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Writers are told to write about what they know. Antonucci, originally from New York City, happens to know about living on megayacht The World and calling the ocean his home, sailing around the world visiting 40 to 50 countries a year.
“This is totally different from a celebrity cruise,” said Antonucci. “It’s totally a different level of bespoke travel. Everything is customized.”
The World accommodates a crew of 270 and about 130 owners–buyers of one or more of the 165 individual homes onboard ranging from approximately $2.5 to $20 million.
While sailing the seven seas 9 to 10 months out of the year, Antonucci kept a journal of his adventures which grew to span 3,500 pages.
“The idea for this book came to me while I was on the ship,” said Antonucci. “I wrote most of it there; it took about three years.”
Nevertheless, he stresses that the book is not a fictionalized account of his life. And aside from the setting and the lead character being a lawyer (albeit a woman), Billionaire’s Paradise is entirely fiction.
“To the extent that there’s a draw of my life history it’s more my New York life than ship life,” said Antonucci. “People on the ship were scared to death that they would be portrayed in the book. I went out of my way to not do that.”
Released March 20th, Billionaire’s Paradise tells the story about a high-powered attorney, Eva Lampedusa, who has the idea to bring together a community of the super wealthy with captains of industry to sail around the world enjoying elite experiences most of us would envy.
“I always liked to write when I was a kid,” said Antonucci, an English major who’s librarian mother tried long and hard to turn him into a voracious reader. He became a lawyer working for two of the largest law firms in the world and credits his very successful litigation career with giving him a love and affinity for writing and the ability to retire at 52. The voracious reader part eventually came along, too.
“As a litigator, your currency is your words” he said, “you have to learn to write good briefs.”
For now, Antonucci is settling on a landlubber’s life.
“I’m not going to be a lifer on the ship,” he said. “I miss spending time with my kids who are now in their 20s.”
Yet, The World still beckons.
“On those days when you’re meandering between continents, there’s nothing like being able to sit on a deck with your laptop and write. It really is idyllic.”
You can find Billionaire’s Paradise: Ecstasy at Sea at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.
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