La Casa d'Italia For Starters by @AMAthanasiou Anna-Maria Athanasiou #GuestPost

Step into La Casa d’Italia, a place for new beginnings, and let destiny take care of the rest.

When Dani’s trust is shattered, her life disintegrates around her. She loses her home, her job and her man. With few choices left, she starts over again, hoping to forget her hurtful past and move on.

Fate leads her through the doors of the popular Italian restaurant La Casa d’Italia, and into the path of Jerome Ferretti, a married man and highly successful leisure industry mogul. A man who seems to have everything he could ever want: a thriving empire, a beautiful family, good looks and the respect of everyone who knows him. 

She is everything Jerome has ever needed. He is everything Dani could ever want. Their chemistry is undeniable, their paths destined to cross, their fate ultimately sealed. Except he’s off limits. 

A story of new beginnings.

La Casa d'Italia for Starters is the first book in Anna-Maria Athanasiou's new trilogy and today I'm delighted to welcome her to Hair Past A Freckle for a guest post. I'm always fascinated to read how different authors approach their writing, read on to discover how more about Anna-Maria's writing process.

Write much?

By Anna-Maria Athanasiou

I don’t think any one writer sets about putting pen to paper, or finger-tips to keys, in the same way. For all my organised and sometimes obsessive traits, my writing process is at the completely opposite side of the spectrum. I have no set time when I write and to be perfectly honest I don’t even start writing anything down until I have the plot line clear in my mind.
Personally I’m writing all the time, what I mean by that is that I am always creating my story in my head. It’s constant, my brain never shuts off! Character traits and idiosyncrasies are perfected, scenes are played out over and over, dialogue repeated until each syllable flows.
I scribble notes in a notebook and if I’m without it, any bits of paper will do. I’ve used receipts, bank statements and business cards. I even made my son scribble phrases in his exercise book while I was driving! It is only once I’ve finalised the plot and its direction, that I then actually start to type up the beginning of my novel. It’s only then my organisational habits come in. 
I meticulously plot out time lines, write out detailed notes on each character and collate images of places, buildings and even clothes that my characters would wear.
I don’t write in sequence. I start with the first chapter then write random chapters as they come to me or depending on my mood. I usually have the last chapter roughly drawn up and then spend the next months, and in the case of La Casa d’Italia years, trying to link them up. Dialogue between characters is jotted down then slotted in where I feel it works and I try to complete ten consecutive chapters before I rehash them.
My most favourite time to write is early in the morning, when the house is quite, or late at night and it has to be in complete silence. No distractions whatsoever. 
I did think that once I had a little more experience in writing, that my method would change but it hasn’t, and if I’m honest, I enjoy this part of my life being a little bit chaotic. So in answer to the title’s question…write much? Pretty much all the time!

Thank you so much for giving us an insight into your writing life, Anna-Maria. It certainly sounds like you never stop writing!

If reading about how Anna-Maria creates her novels has tempted you to read La Casa d'Italia For Starters, It can be purchased as a paperback or ebook here.

About the Author

Anna-Maria Athanasiou wrote her first books, The Waiting for Summer novels in secret, firstly because she never thought she’d finish them and secondly, it was a completely new territory for her. Throughout her life Anna-Maria had regularly created scenarios and stories in her head, thinking that one day she would finally put them down on paper. 
Eventually, in the September of 2011 she took the plunge and started to write down an idea that she'd been creating for almost ten years. 
Waiting for Summer books one and two are the result of her small idea, and she finally had them published in September 2013 and June 2014. The love story and her characters, Sylvie and Nick, captured the hearts and enthusiasm of her readers, spurring Anna-Maria to carry on with her writing.
Anna-Maria has since been asked to collaborate with other authors on two charity anthologies, and has recently worked together again on a new charity anthology, due to be published soon.
Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, she now lives in Cyprus with her family and has penchant for cake, tea, whisky, wine and a healthy obsession with shoes. Anna-Maria loves the fantasy land of romantic fiction, and is passionate about bringing her stories and characters to life. 
The first book, For Starters, in her new trilogy La Casa d’Italia series, is now available.
Anna-Maria can be found on Twitter as @AMAthanasiou