Two Great Rhode Island Treasures Right Here

Julien Ayotte Asks: Why Do People Live In Rhode Island?

I’ve been asked that question for over 60 years, and for the life of me, I can’t seem to find the perfect answer to this question.

Rhode Island has a relatively high state income tax and a very high sales tax, its local real estate taxes aren’t much better, many of its roads are in disrepair, and the economy is rated as the worst in the country.  When you hit bottom, eventually you can only go up.  Add to the mix a history of corrupt politicians on the local and state level, and we are a complete disaster as we struggle with some of the highest utility rates in the country to boot.

So, why in God’s name, do people still live and retire in Rhode Island?

Well, let’s see if I can justify the reasoning of those of us who have decided to live and die here.  Everyone knows about our gorgeous seashore from Warwick, to Narragansett, to Newport, and down to Westerly.  Many celebrities have second homes somewhere along our coastline.  Nicholas Cage and Taylor Swift are two that come to mind, and who own mansions on the water here.  And as an original colony from our country’s colonial days, Rhode Island is rich in history with the likes of the first Baptist church in America, founded by Roger Williams in Providence, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, countless eighteenth and nineteenth century textile mills spread throughout the state, and much more.

The furthest distance from north to south in the state is about fifty miles, excluding Block Island, an island retreat where presidents have vacationed on occasion.  New England clam chowder is often imitated in other states, but our original creation can only be tasted in our restaurants.  Seafood in Rhode Island is aplenty, and always freshly caught, that alone would make you spend some time here.

I planted roots here in the 1940s, and I write all of my novels here.  As a matter of fact, all five of my award-winning books have scenes from Rhode Island in them, a factor which my thousands of readers always find enjoyable.  And my biggest critics, my wife and three adult children, are what keep my wife and me in this area, as they all live in nearby Massachusetts.

So, if you’d like to read highly rated mystery thrillers on Amazon, or choose to visit my website, www.julienayotte.com, to know more about my novels and me, you’ll not only read good novels, you’ll get to know more about Rhode Island as well.

If you choose to email me at jpahome@cox.net for more information, one of you will receive a copy of my newest release, Code Name Lily, a historical fiction about a real heroine from Belgium during World War II.  And if you’re ever in Rhode Island, let me know.  I’ll still be here, and I don’t plan to go anywhere anytime soon.

Eliza Carter Can Never Leave Rhode Island Behind

My new romance goes into uncharted territory for me: Vikings. At first glance, little old Rhode Island seems to have nothing to do with them. But go to Newport, famous for its Gilded Age mansions and beautiful beaches, and you’ll find the Hotel Viking, Viking themed gift shops, and even laundromats and liquor stores named for the famous explorers. I think they’d appreciate that latter one, especially if they sell mead. It’s all because of a mysterious structure some nineteenth-century residents attributed to the Vikings. No one knew how far south their explorations had taken them, or where the actual location of Vinland was. Some people believed (or perhaps hoped) the Norse had made it all the way to Newport. An archaeological dig in the middle of the twentieth century revealed that the building was, in

fact, a seventeenth-century mill, but the love of Vikings remains.

Rhode Islanders embrace all cultures. My own grandparents immigrated here from Sweden and Armenia. One of my favorite childhood memories is visiting the Swedish bakery with my grandmother, to get Havreflarn (crispy oatmeal cookies) for my father, her beloved son-in-law. Next, we’d head directly to the Armenian one for lahmajoun, a type of Armenian pizza, which I would devour in the car before my mother could scold us both. To celebrate special occasions, my parents, my grandmother, my brother, and I would always go to an Italian restaurant on Federal Hill in Providence. Nothing beats Italian food. Actually, nothing beats the food in Rhode Island, period, whether it’s the restaurants, the bakeries, or seafood by the beach. Of course, the beaches are top-notch, too.

In fact, Rhode Island is so unique, it’s difficult to leave. Believe me, I’ve tried. I went to college in the South, and my husband was relocated to the Midwest when our children were small. I viewed both moves as opportunities to expand my horizons, and I really did enjoy the regions in which I lived, but I was desperately homesick, as was my husband, who is also a native. And we’re not alone. My town is littered with people who, despite achieving their educations and career accolades elsewhere, return like they’ve been pulled by a magnet.

At this stage in the game, my husband and I are both fortunate to work from home. We could live anywhere. He owns his own business and has an office in Florida. We often talk idly of moving there. It seems like a no-brainer. There are no blizzards and there are too many tax benefits to mention. But after batting the idea around for a few minutes, we always laugh. We know it will never happen. We’d miss our families, the food, and even the snow…but especially the food.

Eliza Carter lives in the Ocean State with her Viking-like husband and daughters. She also has an overprivileged Weimaraner and two enormous tomcats. She loves the man and the girls more than life itself, but it pays to give the animals a surfeit of attention sometimes, to keep the humans on their toes.  Besides the above, her favorite things are frosting, Chardonnay, men’s muscles, baroque music, frosting, and her readers. Yes, she mentioned frosting twice. It was intentional.

Visit Eliza at www.elizacarterwrites.com.

 

Stolen by the Viking

https://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Viking-Vikings-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B07W79L9Q1/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=eliza+carter+Stolen+by+the+Viking&qid=1567259625&s=gateway&sr=8-2

When the Lady Lies

https://www.amazon.com/When-Lady-Lies-Loch-Lairds-ebook/dp/B07L95TT36/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2E2Z5S76TOS8T&keywords=eliza+carter+when+the+lady+lies&qid=1567259474&s=gateway&sprefix=Eliza+Carter+W%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-2

(all material provided/released by authors)

Rhode Island Duo: Gail Eastwood and Julien Ayotte

Author Gail Eastwood: RHODE ISLAND –A Place of Many Names:

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the U.S. but it is huge in terms of what it has to offer. When I first signed up for this blog, I planned to highlight the state’s rich history, since I’m a history geek and write what I call “semi-sweet” Regency romances with a twist of suspense. My characters may be on the “other side” of the War of 1812, but their English fashions still ruled here! Plus, much of Rhode Island looks like England, with small farms, woods, and old stone walls along the narrow backroads, not to mention our miles of coastline. Our history goes back well before the Regency period.

However (you heard that coming, right?), I recently started a new project, which is a series of sweet contemporary romances set right here in Rhode Island, in a small town by the water! They aren’t out yet, so I can’t say much about them, but you can be sure when there is news it will be posted on my website and other places –see my contact info at the end of this post. So now I also want to talk about Narragansett Bay and the ocean!

If Rhode Island weren’t known as “The Ocean State” it might instead be called “the Feisty State” because, for such a small place, we sure have been a contentious lot. We were founded in 1636 as a haven for religious freedom in rebellion against the restrictive views of the Puritans. We took on the British even before those Bostonians dumped tea in their harbor (the 1772 Burning of the Gaspee, see http://gaspee.org/BurningGaspee.html) and we renounced our allegiance to the Crown in May of 1776, two months before the Declaration of Independence!

Many houses survive here from that colonial era, some open as museums, but many are still private homes. Providence offers “a mile of history” along Benefit Street, including rows of such homes stretching between the beautiful 18^th century John Brown house, America’s actual First Baptist Church (1775), America’s longest running little theatre, the Barker Playhouse, and the excellent Museum of Art that is part of the R.I. School of Design. Newport is the home of America’s second and oldest remaining Jewish synagogue, Touro Synagogue (1763), still an active place of worship.

Newport also offers an array of later homes –the famous “Newport Mansions”, summer homes of the very wealthy during the Gilded Age (late 19^th century) –the Astors and Vanderbuilts, among others. If your taste is more literary, you can trace the paths of Edgar Allen Poe and horror writer H.P. Lovecraft in Providence, visit the summer home of Edward Everett Hale (author of “The Man without a Country”) or see where Thornton Wilder stayed in Newport when writing the novel Theophilus North (movie 1988 “Mr. North”). The latter is one of my favorite spots in R.I. –the Inn at Castle Hill, where lunch on the lawn affords a delightful view of boat traffic heading in and out of Newport Harbor. 

Newport graces the southern tip of Aquidneck Island, also known in early days as Rhode Island. The largest of many islands here, it’s the one that gave our state its name (the “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”, the longest name for the smallest state). Besides Castle Hill off the fabulous Ocean Drive along Newport’s rocky oceanfront, the island offers several other of my favorite things to do: picnic with wine tasting on the grass at a vineyard (there are several), picnic supper at a polo match in Portsmouth, picnic lunch and a stroll through Green Animals Topiary Gardens, also in Portsmouth. 

Notice a “picnic” pattern there? R.I. is at its best in summer, when the ocean breezes usually keep our weather moderate. Maybe we should be called “The Summer State”! However, there’s good reason we are “The Ocean State”. For all our small size (37 miles wide x 48 miles long), we have nearly 400 miles of saltwater coastline, and countless beaches. Like Delaware, R.I. is intersected by a huge bay that takes up the entire middle of our space.

The many coves and inlets along the sides of Narragansett Bay make it no surprise that R.I. also has a legacy of smuggling activities. (Maybe “The Smuggler’s State”? LOL) A lighthouse tour of the bay or a cruise on a ferry from Providence to Newport are popular ways for visitors to see the bay up close.  The view from the top of the Newport Bridge is truly spectacular! Personally, I enjoy a sail on my son’s vintage 33-foot sailboat, but above all I am a beach girl.

RI’s beaches come in all flavors, from unspoiled natural beauty to busy and energetic with all the amenities. You can pick your style, or try to visit all of them. That’s a challenge, though, because not all are public. Back in 1937, my grandparents picked up a private beach membership that we consider a family heirloom as it passes to each new generation. A quiet, almost empty beach is what I love best, which means I stay away on the weekends! R.I. beaches would be “world-class” if only our water was warmer, and our weather more reliable. There’s good reason stars like Taylor Swift, the late Anthony Quinn, and actor James Woods have or have had homes here.

My new series is set in a fictional small harbor town on a cove off of Narragansett Bay. Through the romantic escapades of my characters, I hope to also share a glimpse of life in Rhode Island for those who may never get a chance to come here. You can explore many facets of R.I. through the articles at tripsavy.com, like this one on our beaches: https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-best-beaches-in-rhode-island-4143185.

Have you ever been to RI? If so, what is your favorite impression? If you haven’t, what do you think you might enjoy the most?

I am offering a $10 Amazon gift card for one randomly-selected commenter on this posting plus, if you prefer instant gratification, your choice of one of my three self-reissued Regency ebooks, The Captain’s Dilemma (set in the English countryside), The Lady from Spain, or The Magnificent Marquess (both set in London). All are revised or in the case of the Marquess, fully rewritten, from their original versions published by Signet/NAL/Penguin back in the 1990’s. (I can’t give away the backlist books that have been reissued by Penguin.) Full descriptions are on my website, or on Amazon and other book outlets. 

If you prefer sweet contemporary romance and are willing to wait, I can instead offer you the gift card plus the chance to Beta read the first book in my new series when it is ready! When you comment be sure to let me know which option you prefer, if you want to be in the drawing. Thank you for reading!

Gail Eastwood started writing stories as a youngster and always aimed at becoming an author. After detours into rare books, journalism, and a few other things, she finally penned her first novel (A Perilous Journey), sold it, and won the Golden Leaf Award for Best Regency when it came out. Six more acclaimed novels followed, but then Gail’s career got sidelined for a decade by family health issues. Now she’s back! To learn more and see what I’m doing, please visit www.gaileastwoodauthor.com, sign up for my newsletter, and check my facebook pages (facebook.com/gail.eastwoodauthor.7, and facebook.com/gaileastwoodauthor/). I’d love to see you there!

Rhode Island Author Julien Ayotte Keeps His Focus Year After Year:

When you complete your debut novel (Flower of Heaven) in 2012 at the ripe young age of 70, most people would expect that the novel may be your only one, given your age!  But when the sequel comes out in 2014 (Dangerous Bloodlines), just eighteen months later, suddenly readers begin to believe there may be more left in this author’s tank.

Surely, at age 72, how many more novels can a writer have?  How about A Life Before in 2016 and Disappearance in 2017?  Fast forward to August of this year, and this 76 year-old is about to release his fifth novel in six years, Code Name Lily, a historical fiction based on a true story of a young woman working for the Belgian resistance in World War II.

But what literary agent would ever consider signing on a 76 year-old author?  How many books can he possibly write going forward that would make it worthwhile for the agent?  One such agent said that age shouldn’t be a factor.  But it is.  When you sell over 6000 books on your own, without inclusion in the 40,000 bookstores covered in the Ingram system, just imagine what you could do if your books were in those bookstores across the nation.  But it’s a catch-22.  You can’t get into bookstores without an accepted publisher included in the Ingram system, and you can’t get a traditional publisher without a literary agent.

My original plan was to write 10 books in 10 years, and I’ll be halfway there by the end of this year.  My goal of at least 5 more novels still stands.

The encouragement and camaraderie I receive from many other Rhode Island authors is very much appreciated and the comparison of my writing to Harlan Coben and David Baldacci from Jon Land is very heartwarming.

 If you’d like to know more who I am and what I write, visit my website at www.julienayotte.com. 

 Anyone signing up for my newsletter by sending me their email address will be eligible for a copy of my new release Code Name Lily. jpahome@cox.net

Award-winning author Julien Ayotte co-authored his first book, Wealth Building for Professionals, in 2001, drawing from his years of experience as a corporate executive and business teacher at the high school and college graduate levels. In addition, he spent nearly fourteen years in legal administration at two law firms. The author holds a BA, MBA, and a PhD, all in business and finance. Flower of Heaven was his debut novel in 2012, followed by the sequel, Dangerous Bloodlines, in 2014. His third novel, A Life Before, was released in March, 2016 and his latest novel, Disappearance, was release in November 2017. Ayotte lives in Rhode Island with his wife, Pauline. They have three children.

Rhode Island may be the smallest state, but our authors’ group is far from small, so says Author Julien Ayotte

In 2012, I released my debut novel, Flower of Heaven, and shortly thereafter  decided to attend a meeting of a newly formed group of Rhode Island authors-The

Association of Rhode Island Authors (ARIA).  Back then, we were about twenty-five authors strong.  Today, ARIA’s membership is closer to three hundred authors and still growing.  What works for you may not work for others.  The opportunity to share information among authors almost always leads to better writing, better marketing, and lifetime camaraderie with other authors.

While I live in the Ocean State, my home in Cumberland is actually fifty miles north of Narragansett and Newport, our premier ocean attractions.  The northern part of Rhode Island has a very colonial history with names like Roger Williams, Samuel Slater, and everything associated with the textile industry until the late 1960s.  Now, the old mills, what few that remain, have become condominium complexes, the last visible trace of a once thriving industry.

A Life Before

My wife and I moved into a new home in Cumberland in 2011, a one-story residence which needed a radon gas mitigation system because the level of radon gas emanating from the ground into our basement level was too high.  Then a thought came to me.  What if a devious contractor hid the threat of radon levels from prospective buyers and exposed them to the danger of lung cancer as a result of overexposure to this odorless gas.  At about the same time, I had been reading about factual accounts of reincarnation in India, and decided to see if I could combine the two events into one mystery thriller.  The result was quite satisfying and the ending quite startling.

The research required for the book involved extensive reading on radon gas and its effect on individuals who are overexposed to this gas emanating from basements left unsealed.  When I heard that over 20,000 people a year die of lung cancer from exposure to this gas, I was shocked.  The research on reincarnation was fascinating, especially the true accounts of Shanti Devi whose claims at being reincarnated could never be refuted, no matter how many attempts were made to do so.  Much of my research is included in some form in the novel to allow the reader to do his/her own follow-up if they choose to do so.  Most of the locations in my books are places my wife and I have been to over the years.  It allows me to take readers to places they wish they had been.  According to many readers, “You have taken me to places I wish I had been to, but now I feel like I’ve been there.”

I have always loved a good mystery, and have had the good foresight to solve ones I’ve read or seen before they are revealed to the readers or viewers.  This often upsets my wife who wonders how I do this.

What I enjoy most is when readers tell me how much they enjoyed my stories and that I deserve more recognition than I am getting.  That is quite flattering.  A Life Before has been cited by Jon Land, a USA Today bestselling author, as a work worthy of reading, remembering, and recommending.  US Review of Books and Apex Reviews called the novel a must read and a brilliant novel.  As an author, what more can I ask for?...other than a literary agent and a movie producer’s blessing.

Flower Of Heaven

My debut novel in late 2012 was Flower of Heaven, a thriller about an affair between a young French woman from Paris who has an innocent affair with a young American on holiday.  Once she finds that her young lover is a newly ordained priest, the affair ends as abruptly as it began, but not without its consequences.  Francoise Dupont is pregnant and has twin sons which she gives up for adoption because she is penniless and cannot raise the sons.  Fr. Richard Merrill is unaware for thirty-five years that he is the father of the boys until Francoise informs him.  She is now part of a royal family in a Mid-Eastern oil-rich country and seeks Fr. Merrill’s help in finding the sons who are in danger from enemies of the royal family.  In both Flower of Heaven and its sequel, Dangerous Bloodlines, the reader experiences searches in Paris, Stockholm, Orvieto, Italy, and into war-torn Ethiopia to find the sons.  These two books have each won four national book awards, hold a prestigious Kirkus Review, and carry excellent rating reviews on Amazon.

Dangerous Bloodlines

I am a sucker for a good heroine, and all three of my novels have one.  Clearly in Flower of Heaven and the sequel, Dangerous Bloodlines, the main character is Francoise Dupont, the young French woman who rises from depression after giving birth to twin sons out of wedlock to become a princess in another kingdom.  Her dedication to the betterment of women in her newly adopted country is only overshadowed by her unfailing quest to find the two sons she foolishly gave up for adoption years earlier.  In A Life Before, the heroine is Samantha Collins, the headstrong college student possessed with the mind of a murdered young housewife from twenty one years earlier.  She is determined to rid the demons in her dreams, even if it means she must accept that she is the reincarnation of the slain woman of the past.

I love to read David Baldacci, James Patterson, John Grisham, and Dan Brown, all excellent and accomplished mystery thriller authors.  For me to be mentioned as writing like they do is quite humbling.

My wife and I have traveled the world during our fifty four years of marriage and, at age 75, we don’t have much of a bucket list.  At this stage of my life, I plan to write at least one thriller a year for the next ten years, god-willing. It would be rewarding to land a literary agent and a good publishing house that could get one or more of my books into a screenplay or major film series on television.  Perhaps one day that will happen.  Until then, I keep writing.  By the time this appears in Annette’s blog, I will have released my fourth thriller, Disappearance, about the troubles within the witness protection program.

To learn more about me, visit my website, www.julienayotte.com, where you can connect to all the links for my books, including my email address.

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/julien.ayotte.3

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JulienAyotte1

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/julien-ayotte-98573b8?trk=nav_resonsive_tab_profile_plc

The person with the best comments to this post here will receive a signed copy of my new release, Disappearance, and a surprise gift unique to Rhode Island. Please leave some way for me to contact you, preferably an email address.

(all information provided by author)

A Little Bit About Southern Rhode Island with Claremary Sweeney Who Actually Knows!

Rhode Island is a parochial little state because, in many ways it is its own parish. I grew up in Pawtucket, one of the larger cities which abuts Providence, the state capital.  When we were young and would meet someone new, one of the first questions we’d ask was, “What parish are you from?” You see,  each neighborhood, each village, each town in our small state has its own flavor. Every one of the five counties with its 31 townships, has a unique personality and is, in a sense, its own little parish.

More often than not, our conversations have a way of turning to the people and places we all have in common and it would seem we are interconnected not just by 6 degrees of separation, but usually by only 1 or 2 degrees. We all know somebody who knows somebody who’s related to somebody who knows somebody we know. That’s just the way it is in Rhode Island.

In 2015, I published my first book, A Berkshire Tale.  I’d set the ten stories about a little kitten named ZuZu in the picturesque Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. My husband and I visit there often and we’ve learned to love the area.

ZuZu’s adventures take her to Tanglewood to hear Mozart played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She learns about the history of the Hancock Shaker Village and the many innovative ideas the Shaker Sect infused into the American Society. At the Red Lion Inn, she meets a black and white tuxedo cat named Simon, the Lobby Ambassador. He introduces her to Santa so she can make a very special Christmas Wish during the Annual Norman Rockwell Weekend held on Main Street in Stockbridge. And at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, ZuZu and her friend Nick discover they can help to save Monarch Butterflies by planting a milkweed garden of their own.

I cherish those stories and enjoy book signings both in the Berkshires and in Rhode Island. But around here, the question invariably is posed, “Well, you wrote a book about the Berkshires, do you have any books about Rhode Island?” 

I soon realized I had to do something to remedy the fact I had authored no books about our own beloved state.

And so, I created a little book in verse about a carnivorous plant at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Gardens.  Adonis, the baby pitcher plant, aweakens one morning and at the coaxing of a fly, which has fallen into his digestive juices, the little plant decides he wants to be a vegetarian – much to his mother’s distress.

I entitled it  Carnivore Conundrum.

  After that, I decided to get serious and write an adult murder mystery in my own neighborhood of South Kingstown.

 I’d attended the University of Rhode Island back in the late 60’s and came to truly appreciate the allure of the southermost part of our state. I eventually bought a home here and settled in. The brick walks lining the Village of Kingston lead into the URI campus. Kingston was once called Little Rest. General George Washington stopped here on his way to Newport in 1781 to rest for the night in the home of Elisha Reynolds in what is now the Tavern Hall Club which is just across the street from Upper College Road.

My mystery, Last Train to Kingston, revolves around the murder of a woman, Dorathea Lorimar. On a dark November night, under a black sky filled with meteor showers, she arrives at Kingston Station and is soon making her last wish on one of those falling stars. Who is she? What brought her to South County on that fateful night? And of course, who had reason to kill her? All questions needing answers that Detective Kara Langley of the South Kingstown Police must search out.

In addition to Thea’s story, there are many familiar settings and landmarks people will recognize if they’ve spent any time in Southern Rhode Island. I’ve sprinkled photos of them throughout the book, because we all know even grown-ups love picture books.

 

The old Washington County Court House, now the Courthouse Center for the Arts, where concerts, plays, and events are scheduled throughout the year.

The Kingston Free Library which served as the first County Courthouse from 1776-1891 and where the General Assembly met from 1776-1791.

In 1820, Fayerweather House was the home of the village blacksmith, George Fayerweather, descendent of a freed slave. It has been restored and is now a center where local crafters give workshops and sell their arts and crafts.

The Kingston Congregational Church was built in 1820 but dates back to the 1600’s when missionaries began to preach at Tower Hill.

 

And, of course, The Kingstown Railroad Station, constructed in 1875 by the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad. Scene of the crime!

There’s so much history in this part of the state. I was recently at the South County Museum in Narragansett. It was founded in 1933 and in 1984, it was moved to the beautiful Canonchet Farm property in Narragansett. This living history museum contains artifacts dating from the 17^th Century to modern times. Docents are on site to help guide visitors throught the many interesting stories surrounding our past here in the Ocean State. And just a short distance down the road is the Atlantic Ocean and Narragansett Beach where you can sit on the sea wall and watch the waves roll in.

 

Stop by when you’re in the area and if I’m there, we can chat. I’ll bet I know somebody who knows somebody you know. I’m a Rhode Islander born and bred!

Claremary Sweeney is an author living in South Kingstown with her husband Charley and their two cats, Roxie and ZuZu. She’s published two childrens’s books,  A Berkshire Tale and The Pacas Are Coming! ZuZu and the Crias. She optimistically expects A Carnivore Conundrum and Last Train to Kingston to be published in the very near future. You can find her on her blog Around ZuZu’s Barn, Conversations With Kindred Spirits  http://aroundzuzusbarn.wordpress.com   or email her at zuzusbarn@gmail.com  to purchase signed copies of her books

As Thanks for Stopping Over, Claremary Sweeney offers a prize of cards of scenes of Rhode Island included in this post. Comment here for your chance to win.  Leave your contact info and thanks for enjoying the sights of Rhode Island.