Dr. Karen Petit  is the author of three fictional novels: Banking on Dreams, Mayflower Dreams, and Roger Williams in an Elevator.  All three novels have dream and reality chapters, which illustrate some of the connections that people make between their dreams and their reality. Examples of lucid dreaming techniques and dream symbols appear in these novels. For many years, Dr. Petit has been enjoying her author events, as well as a large number of writing and educational activities.

Karen Petit was born in Providence, Rhode Island. As she grew up with her six brothers and two sisters, she continually loved reading and writing. Five months after graduating from high school, she got married and had two children before getting a divorce. While continuing to raise her children, Karen started to attend the Community College of Rhode Island. She then transferred to the University of Rhode Island, where she was a full-time student and mother, as well as often being a part-time employee at different jobs. She received her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from the University of Rhode Island.

Not only did Karen learn about the theoretical aspects of writing through her education, but she also learned about the practical aspects of writing while teaching for over twenty years at many of the colleges near her home: the Community College of Rhode Island, Bristol Community College, Massasoit Community College, Rhode Island College, Worcester State University, Quinsigamond Community College, Bryant University, Roger Williams University, New England Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and the University of Rhode Island.

For the past nine years, Dr. Petit has been the full-time Writing Center Coordinator and an  adjunct faculty member at the Community College of Rhode Island. Karen is also the creator of the CCRI Writing Center's Website. As a Website content manager, she has created many helpful online resources, which include multiple handouts and PowerPoint presentations.

In addition to writing novels and helping others to write, Dr. Petit has been writing poetry and academic documents. She also has been a presenter at multiple academic conferences, including at the CCCC Conference in 2005 and at the NEWCA Conference in 2013. Some of Karen's author presentation topics are available on her author Website: drkarenpetit.com.

Karen Petit is a descendant of the Reverend John Robinson, the pastor to the Pilgrims. Her lineage is listed on her Website for Mayflower Dreams. Karen has a large family, including her son, daughter, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncle, cousins, nieces, and nephews. Her family and friends have been the focus of her dreams and reality for many years.
In Dr. Karen Petit's novels, the protagonists explore the connections between their dreams and reality.
While dreaming, we explore our past history, our present reality, and our future goals. Our dreams create symbolic meanings for our actions, events, and desires. When awake, we sometimes can remember and think about the content of our dream sequences. Some people can also use lucid-dreaming techniques to impact the content of their dreams.
Dr. Petit's Blogs
Jennifer Salcido's April 2, 2014 article about Karen Petit's second novel, Mayflower Dreams, is on the CCRI Website.

Meg Fraser's article about Karen Petit's own dreams, "Petit's Dreams Come True with Debut Novel," appeared in the 5/19/2013 Cranston Herald.

Copyright © Karen Petit 2013-2017. All Rights Reserved.