When I was a teenager, I was fascinated by the poetry of Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia, part of the middle school curriculum in Italy at that time, which inspired me to write in verse.

I wrote my first poems back then and continued doing so from that time on. On July 4^th 2007, a small fall from a ladder caused a major injury to my left arm which was severed at the elbow. Confined in the hospital for three weeks, and wondering if I would lose my arm if infections developed, I thought about the healing power of poetry. While recovering at home, a force came over me. I started to compose poems, driven by a consuming obsession. Sometimes, I created several poems a day. Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, and Erato, the muse of erotic poetry were playing me like a musical instrument. My past, present and future were constantly before my eyes as I chronicled events into verse: happiness, dramas, adventures, misadventures, and special events in my life and in the life of the terrific people I know or have known. 

I recorded my feelings and observations of the human heart, mind and soul into poems. I formatted twelve chapters out of a hundred and ten poems: each chapter with a unique romantic or uplifting theme linking the poems into, I hope, a moving and entertaining story. 

* Two men losing their heads over an exotic dancer: King Herod, John the Baptist and the alluring Salome (Arts of Seduction)

* Medieval setting of heart-breaking romances: King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Genevieve (Tormented Ecstasy)

* Meeting, dating, and marrying my wife, and the joys of parenting (Home Joys)

The thrills of writing it all down, and the excitement of drafting and re-drafting lead me to the joy of finding a publisher, to the magic of publication, to mingling with other poets and writers, to do book signings and book readings. The pocketful of dreams I had when I came to the States continues to unravel into more achievements: Hooked on You was born, published and is being sold. 

I am thankful to God, to my wife and kids, to my wonderful readers and fans, and to the Land of the Brave I am proud to call my home.