Trivia
Find out more about Marina Fiorato
Marina was named after a character in Shakespeare's last play Pericles. Marina was Pericles' daughter.
Marina was a film extra before she became a writer and has, at different times, played Rupert Everett's whore, Keith Allen's wife, and Hugh Laurie's boss.
Marina used to be a visuals designer and worked on the Elevation Tour for U2 and the Forty Licks tour for the Rolling Stones.
Together with her design partner Marina created the electronic stage set of the Queen musical We Will Rock You, one of the longest running shows currently in London's West End.
Marina was married in Venice to writer/director Sacha Bennett and they had their reception on the trio of islands which includes the glassmaking island of Murano.
Marina has a tiny role in each of Sacha's films. He usually insists that she is being threatened by a characters from the BBC's Life on Mars - in his last film 'Tuesday' she was held at gunpoint by Philip Glenister; in the one before, 'Devilwood', John Simm did the honours.
A giraffe appears in each of Marina's three novels. This began as a coincidence, but the creature has now become her talisman, and she plans to put a giraffe in everything she writes in the future.
Marina has a tattoo of a Venetian motto on her belly 'Lui e me fra il cielo ed il mare' 'him and me between sky and sea'.
Marina's top: Books
Maia by Richard Adams
Hannibal by Thomas Harris
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Shield of Three Lions by Pamela Kaufmann
Guilty pleasure: Rivals by Jilly Cooper
Marina's top: Albums
Abbey Road by The Beatles
Synchronicity by The Police
Automatic for the People by REM
Parklife by Blur
Guilty pleasure: Doin' the Do by Betty Boo
Trivia about 'The Glassblower of Murano'...
The cover of The Glassblower of Murano features the exact design of the limited edition Lalique glass heart pendant which will be made in conjunction with the launch of the book.
The heroine's name changes halfway through The Glassblower of Murano - in England she is Nora, in Venice she reverts to her Italian name Leonora.
Two chapters in the The Glassblower of Murano - 1 and 35 - are almost word for word identical. In the first chapter we witness a twilight footchase where our hero is followed through Venice. In the later chapter we understand the context of the pursuit, and the identity of the hunter...
Marina has peppered The Glassblower of Murano with family names: Corradino is the italian version of Conrad, her son; Venetian cop Alessandro (Sandro), has the italian version of Sacha, her husband's name. Adelino, head of the glass foundry on Murano, is named for her father Adelin, who hails from the Veneto. Baby daughter Ruby was born just before the proofread of the book, and made it into the story as the stone in an engagement ring!
The German edition of The Glassblower of Murano appears in Sacha Bennett's debut feature film Tuesday. It is being read by lead actress Kate Magowan, who coincidentally went on to play Leonora in the audio version of the book. Corradino was played by actor Cristian Solimeno, who also appears in the film.
Marina's top: Films
A Few Good Men
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Gladiator
LA Confidential
Guilty pleasure: Only You
Marina's top: TV shows
The West Wing
Firefly
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Rome
Guilty pleasure: America's Next Top Model