Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Meet Our Greyhaus Authors - Elizabetta Bricca - Live From Italy!

Greyhaus Literary Agency is much more than simply Scott Eagan. The heart and soul of the agency really is the group of writers who work hard at what they do. Some are published and some are working hard to move on. In an effort to see that, I have asked the authors to come here and blog every now and then. In the future, some will be talking about their upcoming books and some will simply be letting us know what is going on in their lives and their careers.

I met Elizabetta at the Women's Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy. She currently writes for Harlequin Mondadoi and we are working on new projects to be ready for the North American Market!

Make sure to stop by and say hi!

ROME WAS MY CRADLE

Rome was my cradle. I grew up on bread, history, and art, inhaling the very air the Roman Emperors had breathed before me, warmed by the same light by which Caravaggio and Michelangelo had created their timeless masterpieces.

Rome’s grandeur was imprinted on my heart and quickened the blood in my veins so that it flowed tumultuously like the Tiber River.

As a child, I used to play near the ruins of Emperor Nero’s Golden House. As a young woman, I walked by the Coliseum every day on my way to work. Inevitably these glorious sights –the rich, ancient culture I was born into – shaped my soul.

Writing has always been my way of expressing the beauty I felt inside, surrounded and supported by the spirit of my ancestors. I am my roots, molded by history, both as a human being and as an artist. I am my past and cannot deny it.

I began my writing career as a copywriter, working in the lively heart of Rome. I remember sitting in CafĂ© Canova in Piazza del Popolo, a pencil in one hand and a notepad in the other, gazing at the white marble fountain while trying to come up with catchy slogans. I loved my job, but there was more in me, bubbling beneath the surface, aching to erupt: enchanting stories of the past. So one day I decided to give life to one of these stories. I wrote my first historical romance, REBEL’S BLOOD (SANGUE RIBELLE), a novel set in 17th century Ireland, in less than a year. It was published by Harlequin Mondadori in 2009. But it was with the second book that I paid tribute to my country. D’AMORE E DI VENTURA (ON LOVE AND FORTUNE) tells the story of Cesare Mocenigo, a soldier of fortune making his way in Renaissance Italy, torn between passion and revenge and ultimately healed by love and redemption. Inspired by the lives of Gilles de Retz and Braccio da Montone, and by my own husband, I created a lead male character equal to the condottieri of the past, men of light and shadow, and though penning a romance, I left out the saccharine. Writing this kind of book was a risk – but it was worth it.

I believe the great potential and true mission of an author is to dare, to strive to conquer new summits, and to find one’s own voice. Always. This is my credo – and my suggestion to aspirant writers: Write what you love. Do not pay too much attention to hot market trends. Markets go up and down. Spare yourselves the agony of forcing yourselves to write stories that do not suit you. Try to dig deeper, past the stereotypes, and find your own voice. Writing is a career, not an hobby. Yet, first and foremost, it is the lovechild of your heart and soul.


22 comments:

  1. You should read all her novels. You'll love Elisabetta Bricca and her passionate stories. That's not a frivolous literature: love, death, passion and other strong feelings are in all her books and, last but not least, History.
    This author is very interested in historical reaserches; in her novels History lives.

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  2. I agree with Elisabetta when she says:

    Write what you love. Do not pay too much attention to hot market trends. Markets go up and down. Spare yourselves the agony of forcing yourselves to write stories that do not suit you. Try to dig deeper, past the stereotypes, and find your own voice.

    Writing what you love makes it easier and more credible. It doesn't matter if it doesn't follow the moment's craze. If you stay faithful to yourself and write with your heart, the readers will percieve it. And Elisabetta puts her heart in the pages she writes.

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  3. Grazie a tutte! Thanks to everyone!

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  4. It's not easy to find a novelist of Elisabetta's sensitivity nowadays. Her talent in sketching realistic characters and vibrant images is something to be kept in high value.
    Keep it up!

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  5. Hi Elisabetta, wonderful article. I can't wait to read your next book, especially if it is in English and set in Italy - my favorite place in the world. I think it is great having Italian authors publishing in North America historical romances set in Italy. You have such an amazingly rich heritage to draw inspiration from. Can you tell us a little about your current project?

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  6. Dear Betta, so nice to meet you in an American blog! I loved your first book but, you know I was thrilled with your second book, the one taking place in Italy. In this book your talent shone brighter because you wrote about what flows in your veins, about what you know. I woul love to tell North American readers that they won't be disappointed once they get a glimpse into the Italian romantic spirit and lead characters, especially if narrated by an Italian author. Arianna

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  7. Hi, Elisabetta,
    I'm thrilled to see you blogging today. One thing I've learned from following my Italian friends on FaceBook is the very different essence of their writing. Maybe it's breathing the air of history, living midst the very places where spirits of the past reside. I look forward to reading your 'new project' and understanding the mind and heart of the Italian author. Best of luck to you.

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  8. every time I read a novel written by Elisabetta Bricca, I felle every emotion, passions, feelings of characthers. I think this is her best value: to take readers to the heart of the story.
    She is able to show elegant settings and bloody battle in teh same novel. I think she is one of the best novelist that write romance on Italy.
    I hoper she coould have success and appriciation for her way of writing and for all her novels.

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  9. I'm husband to Dyann Barr. She's talked about you in the past; it's good to see a face match to a name. Congratulations on your books. Bravo!

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  10. I am thrilled to be here and want to thank everybody for the comments! A bit about my current projects: I am writing an historical fiction for the Italian market and a victorian historical romantic suspense for the North American market. The hero is a species of Sherlock Holmes who has to investigate in searching of the "beast", Elizabeth de Lacey, a young and affirmed painter, is the only witness. But is she accomplice or innocent?
    I really hope north american readers will appreciate it! Probably, the second book will be settled in Italy. A new enigma for our investigator!

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  11. Elisabetta Bricca ha la grande dote di riuscire a far emergere dal libro l'atmosfera, i luoghi e i personaggi della storia facendo assaporare al lettore la narrazione in tutti i suoi aspetti e coinvolgendolo sin nel profondo.

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  12. I love Elisabetta' s books. They are strong and passionate. She puts in writing her humanity and all her sensibility. I'm waiting her next novel!

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  13. Elena Bigoni said:
    Elisabetta Bricca has the great gift of being able to give life to atmosphere, places and characters and to drive the reader in all the aspects of the narration to the deep.

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  14. Thanks to the lovely Antonella Albano and Elena Bigoni!

    Grazie alle care Antonella Albano ed Elena Bigoni!

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  15. Wonderful article, Elisabetta! And your current project is very, very interesting! I can't wait...

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  16. I'll be the first to pre-order the book, Elisabetta. Write on...

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  18. You are very passionate about encouraging us to write what matters to us...to go deep. Your books sound beautiful. I look forward to reading.

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