About Daniela Alibrandi:
I was born in Rome and lived in the United States. In my professional life I worked on cultural exchanges within the European Union and the Council of Europe. My literary production includes sixteen published Italian books, five English editions, including the recent "Crimes After Hours" and "Denied Crimes", and an anthology, The following books have won national literary recognitions : I delitti del Mugnone (Morellini Editore) Delitti sommersi (Morellini Editore), Viaggio a Vienna (Morellini Editore), Una morte sola non basta (Del Vecchio Editore), Delitti Postdatati, I misteri del vaso etrusco (Edizioni Universo), Quelle strane ragazze, Nessun segno sulla neve (Edizioni Universo), Un’ombra sul fiume Merrimack. I was the winner of very important Italian national literary awards, such as Circe National Award 2013, November Writing Month 2012, Perseide National Award 2014, Mondadori competition 2018, Gold Police Award 2020, Mention of Merit 2020, Special Noir Crime Award 2021, and I have also obtained in 2022 the Women Art Week Award for my literary career. My readers are in Italy and abroad, and I am present with my works in the most important national book fairs and often guest of RAI (Italian National Television Broadcast). Some of my Italian editions are present in prestigious libraries abroad.
What inspires you to write?
Inspiration can come to me at any time, without warning. It can be a scent, an image, an emotion, a memory, something that creeps into me and unleashes that "caress in the soul" that does not allow me to continue, unless having given life to the story. Nature, with its spectacular sceneries can be an indisputable source of inspiration, but also the history, as well as the antiquities, able to tell it in a city like Rome, never fail to inspire me. My latest novels, also in English edition, are set in the most mysterious, underground and unknown places in Rome. Tunnels, waterways, and even large underground lakes of pristine water.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Ernest Hemingway was the most important, but also Betty Smith and Gabriel García Márquez. I am a great reader, since I was a child, and I love as well Stephen King, Wilbur Smith and many others.I think that if you are a real writer, you must be a real reader. That's the why I carve out time during my days to dedicate to reading. In addition to the authors I have mentioned, I love Italian writers such as Maurizio de Giovanni, Umberto Eco, Danila Comastri, or Scandinavian authors, such as Stieg Larsson and Camilla Lackberg.
Tell us about your writing process.
I am absolutely a pants writer. As soon as I feel inspired, I hear the first words of the book I will write, being born in me. From that moment my daily life changes radically and the urgency to write makes me isolate myself while I see, as in an inexplicable magic, the characters coming out one after the other. They come to life and take me by the hand, leading me into their world, weaving together with me engaging plots and intrigues.So I never know how the story will end, until it reaches the end.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Of course, I interact with them, and if I were not afraid of being misunderstood, I would say that I see them around me. While I am the one creating them and identifying myself with their characters, I have the impression of discovering them in a mesmerizing way.
What advice would you give other writers?
I have learned that everyone has a treasure chest in their soul where to enclose memories, hopes and dreams. A writer knows how to open that treasure chest to revive what will never die. And I have learned also to listen carefully to the whispers of the wind or to enjoy a sunset over the sea. And I know that humility is perhaps the greatest virtue a writer can have.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I sent my files to important Italian publishers who believed in me, publishing most of my writings. I am thus present in Italian bookstores, in the most important book fairs and also in television and radio programs. However, I also wanted to follow my English editions in self-publishing, investing in the ease of distribution abroad of online stores. My advise for new authors is to strongly believe in what they do and never, never give up!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I believe that the charm of printed paper will never fade, even if different forms of distribution adapt more easily to the frenetic pace of modern life. E-books, audio-books are certainly easier and more usable, but nothing will ever replace the emotion you feel when entering a bookstore, smelling the scent of books.
What genres do you write?: Psychological, Multidimensional thrillers
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Daniela Alibrandi Home Page Link
Link To Daniela Alibrandi Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
