Pirates, witches, and danger mingle with old and new love

1) What is your author name (pen name if you use one)?

Damian Serbu

2) Who is your hero and why?

Eleanor Roosevelt is one of my heroes.

First, I know she was flawed and had imperfections. But one of her most endearing traits was to acknowledge those herself, and work toward self-improvement.

She championed so many causes and people because she thought it was the right thing to do. She defied her husband at times, who was president of the United States, in order to fall on the right side of history. Her dedication to women’s rights, such as giving opportunities to female reporters, was remarkable. She fought on behalf of civil rights well before even a majority in the Democratic Party deemed to do so. She wanted economic equality. While she came from a very privileged background and could have ignored the plight of others, she did the opposite and used her wealth, fame, and platforms to champion freedom for others. She wanted to aim her moral compass toward compassion, love, and inclusion.

Her life was often difficult. She experienced pain. And she took that and molded it into a reason to treat people well and help them. I often find that my main characters seek the same for their lives and for those around them. It is so important to want to leave the world a better place, and to uplift those around you.

3) What do you do to unwind and relax?

I love spending time with my dogs, being with my family, and hanging out with friends. I’m also a huge fan of Cleveland professional sports. Here’s a fun secret: when I am struggling to find a name for a character, I often use player names for my favorite players. Not that the character embodies them or in any way is inspired by them, but I like to use their names!

During covid, I took up a new hobby and taught myself to cross stitch! I find it incredibly therapeutic and fun. I primarily sew holidays scenes, and then change out our everyday pictures and artwork with them as we rotate through the holidays. Right now, I am working on a Christmas scene, with a little kid and dog looking in the window of a Chocolatier. I do this for myself because it’s so relaxing and fun. I could lose myself in cross stitching for hours. However, I can’t because then I wouldn’t get anything else done!

I, of course, love to read.

And Paul and I travel a lot. We love getting away to experience new places and people. What’s really cool is how often those excursions land in my novels as settings. Next year, we’re super excited to be going to Paris for ten days for our 30th anniversary. This trip has been a dream of ours for years, and we can’t wait! People who have read my novels probably know how often I use Paris and France as a setting, from our two previous trips there. I’m excited for what new possibilities await!

4) What genre(s) do you write?

LGBTQ M/M Historical Paranormal Romance

5) What is your book’s blurb?

A winter storm blows through Salem, Massachusetts, setting young witch Alexander MacBeth on a perilous path to adulthood as his dying mother gifts him an heirloom and pleads for him to use it to survive.

To do so, he will need to perfect his inherited witchcraft to protect himself from those who want him dead. In his journey to adulthood, he falls in love with dashing nobleman Crispin Nottingham. Abandoned by Crispin and pursued by the Puritans, he finds he must harness the wind to assist his escape and flee his homeland aboard a pirate ship led by the handsome captain, Henri the Twisted.

Struggling against distrustful pirates, an evil witch, and his continued longing for Crispin, Alexander sharpens his magical skills and falls into a romance with Henri. Chaos and danger confront him at every turn, even as he searches for love and belonging. A new sail on the horizon may signal hope or more danger than ever before—if Alexander can survive to meet his future.

6) Tell me a little bit about yourself?

Damian Serbu lives in the Chicago area with his husband and two dogs, Mika and Chewbacca. The dogs control his life, tell him what to write, and threaten to eat him in the middle of the night if he disobeys. He has published Witch in the Wind, The Vampire’s Angel, The Vampire’s Quest, The Bachmann Family Secret, The Vampire’s Witch, The Vampire’s Protégé, and The Vampire’s War, as well as Santa’s Kinky Elf, Simon and Santa Is a Vampire.