Writing
Mission Statement
I'm committed to crafting haunting, fantastical stories, imbued with a sense of the transcendent, in new worlds that readers can escape to, not to liberate themselves from the problems and questions of the everyday world, but rather to gain new light and understanding on them.
Books
OF CONSTELLATIONS AND CLOCKWORK (10/2024)
In a crumbling republic where the ancient system of values—and the noble families who upheld it—has been torn down, Clemenza Giudice, a clockmaker, has one goal: do whatever it takes to regain her family’s noble status. Even if another noble dies as a result.
My writing background
There isn't necessarily a period I can point to in my life when I knew I wanted to be a writer. Perhaps it began with bedtime stories, my parents reading to my brother and me from the massive My Book House collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. I started keeping a journal when I received a sparkly, colorful notebook with a clasp for my fifth birthday. The blank pages enticed and inspired me, inviting me to fill their pages with the magic and whimsy of those fairy tales.
I've kept a journal ever since, though its uses have morphed over the years. Now I like to consider it a slightly more sophisticated version of the ramblings and rantings of a teenager, my precious notebooks now filled not only with thoughts about my own life but also writing notes and research pertinent to my stories.
I started writing short stories in middle school, and at fourteen I challenged myself to write a novel. If another girl in my class was writing one, and I loved books as much as her, well then, I could write a novel too. It was a good enough reason at the time.
It was the jumpstart I needed though, as someone who had always struggled with being overly cautious and playing life too safe. I like to surprise myself with bursts of unexpected decisions, quite a few of which have surprised me equally with their fruitfulness--part of the reason why I am currently living abroad. That book I wrote at fourteen was a high fantasy about a group of teens with magical powers trying to end a world war, and it clocked in at a whopping 120,000 words.
I spent the next five or six years revising and rewriting that novel, querying it, and writing sequels and short stories set in the same universe. It was an escape for me during bleak and painfully lonely high school years, and while an agent never quite caught onto the book, I credit my growth as a writer to the near-obsessive work I put into it. I learned a lot about craft, pacing, formulating plots, and creating sympathetic characters, along with the more technical side of the industry: communicating with literary agents and editors, getting involved in a community of online writers, and forming mutually beneficial critique partner relationships.
Come college, I finally decided it was time to write something new. I began work on a trilogy and joined my school's writing club, eventually moving up to Co-President. My study abroad in Siena, Italy inspired yet another novel.
I lost touch with writing a bit, during the gap year I took after college when I was busy "finding myself" as a young adult back in Italy, and also in graduate school following, when I researched and wrote my master's thesis. I somehow managed to write two more novels in this time, but they were written sporadically; my heart wasn't in them. While the "break" I took was beneficial in helping me grow out of my shell and experience real life and develop new skills, being without writing left me empty. I've since committed to making it a priority again.
Writing might no longer be an escape for me, but it remains an integral part. Whether or not I ever "make it big" does not matter. I write stories for myself first, and then I hope they touch others and we find a connection in a mutual sentiment or life event. Recognizing, processing, and feeling all the pain, happiness, sorrow, and love life has to offer is a central and crucial part of being human. How bleak the world would be without fairy tales.