Gia Acquaviva travels first class. The psychopathic sweetheart at the center of the Mermaid of Venice series is used to jetting around the world in private planes, and Book Two of the series, Mermaid of Sicily, maintains that same high-stakes, high-roller lifestyle.

My writing is very much inspired by my own travels. While I might not be stepping onto my own plane (yet!), I have had more than my fair share of exquisite vacations. Scroll down to see how fantasy and fiction blend…

SICILY, ITALY

I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Italy, and while I have not yet been to Sicily, it is top of my list. The male lead in this book has an absolutely incredible estate there. Below is an excerpt from the book that describes his not-so-humble abode:

“Southwest of Mount Etna laid a thick strip of farmland that ran down the spine of two smaller hills and rolled across the valley, all the way to the Mediterranean. This megaplot and every speck of volcanic dirt on it belonged to Signor Quintilio Mosca —or Q, as he was known to the locals. Q had spent the last thirty-five of his fifty-eight years dominating Monopoly until all one hundred and thirty hectares were his. To put that in perspective, his lemon grove, with its rich and verdant landscape, occupied roughly one-half of a square mile, a rather large slice of Sicilian paradise.” ––MERMAID OF SICILY, CHAPTER 9

PARIS, FRANCE

I lived in Paris during college. Magical time. I was often scouted for modeling back then, but I was terrified of being preyed upon, so I ran the other way anytime anyone mentioned the word “photographer.”

In 2019 I took a five-star trip with my wife (then fiancée) to Paris and the South of France. While in Paris, we stayed in the penthouse suite of a hotel so breathtakingly beautiful, that I swear I felt like Beyonce for a night. The suite featured a panoramic terrace with a hot tub that overlooked BOTH the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre. Stunning. I knew I had to file away that experience for a book, and my memories made it into Mermaid of Sicily.

Here’s a snippet about the Paris apartment of my dreams:

“Miraculously, Pierre had finally convinced Gia to sneak away to Paris to meet him. Surely a sunset cocktail in his new rooftop hot tub off of the swanky Avenue George V would go a long way toward evening their odds?

Presently, there was absolutely no furniture in his apartment except for a bed. Pierre stuffed a bottle of Veuve into the fridge and then unsealed a package of Frette sheets. He’d read somewhere that Frette was the crème de la crème, and for the ungodly price he paid for one set of bed linens, he really hoped they lived up to the hype.” ––MERMAID OF SICILY, CHAPTER 15

MACAU

My time in Portugal, wandering the intricately patterned cobblestone streets inspired me to incorporate Macau into Mermaid of Sicily. From 1557 until 1999, Portugal maintained colonial rule over Macau. For that reason, it maintains much of the same architecture in the old parts of the city.

Below is a look at Macau from Gia’s perspective:

“It was late morning when the jet arrived in Macau. A dry day, pleasantly warm in the sunshine. The city was seven times the size of Las Vegas. With its giant hotels and uniquely-shaped skyscrapers, Macau was the playground of Asia’s many millionaires and billionaires. Interestingly, Macau drew particular criticism from the Mermaid community, since two-thirds of its urban sprawl was built on land ‘reclaimed’ from the sea. Man was not content to fish in the ocean, and increasing greed meant more and more of the water became home to artificial islands.

Nonetheless, wherever Gia saw money, she carved a seat at the table for herself. If there was cash to be made on stolen land, well, her mantra was hate the game, not the player. It took her years to get permission to lease the land for her casino and then to refurbish the tattered building. Athena, Gia’s gambling house, was by no means Macau’s biggest casino, but it was sizeable and sexy.

Her establishment had a sensual ambiance and a loyal customer base. Plus, with the private champagne room, it was also a speakeasy for strippers. Only highly vetted, high-net-worth individuals were allowed access to the Cherry Playroom. The exotic dancers who won coveted residencies at Athena could squirrel away a quarter of a million dollars in tips in mere months. Of course, nothing came for free, and it wasn’t only lap dances bringing in cash for the biggest hustlers; blow jobs over lines of blow were the real money-maker.” ––MERMAID OF SICILY, CHAPTER 34

Missing the sex, violence and glamour of Mermaid of Venice?

Fear not! Book Two in the series, Mermaid of Sicily, releases on September 20th. Pre-order your copy today!