Alberto Vezendi: The IAN Interview

Alberto Vezendi  

Of Hungarian origin, author and photographer Alberto Vezendi grew up in Spain, has lived in five countries and has visited more than forty. He holds a master's degree in conference interpretation, speaks five languages, and has spent more than two decades working for international organizations as a conference interpreter. In 2018, after twenty years of being somebody else’s voice, he decided to be his own and embarked on a new journey as a writer and photographer.

IAN: Please tell us about your latest book.

Alberto Vezendi: Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen! is a memoir of my struggle with an eating disorder, anorexia, in my early twenties.

After twenty long years of keeping it secret, I’ve decided to share my personal experience as a young anorexic male in the hope that this will help readers avoid falling into a trap created by their own mind, and find their inner light without having to endure a long and painful rite of passage like the one I went through. That light within is called life, and it's the only light that can guide you to happiness – but it's a light that can only shine in the present, with no regrets about the past or anxiety about the future.

With this book, I seek to inspire readers to be themselves, take control of their lives, and live a purposeful existence, instead of living at the mercy of other people's wishes. However, none of that can ever be achieved until we learn to see our real self, and ultimately accept ourselves as we really are, and not as others expect us to be.

Finally, this book carries a message of hope for all: that a better life is possible, regardless of your situation, and that we already have everything we need to live it. It’s all inside our mind. I hope this book will help readers find their own way to live the life they desire and deserve.

IAN: Is Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen! published in print, e-book or both?

Alberto Vezendi: Both. I would recommend the paperback version because Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen! is full of illustrations by Alicia Varela, an exceptionally gifted artist.

IAN: Where can we go to buy Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen!?

Amazon.com  Kobo.com  Play.google.com

IAN: What inspired you to write Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen!?

Alberto Vezendi: From its very inception, the deeper meaning of Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen! was to help people choose life over death in all circumstances — and to choose life not merely as the preservation of our biological existence, but to deliberately and positively choose to live fully every single second of our lives.

In less than one year, three people I knew well had put an end to their lives. And although each one of them had a different personality, lived in a different country, and had their own particular set of circumstances, they had nevertheless several things in common. They were all great people, intelligent, full of life, and none of them lacked any of the essentials for living a happy life. They had wonderful families, a good job, good health, and had all the freedom in the world to change their circumstances, instead of taking an irreversible step. And yet, that’s what they did.

Since people who seem to have everything in life choose to die, while other people who have nothing choose to survive against all odds and live, the purpose of life cannot reside in a person’s circumstances, possessions, or relations, but somewhere else. And that “somewhere else” can only be inside. The purpose of life, therefore, must be inherent in every human being.

Having had suicidal tendencies myself, I know that the choice is not always easy. But life is worth living; and having chosen life each time, I’ve never regretted my choice. On the contrary. Looking back, I would have missed so many wonderful days of sheer happiness, so many blissful hours, so many enriching experiences… in short, I would have missed all the beauty and magic of this magnificent thing that we call life.

IAN: What do you hope your readers come away with after reading Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen!?

Alberto Vezendi: We’re all here for a reason. Every single manifestation of life on earth has a deeper meaning which makes it worth living in spite of all adversity. But we have to find that meaning!

And that’s the very aim of Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen!: to help readers find their own purpose in life, which will, in turn, enable them to live a fuller, happier, and more meaningful existence.

Indeed, the reason which prompted me to write this book in the first place was a desire to share a lust for life that has always kept me going in spite of all hardship. But that lust did not come easy: I, too, had to find my purpose before I started to live fully.

For protracted periods of my life, I thought I was living in hell until I found happiness precisely at a time when all traces of happiness seemed to be absent from my existence. Just as heat can be drawn even from matter which is well below zero degrees, I found light in my inner darkness, a light that, although hidden under a bushel, had always been there to illuminate my life, but I had been too blind to notice it.

We are all living in heaven, but we fail to realize it because we look for happiness in the wrong places. We try desperately to find happiness without, but true happiness only exists within. The good news is that this happiness is inside each one of us, it is ours, and nobody in the world can take it away from us.

IAN: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Alberto Vezendi: Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen! is a memoir of my own experience with anorexia, suicide and survival. However, in the book I take that very personal experience and expand it into something much wider, something readers can relate to.

IAN: What books have most influenced your life most?

Alberto Vezendi: Too many! So many that they would not fit in this interview, however, if I was forced to choose only a few — as I believe I am — I would pick The New Testament (especially Matthew's); Giacomo Casanova's Memoirs; Sándor Márai's Napló (which means: Diary. I don't think it's been translated into English); George Orwell's Nineteen-eighty-four; Michael Ende's Momo; John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath; Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching; and many, many more.

IAN: Do you see writing as a career?

Alberto Vezendi: Yes.

IAN: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Alberto Vezendi: I probably would, but I don't want to... I could go on forever changing things in my books which would improve or ruin them. When it comes to writing a book, instead of seeking perfection in vain, I believe every writer has to come to a point when they say "That's it!". Then, as Ovid put it, books have their own destiny. I guess it's like giving birth to a child: once it's out there it's no longer yours. It comes from you — or through you, as Kahlil Gibran wrote — but it does not belong to you.

IAN: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Alberto Vezendi: Of all the wonderful flowers that adorn endless meadows, of all the stars that brighten the Universe, how could I choose only one? And yet, if I have to choose only one writer that I admire more than the rest, that's Sándor Márai. Márai is, and has always been, my main source of inspiration; not so much as to the subject matter of his books, but as a role model of a person who devoted his entire life to writing "because that was his mission", "because that was the measure of his worth". A person who stood firm by his principles at all times, in spite of never knowing real success, and in spite of his books being banned for 40 years in the only place where they could truly be understood — his own country.

IAN: What was the hardest part of writing Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen!?

Alberto Vezendi: The hardest part of writing Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen! was having to face again the darkest years of my life, reviving ghosts from a past that, although I believed dead and gone for good, were still alive in the deepest layer of my mind, out of my conscious reach. I had to pull them out and confront them one by one. That's when I came to realize that they would never go, that they are part of me, that I am one with them.

IAN: Did you learn anything from writing Awake, Arise, or be Forever Fallen! and what was it?

Alberto Vezendi: I realized that overcoming trauma is not a finite event that ends with the complete healing of the body and the mind — which for most of us will never happen —, but a never-ending process that we must endure. Healing is no longer the goal. It's like amputated limbs that still hurt, scars that still itch, and will never stop hurting and itching — and we should never shun our scars because they act as a permanent reminder of the hardship we endured, and the process itself makes us stronger day by day.

IAN: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Alberto Vezendi: Yes: write! Sounds obvious, I know, but how much time are you actually devoting to writing books? Not promoting, not editing, not posting on social media, not telling people about your books, not signing books... but writing. And I don't pretend to lecture anyone but myself, because I recently came to realize that after I published my second book I've been spending more time doing all those "other things" than writing. Now I'm going back to what I love: writing, and it feels great!

IAN: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Alberto Vezendi: Yes, just a few days ago I wrote the dedication of my last book. It goes like this:

"Dear reader, I am deeply indebted to you for the silent support and motivation you have given me while I was writing this book. During the long, lonesome hours that I spent turning my thoughts into words, you were always there, by my side, eagerly listening to me, and it is you I have been talking to all along. Only you could make this book happen. And you did."

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

Alberto Vezendi: I'm currently busy with two books. One is already finished, I'm going through the last readings to delete any superfluous text and then I'll send it to a professional editor. It's a self-help book in the style of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, i.e.: thoughts on how our mind interprets reality and how we can influence that interpretation to shape our fate. In essence, it's about learning to be at the helm of our life's ship, instead of living at the mercy of people and events, drifting purposelessly until we're washed upon the last shore, from where there's no way back.

The other book is a dystopic novel set in the (near) future. It deals with all my social and personal obsessions: dehumanization, tyranny, social control, communism, freedom at large (of thought, belief, speech...). It's about the need to teach people, especially children, to think freely, to analyze what they're told, to question authority, instead of swallowing like a sinkhole all the information they — we — are bombarded with relentlessly every day.

D.L. Norris: The IAN Interview

 D.L. Norris

D.L. Norris is a notable author and motivational speaker who has written numerous short stories and articles on health, emotional wellness, family, and cultural history. Norris’s novel, The Long Way Home, captures in colorful, humorous style the actual events and cultural mindsets surrounding her Scandinavian family and personal life experiences. Norris’s expressive writing style quickly engages her readers and encourages them to sit back and enjoy a nostalgic, magical journey. She and her husband are happily retired in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where she continues a passion for writing.

IAN: Please tell us about your latest book.

D.L. Norris: The Long Way Home is a compelling work of fiction set in 1950s Madison County, Nebraska. At the heart of the story is Maggie Davis, a middle-aged widow and recent heiress to a grand Victorian manor. The stately home, which Maggie shares with her spirited nine-year-old daughter Jenna, also serves as a bed and breakfast to a once regular, but now transitory, clientele.

The kitchen table is the epicenter of lively, often contentious, dialogue where no topics are off-limits. An outspoken neighbor and routine visitor delights in keeping everyone on guard with her opinionated tirades but is frequently reigned in by an elderly, equally forthright family member who has recently become a permanent dweller at the manor.

Maggie finds herself struggling with the painful memories of her husband’s tragic death, as well as the stirrings in her heart associated with a new house guest. A scandalous scheme to swindle her out of her property rides on the heels of a sudden, unexpected death, pointing to a member of the family as a suspect. Set against an intriguing backdrop of family secrets, scandal, love, and humor, the story culminates with an emotional twist. 

IAN: Is The Long Way Home published in print, e-book or both?

D.L. Norris: The Long Way Home is available for purchase in hardcover, paperback, and e-book formats.

IAN: Where can we go to buy The Long Way Home?

D.L. Norris: At Amazon.com and at the Publisher Outskirtspress.com

IAN: What inspired you to write The Long Way Home?

D.L. Norris: I consider myself most fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with my Scandinavian family throughout the years – especially the older generation. I would listen for hours to their beautifully told tales of life in Norway and then how they slowly transitioned to life in America once they emigrated. By the time I was twelve, I knew that I would someday write a book about their colorful and spirited lives. They were my true inspiration. Before writing The Long Way Home, I traveled to Tilden, Nebraska—which is the setting of the novel, as well as the actual homeplace of my family—to gain a clearer understanding of the area and the townspeople. It was a touching experience, to say the least. I sat in the old café and visited with other patrons, and even met several cousins for the first time. It became the springboard for completing the work that I had been contemplating for many years.

IAN: Did you use an outline, or do you just wing the first draft?

D.L. Norris: Along with an outline, I pre-determine chapter titles and the ending before commencing with the actual content writing. A brief biography is composed for each character because they have to be “real” for me to determine how they will consistently react, respond, and fit into the storyline.

IAN: How long did it take to write The Long Way Home?

D.L.Norris: About two years, which included travel to Tilden, Nebraska, and finally to Norway to connect with family and conduct the research necessary for the project.

IAN: How did you come up with the title?

D.L. Norris: Travel from Norway to America was a three-month journey for most of my family members. Those that emigrated began their long trek from Sogndal, Flesberg, and Vinje, respectively, on the great sailing vessels Mercator and Tamworth. Literally, they took the long way home to settle in the quaint community of Tilden, Nebraska.

IAN: What do you hope your readers come away with after reading The Long Way Home?

D.L. Norris: Regardless of persuasions, perspectives, and prejudices, there is always room for diversity of thought and expression. It worked so well in my own family that I set out to show the world how it is thoughtfully accomplished. The Long Way Home illustrates the point beautifully.

IAN: How much of The Long Way Home is realistic?

D.L. Norris: The events which occurred in The Long Way Home are primarily factual, derived from the written and oral recollections of family members. Names were changed, but the general account is a fairly accurate compilation of their own stories. They loved, laughed, and grieved together—at the end of the day, they all lived well together.

IAN: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

D.L. Norris: I love the simplistic, direct writing style of Ernest Hemingway—known for the way he mirrored his lifestyle and interests in his characters.  

IAN: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

D.L. Norris: Dialogue—and good dialogue is the cornerstone of The Long Way Home. It takes time and plenty of thought to write a realistic conversation that continually compliments the uniqueness of each character. You have to understand how the character “thinks” in every scenario. The most challenging aspect of The Long Way Home was the number of characters and the fact that they all had their strong opinions.

IAN: Do you have any advice for other writers?

D.L. Norris: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” This is a favorite quote of mine composed by admired author Maya Angelou.  Write and keep writing. The great story within you beckons to be told.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

D.L. Norris: The anticipated sequel Home is Where the Heart Is: Return to Tilden is soon to be released and artfully follows the return of Jenna Davis-Wilson to her nostalgic childhood home in Madison County, Nebraska. A spontaneous decision to remain indefinitely at the old Victorian manor ushers in a mix of joy, sorrow, humor, and an unforeseen twist—a charming, heartwarming must-read conclusion.

Keith Brandon: The IAN Interview

Keith Brandon

I was born in Hungary. After finishing my schools, I set my foot abroad, started in Copenhagen, then worked on cruise ships for a few years, then finally settled in UK, where I have finished my first books.

My time in hospitality, I guess thought me a lot about people, met loads of them on my cruise ship years, valuable experiences all and I guess these young years is where I got my sense of humor.

IAN: Please tell us about your latest book.

Keith Brandon: My latest book is Lost Universe, a unique look at the aliens and the galaxy and us humans. We find out that we have a role in reshaping the universe in ways we did not imagine. Dealing with the aliens for real, who may not be as evil and invading as we thought for long time. Then we get answers of why they visited us so much and what part is our race playing to change things that are irreversible for the entire galaxy. A hard-core sci-fi.

IAN: Is Lost Universe published in print, e-book or both?

Keith Brandon: It is published in Print and eBook and soon in audible too.

IAN: Where can we go to buy your book?

Keith Brandon: On Amazon.  

IAN: What inspired you to write Lost Universe

Keith Brandon: I always wanted to tell my stories since I was a little kid. First, I was addicted to Star Wars, then comic books, X-Men was the favourite. It was unique for me as it was just about fighting. It was deeper in character profiles.

IAN: How did you come up with the title?

Keith Brandon: It was not called Lost Universe at first. As I was telling my dad about the story, he just came up with it.

IAN: How much of Lost Universe is realistic?

Keith Brandon: In a sense it is. As it deals with real life issues as well, just in galactic proportions. How will us humans fit in with so many aliens? How will they react to us? Will we be in galactic battles, just as we seen it in movies back on Earth? Will they share with us their knowledge and tech wisdom?

IAN: How is Lost Universe different from others in your genre?

Keith Brandon: It is different in many ways, as usual, alien/UFO stories are always about invading Earth, kidnapping people, and I thought, wait a minute, how about if turn this around for once? How about if the aliens actually want something from us, that is worthwhile.

IAN: What books have influenced your life the most?

Keith Brandon: The Sword of Truth from Terry Goodkind and Asimov’s Foundation.

IAN: What book are you reading now?

Keith Brandon: One from T. Goodkind. Called Witch’s Oath. This is book number 21 in the series, hard to put it down. I guess it beats other famous authors in the genre.

IAN: Are there any new authors that have caught your interest?

Keith Brandon: I’ve tried a few but didn’t stay with any for long. I am always looking out for new ones.

IAN: Do you see writing as a career?

Keith Brandon: Yes, totally.

IAN: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Keith Brandon: Shortly after I saw Star Wars-A New Hope.

IAN: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keith Brandon: Yes, keep writing, read more and don’t give up. Is not an easy thing nowadays to get out there with your work and get known. Persisting is the key. If I could do it so can you.

IAN: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Keith Brandon: I hope you will like the story as much I enjoyed writing it, and hope you will be well entertained and have a different mind about aliens after reading it.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

Keith Brandon: It is the sequel to Lost Universe, going to be a lot of battles, pursuing philosophical questions, unexpected, turns...nonstop action.

Kathryn Occhipinti: The IAN Interview

Kathryn Occhipinti

Dr. Kathryn Occhipinti is a radiologist of Italian-American descent who has been leading Italian language groups in the Peoria and Chicago areas for about 10 years. During that time, she founded Stella Lucente, LLC, a publishing company focused on instructional language books designed to make learning a second language easy and enjoyable for the adult audience.

Using her experiences as a teacher and frequent traveler to Italy, she wrote the Conversational Italian for Travelers series of books, which follow the character Caterina on her travels through Italy, while at the same time introducing the fundamentals of the Italian language.

The Conversational Italian for Travelers series of books includes the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook, along with the reference books “Just the Grammar,” “Just the Verbs” and “Just the Important Phrases.” Audio for the story about Caterina that begins each chapter of the books is available free on the websites www.Learntravelitalian.com and www.Stellalucente.com.

IAN: Please tell us about your latest book.

Kathryn Occhipinti: I teamed up with native French speaker and translator Nada Sneige Fuleihan to create Conversational French for Travelers, “Just the Important Phrases,” which was released in August of 2019. This small, light-weight book was created for the traveler to France, slips easily into a pocket or purse, and contains “all the phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to France.”

Along with phrases organized under chapters for transportation, making reservations, and meeting people at a gathering, Conversational French for Travelers provides a method for the traveler to create their own phrases to get around France easily and comfortably. The pocket French book is easy-to-read, with some pronunciation help in the first chapter.

And of course, Conversational French for Travelers includes a special section on reading those French menus — organized by how the real menus are laid out in a French restaurant. Also included in this compact, light-weight book are insights into French food!

IAN: Is your books published in print, e-book or both?

Kathryn Occhipinti: All Conversational Italian for Travelers books and the Conversational French for Travelers “Just the Important Phrases” book are available as print books on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. The print books and the right to download these books to 2 electronic devices in PDF format can also be purchased on the websites www.Learntravelitalian.com and www.Stellalucente.com.

IAN: What inspired you to write the books.

Kathryn Occhipinti: Being a physician by trade, people always ask me why I have dedicated so much time and energy to writing books that help others to learn Italian. My fascination with the Italian language started in my childhood. I grew up as a third generation Italian-American in a suburb of New York. Both my parents grew up speaking both Italian and English. But for me, Italian was like a “secret language” spoken by the adults in my family and I really wanted to understand what they were saying!

Although my parents kept the Italian Sunday dinner tradition and celebrated all the holidays as an Italian family would (lasagna for special occasions, even on Thanksgiving with the turkey) they wanted us children to be “American,” and so spoke to me and my sister only in English. They Italian phrases they reserved for my grandparents, aunts and uncles at family get-togethers always seemed to me as a child so much more expressive than English.

Later in life, when I tried to learn Italian myself in earnest, I met other adults who were also trying to learn Italian in the Italian-American Society of Peoria. I realized that an entire generation had been discouraged from speaking Italian at home and now had to find their own way to learn Italian as adults.

With the emphasis Americans today place on “finding one’s roots” and going back to their country of origin, so many adults my age have the need to go back to the language of their family as well. Of course, learning a language is a much more difficult task as an adult than as a child. I wrote my books as an adult who was learning Italian herself, after only rudimentary lessons in school, thinking that if I could share the experience of what I had to go through to learn Italian it would be valuable to others too.

IAN: Did you use an outline or do you just wing the first draft?

Kathryn Occhipinti: I did not write an outline for the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook. I did write the outline for the story of an Italian-American girl who traveled to Italy and I used this as a framework for each chapter. I then set the structure for each chapter, knowing that I would have to cover the vocabulary for the story and the Italian verbs in a certain order. Each chapter starts with a dialogue, then a list of vocabulary needed to understand the dialogue, a cultural note of interest, important colloquial or idiomatic phrases, grammar, verbs, and numbers sections. Each section progresses as the story line progresses, with the dialogues becoming more and more complex.

IAN: How long did it take you to write the books?

Kathryn Occhipinti: I wrote Conversational Italian for Travelers and then modified the book over 4 ½ years. This book is unique as a language textbook in that I wrote the book as I was learning the language myself. Also, as I finished each chapter, I taught from the book informally with a group from the Italian-American Society of Peoria. In this way, I was able to modify the book to fit the needs of the adult audience.

Then, realizing that most adults would be daunted by a 400+ page textbook to teach Italian, I broke up the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook into smaller reference books in order to make the material more accessible to a general audience. The layout and publishing of these additional books took another two years.

IAN: Do you have a specific writing style?

Kathryn Occhipinti: For Conversational Italian for Travelers I tried to adopt a “chatty” and “friendly” writing style. I didn’t want to write a dry textbook. I wanted the reader to take an interest in the material and to feel as if I were in the room with them talking them through any difficulties they might come across trying to learn the language. This is the same way that I write my blogs.

IAN: How is your book different from others in your genre?

Kathryn Occhipinti: My Conversational Italian for Travelers books are truly different from other Italian language books because the focus is on Conversational Italian -- all the Italian you really need to know to feel comfortable in Italy! The books work in conjunction with the website www.Learntravelitalian.com and include my unique travel and culture insights gained from real-life experiences visiting Italy. Also, I developed my materials while teaching, so they are very practical and include material not found in other books.

Most importantly, my books are friendly and combine travel tips and humorous anecdotes that truly make learning the Italian language come alive!

IAN: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Kathryn Occhipinti: I received a great deal of support from all those in the Italian-American Society while writing my books. I truly enjoyed the Sunday afternoon get-togethers we had at my house as we tried to learn Italian together — always with a break for coffee and dessert! The wonderful friends that I’ve made through learning and now teaching the Italian language have made writing the book a truly engaging and rewarding part of my life.

IAN: Do you have to travel much concerning your books?

Kathryn Occhipinti: One of my favorite things about being an author of language books is the opportunity this presents to travel and explore other countries. I have actually used drafts of the pocket phrase books myself in Italy and France prior to publication to ensure that the phrases are helpful and easy to find. I’ve modified the books based on phrases that I’ve found I have personally needed to remember and even reorganized the phrases in each chapter as needed to make the books user-friendly. Also, I have taken most of the photographs for the Italian books myself during my many trips all over Italy, and I love to take street scenes to inspire others to travel.

IAN: Who designed the covers?

Kathryn Occhipinti: The cover of the pocket phrase book has particular meaning for me. I took the cover image of St. Mark’s Square myself from the deck of a water taxi in Venice, on my first return trip to Italy after my divorce, with the intent of finally publishing the book I had been working on for so many years. The font for the cover was originally from the fonts chosen in the book, but has since been modified so the word “Italian” is easier to see.

I designed the covers for my reference books and the textbook as well. For these larger books, I made the photograph of St. Mark’s Square in Venice into a postcard image, which I included in various ways as the focal point for each cover, in order to link the covers of the books together visually. All Conversational Italian for Travelers books are also unified as a set with the color of the Italian flag on the right hand side.

For the French phrase book, I took a photographer along in order to shoot the cover, and we had fun competing for the best shots in Paris and the south of France. Then I put each of our top choices for the cover on social media for a vote during a book give-away. In the end, of course, being the professional, he won the competition and I chose his photo of the Eiffel Tower as the cover for my phrase book.

IAN: What book are you reading now?

Kathryn Occhipinti: Right now, I am continuing to read the series of novels by Gianrico Carofiglio a novelist and former antiMafia judge in the city of Bari, Italy. I admire his straight-forward writing style and his engaging and true-to-life stories of Italian life. I also find that his books spark my own realizations about the Italian language that often become topics for my blogs. I would also like to mention (as I always do when someone asks me what I do to learn Italian myself) the Detective Montalbano series by the world-renown author of Sicily, Andrea Camilleri. Although I most often watch the series on T.V. rather than read the novels, which are written in mixed Italian and Sicilian dialect, this series has truly helped me to learn and remember the “important phrases” spoken by Italians today.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress.

Kathryn Occhipinti: Over the last four years, I have been an avid blogger about the Italian subjunctive mood, which I feel is the key to becoming fluid in the Italian language. This series of blogs will be compiled in a handbook that will take the mystery out of how to use the subjunctive mood. Written in my clear, conversational style and laid out for visual learners, this book should be useful for both adult self-study and as a supplement to formal Italian language courses. Look for this book in late 2020 or 2021.

I have written two Audio Dialogue Practice books for the Conversational Italian for Travelers series, which are already available on my websites, 

www.Learntravelitalian.com and www.Stellalucente.com. The Audio Dialogue books consist of phrases that build from short to more complex sentences and put verb conjugation to work in useful, everyday phrases. The vocabulary in each chapter of the Audio Dialogue books corresponds to each chapter of the textbook. The Audio Dialogue books can be used by teachers in a classroom situation, where the teacher pronounces phrases and the students listen and repeat. The phrases for Volume 1 of the Audio books have been recorded by native Italian speakers and should be made available as a jump drive or downloadable content for students to listen to and practice with sometime in 2020.

The “Just the Important Phrases” pocket travel book will be continued with translations planned next for Portuguese and Spanish.

Glenn Stevens: The IAN Interview

Glenn Stevens

I grew up in Chicago glued to my TV watching Dark Shadows every summer afternoon. The vampire character known as Barnabas Collins is credited with first igniting my interest and passion for vampires and vampire stories. Later, the more romantic and erotic vampire stories like Dracula and the many films by Hammer set that passion ablaze.

I enjoy writing about vampires that are unusual creatures with unusual tastes trying to find love in a hostile world. It’s a slightly different take on a familiar tale. A take where I try to bring the undead to life and make the unbelievable – believable. 

I’m married to a wonderful woman for over 30 years who BTW has no interest in vampires.

IAN: Please tell us about your latest book.

Glenn Stevens: My latest book is titled Blood Relations – A New World. At its

core, it’s a story about survival, love, and lifetime friendships. The main character, Eros, is forced to flee his home planet to save his and his family’s lives from an alien invader known as the Scorpious, the true vampires of the universe. These beasts chase Eros across the galaxy to his new home and shoot him down causing his ship to crash into the earth. Eros manages to get off one last shot before crashing that causes the alien ship to crash as well. The crash costs Eros everything including his family and memory. This final event sets him up on a new journey of survival and discoveries.

The story follows Eros as he discovers himself and his strange appetite for certain types of blood. Over the course of book one, Eros becomes a sad multi-billionaire by building a mega resort that doubles as the largest blood donor site in the world. He creates a kind of Miracle Blood that heals all illnesses and extends lives. He’s sad because while he lives forever, all his friends and loved ones can’t. He sets out to discover the secrets of human life with the goal to extend their lives forever.

IAN: Is Blood Relations – A New World published in print, e-book or both?

Glenn Stevens: Available in print and eBook formats and soon audiobook.

eBook and Print at Amazon.com

Print at Barnes&Noble.com

Currently working with a narrator to offer an audiobook at Amazon.

IAN: What inspired you to write Blood Relations – A New World?

Glenn Stevens: A drive to portray vampires more humane and realistic. Showing a vampire bite scene with a deeper love and passion on both sides. I wanted to immerse readers into an incredibly wonderful world where they can escape, where anything is possible, where happiness rules and for good reason. Thanks to Blood Relations, such a world exists. The book has been known to increase even the reader’s own levels of Oxytocin – the hormone Eros is most after. So, keep a light on while reading!

IAN: Did you use an outline, or do you just wing the first draft?

Glenn Stevens: I winged it and discovered the story just like my readers.

IAN: How long did it take to write Blood Relations – A New World?

Glenn Stevens: 15 years. During the process two and a half books were written.

IAN: What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your book?

Glenn Stevens: First, a greater appreciation of life, of love and of friendships. The main hope is for readers to walk away with a smile, a little extra happiness in their hearts and a place they can come visit when they are feeling down. Blood Relations is part paranormal romance, part science fiction and part fantasy.

IAN: How much of the Blood Relations – A New World is realistic?

Glenn Stevens: A lot. Real vampires exist in the insect world so why not exist in other worlds? Look to spiders, ticks and mosquitoes for such examples. Mind control happens with parasites. People who die and come back talk about seeing the white light and tunnel and past loved ones. Even where the story goes into healing illnesses, such experiments are happening in labs across the world where scientists use viruses to change and repair DNA. My vampire aims for the jugular in his victim’s neck so life-saving venom can reach their heart first but before he can bite, he needs that jugular hard, so it doesn’t collapse. Hence why he gets his victims to lower their heads upside down off a table, couch or bed, to increase the pressure on that vein. It’s like what they do when donating blood. We don’t know if life exists out among the stars, but we can dream and speculate what that life might be. The possibilities are endless. If there can be a Darth Vader, there certainly can be a vampire like Eros.

IAN: How is your Blood Relations – A New World different from others in your genre?

Glenn Stevens: I tried to keep it fun and not gory. Some areas the story brings readers into sexy, passionate necking scenes where a bite is about to happen far deeper than most other stories and for good reason. I tried to make every scene and chapter worth a reader’s time and keep it as realistic as possible. There are vampire stories and then there are vampire stories! I also infused knowledge and humor into the story so readers walk away appreciating new things they might not have known before and hopefully feeling better.

IAN: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members

Glenn Stevens: The Fan Story writer’s group with its large membership helped turn me into a better writer through peer reviewed edits, suggestions, feedback, encouragement and friendships. If not for the support of Fan Story I don’t know where I’d be. Fan Story also encouraged me to read more, review more and edit fellow writers and serve on select review panels.

IAN: Do you see writing as a career?

Glenn Stevens: If Eros could grant me just one wish, this would be it. Writing sequels and new vampire stories is a dream job for me. I applaud those who have succeeded to make writing their career and hope to join them, but I also know such a career is hard to get into. I sure will keep trying though! I need to sell more books first and that means write books people want to read and listen to on audiobooks.

IAN: What was the hardest part of writing Blood Relations – A New World?

Glenn Stevens: Writing “The End”. My characters don’t die or ride off into the sunset. They continue to live every day with every day in paradise being another adventure!

IAN: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Glenn Stevens: Yes, and I’m sure they have all heard it before - that is to keep writing and reading! Stay positive! Don’t be too critical of yourself and remember everyone is different, everyone has something different to write about and not everyone sees the same things you see. Be persistent and you’ll never let yourself down. Most of all, good luck!

IAN: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Glenn Stevens: If you like vampire stories, please look at some of mine. Most are short and available in all formats including audiobook.  A lot of my early reviewers said they didn’t like vampire stories but loved my take on them. My vampire stories also make the perfect Halloween treat! Thank you for your interest.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

Glenn Stevens: I’m writing a sequel to Blood Relations. The first book brings Eros from his former home to earth and it’s why the book is subtitled “The New World”. The sequel takes readers deeper into the story explaining more of Eros’s past, forcing Eros to confront repressed fears of the Scorpious, developing his new love interests with Lori, bringing back the Scorpious and defending earth from them, introducing a ghost and an incredible surprising ending that leads to another sequel among other things.