Hello everyone out there. Welcome to the Castello Di Carte Mafia universe. I’ve thought about this a lot and now that I’m finally editing the first book, I’ve come across plenty of things I would like to just cut off or change. When I first started writing The Game of Hearts, which was previously known as Precarious and currently known as The Mafia Lord and His Spy Lover, I had no clue what I was doing. I just had a rough draft for a single book and no clue if I could pull this off since I’m a fantasy writer who enjoys writing about magic and paranormal stuff more than she can express. But as I wrote chapter after chapter, I realised the potential of it to be turned into a whole ass series. From planning 12 books to narrowing it down to 8, the series has come a long way, also because I’m currently writing book 4. Am I allowed to drop spoilers that I have the next generation series planned as well? Yes, every kid that you see in the CDCMC universe, starting from Alessia, Gustavo and so on, to the youngest kid of your beloved Eros Castellanos. There are also some spin-off series I won’t talk much about but they’ll be in the works soon too since it’s part of the first generation. Now, back to the main topic. That being the changes in the CDCMC universe. The name of the organisation: For those who have read the series so far and/or are continuing with my updates, what you know now as New York Famiglia will change its name to New York Cosa Nostra. The new structure of Cosa Nostra is that it’s ruled by two families: Vitale Crime Family/Empire (Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn) and Illiano Crime Family/Empire (Staten Island and the Bronx). I have to admit, I'm a huge fan of dark mafia romance writers like Cora Reilly, Amo Jones and J. J. McAvoy and I kinda got this series idea after reading their books. So, when I sat down to plan the entire thing, I ended up being too lazy and used the word Famiglia. Nah, I will not keep using this because it's not mine to use. I'm gonna stick to Cosa Nostra, which kinda sounds cooler. Now that I'm exploring more of the CDC world, I'm coming across things I didn't think I could find.
Bianchi: When I introduced the character Bella Bianchi, I really didn’t know that there’s already a book on Wattpad with a character of the same name and when I realised it, I felt terrible. It was in no way my intention to copy, but the coincidence was too disturbing, so I decided that I’d either change the name Bella or the surname Bianchi. So, Bianchi is now Di Falco.
Prudence: Is it too late for me to say Prudence doesn’t sound Italian enough? Lol. The alternative name for Prudence is Valeriana Nardiello (the short version being Val and the pseudonym after she left Outfit being Valery Kennedy).
The Commission: Did you know it’s an actual thing in America? Heads of the powerful Mafia syndicates have a meeting every five years to talk about certain affairs and look over the territories of their own and the activities within. So, I thought it would be to have all the capos under one roof. And, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t like to see them together in one room? I would. Have you seen them?
So that’s it for now. The editing of book 1 is going well and I’m excited to post all the extra scenes I’ve mapped out.
Let me know if you want to see any particular moment or exchange between the characters and I’ll try to make it happen. Only if it suits the initial plot of the series.