Watch Over Me
What can you tell us about your new book Watch Over Me?
Watch Over Me is a story about hope and how life can surprise you just when all you think is lost. It's about love, motherhood and family bonds. It's set in a small village in the Highlands of Scotland, but the real inspiration for the setting is my home village of Caravino, a tiny place in the Italian Alps.
Eilidh has gone through 10 years of fertility treatment, so how much research did you have to put into this process and the effect it has when it doesn’t work?
My first son was heavily premature, so I became involved with various Internet forums where mums from different walks of life and background stories shared their experiences, successes and failures. So much of what I learnt in those forums seeped into Watch Over Me.
The book moves to the highlands after Eilidh escapes there, why did you choose this as your setting?
I've lived in Scotland for a long time now, and I consider it my home. Watch Over Me is also meant to be a declaration of love and a celebration of Scotland. However, like I said, Glen Avich is very much based on my home village, Caravino, in Northern Italy. Piedmont (where I come from) and the Highlands have a lot in common, in terms of the spirit of the people and the culture.
You were born and raised in Italy, so what brought you to Scotland?
Love!:) I married a Scotsman. I'm an adopted Scot now, I suppose!
You have a degree in Classics from the University of Turin, so how much has this affected your writing?
I suppose it was great exercise for the brain! I worked so hard for my degree, everything else was a doddle!:) I did manage to slip a bit of my classical education into Watch Over Me, reworking the myth of Persephone in the prologue. I suppose the Sarah Midnight Trilogy is dotted with images and ideas from classic myths.
Your great uncle was a renowned Italian writer, so how much of his influence filtered down to you when you were young?
Well, my house was full of books and it was always taken for granted I would somehow end up in some sort of literary profession sooner or later. My great uncle, Carlo Levi, was a writer, a painter and an anti-fascist activist, and I'm very proud of his political stance.
You are also the author of the YA trilogy The Sarah Midnight Trilogy, so what can you tell us about these?
Sarah is a normal student by day and a demon hunter at night...I wanted to give a paranormal twist to the challenges of growing up! It's a story full of excitement, adventures and not one but two dashing heroes. The first volume is called Dreams, and the second, out just a few weeks ago, is called Tide and is set on Islay. The third instalment, Spirit, will be out next year, and it will be set in a parallel Eastern Europe.
When did your interest in writing about the paranormal come about for your trilogy?
The paranormal is very much there in all my novels...I think there's always more to reality than meets the eye. Maybe I find real life boring!
What is it about writing for young adults that appeals to you?
The enthusiasm of my readers, and how deeply they feel. Also it's fascinating to be writing about worlds where anything goes, as you can give free reign to your imagination. Young Adults literature has offered so much in the last few years, and it's very varied, from contemporary to dystopian to paranormal. My favourite though is paranormal...as you may have guessed!
What is next for you?
Another Glen Avich story! "Inary's Silence" is about a woman who loses the power of speech because of a trauma, and finds out that she can actually say more with silence. Also, I'll be writing the last instalment of the Sarah Midnight Trilogy, Spirit. It'll be hard to say goodbye to the characters who've been with me for such a long time!