Raquel PenzoRaquel Penzo knew from a very early age that writing was her passion, but took the scenic route towards making it a full-time venture. What began as life filled with quadratic equations and scientific notations bloomed into a promising career in the urban Latino entertainment world. The native New Yorker and first generation Dominican American is now a freelance writer with a Master's in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She has since dusted off her old stories, bad poems, scripts and enterprising spirit to prepare for a takeover of the media world- one publication/film/play/song/TV show at a time.
Raquel currently resides in Brooklyn and her words can be found on her blogs, The Jaded NYer, and Raquel Penzo [dot] com. She is actively scheduling appearances on the Brooklyn literary reading circuit and self-published her first book, My Ego Likes the Compliments and Other Musings on Writing. Her short story "Grey Matter" was published on Blue Lake Review, and now Raquel is concentrating on finding homes for her remaining pieces, both long and short, in between maintaining and contributing to a handful of websites and raising two beautiful, intelligent young ladies.
Every Wednesday you will find her at La Pluma y La Tinta offering tidbits, motivation and insights to the craft of writing.
~*~
Theresa VarelaTheresa Varela spends her days working in the mental health field as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Her evenings are filled with writing and reading in different venues. She’s just completed her second novel, Covering the Sun with My Hand. It is searching for its home along with her first novel Woman Found. These stories are about two very different, but fierce, Latinas who do what it takes to squeeze out of the expectations of traditional women's roles and create new wondrous lives. The spiritual bend of Spiritism and Santeria are interwoven throughout both stories. While some may call their experiences "paranormal" the characters that surround these two heroines call them "very normal."
As a priestess of Yemaya and as a Spiritist, Theresa’s writings may at times take you by surprise and at others, enrapture you with delight! You can read more of her work via theresavarela.com. There you can also be connected to Latina Libations for her urban inspired poetry. At Rock in the Ocean you will find her personal essays. These are writings that are sparked by a moment, by a breeze, by a thought.
Finally at La Pluma y La Tinta Theresa writes a weekly column called Palabras. On Sundays she pulls a card from the oracle she designed and channels information from Graciella La Gitana- her most sexy and vivacious spirit guide.
