Local scribe encourages readers to value their dreams
BY BENJAMIN MANDILE
Anthony Sciarratta, a
Queens-based novelist, didn’t
enjoy English until he attended
college. But now he is set to
release his second novel, “The
Letter.”
“The Letter,” set to be released
April 28 through Post
Hill Press, focuses on Victor
Esposito, a writer who falls
into a coma, and his love affair
Eva Abram. After Abram
hears the news over a television
broadcast, she recounts
memories from her love affair
with Esposito a decade earlier.
Sciarratta drew inspiration
for his latest novel from
re-watching the hit television
show “The Sopranos,” a show
he says he’s an “avid fan” of,
in which one of the characters
falls into a coma and lives out
another world inside their
mind. Sciarratta also drew
inspiration for his novel from
the movie “What Dreams May
Come.”
“It was kind of like a little bit
of a supernatural thing,” said
Sciarratta of the scene from
“The Sopranos.” “And I really
like the idea of that device.”
He also draws inspiration
from his own life in Queens
and his Italian heritage, which
he has included in his work
as far back as he remembers.
In both his first novel “Finding
Forever: a 1970s Love Story”
and “The Letter,” Queens
neighborhoods are included in
the prose.
Being an Italian-American is
a badge he wears proudly, looking
up to famous Italian-Americans
such as Martin Scorsese
and Sylvester Stallone.
“My goal is to make the
reader feel like they’re not
alone,” he said.
One trademark of his work
is to always include an Italian
male protagonist and a female
protagonist who is not Italian.
Sciarratta said he was never
much of a writer or a reader
— just ask his fourth-grade
teacher, he added.
But once he started his
higher education at Queens
College he pursued sports journalism
and scored internships
with SportsNet New York and
the New York Jets.
He eventually retreated
from sports journalism when
he started to notice it took the
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fun out of football.
He tried his hand at the entertainment
business, but eventually
took his screenplay and
turned it into his first book.
“The Letter” started taking
form before his first book
was even published, the second
novel of the 24-year-old’s career
is described as a more bold and
dark story that allowed him to
stretch his writing abilities.
It also includes a central
theme of his work — to never
settle for anything less than
your dreams, whether that
be in one’s career or personal
ambitions. He said that as time
goes on, he feels people are devaluing
this virtue.
“We are thrilled to be working
with such a talented young
rising star,” said a representative
from Post Hill Press. “‘The
Letter’ is a timeless story of
forbidden love that will appeal
to fans of the romance genre at
any age.”
His work includes references
to mental health and
supports speech and language
organizations. Sciarratta has
lived his own experiences with
the two, being diagnosed with
obsessive compulsive disorder
and a stutter.
Sciarratta said growing up
with the two added difficulty to
his life because in school people
did not always understand.
He previously tried to hide
these aspects of himself, but as
he grew older he realized they
are strengths of his, not weaknesses.
He hopes to work with charities
that advance advocacy for
these groups as his career continues
to blossom.
He said being an author
is one of the greatest feelings
in the world, but that authors
must have a thick skin to deal
with the criticism that comes
with the territory.
While it can be scary in
some regards, Sciarratta
wouldn’t trade the position he
is in now as a young writer in a
field that does not have a paved
path or a yellow brick road. He
urges writers out there to take
a chance on themselves.
“The Letter,” which is set
to be released later this spring,
will be available in all forms,
including audio, and can be
found online and wherever
books are sold.
Photo courtesy of Anthony Sciarratta.
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