D.S. Santachiara (she/her) is an Italian-born American author of weird lit, gothic romance, and historical fiction. Her books are explicit, and her writing gritty and emotional. Themes such as mental illness, diversity, grief, and identity often appear in her books. History, folklore, folk magic, and occultism are the main inspirations behind her stories. Currently, she lives close to Atlanta, with two cats, a husband, a pair of small gremlins, and several ghosts she refuses to evict. She writes horror under the pen name Sabrina St. Claire.
AUTHOR LINKS:
TikTok & Instagram: @dssantachiara
Pre-order the Book: Ardere – Amazon US (Oct 2026 release)
Add to GoodReads: goodreads.com/book/show/247512717-ardere
Your m/m WWI romance, Ardere, focuses on Italian soldiers Ottavio and Stefano. “Ardere” means “to burn/blaze” in Italian – how did you decide on this title?
The title is layered in the story. For once, Ottavio is a former coal maker from Carnia. His job was to tend coal for weeks in the woods, a profession deeply tied to local folklore and myth.
His fire is transformative and controlled, the opposite of what he experiences in the trenches when the flamethrower was introduced (it has a role in his arc). Stefano feels love as a destructive force he fears, often associating it with fire itself. That highlights the double nature of their relationship, too, especially when they meet again in Milano.
In addition, Italy blazed during the war: the environment and the social tissues profoundly changed during WWI, and in that festering wound, fascism inserted itself as a rupturing force. The two MMCs have to face the changing landscape, as they make important choices regarding their future.
Ottavio is on the path to becoming one of the Arditi – can you explain who the Arditi were for readers who might not know, and tell us why you chose this trajectory for Ottavio?
The Arditi were the first special force unit ever deployed, detached from the main Italian Royal Army (the German Sturmtruppen preceded them, but they were integrated into the Imperial Army).
During WWI, the Arditi became known for their absolute ruthlessness. They used psychological warfare tactics and, in the end, were quickly disbanded. Some of them returned somehow to their lives, but most of them split in half. Some contributed to the Black Shirts, Benito Mussolini’s first militia. Mussolini himself was in the trenches, but not an Ardito, even though he would take a lot from their iconography: the skull holding a knife between its teeth, the myth of masculinity and warrior culture (sound familiar?), the black shirt and fez.
However, another part of Arditi created the Arditi del Popolo, the first anti-fascist group that fought fascism in the streets, using guerrilla warfare tactics. I wanted Ottavio to embody this ideal warrior, show his deep wounds, and use the symbology against Fascism. Moreover, he’s a badass. I like him.
Introduce Stefano to us, and how he and Ottavio meet. How did you come up with these characters, and how would you describe their dynamic together?
Stefano is a queer man and a Freemason, and later he becomes a doctor. Before the war, he studied law, but later saw that law meant nothing on the field. In his previous life, he was also a Socialist, but he had a fling and then broke up with the wrong men and got expelled for his sexuality. In the end, he becomes an anarchist. Stefano is a free-spirited, solitary man with a deep, rebellious attitude, radicalized by the war and the lodge.
He is terrified of feelings because he’s scared of what his father became when Lucrezia, Stefano’s mother, died. He finds his match in Ottavio because Ottavio is impossible to truly hold down. Loving him means loving the fact that there are things Stefano cannot understand (including Ottavio’s dreams and visions). They learn to be free and to hold on despite everything.
Their love is a fire, transformative and destructive at the same time. The power between them shifts constantly, and often their wounds have the best of them. But still, they hold on. The first time, they came to me in a dream more than two years ago. They decided to stay alive and together, so here we are.
Why did you set this story in World War I, what made this time period the most compelling for a gay romance, and how does this increase their challenges and the obstacles to their love?
The story takes place during a very dark time for Italy and Europe, between WWI and the Second Postwar period. The first consideration is that Ardere is a romance. It has a HEA.
I believe it is necessary to read about history erased by the records, especially when we are living in times like these. It’s good to know we can keep the light on. The whole idea behind Ardere is that love, in its various forms, is the most rebellious and consequential act against darkness.
The second reason is tied to identities, because I enjoy writing about them. The story starts with WWI because it changed gender expectations and relations in Italy and across Europe. The homoerotic attachment and close relationship between men during WWI are often considered one of the seeds for the first Gay rights movements in Germany, for example. For example, crossdressing shows were common in the trenches (it’s in my book, too).
POWs often formed domestic couples (my book does not touch on them, though). At the home front, women worked in roles previously reserved for men. Mind you, Italian women could vote only in the general election of 1946.
After the war, Fascism imposed a radically different model: hypermasculinity, women back to the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant (SOUNDS FAMILIAR??). In 1927, they also introduced a tax for unmarried men and blocked their careers in public service. Homosexuality and its place in society regressed (while not being great to begin with) to the point of erasure (even though Italy stayed a sex tourism destination from Northern Europe well into the fascist period). The wound the war inflicted, with the Spanish flu, the economic crisis, and so on, was the breeding ground for Fascism.
I like writing about identities, so the consequences of the war and the interwar period on personal and national identities are what compelled me to write about that period. Of course, the obstacles Ottavio and Stefano face are devastating. They make it in the end, though.
What romance tropes do you have in the novel, and why do you enjoy writing these?
The tropes are star-crossed lovers, found family, hurt/comfort, and morally gray MMCs. I enjoy all of them, but I did not expect found family. It happened when side characters came to life. I enjoy star-crossed lovers, though. It is one of my favorite tropes, because I love to write and read angst and yearning.
What is the first line/paragraph of the novel – can you share it as a teaser?
June 1, 1915 I hope I won’t learn his name. It’s enough as it is: the knife slicing the wood, the muscles flexing under the skin.
What would your ideal reader reaction be to this novel and your characters, and have you had any feedback you’re really proud of? (If so, share it here!)
I hope the ideal reader would fall in love with the characters, experience the emotional rollercoaster, and close the book sobbing while knowing there’s light in the dark. My dev editor told me I have a unique book and a distinctive voice, and a couple of people in my MFA course said the characters feel alive. I screenshotted all of that for when the self-doubts creep in.
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