Debra Zannelli Author

I’m very happy to say that I’ll be at the Borealis Coffee Company’s Author Showcase on October 3rd from 7 – 9 PM. I’ll be joining two very talented authors. It’s been quite exciting for me to complete my science fiction trilogy, Sister World, though I am already missing the characters. Completing a series is very much like ending a relationship with people you care about, even the ones you don’t like. Borealis is spacious and comfortable, with excellent coffee and other libations. There’s local restaurants nearby. I hope to see you there. I’ve posted the press release below. Feel free to share,

ARIA is Back with “Sci-Fi: A New Author Showcase and Book Signing Event” on Thursday, October 3^rd, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM hosted by Borealis Coffee Company,

500 Wood Street, Bristol, RI 

The Association of Rhode Island Authors (ARIA) is pleased to work with the Borealis Coffee Company once again to present a public event featuring Science Fiction novelists. These authors will also discuss their own books and accomplishments; with time set aside for Q&A, book signings and sales.

Here are our Featured Authors and their works:

Multi-talented Debra Zannelli will be presenting selections from her Sister World series. Deb has authored eight books in all. Her most recent book, Return to Terah debuted here at Borealis this past April. 

R. K. Bentley is a classic sci-fi author. Rob’s been writing about worlds where magic, machines and mortals coexist since he was in Junior High School. His most recent, Where Weavers Daire has received rave reviews on Amazon’s Good Reads. 

Johnson & Wales professor Kenneth Schneyer closes the evening with stirring works such as, Anthems Outside Time & Other Strange Voices and The Law & the Heart. Though he is originally a Detroit native, Ken has lived in Rhode Island for 33 years.

There is no cover charge for this event. Borealis offers coffee, soft drinks, food items and alcoholic beverages for purchase. We will be providing audience-style seating for Thursday. Please join us for this exciting evening!  

ARIA is a non-profit organization that promotes the work of Rhode Island writers. ARIA members include published, and non-published, authors of both fiction and non-fiction. For additional details or to find out how to become an ARIA member see the ARIA website: RIauthors.org    

I will be talking at the Borealis Coffee Company, 500 Wood Street, Unit 113, Bristol, Ri on October 3rd from 7:00 -9:00, with two other authors: Rob Bentley and Kenneth Schneider. It’s a beautiful location and I hope you’ll come. There’ll be good drinks and good company to pass the evening. Though it seems my name cannot be spelled correctly , I will be there.

This is to all those who read my Darkness and Light series.

Would you like to know more about Gregor? I found him interesting, and if you’ve read the entire series you’ll understand why this is on my mind.

I’ve re-written Where There Was Darkness. Why would a man, having escaped the nightmare he’d been forced to live, finding a freedom he never thought to have, want to end the life he fought so hard to regain? Have you ever felt the battle won or lost took so much of your life that you had nothing left to give. I think at one time or another we all feel too tired to move forward, if not ourself, then it’s someone we know who’s facing difficult, life changing decisions . Marcus has someone to lean on. We don’t all have a person like that in our lives. I think this is a darkness many of us understand.

From Where:

Marcus sat by the chimney, holding a long piece of filthy glass tightly in trembling hands. Glancing at the door that had provided his escape from the monster within, he waited for it to speak.

You’re free to walk in the sun, but you still walk in the darkness. I’m…

“Dead. I killed you.” Marcus heard his laugh, one he’d seldom heard.

“What are you doing?” Ray called out as he approached. “Who are you talking to?”

Still staring at the glass, Marcus snorted. “I should have known she would call you, that you would find me.”

Back to me.

Many years ago, I woke up in a recovery room after nine hours of surgery. The doctor called my name and though I was awake, I didn’t answer. The quiet, the knowing I was still alive, gave me time to know who I wanted to be when I opened my eyes. I’ll never know if the person who woke up was the person I should be. We don’t get to live the life we didn’t choose and we will never know what may have been. These are questions we all face. For Marcus the questions are more difficult. My hope is to tell the story of how his decisions, ours, aren’t made alone. His response is framed by those he’s grown to love and the one who changed him from what he once thought he would be.

Third in the series, Where There Was Darkness is the story of Marcus’ connection to his past and the future he makes. His evolution is best explained by the new version. I hope I’ve done justice to the man I created, in the world I’ve brought him into, a darkness deeper than what I’ve seen, but nevertheless one I can identify with. Copies are now available.

It’s been a long time coming but I want to say the book launch was a success. More important than the number of books sold was those who came. Today’s friends and those from many years ago came to show support. I am so proud of Sister Wold the Return to Terah. I will miss the characters I have come to know so well and hope you will find the time to meet them.

Eight books, I brought them all.

A new friend enjoying the launch and purchasing the first book in the Darkness and Light Series.

It’s hard to believe, the shy girl who lived mostly in her head, only comfortable in front of people when singing and making believe she was someone else, usually Barbra Streisand, could actually talk in front of a group of people. Loving what I do helps take away the fear. It’s good to know Streisand vomited before every live performance. At least I didn’t get sick.

Taking Marcus (Dark Nigh of the Soul) from victim to survivor in his long journey helped me, the woman who survived the brain tumor she thought would take, if not her life, her ability to be who she wanted to be. Instead it gave me the strength to be the person I always wanted to be. We, all of us, are stronger than the challenges we have faced, the challenges still to come.

Bringing the courage, strength and wisdom of the youths we so often speak ill of is what I put into my Sister World Series. Too often we send or young to war, but ignore what they’re trying to tell us. There is much to learn in the listening.

With love in their hearts, my parents gave up much of their lives to give me and my sister the life they thought we deserved, not knowing that what we needed and wanted was them. It is the not hearing that is the catalyst for The Arrival. The listening, learning and trusting brings about the silent war for our world, our Fight for Earth. The final testimony is the trust now placed where it is best served that brings us back to Terah.

If you haven’t read the books, please do. They’re available in every format. If you have, please post a review.

THE PERSON WHO SHARES THIS POST THE MOST WILL WIN A $50.00 AMAZON GIFT CARD. Yes that’s all you need to do. I will be holding a book launch for Sister World Return to Terah, the third book in the Sister World trilogy on May 25th at Stillwater books, 1745 Main Street, Warwick, RI from 3:00-4:00 PM. Meet the author and enjoy light munchies. I hope to see you there.

I’m inviting all my readers, and soon to be readers, to come to the book launch of Return to Terah on May 25th from 3:00 to 4:00 at Stillwater Books, 1745 Main Street, West Warwick, RI 02893

I’m very excited to introduce the final chapters in the Sister World Trilogy. I’ll miss the friends I’ve made among the pages of this book, but I know I’ve taken them where they needed to go. Please join me, to celebrate the Sister World, Return to Terah.

I know I’ve said this before but the book is finally in its final edit. I’m particular so I’m taking my time, making sure it’s what I want it to be.

As we follow Kahill, Becarra, Peter, Rebecca and all the others who sacrificed and fought to save Earth from the occupation of the despot Frauliege, we find many who fought with them follow Kahill and Becarra to Terah. There they face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The battles are real, lives on the line. There are heroes, spies, sacrifices and betrayal. Will Learning to work together finally end Frauliege’s reign. There are surprises to be found and new people to care about. We can never forget those with four legs or wings that have their lives on the line. I hope to give you a release date soon.

I’m posting a few paragraphs of my short story, No Green Eyed Monster. It’s autobiographical and tells of my childhood, of love that doing the best it can, with the best of intentions isn’t always the answer.

       I don’t remember my first home.  I’ve heard a lot about it.  A big apartment with a pretty good sized yard.  My mother didn’t like it because it was mostly driveway.  I only remember leaving it behind.  My sister was getting ready for first grade and my parents wanted us to go to a good school.  

            We moved to Cumberland.  This home I remember well.  Both my parents had dropped out of school.  They married young.  Mom was just sixteen, father only three years older.  They saved every penny they could and bought a converted hunting shack.  In my memory it was beautiful.  There were four of us.  My sister and I shared a bedroom.  My parents had the only other one.  The bathroom was an add on.  Unfortunately this meant the pipes were outside and froze when the weather got cold enough.  I can still see my mother emptying out the chamber pot.  No matter how miserable the job she always came in smiling.  For her children she would do whatever it took.  We didn’t have a bathtub or shower.  The farmers sink in the kitchen worked well enough.  My sister outgrew it first.  I remember the first day she went to school, leaving me behind.  I wanted to go and didn’t understand when my sister came home crying.  

            I watched the glass cookie jar.  I didn’t understand why Mom was putting her every spare dollar in the jar.  When it went from clear to green, we went shopping.  It was my turn to go to school.  It didn’t take me long to find out why my sister cried.  Poor is not something to brag about.  

Second the