Welcome to the Rhode Island Authors Showcase! Each day in November, this blog will feature a different Rhode Island author. Read the post and leave a comment and you are eligible to win this day’s giveaway!
Leave a comment every day this month for over 30 chances to win either our Grand Prize (a $250 Amazon gift card), our Bonus Prize (a $100 Amazon gift card), or a Cheer-Up Prize (amount to be determined), just in time for holiday shopping!
A winner will be randomly selected one week after the publication of the blog post, and the Grand Prize and Bonus Prize winners will be randomly selected on December 7, 2021. For the daily giveaways, the author will contact you directly to coordinate delivery. Print books for delivery within the US only, please.
Dr. Karen Petit is the author of four novels and two books of poetry. These books all contain Christian content, historic elements, pictures, dream/reality connections, romance, and suspenseful action. Karen loves to write, in addition to helping others to write. She teaches English courses and is the Writing Center Coordinator at the Community College of Rhode Island. Her author website (www.drkarenpetit.com) has connections to her book websites and her blogs: a dream blog, a “Many Good Thanks” blog, a freedom blog, a sharing faith blog, a holiday blog, and an animal blog. Her first four books are novels; her fifth and sixth books are poetry:
- Banking on Dreams has a lot of romance, ballroom dance scenes, and dream/reality connections. The protagonist works in a bank, meets an FBI agent, and uses lucid dreaming techniques to help her to overcome nightmares.
- Mayflower Dreams has a protagonist who embarks on a real journey and a “dream story” as she explores the history and culture of the Pilgrims. While fictional, this novel has historically accurate parts, such as the “Mayflower Compact,” 107 endnotes, 20 bible quotes, a Pilgrim Language section, and photos from Plymouth tourist attractions.
- Roger Williams in an Elevator has a protagonist who becomes trapped in a partially destroyed building and helps people inside of eight different elevators: yelling, accounting, liberty, watery, fiery, falling, sharing, and hidden. The impact of Roger Williams on our society is seen in this novel’s content, in addition to its photos of statues and the Rhode Island State House.
- Unhidden Pilgrims connects free speech to religious freedom, dreams to reality, and the present to the past with action-filled scenes and pictures of historic items in Providence, Rhode Island, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. The protagonist sometimes has to run, hide, and fight; at other times, she stands her ground, becomes visible, and shares her faith and her love.
- Holidays Amaze has different poems focused on our amazing holidays and celebrations. The diverse poems in this book include maze poems, prayer poems, shaped poems, sonnets, and narratives.
- Amazing Holiday Paws has poems for different holidays with connections between people and animals. There are maze poems, prayer poems, sonnets, narratives, animal photos, and D.C. photos. Here is a poem from page 149 of Amazing Holiday Paws:
In honor of Veterans’ Day, Karen has written a poem and she wants to share it with you:
Rainbows on Veterans Day (November 11) The D.C. monuments for veterans strong were loved by tourists who were walking along and remembering the actions of those who had fought through rain to help us see rainbows. Sergeant Stubby, a dog, won medals galore for his help in battles of the First World War; his biting attack of an enemy spy ended in his promotion for his war cry. Stubby very often did a dog salute: when he saw soldiers do a human salute, he would quickly raise his right paw up high to position it above his right eye. Courageous actions are done time and again by veteran animals, women, and men; many receive medals, like Simon the cat, horses, pigeons, and dogs helping in combat. The monuments and statues remind us all of the courageous actions that did not stall, but instead marched forth in a climate of war on paws and feet to serve our country’s core. When storming noise brings thunder, snow, and rain, military animals all act humane, and service humans all act animated, so our tears of rain will be sun-gated. Source of Poem: Karen Petit, Amazing Holiday Paws. (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2020). 149.
Karen is offering a copy of Amazing Holiday Paws, and all you have to do to be eligible is leave a comment below. Print copy for US only, please. The winner will be chosen randomly a week from today, and Karen will coordinate delivery directly with you.
Join us on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, from 9:00am to 3:00pm at the CROWNE PLAZA in Warwick for the 9th Annual Rhode Island Authors Expo!
Martha Reynolds Writes 
I have to look up what a maze poem is. I don’t know much about different types so I will learn something new today. Thank you
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To all the Sergeant Stubbys, thank you for your service. A lovely poem to honor all our veterans.
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Your books sound intriguing. I love the combination of historical events with fiction. That yours are based mostly in our home state make them doubly appealing.
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Beautiful poem, Karen! My dad served in the Army, and my husband served in the Air Force as a flight mechanic.
See you soon at the RI Author Expo.
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Thank you for the poem. Great meeting you.
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Thanks for the Veterans poem. My Grandfather served in France in WWI, my Dad was in the Coast Guard in Alaska in WWII, and I served in the Coast Guard in Vietnam. Your books sound thought provoking.
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You have a very unique take on the world and your novel are far from the usual fare. Roger Williams in an Elevated sounds quite intriguing. I wish you the best of luck in your future.
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Greetings, Karen, from a fellow Christian. (Most of my work is secular, but I do engage in writing Christian topics. I’m currently working on a secular novella about Nicodemus’s “take” on the whole Jesus phenomenon.) You might be interested in joining a Christian writing group, “The Inkwell,” hosted by Dalene Bickel of Lasting Legacies, based in North Carolina. We Zoom-meet at 10 am on Wednesdays for an hour of “accountability” quiet time to write together without interruption. Some fine people. A man in Nigeria just joined this week. Last month, Dalene started a critique group, too, called “Impact Writers Critique Group,” with Zoom meetings on the last Tuesday evening of the month (the fifth Tuesday when that occurs). Submissions are entered into Google docs ahead of time, group members can enter comments in each submission, and the submissions are discussed directly during the Zoom meeting.
“Roger Williams in an Elevator” sounds like an allegorical story. It intrigues me because my brother-in-law, gone three years now, was working on an allegorical tale of a family that enters an elevator that deposits them on each floor of the building, where the family learns a life lesson. Sadly, he died quite suddenly with only the rough draft complete. He had submitted ten of the chapters to our critique group, but the rest of the story is locked up inside his computer, and no one seems to be able to get into it. The family already knows that if they can access his files, I want the manuscript of this book, because the concepts he presents don’t deserve to be left in the dust, forgotten.
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I’m sorry about your brother-in-law, and your family has my prayers. “The Inkwell” sounds like an interesting group, but my work schedule right now is a little bit busy. I have to work Monday through Friday 8-4. I’m also teaching three distance-learning writing courses. While I’m busy, I’m very thankful to be doing things that I love: writing, teaching writing, and helping other people to write in the writing center.
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Nope, you don’t seem like the thumb-twiddling type! At least you know that “the Inkwell” exists, in the event that you find room for it in your schedule. (I know what you mean about regular working hours – I’m in that boat, too. Working from home, though, so I can adjust my schedule accordingly. I am blessed!)
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Hi, your books sound like great reads, how beautiful of you to include the animals that have and take part of being heroes. Your poem to Honor Veteran’s Day is Beautiful ! I love poems, I have written a couple of poems myself, more to honor relatives that have passed. My granddaughter who Is 15 loves poetry and she has written a couple of your own. Have a great rest of the week and stay safe. God Bless you and your family.
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That you were chosen to be featured on Veterans Day is not a coincidence – your heartfelt poem needed to be shared! Martha seems to have a gift, along with so many other gifts, for the perfect timing on when to feature people!
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Phyllis, Karen requested to be featured on Veterans Day, and I’m honored to showcase her talent today.
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Karen, thank you for your poem about veterans, including dog Stubby. My dad served in the Army in WW11 in the Philippines, as did my uncle, his brother. We will always be thankful for their service as well as all others past and present. Good luck with your fiction and poetry writing. I plan to check out your books.
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What a lovely poem. My Dad was retired Navy and served in 2 wars. I will always be proud of him.
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YOur books sound wonderful. Thanks for the great post.
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Look foward to meeting you and Karen and getting some of your books !
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What’s next? A novel or another poem?
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All of your books look amazing. I love your poem you posted today.
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I read a couple of Karen’s poems at the Westerly Armory show this past weekend. They were extraordinary.
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I am interested in your Banking on Dreams book. I love reading romances and I am a ballroom dancer. I will look for your booth on 12/11/21
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