At last! It’s been a long haul, but here I am with my first novel coming out this month. It’s a romance called “The Blonde in the Gondola” and it is set in the wonderfully romantic city of Venice.
As many of you already know, I moved to Italy in 2013, with the express purpose of writing a novel. At that point, I had no idea what the novel would be about, nor where it would be set.
Finding myself living a stone’s throw from La Serenissima and writing a blog about all things Italian, I decided that my first work of fiction should be set there, with plenty of winter fog to add to the atmosphere.
My in depth research included an interview with a gondolier. This was highly interesting and I have incorporated many of the stories that handsome “Marcello” told me during our lengthy chat, sitting on his gondola, moored at the side of a canal in the Santa Maria del Giglio area of Venice.
I was particularly curious to find out whether or not the tales of romance surrounding these gondolieri were really true or merely fiction. His responses were very interesting indeed! Perhaps his lucky wooden beads may have been responsible for his success, but that’s just speculation on my part!
I also visited a beautiful, lived in, palazzo on the Grand Canal. I used this as a reference point for my descriptions of Palazzo di Falco.
A little house on a side canal was my model for Casa Antica.
And this is my model for the (allegedly) haunted house which looms over my heroine as she finds her way through the back streets in the fog.
As I have spent a great deal of time in Venice and done lots of research and exploration while in that magical city, I have done my best to ensure that my descriptions of life there are as accurate as possible and I hope that I have made no grievous errors along the way.
The Press Release reads as follows:
Olivia has everything: a handsome husband, a thriving interior design business, and a privileged life in Dublin.
Jane is married to an Italian aristocrat, and wants for nothing, except, perhaps, a loving husband, who seems to devote his life only to their young daughter.
But, when misfortune and tragedy strike both of these beautiful women, it becomes inevitable that they will be thrown together in Venice, where they pit their wits against each other for the love of the same man, and a handsome, blond gondolier becomes the catalyst for a fight to the finish, involving conspiracy, betrayal and death.
The book has just been released and is available on Amazon or direct from the publishers.
I hope that you will enjoy it!
Orna O’Reilly
Ostuni, Italy
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Orna O'Reilly: Travelling Italy 
Super. So pleased you completed it. I’ve ordered one 😊 John
Thanks John! Very sweet of you. X
Brilliant timing because it sounds like a summer reading book to take on holiday!
Exactly! Nothing like a bit of romance on holiday…. especially in Italy. X
Hi
Congratulations!
Will it be available on Kindle in the US?
Dermot
Hi Dermot. Yes indeed. It’s on Kindle for pre order from next week. Hope you enjoy it!
Orna, what can I say other than you rock! The light shines brightly above you and I’m certain your first novel will be a great read. Buona fortuna!
What can I say….your support has been everything and made it all possible. 😍
Looking forward to reading your book!
Thank you! I really hope you will enjoy it. It was fun to write.
Congratulations! Love the photos.
janet
Thanks Janet. Hope you like the book too.
Congratulations! And my curiosity is piqued. Hmm… a blonde gondolier … interesting already.
The gondolier I interviewed was blond and had a lot of charm. That’s how the story was born. Thanks Karen.
Great! I look forward to reading it.
Thanks Debra. Hope to see you again soon.
Congratulations! I will look forward to reading your book.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy it. 😃
How wonderful, congratulations. Ordered one of course and will read in Venice in September x
Thanks Diana. That’s great. I hope you enjoy it….maybe you’ll even run into the aforementioned gondolier!! 😁
Complimenti!! What a great feat 🙂
Thank you Ishita! It was a lot of fun to write. I enjoyed the Venetian research too.
Sounds like a fun, interesting read! Even better, it sounds like you had fun researching this book! I’d love to write my next book in Italy…
Thank you. I hope you’ll enjoy it…..it certainly was a lot of fun to research and write. Good luck with your next book.
Waw, that sounds like an intriguing story which you can’t put aside. I look forward to read it!
Katia