It’s the fourth Friday of the month, the time I usually post a book review. But not this week.

Instead, I am introducing Gino Calabrese, a phony Seattle astrologer, originally from Little Italy in St. Louis. He’s also a character in the novel I recently finished, now in the hands of a few select beta readers. I’ll be submitting to an agent this fall, after a little more fine tuning.

I predict you’ll like Gino–an adventurous guy with Sicilian roots, whose birthday sailing trip with an Italian cousin lands him somewhere he never expected to be, facing the Black Death, an amorous teenage girl, and 650 years between him and home.

Gino loves ancient history, but he’s a little rusty on the medieval years in Italy, something that might be more helpful in his predicament. And that tattoo his mother didn’t like, the Greek symbol for Gemini? He never imagined the trouble it would cause.

Wish me luck–publishing is a crazy business these days. But I’d love to have you all meet Gino on the printed page someday!