Best of Italy

My Biography



A true blue Taurean in every way, Mirella Patzer (nee Sichirollo) was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but grew up in Calgary, a city famous for the Calgary Stampede, oil companies, and the wild west.



Although an avid reader of historical fiction, she never aspired to be an author. But when she discovered the rich World War II history of her mother’s family (the Moro River Campaign was fought on her grandfather's vineyards - still in the family's possession today) she decided to write about it one day.



She is first generation Italian Canadian who hates housework, winter, and wearing socks. She loves books, cooking, writing, and a good helping of tira-mi-su. She retired from her career to care for her young grandson while her daughter pursued a degree in Criminal Justice and later law school.

Her first short story, The Holy Lance, won honourable mention in a writing contest and was included in the Canadian anthology, Tall Tales and Short Stories by Tall Tales Press. Her second short story, Down Three Steps, was featured in the Canadian anthology, Mamma Mia: Good Italian Girls Talk Back.

Mirella is currently working on a novel of the life of Matilde, First Queen of Germany. Meticulously researched and filled with memorable characters, A Scarlet Mantle is the fictionalized biography of one of the most fascinating and influential women of the 10th century. Mirella is contemplating a future novel on the life of Adelaide of Burgundy.

She shares her life with her husband, a polygraphist, two college-attending daughters, and a rambunctious little grandson who frequently interrupts her work with a variety of unanticipated, yet humorous calamities and disasters. Her house is brimming with books and toys. For her, life couldn’t get any better.