***Please ensure you are only following official social media accounts for The Redhead Notes. A fake profile has been contacting people on Instagram. Jennie Griffin will never ask you to send money for a book review or to enroll in any programs.
Due to the high volume of requests that have been received, Jennie has temporarily closed submissions. Learn More
Nina Romano earned a B.S. from Ithaca College, an M.A. from Adelphi University and a B.A. and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from FIU. A world traveler and lover of history, she lived in Rome, Italy, for twenty years, and is fluent in Italian and Spanish. She has taught English and Literature as an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University, Miami, and has facilitated numerous Creative Writing and Poetry Workshops at Writing Conferences throughout the States.
Romano has authored a short story collection, The Other Side of the Gates, and has had five poetry collections and two poetry chapbooks published traditionally with independent publishers. She co-authored a nonfiction book: Writing in a Changing World, and has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry.
Nina Romano’s historical Wayfarer Trilogy has been published from Turner Publishing. The Secret Language of Women, Book 1, was a Foreword Reviews Book Award Finalist and Gold Medal winner of the Independent Publisher’s 2016 IPPY Book Award. Lemon Blossoms, Book 2, was a Foreword Reviews Book Award Finalist, and In America, Book 3, was a finalist in Chanticleer Media’s Chatelaine Book Awards.
Her Western Historical Romance, The Girl Who Loved Cayo Bradley, Book 1 of Darby’s Quest, is a semifinalist for the Laramie Book Awards.
Dark Eyes, an historical thriller set in Soviet Russia, has been published from Speaking Volumes, LLC. The novel has garnered these awards: #1 Russian & Soviet Literature Kindle Pre-order, Pencraft Winner Thriller Award, Short-listed for Goethe Book Awards, and Semifinalist in the Clue Book Awards.
As we delve into the world of Dark Eyes, let’s start with the striking cover! Your book covers are always beautiful, but I love how mysterious this one feels. Was that your vision for it, or was it suggested to you?
I most definitely wanted a striking Russian beauty’s face on the cover, and she had to have dark eyes! The graphic artist captured exactly what I wanted. It was the first and only cover design I needed and gave it a thumbs up immediately.
What inspired you to write Dark Eyes, especially given the extensive research required to present a historically accurate book? Was this a time and place you were already interested in?
What absolutely convinced me I had to write this novel was the fact that I traveled to Russia twice and was thoroughly enchanted with the city of St. Petersburg. Since I write romantic historical fiction, I decided to set the novel back in time to the post Stalin era when the city was named Leningrad. I was alive in 1956 which is the time of the novel and Kruschev’s Cold War. But you’re correct—I needed to do a great deal of research.
What I did for this novel, is write, write, write until I needed to know something—then I’d stop and look up the information I needed to continue. When I finished my first draft, I gave it to my number one reader, and was crushed when she said, “Nina, you need to cut the first sixty pages.” I thought that was it for me—no way was I going to be able to do that and finish it. But I read and re-read those pages, and knew my reader was right. There was far too much backstory of Anya’s life in the world of ballet. Instead, what I could do with some of that information would be to cut the whole beginning and scatter it into the story as I wrote.
Anya and Andrei were such interesting characters, especially given how their love story started. How would you describe each character and how they play off one another?
I believe that anyone who reads this novel will have the answer to your question. I needed scenes that were ignited by contrasts right in the beginning.
Anya and Andrei’s first acquaintance is anything but tranquil, and certainly not playful or flirtatious. Although perhaps a strange sort of physical attraction sparked. The kind of fireworks that explode between them are not the usual kind when a love affair starts. So right there, you don’t have a typical love story either.
I love the inclusion of Anaya’s daughter, Iskra, who has special needs. At that time, it would have been so easy to lock her away in an institution; however, Anya didn’t do this. She saw her daughter’s potential in life. What comparisons do you see between Anya and her daughter?
Anya and her daughter are both outsiders. They are each in their own way a survivor. Anya gave up a great deal and suffered tremendously to have her daughter Iskra. Nothing and nobody were going to take her little treasure away from Anya.
You kept me on the edge of my seat when I was reading because I never knew what you were going to do next. What was it like to write a thriller? How did you have to change your own style to accommodate this genre?
Boy, is that ever a loaded couple of questions! I never studied the conventions for writing a mystery novel. I didn’t know the tropes, nor did I want to investigate them. Sure, I’ve read mysteries, thrillers, suspense novels, but I wasn’t considering a typical detective or a cozy one either. I didn’t plan to write clues or red herrings—I just wanted to tell the story in my own way. I wasn’t a bit concerned if I was doing it correctly according to the proper style or not.
My strengths are always to write in a lyrical way and to focus on a romantic liaison in an historical setting. For this novel, I had also in my back pocket the knowledge that I’d read a great many Russian authors, classical writers as well as modern ones. And I’d seen Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg with my own eyes. I knew the country’s poetry, music, food, culture, religion, myths, history, and geography. Armed with all these things, I was not only blessed to tell this story but also capable of writing it in my own inimitable fashion.
Can you please share what kind of writer you were before writing Dark Eyes? Have you changed or grown as a writer since completing it?
The difference between this book and my other novels is that I stepped out of my comfort zone to sketch the brutality of the era. However, I think my writing is the same for all my books—poetic, emotional, and expressive. Writing Dark Eyes was indeed the most challenging narrative I’ve ever attempted.
This is a standalone novel—as are all of my novels, including the ones in my two series. Currently, I have no intention of making Dark Eyes into a series.
What’s next, Nina? Please say you are working on another novel!
Star on a Summer Morning, Book # 2 of my Western series, Darby’s Quest, is in the hands of my editor, and hopefully will see a summer release. Book #3 is in the works!
Do you have any encouragement or advice for other indie authors?
Write! Write! Write! And don’t ever be afraid to let anyone read your work in manuscript form if you have faith in their judgement, like their writing, or know the person is an avid reader. I had plenty of critique on my early work. Now I have a slew of wonderful beta readers whose opinions I trust or whose novels I’ve enjoyed reading.
Many thanks for the lovely interview, Jennie!
Supporting Indie authors one thoughtful book review at a time!
