It’s finally here! Mermaid of Venice is out there in the world! You can purchase your print or ebook copy on Amazon and read it today.

I wish my mom were alive to experience this. I know she would be so proud. She always encouraged me to write, and I think this was her biggest dream for me.

As a little celebration present, here’s a sneak peek at Chapter 2!

SEPTEMBER 2ND

In a dark corner of the canal, Gia sat on the curved wooden edge of her Riva doing what most locals did during the Venice Film Festival: She observed celebrities. Mega-yachts littered the Grand Canal—no doubt there were many billions in global currencies floating on the water.

She was not a star-struck teen. On the contrary, she’d crossed paths with her fair share of the glitterati on the floors of her casinos and in the VIP rooms of her clubs in Paris and Berlin and Monte Carlo. Gia preferred the shadows, though. On this particular evening, she was staked out for one particular star, Nicolás Ángel Fernández, her lover.

Nico was scheduled for the red carpet at five o’clock, a prime slot for maximum exposure to the paparazzi. His handlers would make sure he hit every mark and, then, that he would be smuggled out of the theater’s side door just as the lights went down. He couldn’t stand the sight of his own famous face on the screen. Never mind that he’d attained “Sexiest Man Alive” status several times over. He didn’t even like to see himself on directors’ monitors. The lack of vanity, the self-loathing, it was all part of his appeal. He preferred, instead, to look at Gia. Her deep brown hair, nearly waist long. Her pearly skin. She was almost fifty, but he didn’t know that—almost no one did. Those fortunate enough to meet her assumed that she was a rich woman in her late twenties or thirties. Her beauty defied logic, except that it didn’t.

The two had met a year ago in a tunnel underneath her club in Buenos Aires. He was escaping his pop star girlfriend du jour, Jessica Joyce, and her entourage. Gia found him on his own, head against a concrete wall, on the verge of a panic attack. She touched his shoulder and asked if he was all right. He balled up his fists and shook his head.

“Please,” she said, “come with me.”

She put her hand around his right fist and led him down the hallway to a small office, covered in black velvet wallpaper. She gestured for him to sit, and he collapsed, head in his hands, onto a leather sofa. She opened up a cabinet to reveal a desk and from inside that desk, she extracted a small bottle of pills. She passed him one with a bottle of Pellegrino.

“I don’t take drugs,” he whispered.

“This is valerian root.”

“What’s that?”

“It is sort of like melatonin, all-natural,” she explained.

He exhaled deeply and downed the pill. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This is really embarrassing. I hate crowds.”

“Funny choice for a career you made,” Gia said.

“Terrible.”

“You will start to feel the effects in about ten minutes. What if I tell you a story until then?”

He furrowed his big, black eyebrows at her.

“What,” she asked, “you do not like fairy tales?”

“You’re a little weird,” he replied with a half-laugh.

“The best people are.”

That made him think.

“True.” He paused for a moment and then agreed, “Fine, tell me your story.”

“Lean back on the sofa and close your eyes.”

He burrowed himself into the corner of the sofa, resting his head on the soft wall.

“Once upon a time, there was a ship captain…” she began. Nico opened one eye, squinting at her. “Tsk, tsk,” she chided. “Naughty boys never get what they want, do they?” He resigned himself and fully relaxed, finally. She continued, “The captain stood at the helm of his bright blue boat and steered past the white cliffs of an island. The sun beat down, baking the crew. They had run out of water the day before. Rain was like a sweet memory from childhood. That summer had been cruel and hot. They dropped anchor and prayed to find freshwater on this dry-looking island.”

She slid from the club chair over to the couch and eased in beside him. He turned his head to look at her. He sensed sadness in her almond eyes.

“Who are you?” he asked. “Where did you even come from?”

She laughed silently and smiled a little. “Some people say that the world is destroyed… that the oceans have claimed the land, and that we are all living in a simulation like the Matrix. Do you believe that?”

“If that’s true,” he said, “I’m sending the coder a fortune in bitcoin.” He reached out for her heart-shaped face and took it into his big palm. She leaned in, their faces almost touching. He could already feel her lips on his, but he looked away.

“I have to go,” he sighed. “Someone’s waiting for me up there. I’m sorry.” He pried himself off the sofa and stared at the door. He took a timid step forward. “I wish I could stay.”

“Wishes live in fairy tales,” Gia whispered, stopping him in his tracks. “So, if you want something,” she said, “you should always take it.”

“Fuck.” He turned around to find Gia perched at the edge of the sofa peering at him, daring him on. “Please,” he said, voice trembling, “give me ten minutes? I’ll come right back.”

She shrugged.

“Please.”

“Just fucking kiss me,” she commanded. “I know you want to.”

—OK! That’s it. If you want to read the rest, you’ll have to pony up the cash!