Welcome to the Blog Tour for Escape to Passignano by Normandie Fischer, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
About the Book
Title: Escape to Passignano
Series: Carolina Coast Stories
Author: Normandie Fischer
Publisher: Sleepy Creek Press
Release Date: March 31, 2026
Genre: Christian Women's Fiction
Can dreams be trusted when life feels like a nightmare?
Sophia chose to honor her deceased husband’s wishes by visiting his hometown of Passignano sul Trasimeno in the Umbrian region of Italy. She’s trying to find the peace he promised, really she is, while she studies his language and sips caffè with a view of mountains and lake. Only, things begin to happen involving a red-haired child who speaks of things she cannot know—and the child’s father whose very presence challenges that peace.
Dr. Luca Moretti still wrestles with guilt three years after the death of his wife and older children. Overwhelmed by grief, Luca gave the care of his toddler daughter, Noemi, to his sister. It was supposed to be temporary; it wasn’t. Now, Luca wants Noemi back.
When his sister flees, taking Noemi into hiding, Sophia joins forces with a desperate Luca to piece together dreams and voices and supernatural nudges to retrace Noemi’s steps. It’s going to take trust, though, something in short supply for both Luca and Sophia. They’ll have to learn to trust in one another, and, more importantly, to trust in God—that a God who would allow such pain really does mean to work it all out for good. For Noemi. For the two of them. And for a troubled woman from North Carolina who enters their orbit with her own demons, demons God uses—and dispels—as He wills.
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub
Book Excerpt
Everyone said the first step was the hardest, and by “everyone” Sophia meant all those pushers of advice who’d phoned or shown up at her door or sent her books. Do this, do that, think this, think that, you’ll be fine, you’ll overcome… You’ll be healed.
Yay, her.
Her own firsts had multiplied until she found herself thousands of steps and an ocean away from the then that had ruled her life for so long.
Here in Italy, sunshine baked the streets, the intense heat and humidity a surprising holdover from summer. Of course, even New York could replicate July’s weather in September, which was why Sophia had come prepared with sandals and a broad-brimmed hat. Her dress wicked sweat that trickled down her front and her skirt swished as she wandered the narrow streets of Firenze.
It should have felt perfect, this stroll among her husband’s countrymen, but her thoughts wouldn’t hush. When fatigue swept over her, soft conversations, along with the scent of just-ground coffee beans, drew her to a sidewalk table at a bar/caffè. She took a seat and ordered a cappuccino.
The young waiter slid a cup and saucer across the table, and she spoke a “Grazie,” trying for Pietro’s—Peter’s—lilt. Her husband had to be “Peter” even here.
Sipping, she watched the passersby, not really seeing them as individuals on this very touristy street. Her attention wandered to the heavily carved doors of a stone church and, above them, to a large round window. It wasn’t a fancy church, no stained glass here at the front, nothing to entice visitors, except perhaps for the black-clad woman who stepped from a narrow alley next to the building, a child on her hip.
More in This Series
About the Author
Normandie Fischer had the best of several worlds: a Southern heritage, access to schooling in the DC area (which meant lots of cultural adventures), and several years of sculpture studies in Italy. It might have been better for her if she'd used all these opportunities more wisely, but it's possible that the imperfect and the unwise also add fodder for the artist and the writer.
She writes Christian and Southern fiction as well as romantic suspense from her waterfront base in coastal North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, their two dogs, and a once-feral cat. If only her children and grandchildren lived within hailing distance, life would be just about perfect.Connect with Normandie by visiting normandiefischer.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email updates.
Author Interview
Q: What inspired you to write Escape to Passignano?
Normandie: Some of my readers wanted resolution for a character from Shoal Waters—Deborah—and I already had an image of Sophia in my mind: a Southern gal who lived in NY and lost her husband. Italy had to be a destination, the place where these two could interact and work out their issues. And when my husband agreed to go on a research trip with me, we found Passignano sul Trasimeno, et voilà!
Q: How long did it take to write this book?
Normandie: Years. I had many things in my personal life that slowed the process, but I rarely write quickly anyway.
Q: What surprised you while researching/writing this novel?
Normandie: I had no idea how Deborah’s story would end—saved or not? Healed or not? I asked the Lord to show me; eventually, He did.
Q: Do you have a favorite quote from Escape to Passignano?
Normandie: (I just picked randomly—I don’t have a favorite, actually.)
Luca’s chapters all begin with thoughts he has that are turned into ditties. This one epitomizes his angst at one point: All is well, nothing is well. Or there’s this one: Hope soars, hope flails, hope weeps, hope rails.
Q: When did you first know you wanted to be an author?
I always loved words and wrote poetry and stories from an early age, but I also loved sculpture and was pushed in that direction because it came so easily to me during my studies at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia, Italia. By my mid-thirties, I realized I wanted to write full time instead of sculpt, but my editing experience at that point had been for a publisher of non-fiction and narrative non-fiction. Now, I had to learn to enlarge, to dig more deeply, to craft fiction. I finished my first novel in 1994, won an award and possible contracts with some of the big guys in Christian fiction. But I balked at the requirements for them to accept it. How hard would it have been for me to get folk to the point of salvation in that story? I wanted to reach the unchurched and thought it better that I not force the salvation issue in that first book where the Jewish characters get involved in Middle East politics. Anyway, I kept writing, kept submitting, went through one agent, found another, sailed with my husband and wrote from our big boat. My second agent sold my third book (Becalmed) in 2013 to one publisher and my second book (Sailing out of Darkness) to another publisher. And here we are, nine books in. I now publish independently, and with rights reverting to me on both traditionally published books, I’m in the process of having all made into audiobooks. Such fun!
Q: Would you share something about yourself that most readers wouldn’t know?
Normandie: I am very tall (shrinking slowly from my 5’10.5” height); I was always very shy--until the Lord told me that my shyness was sin because I was thinking only of myself and not of those He might want to reach. It has gotten much easier over the years to show His love to others with that in mind.
Q: What are you currently reading?
Normandie: I’m about to reread (re-listen) to The Last Exchange by Charles Martin. I love his books.
Q: What is your favorite genre to read?
Normandie: Historical fiction/women’s fiction/Christian fiction
Q: What is your favorite hobby?
Normandie: It used to be sailing. Now it’s seeing what new thing the Lord has for me each day. (Is that a hobby or a vocation? Hard to tell the difference, because I don’t think I actually have hobbies—although my son would say my writing is a hobby because I don’t make gobs of money from it.)
Q: What is your favorite season and why?
Normandie: Spring, because of the promise of new life, of summer warmth—without the excessive heat--of visits from family, of guests at the cottage.
Tour Giveaway
(2) winners will each receive three books of their choice by Normandie Fischer!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight April 20, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on April 27, 2026. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
Title: Shoal Waters 
