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= L. A. Cataldo = Laurie Cataldo-Fuchs, (born 28 May 1970) pen name L A Cataldo, is an American novelist.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, Cataldo-Fuchs was working as an Accounting Analyst and Data Entry for Extendicare Health Services, Inc. when she first started making notes and considering the idea of becoming an author. Several pieces of poetry written by Cataldo-Fuchs in the late 1980's have been previously published in compilations. After Extendicare Health Services, Inc. was sold and her position had been eliminated, Cataldo-Fuchs took the opportunity this provided to pen her first novel, Dark Past, released in October 2015. The second book in the series, Dark Presence, is currently in editing and has a target release date of late October 2016. The novels can best be described a suspense romance novels.

Ms. Cataldo-Fuchs is the second child of seven. Her father, John (Giovanni) was born in Sicily and emigrated to the United States with his parents and four siblings while in his teens. He met and married Ms. Cataldo-Fuchs' mother, Catherine White in 1968. Ms. White was of predominantly German descent and was born and raised in the Milwaukee area.

Ms. Cataldo-Fuchs is married and the mother of two grown sons and shares her house with her husband, oldest son, and four dogs.

Name
Although she writes under the pen name "L. A. Cataldo" her name before her marriage, was simply "Laurie Cataldo". With the prevalence of social media and to avoid confusion between her author persona and private persona she uses two initials rather than her full name. Following her marriage, she uses her full name of Laurie Cataldo-Fuchs when conducting personal business.

Birth and Family
Cataldo was born to John (Giovanni) Cataldo, retired, a manager at Babcock and willcock, and Kathleen Cataldo (née White), a home maker on 28 May 1970 in Milwaukee, WI, USA, Her parents first met through a friend from the east side of Milwaukee in 1968. They married in 1969. Cataldo is the second of seven children born to her parents, five girls and two boys.

Childhood and education
Laurie is the second of seven children, Gina, Laurie, Angelina, Giovanni, Kristen, Michelle, and Michael. The family lived upstairs from her paternal grandparents, Luigi and Maria Cataldo. She attended St Catherine's parish school through 8th grade and then Washington High School, graduating in 1989.

Cataldo's childhood home

As a child Laurie often avoided reading but did observe her mother, an avid reader, read a book a day. Her early years at St. Catherine's were difficult. Living in the home with her paternal grandparents often the only language spoken was Sicilian and Laurie and her sister were fluent in the language. However, because of this they were not as fluent in English and had difficulty adjusting and fitting in at St. Catherine's. At her mother's insistence the family moved away from her grandparents home when she was seven and her parents bought their first home on the North side of Milwaukee. When she was a young teenager, she got her hands on a book called "Are You There God? It's Me Margeret" and started her interest in books. A few years later she checked a book out at the library "The Crowd Pleasers by Rosemary Rogers". Rosemary Rogers became her heroine and she has re-read the book multiple times throughout her life. Ms. Cataldo has said that her teen years were eventful. Her home life was filled with stress because of all her siblings. She took on a paper route and made plenty of friends to take up her time away from home. Cataldo later said that she based the character of Dark Past on personal experiences from her own life when she was 37.