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Owner and lead designer, Mallory Musante of Mallory Musante Shoes does not take being a female shoe-prenueur lightly. Upon graduating from Bryant University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Musante became frustrated with not being able to find unique shoes to express her personality. As any fashion-conscious woman, her love of unique wardrobe items made her even more determined. Noticing this void in the footwear industry, Mallory tapped her experience as a life-long painter and began designing exclusive, hand-painted women's shoes. In 2009, Musante started her line, Mallory Musante Shoes. Her “sole-searching” led her to take an intensive 5-day, shoe-making course at Prescott and Mackay, a London-based fashion and accessory design school in San Francisco. The course, she says, helped her become more savvy as well as giving her the tools to bring her product to the next level.

During the past year, several styles of shoes have been added to the line of Mallory Musante Shoes, including the 2 3/4-inch heel pumps as well as the 1-inch platform with the 4-inch heel. Musante has recently participated in StyleWeek Providence where Alex McCord, Real Housewives of New York, wore a pair of her shoes to the Jonathan Joseph Peters Show. Another exciting bit of news: On February 16, Musante's shoes will also be walking down the runway at New York Fashion Week at Keo's debut show!

We look forward to Musante keeping us posted on her progress. Check out Mallory Musante Shoes at www.MalloryMusanteShoes.com and follow on www.facebook.com/MalloryMusanteShoes and www.twitter.com/MMusanteShoes

Musa Signature Looks: copyright Mallory Musante Shoes painted shoe line, January 2010

Margo Candela was born and raised in Northeast Los Angeles and then moved to San Francisco, the setting of her first three novels: More Than This (Touchstone, Aug '08), Life Over Easy (Kensington, Oct '07) and Underneath It All (Kensington, Jan '07). More Than This was a Target stores Breakout Book and an American Association of Publishers national book club selection at Borders Books with Las Comadres. Her latest, Good-bye To All That (Touchstone, July '10), is her first set in her native Los Angeles and was the only novel picked by Los Angeles Magazine for its 2010 Best of L.A. list. (www.margocandela.com)

What is the hardest thing about being a writer?
Finding the motivation to write on a regular basis is a skill I’ve had to learn. It’s almost like working out. You have to do the work to see results and if you don’t do it, it’s very easy to just not to. No one is going to tell you to write and since you have to work alone to get it done, it can also be very isolating. But I’ve learned to adapt. I make sure to leave my desk, talk walks, and leave my work in my office. At the same time, I have to set boundaries so family, friends and neighbors understand that just because I work from home, it doesn’t mean I’m not working.