Rita Ciresi

My novel SWAN SONG is a semi-finalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Please click on the link to the left to download an excerpt and review it. The complete novel received this review from PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY:

Sensitive, funny, and charming, this winning manuscript tracks 27-year-old Francesca “Francie” Malarkey as she undergoes radiation treatment following a mastectomy. Without ever getting maudlin, Francie is variously sad, or angry, or fearful, or in denial. She meets fellow cancer patient Joel Goldman while both await radiation, and as they share experiences and insights, a spark is struck. Francie’s only relation is her Great-Uncle Sol, an 87-year-old who lives in an assisted living home surrounded by Christian widows he refers to as “the Marys and the Marias.” Francie’s sparky humor spices the pages, while her feelings about Uncle Sol, cantankerous as he is, swing between affection and dread when she thinks about him meeting Joel or Joel’s family. The author has crafted a fine story that recognizes how the little things often throw you the most, even when you’re dealing with major issues. The author is wise not to wrap this engaging novel in a happy-ever-after ending, instead allowing some questions to linger. It’s a refreshing entry to the very clogged sub-genre of cancer lit.

SWAN SONG--previously titled MATING FOR LIFE--was runner-up in the 2009 Faulkner/​Wisdom Novella Contest. Judge James Nolan praised its "highly polished plotting and writing" and called it "ready for publication." My thanks to Mr. Nolan and to the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society for its support.

Thanks to Random House for giving my titles new life through e-book editions. Click on the links to the left if you are interested in downloading PINK SLIP, SOMETIMES I DREAM IN ITALIAN, and REMIND ME AGAIN WHY I MARRIED YOU to your e-reader through either the Random House website or through Amazon's Kindle.

An excerpt of my novella, "Breathe Normally," appears in the latest edition of ARS MEDICA, A Journal of Medicine, the Arts, and Humanities.

My quirky romantic comedy, TEACHER OF THE YEAR, was chosen as a semi-finalist for the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. While it wasn't selected as one of the top three manuscripts, it received the following positive review from readers at PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "A refreshing story filled with deadpan humor, this novel takes an honest look at friendships, romance and the blurred lines of relationships. Laura Quagliata is in a rut. As a senior lecturer at Sunshine State University in Florida, she is sick of being overworked and underpaid. With the start of a new school year Laura finds her class filled with the normal mix of students with one exception, Gil Rivieres, who is deaf. As the semester goes on, Laura becomes closer and closer to Rivieres and while she questions whether their relationship has crossed a line, she can’t resist continuing it. Laura is an extremely appealing character, an everyday person who faces the same frustrations with her job, family and friends that everyone does. The author understands the complications that come with friendship, the hilarity that stems from parents who will never change, and how the most unexpected people can change your life."

A link to the Amazon website is on the left. Thanks to all of you who offered a positive review on the first chapter.

Description:
TEACHER OF THE YEAR explores a burnt-out college instructor's unorthodox relationship with her deaf student. It's set in a fictional Florida university against the backdrop of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. I had a lot of fun writing it and hope that readers will get a kick out of watching the heroine, Lauretta Louisa Quagliata, bumble her way through the most harrowing six weeks of her teaching career.