The Association of Rhode Island Authors (ARIA) 5th annual Rhode Island Author Expo was held last weekend at Rhode-on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston.

This year, the expo featured a record 135 published Rhode Island authors, headlined by Jon Land (Strong Cold Dead) and best-selling romance author Marie Force (Gansett Island Episodes). Books on display from participating authors represented a wide variety of genres including romance, mystery, horror, history, biography and children’s. Hundreds of autographed books were available for purchase.

Presentations were also held throughout the Expo on topics such as: memoir writing, humor writing, self-publishing.

ARIA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization of local, published writers of both fiction and non-fiction committed to raising awareness of the outstanding written works crafted by writers in Rhode Island.

One of the authors featured during the event was Linda (Fiorenzano) Carvelli, a Cranston native and life coach, who is the author of “Perfectly Negative: How I Learned to Embrace Life’s Lemons Lessons.” Her memoir chronicles a decade of overwhelming loss, some of which includes her parents and her only sister’s death, all to cancer. Linda’s bout with the disease and the loss of her 14-year career in corporate America set her on a course to embracing all that life has to offer, accepting that the bad stuff may have a purpose; even if only to help us recognize and appreciate the good stuff. Perhaps most importantly, when we bounce back from the bad stuff, we’re able to inspire others to heal and bounce back, too.

Mary Jane Condon Bohlen of Cranston was in attendance with her book, “Bosom Buddies,” which includes 29 women posing revealing the scars of breast reconstruction. The book also features an essay, poem, or other writing from the model on the opposite page, providing further insight into the journey through breast cancer. Bohlen is a two-time breast cancer survivor. At the 2016 National Indie Excellence Awards, Bohlen’s book, “Bosom Buddies” was one of three Finalists in the Photography division and the winner in the Cancer books division.

Elizabeth Salzillo of Cranston is the author of “For The Love Of Pete And Father Schnapps,” which is the true story of the relationship between her father, Peter Cipolla, and Father Sherer of Providence College. It chronicles the history of the construction of Garden City. Her father was the designer of the Garden City planned community.