Interview With Author Giorgio Onorato Aquilani
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Giorgio Onorato Aquilani. I’m a storyteller and the creator of The Kingdom of Santa Claus, a narrative universe built around a simple idea: that wonder is something we often forget as we grow up, but never truly lose.
Over the years I have written several books for children and families, as well as stories that explore the deeper meaning of imagination, memory, and the human need for wonder.
My upcoming novel Back to Magic will be published in Italy by Fabbri Editori (Mondadori Group). It is the gateway story into the larger narrative world of the Kingdom.
More than counting books, I like to think of my work as building a world… one story at a time.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is called Back to Magic and it’s a cross-generational story about the moment in life when we believe magic has disappeared forever. And the discovery that it might still exist if we choose to see it again.
The story follows Luca, a writer who has slowly lost his sense of wonder, until a forgotten thread from his childhood leads him toward a hidden world rewriting the myth of Santa Claus.
The inspiration came from a very simple question: What if the magic we think we lose growing up was never really gone?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well I consider myself the main tester of what I write about. I built this narrative universe using Christmas as a language to talk about life, to talk about what happens when we grow and how that sense of wonder can remain till our last breathe. Said so, every time I personally encounter any important threshold or obstacle, I long for the universal archetype hiding behind it… and I found something that belongs to everybody. Once it’s clear, I start dressing it in wonder and that can produce a new character or a new story plot. The process is also my own therapy, and at the end of it I always find myself a step ahead that “threshold”. Yes, my writing is all about Thresholds and Mirros!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve always been drawn to authors who combine imagination with deeper meaning. Writers like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Italo Calvino, Hermann Hesse, and storytellers such as C.S. Lewis have influenced the way I think about stories. On a very personal note, I appreciate a mirror myself a lot with Matt Haig.
I love to read anything that can bring my understanding of reality to a deeper and more conscious level.
What are you working on now?
I constantly support the foreign rights team in Mondadori to showcase it to the best international publishing partners we can get. Most of all, I’m continuing to develop the narrative universe around Back to Magic
Alongside the novel, there are children’s stories set in the same world. Including a character called Lucy the Star, who explores the Kingdom from the perspective of those who still live naturally inside wonder: children. Lucy already has a 4 books illustrated saga ready!
The long-term vision is a cross-generational universe that can expand through books, visual storytelling, and immersive experiences.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For me the most meaningful promotion always begins with authentic storytelling. If people connect emotionally with a story, they naturally want to share it. So I basically generate and take as many chances as I can to speak to people and get them curious about the world I created. And to do that, my number one belief to deliver “the best “promotion” is building a world that readers feel they can enter and recognize as part of their own experience.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the story that feels most true to you. Writing is not about pleasing someone or adapting to “needs” Publishing trends change constantly, but authenticity is something readers can always feel. A story becomes powerful when it comes from a place that is real and personal. That activates a mirror in the reader… and that’s the most precious prize a writer can aim for.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t stop…
As simple as that. Life prizes who has the courage to pursue a dream under any kind of weather. Especially during a storm… you want to stay there. You need to. Sunshine will come and will comfort anyone who stayed there, not the ones who quit.
What are you reading now?
I often move between fiction and philosophical writing. I’m particularly interested in books that explore imagination, myth, and the human search for meaning. The book I recently finished was Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible… and I loved it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
The next step is to find the right publishing partners for Back to Magic in UK, USA and other foreign countries, and continuing to expand the narrative world around it. My goal is to keep building stories that speak to both children and adults, reminding us that wonder is a choice we can make everyday.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh my… this is hard. But I believe it would be:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
and then… (hope it’s not cheating) I would bring a huuuuge notebook to write my own!
Author Websites and Profiles
Giorgio Onorato Aquilani Website
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