When and why did you begin writing?

For me, writing is so essential, like the air we breathe. I always wrote, since my childhood. I kept my memories in my diaries, wrote poems, wrote in notebooks of my colleagues at school. I always found a piece of paper to write out my memories or anything that passes through my mind.

Being a curious child and a natural observer, I always wrote and made notes about things and circumstances surrounding me. And it was then that I decided to become a writer. I made my own books, with illustrations, when I was only eleven years old, and one of them was a comic book. Since then, I did not stop writing. I have to keep that juice flowing, you know… otherwise, I cannot make much sense of anything else.

There is nothing more pleasurable than giving voice to all those characters who are eager to be alive and to let them do things that they may even hate you for making them do – the unimaginable things that you love them for doing them.

There is this everlasting desire deep inside of me to overcome obstacles, to understand human behavior, the passion and seduction that lead to edgy attitudes, the psychological state of the human mind, the drama and tragedy and, most of all, the comedy behind it all.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer and how does that affect your writing?

I write part-time and always like to consider the creation process as a party, living it to the fullest; leaving no gaps in a constant motion with lots of devotion. But I spend time thinking about the things I want to write and create.

Do you have a special time to write, or how is your day structured to accommodate your writing?

I usually sit down to write each morning. But sometimes inspiration comes in any unexpected time during the day. And then I just have to sit down and keep typing until I finish that flow of creativity.  I have to sit down for hours until I feel I have no more words remaining. Sometimes, I have to remake the whole thing until I feel satisfied enough.

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

Now, I keep things in a more simple way. I used to exaggerate with words, thinking I was evolving, over-thinking. But then I realized that if I kept things simple I would go a long way, rather than leaving it so complex that my readers reached a point where they failed to get what I was trying to express. Now, I always remember to leave words as they should be, in short, being able to blow a KISS: Keeping It Simply Structured.

What have you written so far?

Fairies of the Four Seasons and The Enchanted Valley Series
The Mysterious Murder of Marilyn Monroe
From the trilogy Memoirs of an Amazon:
The Witches of Avignon (Past)
The Pierrot’s Love (Present)
Out of the Blue (Future) 
From The Pierrot’s Love Series:
Pierrot & Columbine (Book 1)
The Phantom of the Ballet (Book 2)
Harlequin (Book 3)
Diary of a Columbine (Book 4)
A-Z of Happiness 
The DAO WORKBOOK ILLUSTRATED 
The MilkShake’s Opera Series (colouring books with fables)

They are all available at major book retailers worldwide (in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian).

Do you work to an outline or plot sketch, or do you prefer to let a general idea guide your writing?

I usually let my mind drift upon a theme and go from it. My stories keep following me wherever I go, and if I am in the right track and in a creative process I don’t let it run from my hands.  As I wake up or even in the middle of the night, I have to jump off the bed to write down my thoughts. Some may even come from a dream I just had. I just feel like if I don’t do it right away the train of thought will simply run over me, and it will be lost forever… and that’s usually how it ends up, if I don’t keep my mind busy with the plot.

Which advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Please, please, don’t go publish until you are one hundred percent sure that you are doing a great job, the best that you may deliver. In publishing, it’s easy to get it all wrong when you are just starting. Then you will regret later on for not having a good editor to go through your writing, or having a great artist to do the best cover for your book. If there is something I learned during these years in the publishing market, it is to never ever underestimate the power of good editing.

Plus, the saying “never judge a book by its cover” was created by a lazy author who didn’t give much thought to what really works in the marketing of both fiction and nonfiction.

Who is your favorite character in your book and why?

There are just so many great main characters in my plots, male and female. For example, there are four main characters in the Four Sea Sons Series. They all have a special touch that will turn the world around and make such difference in nature and in people’s lives. And yes, I am talking about the seasons as living beings, as ethereal and real entities. And then there are two main characters in The Pierrot Love Series that you will fall in love with. One is Giovanni, as Pierrot himself, who would do anything for his lover. And then there is his Columbine, and you will hate her, for doing so many things against her own nature, and not accepting that her true love is just there, knocking at her door. And all of a sudden, going further into the story and diving deeper into her persona, you will feel compassion and such a mixed feeling that it will pour your heart so that you will not know why but will have the urge to hold that child’s hand, and that’s Talitha. She is a teenage girl and she has been through so much in her life already that you can feel all her pain and her ambitions; as she grows older and more experienced during her troubles and trials in life, after all the tumultuous and disturbing aspects of her personality, she wants to reach out to you through her seductive manners. But then again she’s just human. She is an anti heroine. Her antithesis could be Ann, from the future, of the same trilogy, in the book Out of the Blue, like a mirror reflecting the opposite side. Ann is just as ambitious, but she lacks faith in herself. All the confidence Talitha has in her feminine tributes, Ann is totally oblivious of it, in a total loss from her life and with no self-control. Contrary to Talitha, Ann will have to go through hell to reach out for help and get some redemption, to finally feel free from her own instincts and let go of old fears.

If your book was made into a movie, who would you cast?

I’m guessing Jim Caviezel and his enigmatic eyes would be perfect as Giovanni playing the role of a tormented and romantic soul completely devoted and in love with an over-emotionally complex woman.

---

How can you learn more about Ana?

Twitter | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | Website | Blog | Facebook | Linkedin | Pinterest