How a Word Inspired a Novel
As a
debut author, I’m frequently asked what inspired me to write Limoncello Yellow, the first novel in my
Franki Amato Mystery series. Besides Nancy Drew and Jessica Fletcher, the
answer is that it’s complicated. But, the idea for the book came primarily from
the Italian word giallo, which means yellow. Why? Because, oddly enough, giallo also means mystery novel since the first mysteries published in Italy had yellow
covers.
Now, I’m
a huge fan of gialli, so I often read
interviews with Italian giallisti (mystery
novelists). About a year ago, I came across an interview with the author Gabriella
Genisi. She writes romantic mystery set in her native city of Bari in the
Puglia region of Italy, and her books have colorful, fruit-themed titles like Uva Noir (Noir Grapes) and Giallo
Ciliegia (Cherry Yellow, or Cherry Mystery). In the interview,
Genisi explained that she comes up with the title of a novel first and then
creates a story to go with her title.
Genisi’s
process got me thinking: Why couldn’t I do that too? That’s when I decided that
I would come up with my own colorful titles and write my own romantic mystery
books. And I knew that the first title absolutely had to feature the word yellow. I just didn’t know what to put
with it. So, I ran down a mental list of things that were yellow and
immediately thought of lemons and then limoncello (probably because my motto is
“When life gives you lemons, make limoncello”). And that’s how Limoncello Yellow was born. Well, the
title, anyway…
 |
| TRACI ANDRIGHETTI |
Traci
Andrighetti is the author of the Franki Amato Mystery series. In her previous
life, she was an award-winning literary translator and a Lecturer of Italian at
the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a PhD in Applied
Linguistics. But then she got wise and ditched that academic stuff for a life
of crime—writing, that is.
If
she’s not hard at work on her next novel, Traci is probably watching her
favorite Italian soap opera, eating Tex Mex or sampling fruity cocktails, and
maybe all at the same time. She lives in Austin with her husband, young son
(who desperately wants to be in one of her books) and three treat-addicted
dogs.
Website: http://traciandrighetti.com
Blog:
http://traciandrighetti.com/blo/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/traciandrighettiauthor
Twitter: @TAndrighettiGoodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7383577.Traci_Andrighetti
4 comments:
Any questions? I love talking about writing books!
I too come up with titles and then work out a plot. I also lived in Austin for a long time during undergrad and grad school at UT. Chuy's on Barton Springs for margaritas! Manuel's (was on Congress) for enchiladas...mmm. I write chick lit too. Looking forward to your book. CeCe Osgood
THE DIVORCED NOT DEAD WORKSHOP, a romantic comedy/chick lit
I love the title of your book! And the story sounds very good. I usually start my story, get a feel for it, and then figure out the title. Good luck on sales!!
Thank you for joining us at Romancing The Genres. How cool that you can translate your own books into Italian!
I always learn such interesting things from our guests! Who knew that the word for yellow is also the word for mystery in Italian?!
Your creativity in taking the idea and expanding it to come up with a very creative and eye-catching title is impressive. May many sales come your way with Limoncello Yellow.
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