We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Patricia Siciliano a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Patricia, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I am a self-published book author. I have written 5 fiction novels and every one of them has been a meaningful project for me. Why? Because I expressed my dreams, my coherent ideas and non-coherent thoughts. I give life to characters that have been living in my mind. Every single book I wrote has a unique story. I am going to tell you how the novel of My Angel was created. I used to ride on the metrolink everyday to go to work and every time the train stop at the South Pasadena station I could feel that the corner where the farmer’s market was established once a week was the perfect venue for the story I wanted to create about the main character. Isabella is the name of the main character and I wanted to give life to that beautiful corner and to a coffee shop I had in my mind. Little by little I started creating the story. The story is about faith, love, the meaning of life and the love for oneself. My novel is a meaningful project because with my writing, I am able to convey emotions and feelings.

Patricia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a self-published author. I have 5 fiction novels published. I started writing short stories for a Sunday Edition for a Spanish newspaper. Writing stories is my passion. I feel I can connect with my characters and identify with some of their traditions and customs. My stories are in Spanish and I have translated 2 of them into English. My first published fiction novel was Promesa. I received an invitation for a writing contest and I submitted my novel. Three months later I received the news that my book did not win but they were willing to publish my novel. I thought I won the contest just by being able to publish my book. After Promesa, my second novel was My Angel, I wrote the novel in English then was translated into Spanish. Panda was followed by My Angel. Panda was my akita female dog. After Panda passed away, I needed to tell her story and I created the characters and a separate story of the people who live with Panda. I wrote the novel with my heart and my soul. Panda gave me so much love and happiness that everytime I express an anecdote about her, I could not stop crying. My next book was Corazón de Madre. Corazón de Madre has been translated: A Mother’s Heart. It is a beautiful family story about empty nesters and how a house can hide happiness and sorrows. The last book is ¿De qué lado está la frontera? which means, What side is the border? The story of a family who immigrated to US and learned about a different culture and how this new experience impacted their way to see life and a different country.
It has not been easy as an independent author to be able to cross barriers. I would love to have an editor/publisher company to represent me and assist me with marketing and all the proper methods they offer. However, I have been successful with sales, especially when I attend book festivals. It has been motivated to meet people who have read my books and they provide positive comments regarding my books.
I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. I have been happily married for 35 years and have three children and grandchildren. I received my Master in Management from the Azusa Pacific University in 2014. I was full time employed, housewife, mother and student, and I succeeded the huge challenge of completing my Master. It was very important for me to obtain a degree. It was one of my biggest dreams and one of my greatest accomplishments. My next goal is to see one of my novels become a movie.
My brand is Bellas Novelas, you can visit my site at Bellasnovelas.com. On my site, I have pictures of past events I attended, synopsis of my books and a little bit of my story.
I love to express myself by writing. I believe I am transparent, full of dreams and positive thoughts.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I created my social media to let people know about my books. When I go to book festivals, I ask the people who buy my books if I can take a picture with her/him. Then I create videos with those pictures. It is a method to demonstrate about the event, the books and the places I visit. It is time consuming to create videos, since I am not a professional, but I have noticed that people enjoy more watching videos because they have a sense of reality.
I follow people on social media who I believe enjoy reading. It is my way to build an audience. It makes sense to have an audience who shares the same liking. Then the audience grows similar to a chain. Moreover, I have to keep up with the followers and continue working on a variety of videos.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an author has been learning about their positive comments. I have been presenting my books at the USC Festival of Books for the last 3 years, and when I hear someone telling me that they bought my book last year and they were looking for me to buy another book, I feel that my writing has been conveying a good message.
I receive messages from people who read one of my novels and they express their sincere satisfaction. They love the way I express my words, they feel happy, sad, motivated… that is when I feel the most rewarding aspect of being a writer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Bellasnovelas.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonitasiciliano
• Facebook: Bellas Historias
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-siciliano
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bellasnovelas