While vacationing in Italy in 2006, my wife and I were staying at a bed and breakfast on a farmstead in Southern Tuscany. One night I had a vivid dream of a great walled city and two families struggling to produce a great wine. Instead of going back to sleep, I got up and wrote down the outline of my dream. I told my wife about the dream the next day and then we continued our Italian tour to Florence and Venice, Viareggio, etc. One week after the dream we were to meet three other couples in the town of Lucca.
As we were driving towards Lucca, I saw the walls and exclaimed, "These are the walls from my dream! If you turn left you'll go by a portal where we can enter and there'll be a market and church from my dream!" Sure enough, they were all there and I was fascinated by both the dream and inspiration.
I bought a book about the history of Lucca and developed my story...Two families trying to produce a great wine during Italy's dark days of WW1, the rise of fascism and Mussolini. It took me 12 years to write The Walls of Lucca and the sequel, Above the Walls, but was blessed to have both books win the Readers' Favorite award for Best Historical Fiction in 2018 and 2019.
As a long-time sports broadcaster I'm used to doing exhaustive research for my games, so staying true to not only my story but accurate in every detail was critical. What led to Italy entering WW1? Why did they choose fascism over democracy? Why did the King and Pope cave to Mussolini? How did those decisions affect the citizens and agricultural workers of Italy? Why did Mussolini join forces with Hitler? And, can love be found in the ruins of war? Ya gotta have a gripping story of protagonists and antagonists, don't ya? The Walls of Lucca and Above the Walls are both love stories and historical fiction.
In my research, I found an anti-war speech given by Mussolini in August of 1914, then discovered a pro-war speech by Mussolini from December of 1914. What changed in the four months between speeches? Why did he go from anti-war to pro-war? After much research I discovered that Benito found out that Italian politicians were having discussions with France and England about Italy leaving the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria and joining forces. Mussolini was a chameleon...whatever way the winds of power were blowing, he went that way...and eventually his con-artistry led to his ruling Italy.
Why didn't you write a baseball story first?
I actually had the idea for Walks with the Wind and Catching the Wind much earlier than my Italian stories. But, I didn't put pen to paper until I was finished with The Walls of Lucca series. Walks with the Wind is the story of a young man's vision quest. Yes, a quest to make it to the Major Leagues, but also to become the man he was meant to be. Walks has no definitive genre. It's a baseball/action-adventure/political/spiritual/family saga of a Native American boy's faith journey. I'm a person who believes we're spiritual beings having a human experience and all my stories have a spiritual edge to them. I was blessed to have Walks with the Wind win the Writer's Digest Grand Prize in 2021 for self-published e-books.
I have no idea. I built a web page, Steve Physioc.com. I've tried social media advertising, I've hired marketing people to help me, but since I just recently retired from sports broadcasting, I now can finally investigate getting an agent and learning more about the crazy book marketing world.
What is the best advice you could give about writing?
Show, don't tell. Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Show, don't tell. And, don't give up. Keep writing...even if you think it sucks...keep writing.
Are there any other points about writing you would like to add?
Read good authors. Diana Gabaldon of Outlander fame is one of my favorites. I think she's brilliant. I also enjoy Kristin Hannah, Sue Monk Kidd, Jodi Picoult, Vince Flynn, Anthony Doerr, Elena Ferrante, Nicholas Sparks, Kenneth Roberts, Marianne Williamson, etc. Reading good authors leads to good writing.
When is the next book coming out?
2025. I'm going back to WW2 Italy. Another lovestory/historicalfiction. It's inspired by a true story that happened at the Farneta Monastery in September of 1944, and dedicated to the women of the Italian Resistance. I just finished my first draft, now go through my personal editing process before handing it off to my brilliant developmental editor, Nicole Ayers, for her to tear apart and tell me what I need to strengthen my storyline or make my characters more powerful. She's awesome!
Website: https://www.stevephysioc.com/
And here's a bonus for my readers... If you like reading historical fiction about WWII, here are 2 free eBooks currently available for free on Amazon.
