What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Being able to tell my stories to so many people. I come from a large Italian family, and we had long line of storytellers. During family get-togethers my father, or one of my uncles, would take turns telling stories, or jokes, or doing card tricks. No matter what it was, though, the "art" of the telling was what mattered. There's no question that they influenced my style, and I bring a lot of that flavor into my own stories.
What do your fans mean to you?
Everything. If I'm having a bad day, and I pop open an email from a reader telling me how much they enjoyed the story, or that they could relate to one or another character, that means the world to me. Or if I read a review that says they couldn't put the book down. There is not much that's better, because I know how I feel when I can't put a book down, and to think that I could make someone else feel that way is beyond words.
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