Meet the Authors
Julien Ayotte
Meet Julien on Sunday, October 11th
Julien Ayotte is the author of six novels, with a seventh about to be released this fall. He holds a BS, MBA, and PhD, all in the business field, and has a career in the financial and legal worlds that spans over forty years. Code Name Lily was his first historical fiction, and was based on a true story, which continues to receive high praise from several WWII museums. His other novels are mystery thrillers, all best-sellers in their own rights.
http://www.julienayotte.com
List of Written Works:
• Flower of Heaven
• Dangerous Bloodlines, the sequel to Flower of Heaven
• A Life Before
• Disappearance (National Book Award Winner)
• Code Name Lily (National Book Award Winner)
• Diamond and Pearls (National Book Award Winner)
Candance Nadine Breen ’98
Meet Candace on Sunday, October 11th
Candace Nadine Breen is of West African (Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon) and wears many hats. She taught English in Providence, Rhode Island for eleven years for grades seven and nine. While raising a family, she returned to school and earned a Master’s in Human Services with a focus on Marriage and Family Counseling. She was later a real estate agent for a few years but found it unfulfilling, stressful and time consuming. After taking time to open up herself to her true path, she buried herself in metaphysical studies, earning a Master’s of Science and Doctorate in Metaphysics. She became a Spiritualist Minister which seemed like the perfect occupation for her, at first, but she gradually felt that she was outgrowing the Spiritualist community and was told by a medium unknown to her that her path would not end with the Spiritualist Church. She is now a Metaphysical Minister.
www.candacenadinebreen.com
List of Written Works:
• After the Darkness (Adult Nonfiction/Memoir)
• Born Different (Adult Nonfiction/Memoir)
• Today, I Feel Ugly (Young Adult Nonfiction/Memoir)
• Moon Child (Children’s Fiction/Fantasy)
• The Rainbow Ribbon (Children’s Fiction/Fantasy)
• Cuddly Cat (Children’s Fiction)
Lucie Contente
Meet Lucie on Sunday, October 11th
Lucie Contente is a RI Author. She has written two children’s books that are part of The Bella Series. Bella From the Farm and Bella Goes to the Spa. The Bella Series main character is a loving yellow lab named Bella who learns and teaches valuable lessons on her adventures. Bella From the Farm’s lesson is “just be yourself and they will like you.” It’s about not having to change who you are. She has also written three cookbooks. A few years ago, Lucie was diagnosed with Celiac disease and her food life had to change. She created the cookbooks to help others on their food journeys. The recipes are written traditionally, gluten free or how to make both at the same time.
www.luciecotecontentebooks.com
List of Written Works:
• Bella From the Farm
• Bella Goes to the Spa
• Gluten and Gluten Free Cooking in Perfect Harmony
• Gluten and Gluten Free Cooking in Perfect Harmony Take 2
• Gluten and Gluten Free Cooking in Perfect Harmony Take 3
Elizabeth Dalton ’90 and Susie Gronseth ’09
Meet Elizabeth & Susie on Sunday, October 25th
Elizabeth Dalton, Ph.D. in Education (2009), was counselor to community college students with disabilities for 13 years, Assistant Professor of Special Education, RI College, for 18 years, and is Director Emeritus of Development & Research, TechACCESS of RI, Rhode Island’s state-wide assistive technology center (which she co-founded in 1991). A post-doctoral fellow in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Leadership at Boston College and CAST in 2010, Dalton currently is senior consultant for Dalton Education Services International (DESI), consulting and teaching in areas of UDL, assistive technology, professional and curriculum development.
elizabethmdalton@gmail.com
Susie Gronseth, Ph.D., is Clinical Associate Professor in Learning, Design, and Technology in the College of Education at the University of Houston, Texas, USA. She specializes in learning technologies, teaching strategies, and applications of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to address diverse learner needs in online, face-to-face, and blended contexts.
Website:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethmdalton/
Book Website:
https://internationaludl.weebly.com/
Personal Website:
https://bit.ly/SGronseth
Dana Gambardella
Meet Dana on Sunday, October 25th
Dana Gambardella is a writer, educator, & love-to-laugh Italian American with a passion for literacy and culinary arts. Both nurture her own story each day. Being a reading specialist educating the highest priority reader isn't that different from being a chef enthusiast. Experts in both areas must combine the right ingredients and practices to create a successful recipe that reaches many learners and palettes. Join @LiteracyChef for a Read Aloud of Mama Bear's Magic. Together let's nurture your child's best ingredients through the power of story as they learn to embrace literacy, live to learn, and love their process.
Email:
literacychef@gmail.com
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook: @LiteracyChef
List of Written Works:
Mama Bear's Magic
This humorous, truth-telling tale illustrates how Mama Bear embraces Tiny Bear’s process so he can overcome his fear of the bath and discover that bathing is beary fun". With brother Bear’s modeling and Mama Bear’s clever approach, it’s like magic!
Highlights
• Relates to parents and children ages 2-8
• Engages young readers with humor and entices them to read more
• Encourages the importance of independent self-care and hygiene
• Highlights the bond between mother and child
• Showcases older siblings as role models
• Supports health education delivered by nurses and educators
• The perfect gift for mothers-to-be and/or adding to a child’s bookshelf
Grandma's House
Savor the sounds, tastes, smells and feelings that come alive only at Grandma's House. The illustrations replicate the author’s grandmother’s house that still stands in Providence, RI. Vivid memories come alive through the light, impressionistic watercolor techniques on each page that ignite feelings of nostalgia for readers of all ages.
Highlights
• Ignites emotion in readers of all ages
• Encourages children to reflect on their own process and how experiences shape them
• Supports educators as a mentor text with cross-curricular connections, i.e. the five senses, sensory imagery, memoir and descriptive writing, and social emotional learning discussions.
• A Read Aloud for all ages - vocabulary suited for ages 8-12
• The perfect gift to honor a Grandmother’s birthday and/or National Grandparents Day
Alison O’Donnell ’87
Meet Alison on Sunday, October 11th
Alison O'Donnell was accidentally born in Connecticut but is a life-long native Rhode Islander. A self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie, Alison has been skydiving, bungee jumping, hot air ballooning, scuba diving with sharks, zip lining, exceeding the speed limit halfway around the world, and is the mother of one daughter. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Rhode Island College, a Secondary English teacher certification from Providence College, and a Master’s from the school of hard knocks. A creature of the stage, she has performed comedy in the Southern New England area for more than half her life and played with various local bands as a singer/musician. In her spare time, Alison enjoys hiking and kayaking with her bichon, Scarlett. She has taught high school English for the past 19 years and doesn't really know what she wants to be when she grows up.
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlisonODonnell/
List of Written Works:
• Stupid Cupid
A Survivor's Guide to Online dating (comical yet practical recount of 100 really awful dates and what I learned from each so others don't have to suffer as I have!).
• The Adventures of Gizmo
Tells of my awesome little dog who is so loved by everyone, he gets kidnapped constantly! Instills family values, love of pets and respect for authority, best for children 3-9.
Angelina Singer
Meet Angelina on Sunday, October 25th
Angelina Singer is a young adult / new adult author with a romantic comedy, Just Like a Pill, books 1-3 of a dystopian science fiction trilogy The Upperworld Series, and Forgetting What I Couldn't Remember available for purchase on Amazon now. In addition to her writing career, Singer graduated Magna Cum Laude from Stonehill College in 2019, where she studied English, Music, and of course, Creative Writing. In her spare time she enjoys crocheting (with a portfolio of work available for purchase on Instagram @asinger320), as well as mentoring younger music students at a local music store, where she has been studying guitar for over a decade. She views her writing as a way to simultaneously escape from and embrace reality. Follow her on Facebook @AngelinaSingerAuthor and Instagram @angelinasingerauthor for exciting updates, exclusive content, and giveaways.
Website (Blog):
https://angelinasingerauthor.wordpress.com
Amazon page:
https://www.amazon.com/Angelina-Singer/e/B0743ZF23N/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
List of Written Works:
• Forgetting What I Couldn’t Remember (Book 1 of The Rewind Duology)
• Just Like a Pill (Who Knew the Boy of Her Dreams Would Fall Under Her Spell)
• The Upperworld Series
• The Sorting Room (Book 1)
• The Fall of Zephyr (Book 2)
• The Rise of Onyx (Book 3)
Emily Tallman ’11
Meet Emily on Sunday, October 25th
This Rhode Island native has wanted to be a storyteller since hearing her first bedtime fairytale. She asked for a word processor for Christmas at age four and has kept her promise to Santa by writing every day since. Her first set of books has been set in motion with the Monsters Within Series. Emily hopes to make mental illness a more readily accessible topic. She writes characters with mental illness as the heroes with the goal that more people will see themselves as worthwhile individuals and no longer just horror movie villains.
Website:
www.emilytallman.com
List of Written Works:
• Caught in a Lie
• Life in the Shadows
