Moorestown native Regina Muccifori always loved to write. Her father was a professional writer, and following his footsteps, she decided to work in the law field because she enjoyed writing. She became a hearing examiner for the state and was responsible for writing legally binding opinions in complex cases. After a few years, Muccifori stepped away from law to focus on her children and their education. While they were in school, she became a substitute teacher. Then, in July 2013, Muccifori decided she wanted to do something for herself, something she always wanted to do — write creatively and write her first novel. Under the pen name Reggie Thomas, Muccifori wrote the book “Love Match,” a new adult book, geared toward 18- to 25- year-olds, about a Moorestown girl going off to college. In the story, tennis ace Harper Reed receives a scholarship to a prestigious school in Pennsylvania where she meets a man who she thinks is the man of her dreams. But that is only a small part of the journey Harper takes through her time at college. “There is a romantic aspect, but it’s not really a love story. It is about her journey through college into young adulthood. It’s fun and entertaining, a ‘Sex in the City’ kind of story. It’s really about a girl who moves into the city and encounters a lot of interesting people,” Muccifori said. Since Muccifori loves to write, she doesn’t find it hard. It is finding the time to write that is hard. Having to raise a family and take care of the house, Muccifori sometimes found herself writing at 4 a.m. in her family’s guest room to find alone time to write. Muccifori said she needs complete silence to write and get into the story. “That is why I wanted a pen name. You have to go outside of yourself. I need complete quiet to get into the realm and the characters,” Muccifori said. But after all the hard work, Muccifori felt it was most gratifying to have a finished product and to feel like she finally got it right. “My favorite part, after revising it and reading it over, is saying exactly what you want to say. It’s an amazing feeling when you feel like you got it perfectly right and it says exactly what you wanted to say,” Muccifori said. Muccifori decided to self-publish her first novel rather than go through a publishing company because she wanted to see her product and be a part of the production from start to the end. “I decided to self publish it. You’re responsible for everything in that case; you see the product all the way through. I wanted to feel like it was my own product, completely mine, so that is why I chose that route,” Muccifori said. She is working on the sequel to “Love Match” as well as a children’s book, which she has decided to try to get published through a publishing company. Muccifori will be signing “Love Match” at the Camden County Library System’s Mingling with Local Authors event on Saturday, Nov. 15 from 1 p. m. to 3 p.m. at the Vogelson Branch of the Camden County Library System at 203 Laurel Road in Voorhees. She will have books available for purchase. Muccifori’s book is also available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites. To learn more about Muccifori and her book, check out her author website at www.reggiethomasuthor.com.
