, BookForward, to help me with it. They have been helping me for the past six months with their superb advice concerning issues I would have never thought of.
Going to professionals—and they are professionals—is an investment. And at first, a writer might think that taking self-publishing classes is sufficient. But I can tell you, having been in that process and having followed a self-publishing course which also helped me a lot, if you want to be respected as a writer, you also have to respect the expert professionals who can help you.
Any advice that you would like to give other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Writing for pleasure is wonderful. It offers outstanding moments as you can express all the ideas you have in mind. But you must grit your teeth to become a professional writer.
You have to respect your readers. They are no longer your friends, family, or anybody sitting while you read your story aloud. Now they are your customers and don’t know you from anyone. It means changing your state of mind toward writing:
- Creating a writing process and sticking to it
- Accepting help from a professional
- Investing time and money into it
But it also means being surrounded by people who respect your choice to go professional. Suppose your relatives don’t believe in you. If they deny you the possibility to become an author, make fun of you, don’t respect your choices, put pressure on your not making enough money, make you doubt your capabilities to succeed, or if they question your path and call it a “nice but useless hobby,” it puts your desire to become an author in danger. At some point, you must believe in yourself and your story because no one else will see its magnificence until it’s actually written.
About You
Where did you grow up?
I was born in southern Italy. Growing up, there was the apprenticeship of sensualism. You experience the beauty and a little pain all the time; it gives you a lifetime of experience; you have to learn how to put them into your art and on the page.
However, my beautiful home city is more than fine wine, beautiful sunsets, and those little brown lentils foodies and hippies seem to love. In southern Italy, you learn to smell the rose, then get pricked by the thorn. I learned to love my region’s great wines, but when I was 16, I picked grapes as a day labourer, hard work and hard on the body. People wonder why John Steinbeck called his book, The Grapes of Wrath; trust me, if you’ve ever worked picking them, breathing in the same unhealthy chemicals they were grown with, you’ll know.
Where do you live now?
I escaped Italy some years ago, and now I live in a beautiful little town close to Paris, Meudon, which offers the best conditions for a writer to focus on her work. Not just because I now have free social health care and free kids education, that I do not have to worry about the future cost of University, which is free too here, that there are great public transportation, great parks, excellent museum & art classes subsidised by France, that people find remarkable the fact I decided to dedicate my life to writing and do not question the validity I am not making money with it, and encourage me in this way. But the most important thing is I only have to walk 100 yards to find the most delicious macarons, which are the primary fuel of my inspiration!
What would you like readers to know about you?
Anything is possible if you wish it and if you have a story to tell, tell it. There never will be that quiet time in your life when you write. You have to find it. You can go from pricking your thumbs picking grapes to bruising your fingers typing your story if you believe in yourself. You can become a professional writer with some judicious investment, time planning, and a lot of self-belief. Everyone has at least one great book inside of them, but if you don’t start typing, it’ll be buried with you. I’m also proof that being a writer involves planning, research, commitment, and talent. If I can do it, so can you. That and always find time to smell the flowers and taste the macarons.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently writing the third book in my series, but when you have so many characters, they won’t let you sleep. They call out to you at night, wanting to tell their stories. A book can be a most demanding baby to raise and care for. So I hope to share Inga and Biagio’s adventures and many other characters. I hope my readers will join them and me on our quest.
End of Interview:
