Rhode Island Author Expo Spotlight – Julien Ayotte

This post was originally posted on Martha Reynold’s blog and has been reposted here with author permission, minor revisions have been made.

Following a successful career in the corporate and legal worlds as a financial executive, I retired in early 2002, expecting fully to enjoy myself traveling, and playing golf and tennis. Never did I expect to become an author of mystery and suspense thrillers.
When I was cleaning out some drawers in my office at home, I came across several chapters of a novel I had started to write in 1987. The first chapter was so old that the typewritten pages had turned yellow….aah, the good old days of the electric typewriter. My oldest daughter Barbara, an English major and graduate of Boston College, read the fifteen chapters in my manuscript and insisted I complete it. This happened in 2012, and out came Flower of Heaven, my debut novel.

Since its release, Flower of Heaven has won four national book awards, has gained over a hundred reviews on Amazon, has been cited by Kirkus Reviews as an intriguing global thriller, and has been an Amazon best-seller twice in the last year.
Thousands of readers told me they wanted a sequel. So, in 2014, I released Dangerous Bloodlineswhich picked up right where Flower of Heaven left off.

In the short time since its release, DangerousBloodlines has attained a 4.9 rating out of 5.0 on Amazon, and has captured two national book awards. Bill Reynolds, a columnist from the Providence Journal, cited Dangerous Bloodlines as a thriller that is well worth your while.

In Flower of Heaven, a young French woman, Franҫoise Dupont, has an innocent affair with a young American on holiday in Paris, never aware that he was a priest. The affair ends as abruptly as it began, but not without its consequences. Franҫoise is pregnant and delivers twin sons. Virtually penniless and destitute, she gives the boys up for adoption and begins to pick up her life again. While working at the Louvre, she meets her Prince Charming, an Arab prince. They fall in love and marry, but Franҫoise is constantly tormented at having given up her sons years before. The aftermath of this bad decision is revealed in international thrills and intrigue.

In Dangerous Bloodlines, Franҫoise Dupont, now Queen Farah of an oil-rich Middle Eastern country, continues the search for her twin sons. Thirty-five years later, their lives now are at risk from ruthless enemies of her husband, the King. A page-turning journey from Paris to Stockholm, to the vineyards of Orvieto, Italy, and to a remote hospital in war-torn Ethiopia, Dangerous Bloodlines will keep you guessing.

Julien Ayotte has a B.S., M.B.A., and PhD, all in business and finance, and served for many years as an adjunct professor of finance and investments in five graduate school MBA programs. During his extensive career, he has written over fifty articles in major legal publications and co-authored a financial planning book in 2001 entitled Wealth Building for Professionals.
A Life Before, his upcoming third novel, is expected to be released in February, 2016. His goal is to continue to write a new novel every year or so for many more years.

To read more about the author, visit his website here. Both of his books make excellent holiday gifts and he will be signing and selling them at the Association of Rhode Island Annual Author Expo at the Lincoln Mall on December 5th…….his seventy-fourth birthday.

Ayotte and his wife live in Cumberland. He is an Extraordinary Minister at St. Joseph’s Church in Woonsocket, the chair of its finance committee, and an altar server. He also is the Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors at Community Care Alliance.

Rhode Island Author Expo Spotlight – Connie Ross Ciampanelli

This post was originally posted on Martha Reynold’s blog and has been reposted here with author permission, minor revisions have been made.

Journey to 10K: Adventures of an Older Novice Runner
In 2012, I celebrated my 60th birthday by running a 5K for the first time in my life. Never an athlete, I followed the Josh Clark Couch to 5K® designed especially for beginners. Journey to 10K: Adventuresof an Older Novice Runner, my first book, is the story of how I achieved my dream. Written as I went along, it illustrates the successes and failures, good and bad runs, and discouragement and elation that I experienced.

I wrote this book to encourage others who embark on similar journeys. With desire and determination, anyone in good health can succeed in achieving their running goals.

Now approaching 63, I’m currently halfway through training for a half marathon.

Connie lives in North Providence, Rhode Island. Married to Tony for thirty-nine years and the mother of two grown sons, she works in the Guidance Office of La Salle Academy in Providence.

In addition to writing, she loves counted cross-stitching, specializing in sampler reproduction. She is also passionate about animals, at this time the human mother of Mercedes the cat. Mercedes and all of the Ciampanellis’ felines past and present have been rescues.

Connie is working on the true story of a feral cat that has resided in her neighborhood for several years. Unofficially adopted by Connie and Tony, they have named him Bartholomew Thomas Katt: Bart the Mysterious.