Loretta Giacoletto divides her time between the St. Louis Metropolitan area and Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks where she concentrates on writing fiction while her husband cruises the waters for bass and crappie. Their five children have left the once chaotic nest but occasionally return for her to-die-for ravioli and roasted peppers topped with garlic-laden bagna càuda. An avid traveler, she has visited numerous countries in Europe and Asia but Italy remains her favorite, especially the area from where her family originates: the Piedmont region near the Italian Alps.
Loretta's novels are filled with bawdy characters caught up in problems they must take responsibility for having created. In LETHAL PLAY a grieving widow must convince a team of hard-nosed detectives that she didn't kill her coach's son, a man with more enemies than friends. FAMILY DECEPTIONS follows two generations of earthy Italians and Italian/Americans who learn to survive and thrive through a series of misdeeds, the worst against those they love the most. In FREE DANNER a cynical young man's troubled past and deadly encounters hinder his search for the father he has yet to meet. THE FAMILY ANGEL is a paranormal saga about the Americanization of an immigrant family of bootleggers, coalminers, winemakers and priests, and a mysterious black angel who enjoys sticking his nose in the family business.
In addition to the horror anthologies, Damned in Dixie and Hell in the Heartland, Loretta's short stories have appeared in a number of publications including The MacGuffin, Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, The Scruffy Dog Review, Allegory, and Literary Mama, which nominated her story "Tom" for Dzanc's2010 Best of The Web.
