Loveandpizza.it is coming back!

(Day 1 of 31 — story crumbs from the world of Loveandpizza.it 🍕)

Right. Gather round, I’ve got news. ☕

Remember the novel I published a few years ago? The one set in Napoli, with the pizza and the sea and the two impossible men and a heroine who swears, hand on heart, that she is completely done with love (bless her)? The one I then went rather quiet about?

That one.

Well, it’s coming back, and properly this time. There’s a gorgeous new cover, and for the very first time it’s being published in Italian and Portuguese as well as English. To celebrate, I created a 31-day journey through the world behind the novel: the people, places, memories and writing that brought it to life. This is where it begins.

I know, I know. Thirty-one posts was an ambitious promise while holding down a full-time job, building a business, writing a second novel, learning Italian and answering to Cookie: my dog, my shadow, my mascot, the Writing Shed Club’s CAO, Chief Adorable Officer (well, really, CEO of Everything! 😅), and my self-appointed lucky charm, who has very strong opinions about my schedule. (At the time, Hubby raised an eyebrow at the scale of the challenge, although by then he was beginning to understand why I disappeared into my writing shed the second I finished work. I knew he would rise to it with me. After all, when I wrote Loveandpizza.it the first time round, he practically kept me fed. 😅🥰)

But here’s the thing: I’ve been “going to bring Loveandpizza.it back one day” for so long that “one day” had started to look suspiciously like “never.” So. This was me, finally doing the brave thing out loud, where you could all see it and hold me to it. And now you can follow the entire journey from the beginning.

So what is this, exactly?

This post began a 31-day journey inspired by the Ultimate Blog Challenge . Across the series, I take you behind the scenes of Loveandpizza.it: the people, the place and the story behind the story.

Think of it as me letting you wander around inside the world of the book before it’s even back on the shelves. You’ll meet the people who live there. You’ll walk the streets of Napoli with me (and them!): the heat, the noise, the scooters, the washing strung between the balconies, the neighbours who sound like they’re in the middle of a furious row right up until they suddenly burst out laughing. I’ll tell you where the whole thing came from, what’s changed since the very first version, and why on earth (or a volcano!) a love story and a pizza belong in the same sentence. (They do. I’ll prove it.)

What I will not do is spoil it. Not the ending, not who-ends-up-with-whom, not what my heroine is so busy hiding. Cross my heart. Think of these 31 posts as crumbs: little pieces of the world you can taste before deciding whether you want the full meal. 🍕

Why now? And why like this?

Because Loveandpizza.it was coming back properly, in English, Italian and Portuguese, and I really didn’t want to simply appear one morning with a “buy my book!” post and a hopeful little smile.

A story isn’t only its plot, is it? It has a life of its own. It has a place. It’s a handful of people you start to miss the second you close the cover – even the ones you can’t stand but have to write about anyway (more on that throughout the series) – and a particular feeling you carry around for days, like a song you can’t shake. That’s what I want to introduce you to first: the world, the mood, the heart of it, long before I ask you to read a single chapter. Because if you’re going to fall for this book (and oh, I hope you do), I’d so much rather you fell slowly. (Although I have a feeling it won’t be long before you’re looking up flights to Napoli! 😉)

And honestly? There’s something rather fitting about doing all this through a relaunch. Underneath the pizza and the romance, this is a story about second chances; about going back to something you’d half talked yourself out of, and being brave enough to want it out loud again. Bringing the book back is my own version of exactly that. My heroine would understand. And I suspect you might, too, because most of us are carrying something we’ve set aside and keep promising ourselves we’ll return to, aren’t we?

Come along for the ride

Here’s all you have to do: be a little curious. Wander through the posts, jump into the comments and ask me anything. I promise to answer every question, unless you’re fishing for a spoiler, in which case you’ll receive a polite “Not yet, Gentle Reader.” (What can I say… there’s a little Lady Whistledown in me.)

Across the series, I introduce you to the characters. We eat, and fair warning, you may come away hungry. I pull back the curtain on the gloriously messy business of actually writing the thing, with blood, sweat and many, many tears. There’s a playlist. There’s a moodboard. And near the end, you’ll find the cover reveal I had been dying to share. (No peeking. It’s worth the wait. 😉)

If Napoli, complicated hearts and a bit of emotional chaos served warm sound like your sort of evening, join the relaunch list and choose your edition: English, Italian or Portuguese. I’ll keep you posted on publication news, story crumbs and updates.

I’m so glad you’re here at the beginning of the journey. When you’re ready, continue with Day 2, where we start with what the story is really about.

“Naples is a Paradise: everyone lives in a state of intoxicated self-forgetfulness, myself included. I seem to be a completely different person whom I hardly recognize. Yesterday I thought to myself: Either you were mad before, or you are mad now.”

~ Goethe, Italian Journey, 1786–1788

See you then. ❤️

Dani. x

P.S. Loveandpizza.it is returning in English, Italian and Portuguese. Save your slice  here and I’ll make sure you’re first to know the second your edition is out.