September 10th 2011
Maria Dolor: Saint Lucia’s very own novelist!
By: Rae Anthony

Young, talented, beautiful and simply amazing, Saint Lucia, you are introduced to our very own, Maria Dolor. Does the name ring a bell? Maybe, maybe not, but if you haven’t heard of her yet, you will hear a lot more about her. She’s 39 and she’s a novelist.

Maria like anybody else started off small; she was just a girl with dreams. At a tender age Maria was addicted to reading, anything she could get her hands on, she would read, that hunger just kept growing and growing and today, Maria Dolor owns a book club and is a novelist. She said it was never really her intention; she said the books just kept piling up. One day, she had a dream that she had to open a book club, so she said maybe that God was sending a message to her.

She was a student of the Ave Maria Girls Primary and also the Girls Vocational School. She has worked previously at various restaurants and also with Renwick and Company where she worked an estimated four years. She said she used to have many stories in her head, she would be inspired and she’d just create stories and one day, she went in front of her computer and the words just kept flowing; her goal was to write a novel. When she had completed the novel, she brought it to Anderson Reynolds, a local author who said the book still had a lot of work to be done especially relating to editing, but apart from that it was a very good novel. She was then introduced to a series of new people and a whole new world; within a decent space of time, Maria Dolor had her first published book: “Dance For Me.” The cover page of the book suggests that it should be read and the back cover where details about the book are given suggests the same, if not even more.

When asked how she feels about her first published novel, Maria said with a smile, “I am so happy, just to know that I can pick up a copy of my own book on the shelf, it gives me joy. The reviews that I am getting from people are amazing. They just can’t get enough. Some people tell me that they stay up at night just to read the novel, that its so captivating; so many people are already asking when I am going to publish my next novel. It’s just a great feeling.”

She already has ideas and is sketching for her next novel, but she is taking it slow, as she just needs a bit of time, since she just wrote her first. She says that her second novel will be even much better than the first, because the more you write the better you get. She said she would like to encourage all aspiring writers and everyone else out there to pursue their dream. She also emphasized that one needs to “Put God first in everything.”

She says that she does not have a favourite novelist as she tends to read so much and likesto read different novels, but she says that right now, she enjoys a good book by Karen Rose; she also stated that she loves paranormals.

Maria Dolor would like to thank all the people who assisted in making the book become a success today including: her partner whom she is with for 14 years now and she said that he is her rock, he gives a strength and supports her in everything: Fitzstephen Johny, Rob Taylor, Paul Lambert, Dana Dolor, Vernel Flavien, Jasmine Baksh, Robertina Poyote, Jackie Austin, Emelda Justin, Diane Alfred and Steva Raymond, Bank of Saint Lucia and Peter and Company, Beach Comber, Option Designs, Substation and all the other people who helped her become where she is today.

The book is available at her bookstore which is located upstairs Mama Zafant Chausee Road, Sunshine Book Store, A.F.Valmont Amazon.com, Kindle and Barnes & Noble online Bookstores.

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