The Queen’s Emerald follows a young woman and her brother whose mother has been abducted by pirates seeking a ransom that will require them to embark on a dangerous adventure to obtain it. What was the inspiration for the...

The Queen’s Emerald follows a young woman and her brother whose mother has been abducted by pirates seeking a ransom that will require them to embark on a dangerous adventure to obtain it. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Family is the value at the core of the entire story. I came up with the idea for The Queen’s Emerald out of the desire to explore the importance of family in our lives – how much we are willing to risk or sacrifice for the sake of family, the importance that family plays in our identity, how much previous generations impact our lives. This had a powerful impact in the characters’ background and development, the past events that influence the story and it even affected the worldbuilding.

Axella is a woman with strength. What do you think makes her a valuable and worthy heroine?

Axella’s main quality is her desire to protect the people she cares about at all costs. Another thing that I love about her is that the dark times she goes through don’t change who she is and that she holds on to what she knows is right even when she is forced to do immoral things for the sake of her loved ones.

I felt that the action scenes were expertly crafted. I find that this is an area that can be overdone in novels. How did you approach this subject to make sure it flowed evenly?

The action scenes were probably the easiest ones to craft and are also among my favorite parts of this novel. I don’t have a particular technique – writing them felt natural – but what I’m usually looking for when creating an action scene is for it to contain enough adrenaline to engage the reader and for its pace to be fast enough for the reader not to lose interest. I also try not to extend them too much, as I feel that the purpose of these scenes is to accelerate the rhythm of the story, not to weigh it down.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

Since publishing The Queen’s Emerald, I’ve been focused on translating it in other languages too (it’s now also available in Spanish and Italian). My next big project will be the second novel in the Iungetellus Chronicles, which I hope to finish by the end of 2024.

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In Axella’s world, the pirates’ existence is as old as the land and the sea. The attacks directed at trade ships or harbors are the only events that disturb the peaceful life on the continent of Iungetellus.
Axella has had contact with pirates only through rumors or during their attempts to rob Portus Avorum, the city where she lives.
Until the moment when, during such an attack, Axella’s brother, Maximinus, manages what few ever could: to face the most famous pirate in history – the feared Calogerus – and force him to retreat.
Not long after this, Calogerus’ people kidnap Maximinus and Axella’s mother, asking for a ransom that’s almost impossible to obtain – the Queen’s Emerald, a treasure hidden in the heart of a realm in Bazanthos, the continent east of Iungetellus.
Before their time runs out, Axella and Maximinus must venture from one continent to the other to steal one of the most precious possessions of the realm of Eratrix.
Faithful friends will support them, unexpected enemies will try to undermine them, and their mission will bring to light truths that will change their lives and the world they know forever.

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