Dolores Stewart Riccio

Born in Boston, I was brought up in the small New England town of Pembroke, Massachusetts, which is near Plymouth, the location of my current series of novels, CIRCLE OF FIVE and its sequels.

Poetry was my first love, and over the years I’ve published poems in many literary journals. Later, I turned a talent for creating recipes into several cookbooks with health themes. One of these, SUPERFOODS: 300 Recipes for Foods that Heal Body & Mind, Times Warner, 1993, was a featured alternate selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club; alternate selection of the Better Homes & Gardens Book Club. Over 100,000 in print.

Superfoods gave me the nerve to “quit my daytime job” as a greeting card editorial director and enjoy the precarious profession of full-time freelance writer.

I’ve also co-authored two volumes of stories about famous haunted houses of the United States, which was fun to research and inspired me to keep exploring phenomena we call ‘paranormal’—which may be turn out to be perfectly normal, after all.

From my first marriage, I have two grown children, a daughter and a foster-son, both of whom are carried on the rolls of the Penobscots (Native Americans) of Maine. My own roots are Sicilian and Scotch-Irish.

As a poet, I’d always signed my maiden name, Dolores Stewart. For cookbooks, I preferred my married name, Dolores Riccio; after all, it was my loyal husband who got to try all those experimental dishes. Not wanting to abandon either chapter of my past, I’m using both names for fiction.

I’m married to Ottone Riccio, poet, teacher, and author of THE INTIMATE ART OF WRITING POETRY. We've recently moved from Rhode Island to Duxbury, Massachusetts, where Rick continues to hold poetry workshops in our home.

We’ve enjoyed many canine companions through the years, and dogs and other pets often figure as important characters in my fiction. Our aging German shepherd Britta misses some of her old enemies, dump trucks and school buses, and has to make do with barking at squirrels, wild turkeys, and neighboring cows who wander through the pine woods out back. We love living in Duxbury. It’s entirely peaceful and the beach is magnificent, although the water is bone-chilling! The town itself seems to me (as a newcomer) to be such a picturesque, timeless village, I sometimes think of it as Brigadoon.

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These are some favorite books about Wicca, witches, goddesses, and the history (prehistory, really) of matriarchal rule that have influenced and enlightened me.

For an introduction to modern day Wicca with a thoughtful explanation of its roots, you can’t top this one! This is the book I had to have two copies of, because I kept loaning it to people who expressed an interest in the subject, and I absolutely needed to have one always within reach. Positive Magic: Ancient Metaphysical Techniques for Modern Lives , by Marion Weinstein. The revised edition is by New PageBooks,2002.

One of my most-thumbed reference works for a quick take on any Sabbat or Esbat, I recommend, The Wiccaning, A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Modern Witch, by Sister Moon, Citadel Press, Kensington (my own revered publisher!)

For an overview of the history of goddess worship and its relevance to today, this is the definitive work: The Spiral Dance, by Starhawk, 20th anniversary, HarperSanFrancisco, 1999.

Scott Cunningham, for those of you who don’t know him, wrote the most crystal-clear guides to everything metaphysical, and you’ll find his works in any Llewellyn catalog. My particular favorites are Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner; Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, and The Magical Household.

Simply to evoke the spirit of the ancient holidays, without much reference to Wicca (except subliminally), at the appropriate times of the year, I always read The Wheel of the Year by Pauline Campanelli, with its beautiful illustrations by Dan Campanelli. Really lures me into the spirit of the season.

A Book of Women's Altars, by Nancy Brady Cunningham, Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002, is a wonderful source of creative settings for personal celebrations.

A recent addition to my “favorites” references shelf is The Wiccan Way, Magic Spirituality for the Solitary Pagan, by Rae Beth, Phoenix Publishing, 2001. Rae Beth has written other Wiccan books that I haven’t read yet, but I’m looking forward to them.

Then there are classic works to recommend:
Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers and Other Pagans in America Today, by Margot Adler, Beacon Press
The White Goddess, by Robert Graves, a rather impenetrable treatise on the ancient myths but dear to my heart for being my initiation into the history of the “goddess with a thousand names.”

For those interested in Druids, a subject I read about eagerly when I was researching my novel Spirit, I especially recommend The Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis, who also writes a terrific mystery series under the name Peter Tremayne featuring an early Christian religious Sister Fidelma, a judge and a sleuth in the world of Ancient Ireland.

Speaking of Ancient Ireland, a book I can hardly read without feeling really angry at the suppression of women through the ages is The Serpent and The Goddess: Women, Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland, by Mary Condren, HarperSanFrancisco, 1989. Highly recommended!

For the ecologically minded, even as I type this, I'm reading Pagan Visions for a Sustainable Future, a collection of essays by a number of thoughtful Pagans edited by Ly de Angeles, Emma Restall Orr and Thom van Dooren, published by Llewellyn Publications. This one was actually in my library, as many Llewellyn books are not. Wonderful, evocative, inspiring views. I quote from this book on my Home page.

A particularly helpful Web site is edited and maintained by Terri Paajanen. It's one of the "About" family of newsletters; you can sign up to receive any one of them free. Paajanen's newsletter is titled ABOUT Pagan/Wiccan Religion. There's a world of inspiration, history, theory, and practical help in those pages, and I am indebted for the many times I have used the P/W connections for my research.

There are more books and sources. I’ll add them as they come to mind.