Crossfire of Love

So, yeah, that's the name of my new WIP. I've been feverishly typing away at this one. It was a long time in the making. Like 22 years in the making. Now, of course I didn't know when I was 16 I'd eventually be an author. I'd always wanted to write, but I could never have dreamed back then that there would be something called the Internet and people would be able to read books on-line. If I had, I'd be in a whole other profession.

What am I talking about? Oh, yes, my new WIP. Let me go back to the beginning. I've always been intrigued by mob movies, books and real life history. I grew up in South Philadelphia in the early eighties. It was a tight-knit Italian community with lots of mafia activity. Naturally, being the curious girl that I was, I researched as much as I could on the topic. It wasn't as easy as it is today. Again, no Internet, and when a 16 year old girl walked into a library and asked for reference books on organized crime, a few eyebrows were raised. Hey, it was all in the name of research. The writer was born.

I lived for movies like The Godfather, GoodFellas and Once Upon a Time in America, to name a few. To this day, I'll watch anything Robert DeNiro is in. He was probably the first crush I had on a bad boy. And, Martin Scorsese is a genius. Just sayin'.

Here it is, 22 years later and I'm penning my first mafia themed story. There was a reason I was doing all that research, even if I didn't know why back then. Crossfire of Love is ultimately a love story, but it has a mob flair. The story begins when Gabriella is forced into an arranged marriage to Lorenzo, the son of a big NYC crime lord. It seems her father Ace has gotten himself into a bit of trouble with the Don and owes some big money. The head of the family offers him a way out. He'll forgive the debt if Ace's daughter agrees to marry his son. Hmm... I wonder how that will turn out?

I'll keep you posted. But, I find I work best within the confines of a deadline. My self-imposed date is December 1. We'll see if I get there.

"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." Henry Hill (GoodFellas 1990)

Ella

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