Grace Mattioli

Although Vincent played a variety of instruments, his favorite was the guitar. When Donna sees this picture, she thinks of all the times he played the guitar for her and remembers him saying his favorite phrase, “I’ve been

One of the pictures that Donna finds in her brother’s sketchbook is one of him in his protesting days. As someone who has participated in many anti-war protests, I am deeply moved by this drawing. War, I believe, is the single must

A good title is a must. As the primary fiction selector for a large library system, I read dozens of book reviews from a variety of reviewing sources–Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus–to name a few. When I see books with banal,

After you’ve revised your manuscript several times, you should have it professionally edited. There are different levels of editing, from basic proofreading to more extensive editing which includes such elements as character development and flow

As independent authors, we are living in an unprecedented time of opportunities. But with this great plethora of opportunities comes the issue of weeding through all of them, and deciphering the good from the bad from the ugly.  I’ve

Whenever I feel blocked, I go for a walk. There’s something about feeling my feet on the ground, listening to the birds sing and looking at the trees that inspires me. I always think of a great line or idea for a plot while I’m

When I dream, my subconscious mind is creating stories from various random things, people and events that have been thrown my way in my waking life.  The stories are sometimes funny and sometimes scary and always weird and nonsensical.  My

The theme of transcendence is explored within my novels as I am very passionate about this subject. I believe it is possible to live in the world while occasionally being able to rise above it, and that this is essential for one’s

Readers will not be able to suspend disbelief if dialogue is not believable. Dialogue must flow naturally from the mouths of the characters and must be in keeping with the qualities, characteristics and motivations of characters. The Grecos are

Following the rules of writing effective opening scenes is vital so that readers will be able to suspend disbelief.  Readers must be grounded in the protagonist’s point of view in the beginning of a story.  They must see the world through