Inside my seven novels, along with the familiar narrative essentials, there is a feast of Italian food. This happened organically as I love Italian food, and this passion extended to feeding my fictional characters.

Said passion is surely rooted in my Italian-American background. I grew up eating Italian food pretty much every day and twice on Sunday, as the mandatory lunches at my grandparents’ lasted through dinner. Even though I knew I ate better than, say, my Irish friends, I wasn’t quite aware of the majesty of authentic Italian cuisine until I got older.