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Sequel to Di Zhen.
September 15, 2009
I've always had a passion to write a book that takes place in Italy, and my sequel to Di Zhen offers an opportunity to finally do just that.
I didn't know quite how to get Rick and Marly over to Italy, but I've managed to fly them to Rome and drop them into the heart of the city. And it's been a journey full of surprises. Rick's dad and Beverly Duncan are playing major roles. So I've had to give Rick's dad a name (Carl), and I've had to revive memories of his mother (I've called her Alessandra). I've also added Marly's parents, Trudy and Hank, to the mix for a story that's turning out nothing like I thought it would.
I read about some authors -- Dan Brown is one of them -- who "control" their characters and what their characters say and do.
I have this tendency to create them and then let each character take on his or her own personality. Beverly Duncan, for example, is always looking for a good laugh. Marly is more serious, but mischievous.
I do not try to limit what my characters say or how they say it, and I surprise myself at what they do and say through my fingers. It's a surreal experience sometimes as if they take possession of my writing -- the dialogue and action pouring out almost faster than I can type it. That happened with Lowan Washington in Di Zhen, who you remember had a philosophy of life that went something like "when you look good you feel good, when you feel good you do good, and when you do good, good things happen."
Bella Roma so far is about Marly and Rick, and the pleasantness of Rome. I lived in Rome for over five years, and the city is my favorite in all of Europe. It is a city for lovers and good food, good wine, and long walks. There is none other like it in the world.
I hope that I can bring Rome alive in the pages of Bella Roma (Beautiful Rome), and you will have to indulge me in the first 150 pages or so as I try to make Rome real for the reader.
After that, the adventure begins. Rick stumbles inadvertantly onto an unfolding terrorist plot, and he finds himself racing against time to stop events aimed at wreaking havoc on the world's largest democracies.
I can't wait to see what Rick and Marly do next!
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