Q&A

This is a tricky question. Most readers seem to have their own idea of what ‘dark’ means to them. I feel a book is dark if it has murder in it, and most of my books have some sort of violence in them, but I’m not sure if my books truly fall under ‘dark,’ besides the violence. That’s such a vague answer, but the best I could do! 

I didn’t set out to write mafia romances (and that seems kind of basic for what my stories are). Actually, if you would have told me a couple of years ago that I’d be writing criminal worlds, I would have probably laughed. Then…The Fausti Family happened to me. I had this basic premise of a story. Boy meets girl, boy feels girl is too talented for their small town, and then boy sends girl off into the world to do great things. That is NOT at all what happened with The Fausti Family, and once I figured out what I was writing (thanks, Brando, for holding out on me until Book 3!), it set me on the path that I’m on now. 

No, not really. It’s a Royal Organized Crime Romance. Meaning…it operates along the same lines as mafia, criminal, but it’s so much more. The Fausti Family takes us deep into Italy, where Brando’s family is considered royalty, but they’re also a criminal family, and what goes on beyond the gilded gates is kept amongst this infamous famiglia.

My answer is no, you don’t have to. We only get glimpses of the cast that appear in Gangsters of New York from The Fausti Family. I think the Gangsters of New York are the perfect introduction to The Faustis. Here’s why. The Fausti Family is a commitment. There are eight books, and some of them are long, and all of them are lush. Once you start The Fausti Family you’re going to be deeply immersed in the saga for a while. Now, if long books are your thing, and you feel you want to start The Fausti Family first, so you’ll recognize them in the Gangsters, that’s perfect too! It just depends on how you feel about longer books (Books 5-7). 

(The Gangsters of New York are in The Fausti Family, too, but not as much, and are only briefly mentioned when they are.) 

Bella will only be writing criminal worlds. After I wrote Machiavellian, and realized how much I enjoyed writing criminal worlds, I decided to only write books that fall under that category. My hope is that most of the books will connect, and the stories to come will interweave with the ones we already have. That way, if we fall in love or become curious about APOTP (A Person On The Page) in one book, we’ll possibly read about him/her in another. I love to connect them and keep building on this world of ours. If I do decide to write something different, it’ll be under a different name to keep them separate. 

I started writing The Fausti Family in 2017. The first book published in 2018 and the last book published in 2021. I basically took the entire year (2017) to write the entire saga. As soon as one book was done, I started writing the next one. I was obsessed and couldn’t stop. Nothing else mattered but getting the words to this…epic story down. It started out as a seven-book saga and then turned into an eight-book saga. After I decided to consolidate my criminal worlds, I moved the first couple of books to Bella, and…here we are. 

No. I’ve always loved books and reading, but I never thought writing would become my passion. Though, looking back, I see it so clearly now. I had three people (a nun and two English teachers) speak it over my life. The nun told me and my mom what a wonderful storyteller I was and that I should write books. The two English teachers basically said the same thing. Years later, after I started writing, and I remembered the things they had said, I was like…OH! It all makes sense now. This is what I was always supposed to do. I think it just had to be the right time. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else.

The best advice I can offer is: just keep writing. 

Three words that are going to be heaven on your best days and hell on your hardest. Anything worth doing, that means something, never comes easy. It’s not the journey but the climb. Always remind yourself of who you are, what you’re passionate about, and keep going. Even if you find yourself writing five words a day, that’s five words that weren’t there before. Block out the world, focus on the one you’re building, and again, keep going. The stories that come to you can’t exist without you.

We’re all on the journey of life, and the best thing we can do is be in the moment we’re in, even if it’s hard, and keep moving toward where we want to be. Success looks different to different people, so even if we do follow someone else’s path to it, I think it’s important that we make it our own. Know who you are as a writer, your worth, and seize it—never let anything sway you to be anyone but who you are. Be true to yourself and your stories. (I’ve been told that I write lyrical mafia romances. Who would’ve thought that would work?) That will come across in your writing, and there’s nothing more truthful (and rewarding) than that. 

Is it hard? Without a doubt. 

Will it be worth it? If it’s the passion of your heart—absolutely. 

Much love,
Bella