Terri-Lynne DeFino (She/her)

Grace DeFino

Terri-Lynne DeFino was born and raised in New Jersey.  She is the second of four children born to a homemaker and a then-fledgling attorney, in a Paterson, N.J. household that included two grandparents and the occasional uncle, where Sunday dinner was a given and the noise level often required earplugs. According to her mother, she started writing stories at the age of seven, and learned to cook at any elbow she could wedge herself under. These days, DeFino lives in Connecticut; if you knock on her door, she'll invite you in and feed you, because you can take the Italian girl out of Jersey, but you can't take the Jersey Italian out of the girl. Her latest book is "Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story."

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Awards: Rone Award for Best Women's Fiction 2016 (Dreaming August)

Communities: Jersey Girl!

Women of a Certain Age

In this session, authors Angie Cruz and Terri-Lynn Defino will introduce us to their later-in-life protagonists and explore why they chose to feature mature women facing big life changes.

Student Union Tucson Room (Seats 110)  
Sat, Mar 4, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Fiction / Literature
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - UA BookStore Tent (on Mall) (following presentation)  

Panelists: Angie Cruz, Terri-Lynne DeFino
Moderator: Meredith Amadee

Love Lost and Found

Terri-Lynne DeFino, Amy Meyerson, Laura Warrell and Laura Zigman introduce us to characters who lean on friends and family while navigating the journey to love.

Student Union Kachina (Seats 100)  
Sat, Mar 4, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Fiction / Literature
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - UA BookStore Tent (on Mall) (following presentation)  

Panelists: Terri-Lynne DeFino, Amy Meyerson, Laura Warrell, Laura Zigman
Moderator: Mary Ellen Flynn

Modern Family

Terry-Lynne DeFino, Larua Warrell, and Laura Zigman come to the festival with books that feature families -- and all the drama we know so well in our own. The relationships between siblings, parents, partners, and in-laws can get complicated!

Student Union Santa Rita (Seats 110)  
Sun, Mar 5, 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Fiction / Literature
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - UA BookStore Tent (on Mall) (following presentation)  

Panelists: Terri-Lynne DeFino, Laura Warrell, Laura Zigman
Moderator: Natalia Gabrielsen

Books:

Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story

A Novel
Fiction / Literature
HarperCollins Publishers
January 2023
ISBN 9780063228436
416 pages

The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (And Their Muses)

A Novel
Fiction / Literature
HarperCollins
June 2018
ISBN 9780062742674
336 pages