Alyssa Palombo

Alyssa Palombo's novels include The Violinist of Venice, The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence, The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel, and The Borgia Confessions, as well as the contemporary novel Heavy Metal Symphony, published as A.K. Palombo. Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, she graduated from Canisius College with degrees in English and creative writing and now works as a marketing copywriter for a software company. When not writing, she enjoys reading, traveling, spending time with her dog, planning for next Halloween, listening to music and going to concerts, and adding to her record collection.

Palombo's new novel is The Assassin of Venice.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The Assassin of Venice definitely lets readers know what to expect and what sort of story this is going to be. I think it communicates that the book is going to be a high-stakes thriller in a beautiful and interesting setting. Or that is certainly my hope!

What's in a name?

I don't always have a choice, as sometimes I write about real historical figures, and so in that case I already have their names. But when I do get to choose, my main characters' names have to feel like them. Before I start writing I daydream about the characters for a while, think through a few scenes, and try to get a feel for who they are and what type of person they are. Then I find a name that fits them. This is an extremely unscientific process and I don't know as I can describe it any better, haha. In the case of The Assassin of Venice, Valentina's name is actually a nod to Cesare Borgia, who I wrote about in my last historical novel, The Borgia Confessions - he was at one point the Cardinal of Valencia and later given the French title Duke of Valentinois, so Italian speakers went from calling him Cardinal Valentino to Duke Valentino. I had so much fun writing a villainous character in Cesare Borgia that that is part of what prompted me to write The Assassin of Venice, even if Valentina turned out to be less villainous and more...morally flexible, shall we say. And the name of Valentina certainly fit her - there's something assertive about the sound of it, I think. And Valentina is certainly assertive - that's putting it mildly!

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Honestly? I don't think she would be. The Assassin of Venice is exactly the kind of book teenage Alyssa imagined herself writing when she first decided to write historical fiction: some romance, some intrigue, some danger, and of course, a badass female heroine, and it's also just the kind of book she loved to read! This book challenged me in multiple ways, so teenage Alyssa's writing skills definitely had to do some leveling up to get to this point!

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

As a general rule, I find beginnings more difficult than endings. I think this is because I always begin with the end in mind, and I almost always know the ending when I start writing: not just the plot climax and resolution, but the exact scene I want to end on and the chord I want it to strike in the reader. The last few lines were actually the very first things I wrote for both The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence and The Borgia Confessions. Of all my published works, none of the endings have changed from the first draft, beyond perhaps some minor tweaking of wording. I find beginnings harder to put my finger on: sometimes I start the story in the wrong place and have to go back and redo it, and I feel like I tend to struggle with making the openings really dynamic, something that grabs the reader right away.

With all that said, The Assassin of Venice was the complete opposite. It has what is probably my best first line ever (I've always wished I was good at snappy first lines, and I came up with a good one here) and I feel the first two chapters are my best first two chapters ever, if not some of my best writing yet. (We'll see if readers agree, of course!). And then, by contrast, I struggled with finding the right note to end this book on - I knew all along how the plot would resolve, but that very last scene gave me some trouble. I'm not sure why this was the case, except that all books are different to write!

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Of all my main characters, Valentina is one of the ones who is most different from myself. They all have at least a piece of me in them, because for me personally I have to find some connection with a main character to be able to write in their voice. With Valentina, it's that she is fiercely loyal to her friends and loved ones, which is a trait I share. Other than that, we're quite different - we certainly solve our problems in very different ways! With that said, I had so much fun writing Valentina precisely because she's so different from me, and different from any other character I've written so far. It gave me an opportunity to try something new, to stretch my skills as a writer, and have fun stepping into a life that's nothing like mine.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Oh, I love this question. While I'm always inspired by the work of fellow authors, I often feel that my biggest influences are in fact other forms of media. Music is definitely the biggest one for me; it's one of my very favorite things in the world. I make playlists for all of my books that I build and refine while I'm working on a project, and I've utterly lost count of the times that I've gotten the idea for a certain plot point or bit of characterization from a song. In fact, the song "What Have You Done" by Within Temptation was one of the first seeds of inspiration for The Assassin of Venice.

Other than music, I'd also have to say that one of my biggest influences as an artist has been Tim Burton's work. The aesthetic of his films, certainly, but also the way that he tells darker stories or stories with dark elements, yet always with some light and hope in there as well. Dark but never bleak. That approach has had a big impact on me.

Visit Alyssa Palombo's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Violinist of Venice.

The Page 69 Test: The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence.

My Book, The Movie: The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel.

My Book, The Movie: The Borgia Confessions.

--Marshal Zeringue