What is the best thing that I love about my work? I do two jobs, both born of passion: the writer and the counsellor. In common they have stories, lived stories, everyday stories, invented stories, of illusion and fantasy, dream stories. Stories cross my work and all have in themselves feelings, emotions, pains and joys, defeats and victories, humanity in all its strength and fragility. This is a great enrichment for me, it helps me to grow, to understand, to feel empathy for humanity

What is my idea of perfect happiness? Cooking for my son and daughter, they are great now, when we meet around the table and talk about our lives, I feel full of happiness.

What is my greatest fear? To lose the people I love, including my kittens.

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself? Maybe laziness. In the past I was very active, doing a thousand things, with age came the slow pace, but sometimes I wonder if now I have ended up in laziness.

Which living persons in my profession do i most admire? For historical novels, Tracy Chevalier, I like it because it makes me discover historical characters and events that I do not know, it’s like giving voice to people who have made history but are forgotten or unknown.

What is my greatest extravagance? I am apparently a quiet person, but inside I have a constant drive to change and sometimes I make choices that totally break the patterns and overturn the situation that I am living.

On what occasion would I lie? I should lie to not worry about the people I love. I often tend to say that everything is fine, even when it is not so.

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work? When I write historical novels, I love to spend many time to research, but I’m exacting, I sometimes forget that I’m writing a novel, not a treaty, and the times become eternal.

When and where was I the happiest, in my work? The books and the theatrical dramas that I write, have the intent to denounce situations of social or individual discomfort. I’m happy when I realize that they can be useful. For example, with Mamana Arminda people have expressed feeling for the protagonist and regret for the consequences of colonialism. Or to a theatrical replay of “Non parlare di me” (Do not talk about me) a woman told me “I realized I’m not alone”. This gives me a reason to continue.

If I could, what would I change about myself? I would like to be more constant, because when I know to do something, I leave it to try something new. Sometimes I wonder where I would be if I had continued on the roads that I left.

What is my greatest achievement in work? I I got very good reviews even in national magazines, a prize, a place next to Wilburn Smith in the Planet Lonely Guide of Mozambique, a third place in the ranking of La Talpa, Similaun was translated into German, but the most unexpected thing was when a student at the University of Naples contacted me to write a thesis on me, I thought it was not me.

Where would I most like to live? Near water, whether it is sea, river or lake, it is enough to be water.

What is my most treasured possession? My son and my daughter.

What is my most marked characteristic? My mother says that I am a balanced person, I tell her I’m a tightrope walker (in italian equilibrata and equilibrista). This is completely different.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city? The creek that crosses it, but also a wood where I go to relax the mind.

What is my favourite place to eat and drink, in my city? I do not have a favourite place, better if it has outdoor seating and vegetarian food.

What books influenced my life and how? I have always read, since I was a child, but the real influence that I remember, began at the age of eleven, when I read Anne Frank and started writing a diary. At fifteen I read Kafka, Leopardi, Proust, Hesse, and my writing was existentialist. Then I met the South American authors and my life and my writing have definitely changed.

Who are my favourite writers? The books have marked the salient passages of my life. In addition to those already mentioned, I remember Jorge Amado, Marcela Serrano, Angeles Mastretta, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mia Couto, but many others. I would also like to mention James Hillman. He does not write novels, but he is an artist of the soul and has a cathartic writing.

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day? Knockin ‘on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan. My brother gave me the record, he died very young and I still knocking on the Heaven’s door.

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction? Bones, the forensic anthropologist of a TV series. She puts together the stories through the bones, I through the historical artifacts and documents, but we are very different. She is extremely secure, rational, direct but she doesn’t notice when she offends the sensibilities of others , yet this is an aspect that touches me because I read a form of ingenuity and purity.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life? Who engages for social problems.

Which movie would i recommend to see once in a lifetime? Matrix. Red pill or blue pill? A new world can open you.

What role plays art in my life and work? A lot, both in my work as a writer and counsellor, each of us writes our own story day by day and creativity plays a special role.

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime? Still my children, but also my family, my mother, my sisters…

Whom would I like to work with in 2018? I would like to work with some dear friends and colleagues. Working with other women gives me a lot of joy.

Which people in my profession would i love to meet in 2018? A good literary agent.

What project, in 2018, am I looking forward to work on? I would like to work on the historical novel I am writing.

Where can you see me or my work in 2018? At this link of amazon are my books, but also others who have the word “amico”or “renata” , but they are not mine. https://www.amazon.it/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=renata+d%27amico

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me? That passion never goes out, and it’s true, I write since I was a child, I made many pauses, made so many jobs, but the art, the creativity, the power of imagination always accompany me in everything I do.

Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story? My friends Maria Laura and Regina.

How can you contact me? renatadamico@live.it – http://www.lamemoriadellanima.it – https://www.facebook.com/damico.renata