Adriana grew up in Big Stone Gap, Virginia in a big Italian family (with roots in northern Italy, the Veneto and Bari). Her mother was a librarian, her father a garment manufacturer. Adriana’s first professional writing job was as a news reporter for WNVA radio when she was 15 years old. While she loved the job, it made her realise that she preferred writing for the theatre, where her imagination and the facts could run wild.