Freddie Villacci, Jr.
Where's Freddie Writing?
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My writing day starts with a structured morning. For me, I find it’s the best way to get in the right frame of mind. I get up at 5:30 and do a 30-minute workout video to get the blood flowing—right now I’m going through Lift4 for the third time. The familiar routine seems to not take up any brain power and allows me to put all of my creative energy on the page. Next, I take a quick shower.
Here is where the writing process starts for me. I have a waterproof pad and pencil suction-cupped on the wall. When I first started writing, I noticed a lot of good ideas came to me in that relaxed state, knowing I was about to start writing. After yelling enough times for my wife to come and write an idea down for me, she got me a pad that could be near water.
From about 6:30 to 9, I’m in my office writing every day. My office has high ceilings, which I like; it makes me feel like there is no limit to what my characters can do. I have a couple of sayings that motivate me and some pieces of art that really inspire me to do the best that I can. One is an abstract painting of the joker I picked up in Laguna Beach. Another is a photo of a male lion with his face covered in mud; it is a moment froze in time that amazes me every day.
The third is a lamp I randomly stumbled upon while walking aimlessly in a mall years ago and felt like I had won something and couldn’t buy it quickly enough. A Boondock Saint’s movie lamp made of two silenced berretta pistols with a cool shade saying VERITAS AEQUITAS (truth & justice).
The movie was very inspirational to me the first time I saw it. It is still one of my favorites of all-time action B movies. Over the years. one of my favorite things is to find a movie I’d never heard of and then have it deliver an experience that is more than you ever expected.
I think what might be a little more unique is not where I write but the things I must have on me when I write. If you can imagine, at some level, I believe these items will prevent me from writing complete garbage onto the page (it doesn’t—my first drafts are brutal!), getting writer's block and also help make my writing a little bit better. We can probably classify this as writing superstitions.
When I played baseball, you’d have your game jersey on when it counted. When I put these items on, I know it’s time to focus and write. One of the things I love and hate J about writing that is different from a game—in a game you only have once chance to make the play or get a hit, but in writing you can rewrite as many times as you’re willing to try to get it right. My favorite saying is, “The secret to success is always to try just one more time.”
My first writing good luck charm was an old, white, v-neck T-shirt that I wrote “Writer” across in black sharpie. With the T-shirt, I often wore a camouflage bandana and an Everlast wristband on my right forearm. I loved that shirt; anytime I’d take a bathroom break, I’d look at myself in the mirror and my shirt said “WRITER” on it, so I told myself, well, the shirt says you’re a writer so go write something.
The T-shirt was hilarious; unfortunately I cannot provide a picture due to its mysterious disappearance. My wife still denies having anything to do with it, but I have my suspicions. To replace the shirt, I currently wear a necklace my son Vincent made me several years back—it is a true treasure of mine and, BTW, it does have magical powers!
Besides my office, I enjoy writing on airplanes. Words per hour, I probably have my highest output on a plane. I finished the second book in the Black Ghost series, The Cure, on the beach in the Florida panhandle.
Also, in California, under a beach umbrella by a pool, I finished the first draft of the screenplay for the movie “Faceless.” I had the actual screenplay I was given when the movie was shot, framed and it’s in my office as well.
I also like to be outside on our back patio in the hot sun having a drink when I need to nail down the first draft of a book’s outline, especially the ever-important Act III.
Creating a story is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. I love that feeling of a beginning, middle, and an end. Then it is on to a new adventure, in a new place with unexpected twists and turns you didn’t even imagine were possible coming from your mind. In the end, I hope readers enjoy the adventure as much I as did writing it.
Freddie Villacci, Jr. was born and raised in Wood Dale, Illinois. He earned a degree in marketing from Berry College, while playing baseball. At the age of nineteen he began to invest in the stock market and continued on with a career in the insurance and financial services industry.
In his first published Novel, Black Ghost, he has used his professional background to give depth and credibility to the plot. Besides books, he enjoys writing movies and songs. FACELESS, an independent movie is due out in 2021.
Freddie loves being out in the sun, especially playing baseball and golf with his daughter and twin boys. He and his wife, Jennifer, have a passion for supporting charities that help children.