The Adventurers and the Treasure Cave follow four cousins that despite their differences come together to solve a mystery involving a WWII submarine. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

I idealized “The Adventurers and the Treasure Cave” at the request of readers who, after having read my first published book: “The Enchanted Forest”, grew up in the meantime and asked me to write adventure books that would be different from the ones available on the market at the time. I remembered those first adventure books I wrote when I was 11 years old, books that had pleased me so much, so I decided to humour them and thus, “The ADVENTURERS” were born. Instead of creating new characters, I took inspiration from my nephews. I also did not wish to include a dog, as was usual in this kind of young adult book, and so I took inspiration upon a friend’s pet crow, who can mimic everything and everyone in perfection, creating the most hilarious situations. The villains were also inspired by real people, who, in some way, I felt had wronged me. As for the location, it had to, of course, be Nazaré, my hometown that is so very special to me and such an amazing source of inspiration.

Currently, this collection is composed of 14 published books with many sold out editions.

How did the mystery develop for this story? Did you plan it before writing or did it develop organically?

After idealizing the characters and becoming convinced that this first adventure would take place in Nazaré, I reminisced in ancient legends that my grandmother used to tell me about the history of Nazaré, such as the cave called Boca do Inferno (Hell’s Mouth), who the elders claimed was a meeting spot for pirates, for Nazaré used to be plagued by the likes of them. I also decided to include the real story of the sunken German submarine, a little ways into the ocean in front of the beach, since I thought youngsters would get a kick out of knowing this, such as I did when I first heard about it. In addition, during my research I came across a very ancient book that was written by a monk in the 17th century, who portrayed the history of Nazaré and thus, the plot came to me naturally. After this, all I had to do was write. The completed work gave me immense pleasure.

What research did you do for this novel to get it right?

I always visit the sites where the story will take place, in order to better capture the ambiance and, this way, better transmit it to my readers, encouraging them to later visit those same locations. My main goal is to captivate my younger audience into reading more and provide to them the charm and enthusiasm I used to feel when I was their age. In this particular case it was different, since I’ve always lived in Nazaré and everything was familiar to me. All I had to do was investigate all the information, return to the sites and photograph them, in order to facilitate the illustrator’s work.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I am currently writing my next historical novel, in my native language which is Portuguese, which demands very deep and intense research and a lot of focus. I am also preparing a few children and young adult books to be published later this year by Underline Publishing, such as: “The Enchanted Forest”; “The Forgotten Treasure”, the continuation of “The Quest for the Lost Map”, which is set to be released in the second semester of 2022; and also another adventure with these five special friends: “The Adventurers in the Underground River”.

I have also very recently published “Sofia Gama and the Templar’s Prophecy”, the first volume of the Warrior’s of Light, that I think will positively surprise and excite readers. In March, the historical novel: “The Last Conspirator” is set to be published by Underline Publishing as well.

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