Author: Lucia Matuonto

Darlene West is the author of Awakened by Grace. Darlene attended Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. She has a degree in English and a minor in writing with the concentration in fiction, as well as a masters in Adult Education. Born in Queens, New York, Darlene grew up half on the East Coast and the other half in California. Soon after she left high school, she moved to Orange County for several years. When she turned twenty-seven, she moved to Connecticut where she met her husband. The couple have two boys and two beautiful grandchildren. They enjoy traveling, fishing, hiking,…

The key to living longer is not a secret! The answer lies in the eating habits of the populations of certain countries. For years people have been wondering why particular countries produce more centenarians. Nations seen as having “longevity” have people with more active lives than those in the West and it all comes down to diet. It has now been proven that a seagan diet, which is vegan based and excludes meat, dairy, eggs, and animal by-products, but includes seafood, contains the right amount of acidity for our optimum blood pH level. Studies show that vitamins and minerals are vastly overlooked…

Takira Q. Charles was born on the warm and sunny island of Saint Maarten. She left the island at age 19 to further her studies in the Netherlands. The author worked as an English teacher for over eight years and as a student-anxiety coach for two years before migrating to Canada, where she currently lives with her husband and son. Takira Q. shares the painful and unexpected event that sparked an insightful journey towards healing and purpose as a writer. At 22 weeks and two days, Takira delivered her baby girl, Grace, and had to say hello and goodbye all…

How do we love ourselves in a world made to point out our flaws?I have spent much of my life grappling with myself, my weight, my height, my disability and my general sense of value as a person.  Entirely magnified by social media, how do we disconnect from a constantly connected world and recognise ourselves in the mirror again?  I have spent a lot of time reflecting on who I am, literally looking into the mirror, asking this question.  I do not claim to know everything, but I hope these words leave you with some peace: – You are enough…

This October, The Relatable Voice (The RV) is starting a new weekly series airing on Saturdays called “Carpooling with The RV”. Every week on Carpooling with the RV, the episode will be dedicated to one specific and relatable topic: education, physical and mental health, grief, immigration, history, etc. Each episode will have two to three experts all relating to said specific topic. They will offer different perspectives and information about the subject, but it will also allow listeners to dive deeper and learn more. The RV was born in February 2021 at the peak of lockdown. Lucia Matuonto came up…

Addiction, recovery, and the forces that drive them make for some of literature’s most compelling reading. Those of us who seek others’ reflections on the often horrific path toward death or redemption have a treasure trove to visit and revisit, from Baudelaire to Bukowski, Dorothy Parker to Anne Sexton. Every such work is a travelogue, and the journey, on the continuum from AAA magazine to The Divine Comedy, is only as interesting as the writer who has lived and is telling it. Add Nadia Bruce-Rawlings’s compelling Driving In The Rain to the list of must-reads. Like her harrowingly powerful first…

One year while teaching Spanish at a local high school, Jennifer Degenhardt had a couple of classes who were struggling with the language. Thinking there must be a better way to grab their interest and attention, she wrote them a short novel, La chica nueva. “I wrote the basic story in a week,” she says. After reading the first several chapters, the students began to ask what was going to happen next. It was then that Degenhardt knew she was onto something. La chica nueva is about a Hispanic girl, Taruka, who moves into a non-diverse town. Taruka faces many challenges…

If one may ask, “Where do ideas for plot lines and characters develop?” An author may answer, imagination or … real life. Such was the idea that sprang to life within my imagination after visiting the St. Augustine Wild Reserve, in St. Augustine, Florida, US. Known as an ‘Old Folks Home for Big Cats,’ such as lions, panthers, cougars, tigers, etc…  These beautiful big cats are the leftovers brought from around the world to this WildLife Reserve. Leftovers from TV shows, movies, and those harbored as pets until the big cats decide to bite your head off! Ouch!! A fan of quirky titles and…

On todays’s episode of the Relatable Voice Podcast, we had a nice talk with Nicole Thomas. Nicole is a wife, mother and first-time published author of the book “The Tales of El-Hanai”. The fastest way to see the world and experience adventures without limits is to open a book. Reading has always been my favorite thing to do, it is what I would rather be doing at any and all times of the day and night. In 2019 I reached a point in my life where I felt stagnant, I needed direction and a fresh start. As a Christian I…

As a spiritual guide, Shytei Corellian has spent a lifetime in spiritual pursuits. She holds a bachelors in Spiritual Counseling and is working on her Masters in Metaphysical Science. She is a Qi Gong and Meditation instructor, and communicates frequently with her guides, gaining metaphysical, universal, and personal insights. She wrote her first story at nine, and began writing novels at fourteen. For Shytei, the mystical has always been unavoidable. Though she long kept the truth secret, her writing is made up of memories of other lives, other people, and other worlds. She’s never worked out a plot, made an…