“Fulfilling a life long dream, I moved to Manhattan in the Summer of 2001. Two months later the city was shaken to its knees by the tragic events of 9/11. To skeptics the city was never going to recover; it had lost its soul, its charm, its magic. Well, they were wrong. Then the Pandemic hit and those same voices, the echoes of doom, returned, once again forecasting the imminent demise of Gotham. And they were wrong again.

Today there are still struggles, to be sure. But I remain optimistic about this city, awed every day in fact by its strength and resilience.

For years I have wanted to give something back, inject a little magic of my own, by telling a story that celebrates the wonders that still exist here - for those who are willing to look.

Now is the time. This is that story.”

C.A. Martella (aka Chip) lives in the shadow of the Flatiron Building with his wife and their two children. Austin Hilary & The Ghosts of Gotham is his first novel, and the first installment of a trilogy.