November 11, 2025 – Camille Severino, who lives in the Chicago suburbs and wrote the Italian-flavored fantasy, Secrets of the Jeweled Flask (June 2025), was a guest on the Detective Writer podcast with host Sally Barrilla on Sept. 29. Listen to the episode here. Over the 33-minute podcast, Severino shares “insights on the importance of resilience and the enduring belief in pursuing one’s dreams, no matter the obstacles. Through her story, she hopes to inspire readers to persevere with courage and determination.”

She also got a thrill when her book was written about in a recent issue of Fra Noi, a magazine billing itself as “Chicagoland's Italian American Voice.” Her grandmother, with whom she shares her name, was an avid reader of Fra Noi, and also wrote letters to the magazine “complaining that Hollywood made our people out to be nothing more than thieves, murderers, and stupid.

“When I started writing, she would say to me, ‘One day, your name is going to be in print, and everyone is going to think it's me.’ This write-up puts my grandmother's name in print in Fra Noi, about an Italian American family, none of whom are thieves, murderers, or stupid.”