Two Successful Alumni Authors Back on Campus Tomorrow, Celebrating Their Reunion Weekend

Earlier this week, we saw videos from Laura Mac (C'89) who will be celebrating her 20th reunion this weekend.

Two more alumni of note (authors!) will be back on campus respectively celebrating their 25th and 10th reunions.

• Penn Alum and author Marie (Busterna) Lamba (C'84) will be back on campus this weekend celebrating her 25th reunion, as well as doing a book signing for her young adult novel WHAT I MEANT... this Saturday May 16th from 2-:4:30 pm at the Penn Bookstore (3601 Walnut Street)
  

WHAT I MEANT, which Publisher’s Weekly has called “an impressive debut,” is set in Doylestown and Philadelphia and is about a 15 year old girl, her mysterious guy, her Indian dad, her American mom, her evil aunt, and tons of drama and laughs.

Marie says she owes much of who she is today to her time at Penn. “I took tons of writing courses in college, and that, combined with my experiences as a student there, really helped shape me as a writer, and it influenced my novel as well.” The Philadelphia scenes in What I Meant… are drawn from her freshman year at Penn. “My teen character winds up stuck in Philly at night, completely lost and shook up. Kind of like me in my first year of college. I, too, was a small town girl who had a lot to learn about cities and about myself.”

Find out HERE how Marie got her start, got published and her advice to you on becoming an author!

Marie's website HERE

• 
  Rachel Skerritt (C'99, GSE '99) will also be doing a signing and discusion of her book WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN at the Penn Bookstore on Saturday 5/1 at 3:30 pm.
  
  Read my post I did about Rachel HERE and learn how she leads a double life as a high school principal and novelist!
  
  What inspired Rachel to start writing? ...Which famous Penn alumni have been mentors to her? ...And what are her tips to YOU? The answers got me chuckling... Find out more here!
  
  

Other Penn authors HERE




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She's Leading a Double Life as a High School Principal and Novelist

Since her days as an undergrad, it seems that Rachel Skerritt (C'99, GSE '99) likes to be involved in as much as possible.

This author ...and High School Principal(!) just published her third novel (her other books here) this year, entitled WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN (Kensington - Dafina Books).

Rachel's books are contemporary fiction and per Rachel can be branded African American fiction, because most of the characters are African American, or as "chick lit," because the central characters are female.

Per Rachel,

"My books tend to address the age group of the main characters, and the issues that people of that particular age group face.  TRUTH BE TOLD is about coming of age on a college campus, very much inspired by my time at penn.  NO MORE LIES captures that time when you're out of school and living on your own and trying to figure yourself out.  WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN focuses on folks who are turning thirty and making those major life decisions about career, family, and lifestyle.

Rachel tells me that she was originally C'99 but graduated a year early to spend the extra year getting a masters.) In addition to this she was involved in the following activites: Admissions Tour Guide, Service Learning through the Center for Commnunity Partnerships, Writer for The Vision (Penn's African American Student Newspaper), Graduate Advisor for DuBois College House, Writing Advisor in Writer's House )

What inspired Rachel to start writing? ...Which famous Penn alumni have been mentors to her? ...And what are her tips to YOU? The answers got me chuckling... Find out more here!

Click here to read a quick synopsis and the first chapter to WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN ...+/-

ONCE YOU BECOME A VIP ... IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO GO BACK.

Kahlila Bradford keeps a written record of all of the qualities she wants in her mate. With hundreds of items on her list and counting, it's no wonder that she's still single. Realizing that she could stand to cut loose a little, Kahli decides to leave Boston for a spell and spend a sizzling summer in Harlem - no lists and no limits.

Once in New York, Kahli meets the one man who can actually exceed her expectations. Darius Wilson is the hottest thing in R&B, with charisma to spare and a genuine interest in what Kahli thinks of his music. It isn't long before Kahli is dying to give him more than just her opinion, and she suddenly she is center stage at the side of a celebrity.

But autumn's arrival means returning home and getting back to reality. Now it's time for Kahli to ask herself some serious questions about how much she's willing to give up to keep living in the spotlight, and what's really important ... when the lights go down.


First Chapter:

Rachel Skerritt's (C'99) "When the Lights Go Down" Excerpt - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Rachel Skerritt's (C'99) "When the Lights Go Down" Excerpt

Rachel's website here

Get WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN

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READ MORE - She's Leading a Double Life as a High School Principal and Novelist