My desk is a shared one. You can immediately pick my side: neat, all the things I need at my fingertips, no fancy stuff. The other side is messy, full of notes, pens, envelopes. I'm a writer of horror stories. She's an excellent fairy tales creator.
Yes, we are two writers living together, so different, but connected by the same passion for the written word.

I started as an indie, then, slowly, I made a little 'name' for me in this industry, and all my successive works have been published by companies. Honestly, I prefer to submit my work for publications, because I don't have much time - and patience - for promoting my stuff.

Smashwords has greatly expanded my visibility. With their wide distribution to other channels my books are available everywhere in the world. Obviously, I'm far from being rich and famous, but I feel proud of my number one accomplishment: having a lot of people read and appreciate my tales.

Fans are readers. Readers are the motivational engine in my writing. Without readers I would just stop writing. It was their appreciation that gave me the necessary courage to go on and fly higher.

I'm a full time graphic artist, designing book covers for many indies and publishing companies, so, my job is always connected with the written word. I also work for the movie industry, creating promotional material and advertisement.

Yes, I wrote it at school when I was 9. It was a sci-fi story (heavily influenced by Star Wars) full of robots and aliens. The writing was good ... the story ... well, surely unfit for publication.

I'm a cinema animal. I write my stories like screenplays. I usually collect all the material I need about the setting (historical notes, specifics about particular jobs, flora and fauna), write down a series of scenes, then divide them in chapters. In each scene I write down the location, time of the day, weather conditions, the characters that will be featured, and any additional detail I need.
I'm so maniacal about this that I write the story in the same way a director uses the set: cameras angles, dialogues, heck, I even take in account eventual extras.
When the chapter is over, I check for typos, grammar, punctuation, and most of all, eventual drama holes. When I'm satisfied with it I allow my 'actors' to call it a day and I prepare the set for the next one.
Last, when everything is clear and neat, I send my typescript to my editor and wait.

1) Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley: the book of my life, even for personal motivations. Excellent, innovative for its times, and still unsurpassed. The point of view switches, and the conflict, surrounded by the theme of vengeance, are what make this book unique for my soul.
2) The Special X series of mysteries by Michael Slade: Slade is my main inspiration. This Canadian author is a maniac of details, just like me. He tells you everything about the place the story is set, gives you information behind every obscure topic, showing a great passion for research and history. Then, when the action starts, he's not afraid of punching you in the stomach with graphic violence. The final twists in his serial killer stories are incredibly shocking.
3) Sphere by Michael Crichton: here's another of my favorite writers. Details, details, details. Great characterizations, a bit of sane humor, and tense crescendo. Sphere is a good example of his style of writing, unraveling the mystery page after page.
4) The Dragonlance 'War of the Lance' Trilogy by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman: they introduced me into fantasy (yes, I had read Tolkien before, but I wasn't charmed) and showed me how even 'fairy tale worlds' can be full of characterization, passions, and grit.
5) Needful Things by Stephen King: I love small towns full of different humanity. I've read a lot of King's books, but if I have to pick one I pick this. Needful Things is packed with moral dilemmas, conflicts, and again, great characterization (yes, I hate bi-dimensional characters, I like full-fleshed ones).

Social networking. I interact with readers, writers, and publishers. As a reader I always dreamed about talking with the authors I loved. Now that I'm one of them (a little one), I want my readers to be able to question me, ask for clarification, and even criticize my work. Sadly, the social networks have changed so dramatically, from the times I started, that interacting and reaching out to potential readers is becoming harder day after day.

I was born and grew Rome, Italy. This is a city full of history, culture, and art, and art became part of my life very early. The uniqueness of the 'Eternal City' has shaped my creative side. However, I also spent a big chunk of my 'adult' life in America and this has profoundly expanded my culture, forged my spirituality, and widened my horizons. I consider myself a citizen of the world. I've lived in Arizona, California, Florida, England, and Thailand, and have visited so many countries that each one of these places has left something inside me. In my stories there's a bit of all the cultures I interacted with, and some scenes in my books are inspired by events or places I have experienced on my skin.

Putting on 'paper' what haunts my mind. Sometimes, I'm literally possessed by a story or a character; it starts clouding my thoughts, and yelling at me until I pen it down. It's a sweet torment.