Samantha graduated with a BS in Journalism from Florida International University in 2003. She wrote and reported entertainment scripts that were aired on FOX WSVN 7 in Miami, FL and OWL Radio at Florida Atlantic University in Boca. She is passionate about writing and has been writing short stories and poetry since she was a kid, after learning that her favorite grandmother was a poet. Samantha began writing children's stories in 2004. She has completed a 18,000-word humorous, animal-talking, chapter book called MURPHY: THE PHAT CAT. In addition, she wrote a 62,000-word middle-grade fantasy, RAINBOW CRYSTAL (book one) and the sequel, RAINBOW CRYSTAL: THE SPECIAL BOY WHO COULD is approximately 72,000 words. She is in the process of shopping RAINBOW CRYSTAL as a trilogy, and the first two as newly designed reprints. Samantha also co-wrote and finished a screenplay based on a true story about her Italian great-grandparents, MANO NERA, which is currently being shopped in Hollywood. MANO NERA was a finalist two times in the CREATIVE WORLD AWARDS Screenplay Competition in 2018 and 2021. It’s also a winner of 4THEATRE Selection of 2021, winner in the NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS of 2021, DELTA INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS of 2022, and MULTI DIMENSION INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL of 2022 as BEST DRAMA screenplay. RAINBOW CRYSTAL feature was a winner of 4THEATRE Selection of 2021 and a winner in the NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS of 2021 as BEST FANTASY. She is a member of SCBWI.
Samantha is a certified, professional multimedia master makeup artist. She is the creator of RAINBOW CRYSTAL COSMETICS LLC. ~ a whimsical make-up line that will be aimed for young adults, age range 12-25. Her cosmetics will correlate with her RAINBOW CRYSTAL fantasy series, and all will be inspired from settings or characters in her books.
Mainly, she's busy being a wife to Richard and mother to two children, Bella, and Lorenzo. She enjoys reading, watching movies, working out, blogging, spending quality time with good friends, and/or traveling, whenever she can find extra time (usually one of those activities accompanies a cup of coffee or glass of wine), minus the working out part. However, there are always exceptions. Samantha has two bulldogs (Bleu and Buster), one white, fluffy cat named Gracie who is the princess of the castle, two rescue kitties named Marlo Brando and Willow Nugget, a 150 lb. desert tortoise named Samson, and a bunch of exotic fish, corals, and albino iguanas. She has a lot of love, abundance, and activity around her; she feels blessed -- and even sometimes stressed -- every day for it all.
