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Steve Piacente

Goodreads Author

Born

in Brooklyn, NY, The United States

Website

http://www.stevepiacente.com

Twitter

#wordsprof

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Influences

My mom was the embodiment of women's lib before anyone knew the term, ...more

Member Since

May 2009

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Bella is the winner of a National Indie Excellence 2012 Book Award, and the Readers' Favorite 2012 Gold Medal for Dramatic Fiction. Bootlicker, the prequel to Bella, was published in September 2012 and is winner of the 2013 Readers' Favorite Silver Medal for Southern Fiction. Pretender (2018) explores the raw instincts that form our choices and drive our actions, sometimes with consequences that span generations.

But it all started for me in 1954.

Eisenhower was president, no one beat the Yankees, and Elvis was still an unknown. TV was three channels and two colors, black and white. Growing up, I didn’t particularly like school. I liked baseball, egg rolls and comic books, and it was Superman that got me interested in reading and writing.

Rai Bella is the winner of a National Indie Excellence 2012 Book Award, and the Readers' Favorite 2012 Gold Medal for Dramatic Fiction. Bootlicker, the prequel to Bella, was published in September 2012 and is winner of the 2013 Readers' Favorite Silver Medal for Southern Fiction. Pretender (2018) explores the raw instincts that form our choices and drive our actions, sometimes with consequences that span generations.

But it all started for me in 1954.

Eisenhower was president, no one beat the Yankees, and Elvis was still an unknown. TV was three channels and two colors, black and white. Growing up, I didn’t particularly like school. I liked baseball, egg rolls and comic books, and it was Superman that got me interested in reading and writing.

Raised in New York and educated in Washington, I kept moving south after college, eventually learning all they left out at journalism school at the feet of street-smart newspaper editors in Florida and South Carolina.

In 1985, one of those editors found me presentable enough to send back to D.C., this time as correspondent for the Tampa Tribune. The job ended four years later, and I found myself in steep competition for a similar slot with the Charleston, S.C. paper. I remember pumping the Charleston editor’s hand and pleading, “Please don’t let me become a press secretary.”

The man was merciful, enabling nine more years of Washington reporting, and front row exposure to the real South, as Charleston is far deeper into Dixie than Tampa, geography be damned. As time wore on, my NY sensibilities blended with Southern convention to produce stories on intriguing topics such as public celebration of the Confederate flag, and segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond.

It was a great time until Charleston ran out of cash and shuttered its one-man D.C. bureau. Out in the cold, I - by this time a father of three ravenous, athletic, college-bound children - found warmth in a little known Federal agency called the U.S. General Services Administration. I began as a speechwriter and today head the agency’s web, new media, and graphics teams.

Though Bella is my first real fiction, some thin-skinned politicians would say the stories I wrote about them were just as fabricated. In fact, no fiction bubbled up until I earned my license to write in the Johns Hopkins Masters program in 2000. During this time, I also reentered the classroom at American University, my alma mater, and began teaching journalism classes.

My insistence on clean, tight writing did no lasting harm to the three afore-mentioned children, now taxpaying adults in the fields of public relations, web design, and engineering. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that the kids snuck secret help from their mom, Felicia Piacente, a special education administrator in the Montgomery County (Md.) Public School System.

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Steve Piacente’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 177 ratings · 72 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Bella 3.79 avg rating — 130 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bootlicker 4.26 avg rating — 43 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pretender 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Your New Fighting Stance: Good Enough Isn't... And You Know It. by Steve Piacente (Goodreads Author), Jon Haeffner (Illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

197 posts
Steve Piacente's Blog

We’re All Presenting All the Time

Presenting is something you probably do in addition to your normal job.

Or maybe you don’t think you ever present.

But you do. We all do. A presentation doesn’t require a stage, podium and large audience. If the boss asks for an update while on a Zoom call about something else, you in that moment are the presenter and your boss is the audience.

The same goes for pitching an idea at a staff meeting, a

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Steve’s Recent Updates

Steve Piacente is now friends with Bethany Hudson
Jan 31, 2021 09:19AM · like
Steve Piacente made a comment in the group Making Connections — Author Sign Up! topic " Tana wrote: "If you are a Author and would like your e-book to be featured in our ARR program please leave your: Name: Steve Piacente Book Title: Your ...more "
Apr 07, 2020 05:08AM
Steve Piacente rated a book it was amazing Beartown (Beartown, #1) by Fredrik Backman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Beartown: The Journey from Brain to Book Think of the robust toolkit a film director gets to convey the drama of a tight hockey game. Actors. Music. That frigid stage, the ice itself. There are multiple cameras to capture everything from toothless cur ...more
Nov 25, 2019 03:21AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Beartown by Fredrik Backman <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Steve Piacente

“Good enough isn't, and you know it.”
― Steve Piacente

tags: life-and-living, life-lessons, life-quotes, perseverance

1 likes

“No one outruns the past.”
― Steve Piacente, Pretender

tags: life-lessons, life-philosophy

0 likes

“Must an act be illegal to be a crime? Who decides if the offender is worthy of forgiveness?”
― Steve Piacente, Pretender

tags: guilt, life-and-living, life-lessons, life-philosophy, redemption

0 likes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Crazy Challenge C...: Canadian Fact and Fiction Challenge	76	73	May 06, 2013 10:52AM
Bookworm Bitches : Books Read in April	25	141	Jun 12, 2013 06:38AM
Crazy Challenge C...: A-Z Pet Name Challenge 2012	185	203	Jun 19, 2013 01:22PM

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Steve’s Quotes

“Good enough isn't, and you know it.”
― Steve Piacente

tags: life-and-living, life-lessons, life-quotes, perseverance

1 likes

“No one outruns the past.”
― Steve Piacente, Pretender

tags: life-lessons, life-philosophy

0 likes

“Must an act be illegal to be a crime? Who decides if the offender is worthy of forgiveness?”
― Steve Piacente, Pretender

tags: guilt, life-and-living, life-lessons, life-philosophy, redemption

0 likes

“They say life passes in an instant. Not true. What is true is that we rarely stop to examine life moment by moment, unless moments occur that stop it for us.”
― Steve Piacente, Bella

tags: death-and-dying, life-and-living, life-philosophy, love, marriage

0 likes

“Some choices we make, others, we have no say. Or do we?”
― Steve Piacente, Bootlicker

tags: justice, politics, pride, race-and-racism-in-america, self-respect, southern-fiction

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Steve’s Friend Comments

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Comments (showing 1-16) post a comment »

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message 16: by Lidush

Mar 21, 2012 11:58AM

Hi Steve! Thanks for friending :)

reply | flag *

message 15: by Jillian Peery

Mar 20, 2012 01:34PM

Thanks for the add!

reply | flag *

message 14: by Steve

Mar 19, 2012 05:26PM

Thanks, Stacey. I wrote to you before reading your message. I hope you enjoy Bella; she's a handful :)
If you get a sec, check out the trailer at www.getbella.com. We put a lot of work into it and I always ask people to take a look.
Hope you stay in touch,
Steve

reply | flag *

message 13: by Stacey

Mar 19, 2012 04:28PM

Thanks for friend request. I can't wait to read Bella!

reply | flag *

message 12: by Steve

Feb 29, 2012 06:27PM

My pleasure, Nely!

reply | flag *

message 11: by Nely

Feb 29, 2012 06:15AM

Thanks for the add, Steve!
-Nely Cab

reply | flag *

message 10: by Steve

Feb 15, 2012 09:05AM

Hi Kim,
Yes, I actually would like to learn a little more.
Can we correspond by email?
I'm stevepiacente@gmail.com

Thx,
Steve

reply | flag *

message 9: by Harlequin Books

Feb 15, 2012 08:55AM

Hello Steve, it is a pleasure to meet you. If you ever have any questions about Harlequin or our books, please feel free to ask.

Kim S, Harlequin Books ambassador

reply | flag *

message 8: by Steve

Feb 01, 2012 12:01PM

Jeff wrote: "Hi Steve. Just sharing some karma!"
Awesome, I'll take it and return the favor, Jeff!

reply | flag *

message 7: by Jeff

Feb 01, 2012 10:32AM

Hi Steve. Just sharing some karma!

reply | flag *

message 6: by Steve

Jan 24, 2012 04:42AM

Hi there,
I recently read, "The Tender Bar," and really enjoyed it. A young boy desperate for some male role models by coincidence lives near a local bar. The regulars kind of adopt him; hence, the "tender" bar. Very nice memoir.

Also, forgive the plug, but hope you'll check out my "Bella." Isabel Moss knew she could lose her husband if he went off to war. When the call came, she was almost ready. What stopped her cold was the second call ...

Thanks for your note, Shelli Lea. Hope it's warmer down South than here in DC!

Best,
Steve

reply | flag *

message 5: by Alex

Jan 07, 2012 04:22PM

Hi Steve, Nice to meet you.

reply | flag *

message 4: by Sarah

Dec 14, 2011 08:09AM

Hi thanks for the friend request! :)

reply | flag *

message 3: by Kelly/yllektra

Dec 03, 2011 12:00AM

Thanks for adding me! :)

reply | flag *

message 2: by Steve

Nov 15, 2011 02:34AM

Thanks, Regulo,
Great to be here; looking forward to becoming an active member.

Steve

reply | flag *

message 1: by Regulo

Nov 14, 2011 08:23PM

Steve, Thanks for the Friendly Connection! It's great to hear from you again. Wishing a Happy Holiday Season! Looking forward to reading your book. All the Best on your book!

Please join/follow me at (Google-Follower) and at (NetworkedBlogs) DesperateLands.Blogspot page, and I will do the same for you! http://desperatelands.blogspot.com/

Regulo Zapata Jr.
Author: Desperate Lands

reply | flag *

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