Why did you choose to set so much of the book on the coast? Do you feel tied to the sea in any way?
I adore the sea. It mirrors the way we feel inside, always changing—one minute benign, the next formidable and menacing! It’s a wonderfully expressive backdrop to a romantic novel.
Pamela does not believe in a spirit world until she sees her father’s ghost. What are your personal beliefs concerning life after death?
I have seen spirits all my life. I firmly believe death is but a moving into another dimension, a return to where we all come from; and those we love, who have died, are around us all the time, sending us love and guidance.
Whose writing has inspired you? Do you find inspiration for your work in other art forms as well?
I’m inspired by other writers all the time. I admire so many creative people. Namely, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Isabel Allende, Laura Esquivel, Fannie Flagg, Philippa Gregory, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Sebastian Faulks, and the great classics: Tolstoy, Austen, Dumas, Edith Wharton. Naturally, I’m inspired by nature, life, and the colorful, eccentric people I’m fortunate enough to meet. I am also very moved by films—The Notebook, The Bridges of Madison County, An Affair to Remember, to name but a few.
What can readers expect next from you? Are you working on anything currently?
I’ve just finished my next book, The French Gardener, and am currently writing my ninth, based again in Italy, a continuation of Last Voyage of the Valentina. I hope to continue to write one a year—while there is life, there are stories!
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