From her Q & A at Omnimystery News:Omnimystery News: What prompted you to write a historical series featuring the recurring character of a castrato opera star?Visit Beverle Graves Myers' website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.
Beverle Graves Myers: I've always admired two very different but highly enjoyable series with a recurring character: Elizabeth Peters' long-running series featuring Victorian archaeologist Amelia Peabody and Stephen Saylor's Gordianus the Finder books set in ancient Rome. I realized that it was the rich family life and professional growth of both protagonists that made these books so special to me. So I started my own series with Tito Amato as a young man returning to Venice from a music conservatory in Naples. Tito is part of a dysfunctional family long before the term existed. Not surprisingly, qualms about his status as a castrato singer also bedevil him. Over the series, Tito grows to accept and even embrace his vocal talents and the opportunities they provide. He also learns to handle fame and jealous rivals, and overcomes a bout of ego excess. On a deeper level, the brutal surgery that was forced on Tito results in a sensitivity for other marginalized people and a compulsion to seek justice on their behalf. The Jews of the Venetian ghetto, friendless strangers, carnival acrobats and dwarves, and many more seek help from Tito. Along the way, he makes a peace, of sorts, with his father and other family members. If Tito didn't...[read on]
Writers Read: Beverle Graves Myers.
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