Stef Smulders
Dutchman who moved to Italy in 2008 to live the good life wih husband and dog, welcoming guests in their Villa I Due Padroni B&B in the beautiful wine region Oltrepò Pavese, south of Milan.
Author of the Award winning book "Living in Italy: the Real Deal" with hilarious expat adventures.
Now available in German translation: Auf nach Italien!
If you like author Stef Smulders here is the list of authors you may also like
Buy books on AmazonTotal similar authors (23)
-
Rebecca Harlem
Rebecca Harlem, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, is a writer known for her evocative storytelling and deep exploration of human relationships. Now based in New York, she crafts narratives that blend romance, introspection, and a touch of mystery. Her debut novel, The Pink Cadillac, has captivated readers with its intricate character dynamics and emotional depth. Drawing inspiration from her own experiences and literary influences, Harlem’s work delves into themes of desire, identity, and the unseen forces that shape our lives.
Buy books on Amazon -
Liza Grantham
Liza Grantham was born in 1965 in the East Midlands brewery town of Burton-on-Trent. After gaining a BA (Hons) in Linguistics, French and Hindi from the University of York and a PGCE from Derbyshire College of Higher Education she returned to her hometown where she taught at Anglesey Primary School for sixteen years. In 1997 she was awarded an MBA with distinction in Educational Management from the University of Nottingham. After meeting her now husband Gary she moved to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria to teach in a British school. In 2011 the couple moved to a remote hamlet in rural Galicia where they raise chickens, grow vegetables and expect the unexpected in their idyllic yet highly unpredictable rural life.
Buy books on Amazon
The peace and beauty of the natural -
Karen Telling
Karen and her husband Nick, left his home town of Crowthorne in Berkshire in 2003, heading for Portugal, with no idea of what they were going to do to earn a living. They took their two dogs with them, not realising they would go on to rescue many more cats and dogs. They encounter challenges along the way including Karen’s life changing surgery in Lisbon, but also meet people who treat them with huge kindness.
Buy books on Amazon
A heart-warming slice of life from an author with a brilliant eye for both the absurd and the humane as she shares the reality of living their dream. -
Andy C Wareing
Along with many like-minded souls, 2020 was the year I finally broke free of the constraints of life in corporate America. Fueled by a renewed passion and creativity I decided to pursue my new life as a full-time author.
Buy books on Amazon
Originally from Southport in England my wife, Paula, and I, lived and worked in the USA for 15 wonderful years, and then moved to Spain to enjoy a quiet life in the endless sunshine of the Mediterranean. Instead, we ended up embroiled in the tribulations of the pandemic. I wrote and self-published my first book “Mistakes Were Made” after that (mis) adventure.
At heart always British, we loved living in the U.S.A but will never vocalize the American pronunciations of basil, banana, or tomato. We now live with our two dogs in l -
Rosie Meleady
Irish author Rosie Meleady, has been a magazine publisher and editor since 1994. She won the International Women in Publishing Award 1996 at the ripe old age of 24. She couldn't attend the award ceremony in London as she decided it would also be a good day to give birth.
Buy books on Amazon
In her 'A Rosie Life In Italy' series, Rosie writes about buying a 22 roomed derelict villa in Italy by accident, renovating it and existing in Italy.
Her favourite board game growing up was Cluedo, and as an adult she started a Missing Persons Agency. Her love of solving mysteries led her to start writing her 'Deadly Wedding Cozy Mystery' series.
She now lives happily ever after in Italy while renovating the villa and writing long into the night.
Follow Rosie on social media -
Mary-Jane Houlton
How do you describe who you are? I find it impossible as we are all so many things. I have worked as marketing executive for a large multi-national company, but also run my own business as a landscape designer. I have had many different careers but most enjoyed being a Pilates instructor and a travel writer. Some of my ventures have been successful, some less so.
Buy books on Amazon
The best years of my life were spent on a small-holding in Wales, but then I gave it all up for an even better life on a boat in France. I have reached the slightly terrifying age of 64 and I am now happier than I have ever been.
The one passion that has been a constant throughout my life has been writing and so perhaps that is who I am at heart - a writer.
If you would like to keep u -
Gillian Harvey
I'm a British author and freelance writer, currently living in Norfolk, England with my husband and 5 children. I write contemporary, uplifting and emotive fiction, often set in France where I lived for 14 years.
Buy books on Amazon -
J.K. Franko
I grew up in Texas in the seventies, and although I really wanted to go into writing and film from an early age, my parents (Cuban-American) were NOT on board.
Buy books on Amazon
They believed there were only three acceptable career paths for a male child: doctor, lawyer, and architect.
After a disastrous first year of college pre-Med (too much fun, not enough study), I ended up getting a BA in philosophy (not acceptable), then I went to law school (salvaging the family name).
In law school, I was lucky enough to be selected for law journal and my articles have been cited by courts and recognized on the National Law Journal’s “Worth Reading” list – which for law is like a top review in the New York Times (pretty cool).
After ten years as a trial lawyer, I decide -
Martha Miller
Martha Miller is a former retail executive who had been downsized twice, and decided to take life into her own hands. She and her husband quit their “secure” jobs to move overseas, complete an education, experience another culture, and change the course of their lives. Martha began writing about the new life she was living in Italy, eventually becoming a frequent contributor to Wanted in Rome, an English-language magazine. Her work has also appeared in GoNOMAD.com, Transitions Abroad, Go World Travel, International Living, LifeinItaly.com, Family Circle, Parents, The Christian Science Monitor and The Writer. Her personal essays and syndicated columns, Living Greenly and Living Online, have been published in regional publications across the
Buy books on Amazon -
Helen Bridgett
Helen has always loved books and always loved writing. One year she decided her New Year’s resolution would be “Write a novel to give as a Christmas present”. She spent the year writing and The Mercury Travel Club was born.
Buy books on Amazon
Helen hails from the North East When not writing, Helen can usually be found walking or drinking wine – not usually at the same time.
Like many people, Helen believes that the music you grow up with as a teenager stays with you for the whole of your life. Being a child of 80’s rock, when she hears the opening riff to Sweet Child of Mine, she cannot be held responsible for her actions! -
T.A. Williams
Firstly, my name isn't T A. It's Trevor. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn't possibly comment. Ask my wife...
Buy books on Amazon
I've written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I'm enjoying myself hugely Cozy Mysteries. I lived and worked in Italy for a number of years, married an Italian, and fell in love with the country. I set almost all my books in Italy and I hope that my love from the country shines through my work.
I‘ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away in -
Ann Patchett
Patchett was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is the novelist Jeanne Ray.
Buy books on Amazon
She moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was six, where she continues to live. Patchett said she loves her home in Nashville with her doctor husband and dog. If asked if she could go any place, that place would always be home. "Home is ...the stable window that opens out into the imagination."
Patchett attended high school at St. Bernard Academy, a private, non-parochial Catholic school for girls run by the Sisters of Mercy. Following graduation, she attended Sarah Lawrence College and took fiction writing classes with Allan Gurganus, Russell Banks, and Grace Paley. She later attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa and the Fine Arts Wo -
David McCullough
David McCullough was a Yale-educated, two-time recipient of both the Pulitzer Prize (Truman; John Adams) and the National Book Award (The Path Between the Seas; Mornings on Horseback). His many other highly-acclaimed works of historical non-fiction include The Greater Journey, 1776, Brave Companions, The Great Bridge, The Wright Brothers, and The Johnstown Flood. He was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the National Humanities Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in addition to many other awards and honors. Mr. McCullough lived in Boston, Mass.
Buy books on Amazon -
Fiona Valpy
Fiona Valpy spent seven years living in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007. She and her family renovated an old, rambling farmhouse in the Bordeaux winelands, during which time she developed new-found skills in cement-mixing, interior decorating and wine-tasting.
Buy books on Amazon
All of these inspirations, along with a love for the place, the people and their history, have found their way into the books she’s written, which have been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide.
Fiona now lives in Scotland, but enjoys regular visits to France in search of the sun.
Sign up to be the first to hear about her NEW releases here: http://bit.ly/184zc8B -
Soraya M. Lane
Soraya M. Lane is the Amazon Charts & Kindle #1 bestselling author of THE SECRET MIDWIFE and THE ITALIAN DAUGHTER.
Buy books on Amazon
Soraya is thrilled to be publishing four new novels in 2025. THE PIANIST'S WIFE and THE SPANISH DAUGHTER are both now available, and Soraya's newest WWII novel, THE SECRET LIBRARIAN, was published on August 15th. Book 7 in The Lost Daughters series, THE HIDDEN DAUGHTER, will be published in October.
As a child, Soraya dreamed of becoming an author. Fast forward more than a few years, and Soraya is now living her dream! Soraya describes being an author as "the best career in the world", and she hopes to be writing romance and women's fiction for many years to come.
Soraya loves spending her days thinking up characters for books, a -
Herman Koch
Herman Koch (1953) is known as a television producer and a writer. The book 'Het diner', published in 2009, was his breakthrough in the Netherlands. It was published in 17 countries. It was partly based on a true story involving a homeless woman named, María del Rosario Endrinal Petit, in Barcelona (Spain), in December 2005.
Buy books on Amazon
Koch was born in Arnhem, and later moved to Amsterdam. He studied Russian for some months, and lived in Finland for a while. Nowadays he is married to the Spanish Amalia, and has a son, Pablo (1994). -
Antoine Laurain
Antoine Laurain (born 1972) is a French author. He previously worked as a screenwriter and antiques dealer.
Buy books on Amazon
His first novel "The Portrait" was published in 2007 and he achieved wide international acclaim with "The Red Notebook". Since then his works have been translated into 14 languages and partly made into films. -
Craig Briggs
If life deals you a bad hand, don’t fold, take a chance; a good player will always come out on top.
Buy books on Amazon
Craig Briggs was born on the 12th of July 1962, in St. Luke’s Hospital, Huddersfield, the second child, and only son, of Donald and Glenys Briggs. The birth of their daughter had been a joy. The arrival of Craig would make the family complete. Unfortunately, Craig was not a ‘normal’ lad; he’d been born with congenital feet deformities.
Unaware of his disability, Craig got on with life as any infant would. His first birthday brought a gift that would change his life forever. A marvel of modern engineering, manufactured by J.E. Hanger and Co. of London for and on behalf of the National Health Service. Bespoke footwear gave him what the Vespa had -
Daniel Silva
Daniel Silva was born in Michigan in 1960 and raised in California where he received his BA from Fresno State. Silva began his writing career as a journalist for United Press International (UPI), traveling in the Middle East and covering the Iran-Iraq war, terrorism and political conflicts. From UPI he moved to CNN, where he eventually became executive producer of its Washington-based public policy programming. In 1994 he began work on his first novel, The Unlikely Spy, a surprise best seller that won critical acclaim. He turned to writing full time in 1997 and all of his books have been New York Times/national best sellers, translated into 25 languages and published across Europe and the world. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Buy books on Amazon
Series:
* Michael -
Peter Mayle
Peter Mayle was a British author famous for his series of books detailing life in Provence, France. He spent fifteen years in advertising before leaving the business in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young people. In 1989, A Year in Provence was published and became an international bestseller. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and he was a contributing writer to magazines and newspapers. Indeed, his seventh book, A Year in Provence, chronicles a year in the life of a British expatriate who settled in the village of Ménerbes. His book A Good Year was the basis for the eponymous 2006 film directed by Ridley Scott and starring actor Russell Crowe. Peter Mayle
Buy books on Amazon -
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has published seven books. He is also the host of the podcast Revisionist History and co-founder of the podcast company Pushkin Industries.
Buy books on Amazon
Gladwell's writings often deal with the unexpected implications of research in the social sciences, such as sociology and psychology, and make frequent and extended use of academic work. Gladwell was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2011. -
Nicky Pellegrino
I was born and grew up near Liverpool, England. For a while I worked as a magazine journalist in London but then 21 years ago I came on holiday to New Zealand and met my future husband Carne Bidwill at a wedding. Now we live together near a beach in Auckland with our dogs Charlie the standard poodle and Lucy the pointer. I spend my time writing novels, working as a freelance journalist, riding my two horses, growing veges in my garden, cooking, trying to get other people to cook for me, eating and reading. There isn't much time for anything else except a little light housework.
Buy books on Amazon
My all-time favourite book is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and my book of 2013 was LIfe After LIfe by Kate Atkinson.
I have a website www.nickypellegrino.com -
Martha Miller
Martha Miller is a former retail executive who had been downsized twice, and decided to take life into her own hands. She and her husband quit their “secure” jobs to move overseas, complete an education, experience another culture, and change the course of their lives. Martha began writing about the new life she was living in Italy, eventually becoming a frequent contributor to Wanted in Rome, an English-language magazine. Her work has also appeared in GoNOMAD.com, Transitions Abroad, Go World Travel, International Living, LifeinItaly.com, Family Circle, Parents, The Christian Science Monitor and The Writer. Her personal essays and syndicated columns, Living Greenly and Living Online, have been published in regional publications across the
Buy books on Amazon