An Overview of L.E. Grabowski-Cotton
L.E. Grabowski-Cotton, MA, MFA, is a professional writer, editor, and writing coach.
Writing
L.E. is a published writer and an award-winning screenwriter. To read more about her writing, visit LauraWriter.Com.
Editing
L.E. is available for editing books, articles, brochures, advertisements, and technical reports. She will edit your materials to ensure that they are free of grammatical errors. She will make certain that your message is clear.
Writing Coaching
L.E. mentors students of all ages in fiction writing, non-fiction, screenwriting, and play writing. Her clients are instructed in all stages of the writing process. Several of her clients have finished novels and/or screenplays under her guidance. Most recently, one of her screenwriting clients was offered representation.
Education
L.E. has an MFA in Play Writing and Screenwriting from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts. She also has an MA in English Literature and a BA in Communication with a specialization in Media Studies from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
In addition to her formal education, L.E. was mentored by Marc Lapadula of Yale University; Hal Ackerman, screenwriter, playwright, and co-chair of the Screenwriting Program of the University of California, Los Angeles; Heather McDonald, playwright; Sheila Callahan, playwright and television writer for The United States of Tara; John Walch, playwright; Lisa Soland, playwright; Dan Dietz, playwright; Adam Bock, playwright; and Leilani Downer, television writer for The Fresh Prince of Bellaire, Full House, and Growing Pains.
Screenwriting Accomplishments
Each of L.E.'s screenplays has won multiple awards. Her screenplay, Recalculating, was an official selection of the 2011 George Lindsey Film Festival. It was a Finalist in the 2010 Table Read My Screenplay Sundance Film Festival, a Finalist in the 2010 Table Read My Screenplay Sundance Contest, a Finalist in the 2010 20/20 Screenwriting Contest. It received an Honorable Mention in the 2010 Fresh Voices Original Screenplay Competition. It was a Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Scriptoid’s Writer’s Challenge, a Semi-Finalist in the 2010 WriteMovies International Screenwriting Contest, and a Semi-Finalist in the 2010 American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest.
Her screenplay, The UnEngagement, won first place in the 2010 Atlantic City DownBeach Film Festival. It was an official selection of the 2010 Astoria/LIC International Film Festival, an official selection of the 2011 Beaufort International Film Festival, and an official selection of the 2011 Love Unlimited Film Festival. It received a Gold Award in the 2011 California Film Awards and won a Merritt Award in the 2011 Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood. It won a 2009 Art Within Labs Screenwriting Fellowship. It was a Finalist in the 2010 Creative World Awards, a Finalist in the 2010 20/20 Screenplay Contest, a Finalist in the 2010 WriteMovies International Screenwriting Contest, a Semi-Finalist in the 2009 Cinestory Screenwriting Competition, and a Semi-Finalist in the 2011 Blazing Quill Writing Competition.
In addition, L.E.'s screenplay, Dating Santa’s Daughter, won first place in the 2005 Writer’s Place Competition and was in the top 10% of the 2005 Nicholl Fellowship Competition, the most prestigious screenwriting competition in the country. The script was also a Finalist in the 2005 Austin Film Festival, a Semi-Finalist in the 2005 StoryPros Screenwriting Contest, and a "Consider" in the 2005 Creative Screenwriting Magazine's AAA Contest. Her screenplay, Eight Days Till Dawn, was a Finalist in the 2005 Virginia Governor’s Screenwriting Contest. Her screenplay, Dragonhood, won the Judge’s Choice award in the 2005 Writer’s Initiative Contest. Her television spec script, The Office: Sick Day, was a AAA Quarter-Finalist in the 2007 Creative Screenwriting Magazine's AAA Contest.
Play Writing Accomplishments
L.E.'s plays have been performed all over the nation and have placed in numerous contests and competitions. Her one act play, Recalculating, won first place in the Trinity Church Playwriting Competition. The ten minute version was an official selection of the 2012 Double XX Festival and the 2012 Lakeshore Players 8th Annual 10-Minute Play Contest and Festival, 2012.
Her play, The Perfect Proposal, published in 2007, was an official selection of several play festivals including the 2010 Bradley University New Faces Festival, the 2010 Rio Hondo Ten Minute Play Festival, the 2010 Point Loma Nazarene University Ten Minute Play Festival, the 2010 Enter Stage Left Ten Minute Play Festival in Hopkinton Massachusetts, the 2010 Shark Theatre’s Spring Ten Minute Play Festival, and the 2010 Speech Contest in the Union Community School District in La Porte City, Iowa.
L.E.'s ten minute play, Something Called Truth, was performed as part of the 2007 Provincetown Spring Playwrights Festival. Her one man show, Houdini: The Final Escape, was selected to be a part of the 2007 15th Annual Last Frontier Theater Conference. In addition, L.E's children’s play was a Semi-Finalist in the 2007 Jackie White Children’s Play Writing Contest, the most prestigious children’s play contest in the country.
Publications
L.E.'s monologue, Running Giraffe, was published in volume II of Young Women’s Monologue’s From Contemporary Plays. Her ten minute play, The Perfect Proposal, was published in The Best Ten Minute Plays of 2007, for 3 or more actors. Her ten minute play, The Charm of the British, was published in The Best Ten Minute Plays of 2008, for 2 Actors. Her ten minute play, The Baby War, was published in 2008, in The Best Ten Minute Plays of 2008, for 3 or more actors. All of her plays are published under the name “Laura Cotton.”
Magazine Writing Accomplishments
L.E. wrote monthly columns for Memphis Health and Fitness Magazine and Memphis Parent Magazine as well as book reviews for NortheastBookReviews.Org.
Teaching Accomplishments
L.E. is the creator and developer of Once-Upon-A-Story, a Creative Writing Program that she implemented into several private schools in the Memphis, Tennessee metropolitan area. The purpose of the program is to educate children and young adults about the importance of reading and writing, teach them various forms of stories, poetry, plays and essays, and foster a lifelong love of Shakespeare.
L.E. also created The Wonderful World of Writing, a writing show that she writes and broadcasts on YouTube to help aspiring writers achieve their writing goals and dreams.
Prior to creating the Once-Upon-A-Story program and The Wonderful World of Writing, L.E. taught English, Writing, and Reading Comprehension through The University of Memphis, Crichton College, and George Mason University’s New Bilingual Institute. In 2008, her teaching evaluations enabled her to be selected as the only adjunct instructor in the Honors Program in 2008. A few months later, she was also the only adjunct instructor chosen to be a Learning Communities Program Teacher, a ground-breaking program at The University of Memphis. In 2005 L.E. was granted the Award for Superior Teaching Excellence by the New Bilingual Institute of George Mason University where she taught Creative Writing, Essay Writing, Vocabulary Development, and World Literature classes to children and young adults.
L.E. also taught at St. Mary Episcopal School’s Summer Reading and Writing Program of Memphis, Tennessee (where she served as the assistant director), through The Fairfax County School System of Northern Virginia, Kaplan’s Score Tutoring Centers of Northern Virginia, and Brainiac Tutoring of Memphis, Tennessee. In addition, L.E. has tutored students of all ages, from toddlers to senior citizens, in every subject area including ACT/SAT prep, GRE prep, Phonics, Math, Science, History, Reading, Social Studies, French, Theatre and Film
