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I never thought I’d publish a novel, let alone tell the tale of how I wrote it. And yet, here I am to tell you how I turned a Word file into a book.

I’d like to preface this by saying that, back in high school, my teachers in Italian, languages, and History would often frown over my essays, then at me, and say that really, REALLY, I wasn’t a gifted writer. Which is partly why I chose to study science at University. I’ve always known I wasn’t much of a writer and, if you ask my friends or my husband, they’ll confirm it.

So how on earth did I decide to write and publish a novel?

Well for starters, it all happened a bit by chance. During my first pregnancy, my gynaecologist ordered me to stay home and rest from the fifth month on. For an active person like me, it was pretty much like condemning me to one of the circles of hell. After reading a large amount of books, and realizing that I couldn’t stand televison, I decided it was time to find another outlet for my energy, that would still allow me to sit still on the couch. That’s how I started to write a little story. Meanwhile, I got plenty of visits from my friends, most of them single, who told me tales of bad dates, break ups and the trials of being single in the city. “One day, I’ll write a book about your dramas!” I always joked. And here was the perfect opportunity. I started writing about the stories of women and men in search of love, to pass the time.

Then I stopped. I read over the first pages, and found them horrible. I started searching the web for ways to improve my writing and found a myriad of sites to help the budding writer.

Then one day, I read an article that turned my hesitation into determination: it said that the only way to learn to write better, was to write more. My narrative project continued with focused research, and drew inspiration from books and films (find out which ones here). I wrote till the birth of my son. I finished the story while I was on maternity leave, and filed it away on my MacBook for over a year (I called it “Project 2”).

During a lunch I told a friend about it and, as an avid reader of novels, she asked me to send her the file, she was curious to read it. Hesitantly, I sent her the text. She sent it back to me full of corrections, but convinced that it was a good story. I then sent it to another friend, for a second opinion and further corrections. He too read the file, corrected it and told me to keep going. By then, I was at a crossroads. I didn’t have much faith in my project, but why not give it a try?

Two years later, here I am, writing this post just a few weeks before the publication Next 9, my first novel! I must admit that I’m feeling a bit anxious to see what readers will think of my work. But what’s done is done, and now it’s time to see what the public thinks of it!