Tampa Book Buzz

florida author connie lee berry touring local schools in may

Florida author Connie Lee Berry will be touring elementary schools in the Tampa bay area in May.

She is the author of a new chapter-book series for young readers ages seven to nine called the Incredible Journey books. “This series features fast-paced worldly adventures filled with geography facts. There have been four titles published so far: The Criminal in the Caymans, Treasure in Tahiti, Adventure in Africa, and Pirates in Paradise.”

Visit www.ijbooks.com for more info on this series or how to ask Berry to visit your school.

news and notes:book swap of carrollwood, neal, dynes

• Book Swap of Carrollwood (13020 N. Dale Mabry, Tampa, 33618) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.
• Florida author Julie Neal’s The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 is ranked in the Top 10 bestsellers on Amazon.com of all U.S. travel books, regardless of publication date. (And it is one of only two that have a 5-star rating.) The book has also been chosen as the Highlighted Travel Guidebook Title of Independent Publisher Online, which honors newly released books that exhibit “superior levels of creativity, originality and high standards of design and production quality.” And last but not least, it is the Number 1 bestselling title for Family Travel on Amazon.com.
• South Carolina author Jan Dynes has just published her first book, titled Refractions. “Diane Lindsey is a testament to what one woman can survive. Yet she is still running for her life from a malevolence she doesn’t understand. Her husband and child were murdered and she’s next. Against insurmountable obstacles she fights to understand and stay alive… “ Visit Dynes online at www.jandynes.com.

upcoming book signing for walt disney world guide authors julie and mike neal

Julie and Mike Neal, authors of The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008, will be signing their new book this Friday, March 7, from 7:30-9 p.m. at Reading Trout Books in Celebration, 110 Front Street, just to the left of the AMC movie theater.

In addition to signing books, the Neals will discuss “what it was like to visit Walt Disney World over 700 times in the five years it took to write this guidebook, focusing in particular on what it was like to work with Disney cast members.” Julie said that “Talking with employees at the parks, resorts and restaurants gave us much of the depth and detail we used in the book.”

The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 is an updated and expanded version of last year’s first edition, which became one of the top-selling Disney guidebooks in the country. The new book is fully updated with all the latest Disney changes and additions, and features new chapters on restaurants and accommodations.

Visit www.coconutpress.com for more info.

local author tiva wallon looking for authors for march event

Local author Tiva Wallon is looking for authors to participate in her next event:

“I have a huge event planned for March 8 and 9 at the USA Flea Market at 11721 US 19 in Port Richey from 9 AM-ish until 4 PM. The help I need? Well this event is open to ALL authors. I am looking for authors of any genre to join us. There is a table charge of $10.00 per 4 x 8 table which can be split with other authors wanting to share a table. We will be advertised (for free) on their huge electronic billboard. What I am asking is for any and all authors wanting to join us, to contact me ASAP to let me know. This is a chance for authors to meet, to spread the word about our writing and to sell our books and CDs. All authors keep the money from the sales of their books. They will need to bring a chair and a table cloth and their books/CDs.”

Anyone interested should email Wallon at raven355(at)msn.com and put “USA Flea Market event” in the subject line. Her deadline is February 20.

news and notes:harper, micklersmith florida book traders, sorey

• New York Times bestselling suspense fiction author and part-time South Florida resident Karen Harper (Black Orchid, Hurricane) recently wrote to say hello and to let me know that her suspense novel Below the Surface will be released January 29. “Besides being a thriller with a touch of romance, it tackles the eco-issue of clean gulf water.” Harper often sets her books in southwest Florida and her earlier books “also deal with preserving old Florida from the onslaught of tourists and weather.” Visit www.karenharperauthor.com to learn more Harper and her work.
• I heard through the grapevine that the Florida-centric St. Pete bookstore MicklerSmith Florida Book Traders has closed. Sniff, sniff.
• An excerpt of local author Barbara J. Sorey’s Florida Girl:Short Stories of Family, Community and History, 1804 to 1969 is available online. “Go to www.wusf.org, click on Learn More (under the Florida Stories logo) to hear excerpts” of Special Times, a holiday story from Sorey’s Florida Girl book.

local author tiva wallon and the florida published author tour group

Hudson author Tiva Wallon (Footsteps Through Time, Jack of All Trades) wrote me a while back to say hello and to tell me about the Florida Published Author Tour Group. As the founder of this group, Wallon arranges book signings and invites other authors “on the email loop” to join her. She sent me a list of her December events, which of course are all over with by now, since it’s taken me forever to post this (sorry about that, Tiva!). She told me that her group “tries to have a signing once or twice a month and we travel from Orlando to St. Pete and so on.”

In addition to the ten books she’s published, Wallon also has anthology titled Once Upon A Midnight Clear published though Dark Castle Lords and “we are featured in the Romantic Times Magazine, this issue. We were reviewed and given 3 out of 4 stars. My story Hollow Moon Castle was given rave reviews.”

Visit www.tivawallon.com for more info on Wallon, her books and the author tour group. Authors interested in joining Wallon’s book-signing email loop will want to head straight for this page.

news and notes:williams, mitchell, smith

• Jacksonville author Gary Williams (Fish of Souls, The God Tools) wrote to let me know that Half-Red Skull, his fourth novel, is now available. Here’s the description: “A serial killer is terrorizing Northeast Florida. The murderer’s callingcard: each victim has one-half of their face colored red. On Amelia Island, reporter Fawn Cortez is planning her wedding while trying to reconcile her father’s tragic death. When she learns of a startling ancestry, it will take her intuition and persistence to unravel the clues and understand the bizarre link between the severed skull of an 1800s Seminole Indian, the modern-day murders and her father’s lifelong search for a legendary treasure. But dark secrets abound. Fawn will soon discover that those she depends on the most . . . cast the deadliest shadows.” Visit www.authorgarywilliams.com or www.floridanovels.com for more info.
• Local author Maria Mitchell recently published a poetry book called Something On My Mind, which is available through AuthorHouse.com. The poems are “about love, life, friendships and God…and were written from the heart and soul.” To read an excerpt or get more info, click here.
• Local author Joy V. Smith is one of the children’s writers included in the brand new e-book I Wish Someone Had Told Me That! 64 Successful Children’s Authors Give You The Advice They Wish Someone Had Given Them. You can see a video preview at http://write4kids.com/wishbook.html. Read Smith’s interview with BestBookTour.com here.

upcoming events:day of author critiques and chick lit panel at festival of reading

Local author Kimberly Llewellyn (The Quest for the Holy Veil) sent me info on some upcoming local events:

Writers in Residence — Day of Author Critiques

Saturday, October 27
University of South Florida
St. Petersburg Campus
At Bayboro Harbor
140 Seventh Ave. South
St. Petersburg, FL
festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Llewellyn’s website is www.kimberlyllewellyn.com.

news and notes:mom writer’s literary magazine, perez, old tampa book company

• The Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine website is launching its first print edition this fall.  Author Lisa Garrigues is on the cover and the magazine includes essays, fiction and book reviews.  Check it out.
• Florida author Venus Perez wrote to tell me about her book I’m Still Here:The History, Testimony, Education, Outcomes and Strenghts of People Living With HIV/AIDS. A native of New York, Perez moved to Florida with her family in 2003. She is a volunteer, certified counselor and a first-time author. Visit www.venusperez.com to learn more.
• The Old Tampa Book Company now has a website! (I’m making it sound like they’ve gotten online recently, when most likely they’ve had a website for a while and I’ve just now found out about it.) Check it out: http://oldtampabookcompany.com.

new anthology animal attraction features florida authors

Here’s some info on outside-the-Tampa-Bay-area-but-still-in-Florida authors I received via email:

Floridians Neil Plakcy, Kiernan Kelly and Vincent Diamond are featured in the new book Animal Attraction recently released by Torquere Press. From the cuddly cuteness of a puppy, the lush fur of an endangered jaguar to the wise eyes of an Indian elephant, beasts of all species abound in Animal Attraction, a new anthology of short stories from Torquere Press. The animals in these stories have a way of making men come together-in all sorts of sexy ways.

Neil Plakcy lives in Miami and is the author of Mahu and Mahu Surfer, mystery novels set in Honolulu, and co-editor of Paws and Reflect:Exploring the Bond Between Gay Men and Their Dogs. His fiction has appeared in many publications, including Blithe House Quarterly, Verbsap and many more.  His website is www.mahubooks.com.

Kiernan Kelly, from Orlando, is the multi-published author of In Bear Country, Riding Heartbreak Road, and Two Spirits, all from Torquere Press. His website is www.kiernan-kelly.com.  

Editor Vincent Diamond (Men of Mystery, Hot Cops) is donating 10% of the editor’s proceeds to Peace River Refuge and Ranch and In Harmony with Nature, both located in Florida. The charities provide a variety of domestic and wildlife care and are non-profit organizations.

Diamond is a native Floridian and former Zephyrhills resident whose print work has appeared in Feathers, Chance Encounters, Under Arrest, and Play Ball from Torquere Press and many more. His website is www.vincentdiamond.com.

The Animal Attraction stories offer a variety of characters, settings, conflict and relationships. Writers brand new to e-publishing, such as Shanna Germain, Aaron Michaels, Neil Plakcy, K.C. Warwick, and Elazarus Wills join with Torquere veterans J.L. Jensen, Kiernan Kelly, Sean Michael, C.B. Potts, J. Rocci, and B.A. Tortuga. Animal Attraction offers readers gay romance for the beast in all of us.

The book is available here.