I never intended to write novels. This is something that literally came to me in the middle of the night. I woke up and felt compelled to do something that would raise awareness and protect children who are being damaged by a very unlikely predator.  So, I decided to write a romance novel about child-on-child sexual abuse. I suddenly felt very inspired to write about it in order to save children, yet, it was a secret I had carried my entire life…until now.

I wrote a brief outline the next morning for all three books and began writing notes in a little spiral I started carrying with me everywhere. I think my family and friends thought I was crazy. I had never even mentioned writing a novel before, and yet all of a sudden, I was consumed with writing. It felt surreal to all of us. Within just a few months, I had written three novels, The Darkness Before Dawn trilogy. The words poured out of my head like water through a hole in a dam wall. I could not type fast enough. I never had writers block, not once. I am currently putting the finishing touches on the last two books in this series, The Break of Dawn and The Light of Dawn, as I promote book one. I have found that editing and promoting are the hardest parts for me. Writing is the fun and easy part. I LOVE writing and never even knew it until  I started this trilogy.

I’m originally from Houston, Texas.  I graduated with honors from Conroe High School in 1985 at age seventeen. Although English has always been my favorite subject, I majored in math because there were more scholarships available for females in that field when I graduated. I took every math class my high school offered because math came fairly easy to me, and the skills were useful with my computer programming. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and was happy to get a degree in math since it came easily to me and meant that all of my schooling would be paid for.

I attended Sam Houston State University on full scholarships and obtained my bachelor’s degree at the age of twenty-one with a double major in mathematics and secondary education and a minor in English.  After teaching math a few years, I wanted to move up in my field but did not want to be a principal or counselor, so I decided I would become a college professor. I went back to school, while continuing to teach full time, and earned my master’s degree in mathematics at age twenty-seven.  I became a mathematics professor in 1995 and have taught all levels of math from developmental through calculus and love it all!  In 2018 at the height of my career, Lone Star College presented me with the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award at a national conference in Austin; however, I retired in 2019 to pursue writing and speaking for my cause of protecting children from child-on-child sexual abuse.  But, I will ALWAYS be a teacher!  It is my calling.  I am just teaching other, more important, things than math now.

I plan to write a book for teachers with lessons I had to learn the hard way, through experience and trial and error. It will have things no one ever taught me,  along with anecdotes and inspiration based on my thirty years of teaching experience.  I have given workshops on motivating students, student engagement, and the use of math manipulatives for better understanding of concepts. I am very proud of the fact that I am considered an expert in my field and would like to pursue teacher training, eventually.

I love all animals, especially large dogs. Mutts and rescues are my favorite breeds. The zoo is one of my favorite places. I love seals, PINK flamingos, and giraffes, as an almost six foot tall woman I can really relate to towering over others.  I have loved frogs since I was a little girl. I would catch them, play with them all day, then let them go…and I might have even kissed a few 😉

Now, I am reinventing myself as an author and speaker in an effort to share my experience and expertise in the areas of child sexual abuse, mathematics, and teaching to protect children and help & inspire teachers.

Thank you for visiting my page. If you would like to leave me a message, my e-mail and facebook page links are in the CONTACT ME tab. I would love to hear from you!

Love and Light,

Alice Cangemi