Members' Biographies
Betzi Abram
1919 to 11-13-2011
Betzi Abram joined GCWA during its first year. A former teacher, her published works include short stories, novels and light verse. Her novel, Sweet Comfitty Tea, won first place in the writing contest for the 2000 Writers Conference in Ft. Myers. Her syndicated columns, especially Lagnappe and The Joy of Writing showcased her use of humor. GCWA members learned to improve their craft after participating in her many workshops. She was loved by all and will be missed.
Robert Dean Bair
The Cloisters of Canterbury, a political suspense novel, is scheduled to be released by ArcheBooks in July 2006. Robert Dean Bair tells the story of courage exhibited by a group of ordinary people with deep convictions, honor, patriotism, and integrity. They risk their lives to fight corruption, treason and murder during the months leading to the end of World War II and thereafter.
President Harry S. Truman has concerns about the United States intelligence organizations, military contract fraud and information leaks from within the government. This covert group of ordinary citizens, who are not part of the government, share the president's concerns about the effectiveness of the government’s intelligence organizations and gather information from many points of the world for the President of the United States and certain members of Congress. The group is also determined to locate any Nazis wanted for war crimes that have escaped from Europe and return them for trial. Murder, fraud, identity theft, leaks in the government, and concerns about the intelligence community are rampant, not unlike the world today.
Robert's website is @ www.booksbyrdbair.com.
Barbara Leonard Burnett
Barbara started her writing career rather late in life. She married a couple of years after high school. She and her husband raised six children in the picturesque shoreline town of Milford, Connecticut. Her family eventually expanded in the ensuing years by twelve grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. She entered college in her fifties and four years later graduated with a BA in Psychology. Following the death of her husband in 2004 she moved to Florida, settling down in Lehigh Acres. There she finished the book she had sporadically worked on over the years, "Belle and the Pastor," and self-published it in 2009, fulfilling a life-long dream of becoming an author. The book is available at Buy Books on the Web.com or www.bbotw.com as well as www.amazon.com and can also be ordered from many brick and mortar bookstores using ISBN 0-7414-5353-3. She is spending her 'Golden Years' working on another novel, sometimes painting (pictures, rocks, her house, a rain-barrrel), and lately, learning to ride a Trikke.
Ruben Colon
Born in New York City, Ruben Colon attended public schools. After serving overseas with the U.S. Army, he attended and graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pharmacy. While studying full time, he married his wife, Hilda. They have two sons. After graduation, he worked in the South Bronx and Black Harlem both as employee and employer. His stories evolved from those experiences—good and bad.
Ruben has three published novels - Clarissa, Painted Eyes, and Damon and the Furies.
Finbarr Corr
I was born in Ireland and came to the US as “missionary” priest in 1960. Finished my education with an Ed D from Columbia University . During my 28 yrs as a priest was very involved working with youth and engaged couples. Resigned the priesthood to marry and started his own marriage and family counseling practice. I taught psychology for ten years and has been an author for 12 yrs.
I have written and independently published five books...two autobiographies, on memoir of a 93 year old friend, one book for married couples, and one for teens and their parents.
Website: www.finbarrcorr.com
Anne Dalton
Attorney At Law and Mediator. The Law Firm of Anne Dalton provides professional legal services to individuals and businesses for contract negotiation and drafting; laws of creative arts, including music, fine arts and writing; for-profit and nonprofit business and partnership formation, modification and dissolution; and estate planning. The standards upon which the firm was founded in 1994 guide it today: competent and compassionate dedication to clients and community, attention to clients’ priorities, and adherence to small-town values.
Anne Dalton is also certified in family, civil, county & dependency mediation and qualified as an arbitrator and federal mediator. She provides a wide range of conflict resolution services for individuals, families, extended families, and businesses.
Websites:
www.daltonlegal.com
www.daltonmediator.com
www.creativeartlaw.com
Joyce (J.D.) Daniels
j.d. daniels` fiction and poetry has appeared in various publications, including: riverbabble, The Broad River Review, The Sylvan Echo, The Elkhorn Review and Doorknobs & BodyPaint Fantastic Flash Fiction: An Anthology. She is listed in the Iowa Arts and Poets & Writers Directories. Her book, THE OLD WOLF LADY: A BIOGRAPHY was published in 2005 by a grant from The Iowa Arts Council and is sold on Amazon, both as hardcopy and an ebook. She was awarded her doctorate with a dissertation of her poetry, CURRENTS THAT PUNCTURE, also available online. Currently, she is a prose editor for Prairie Wolf Press Review, an online literary journal featuring new and established writers and visual artists. She is a proud member of Mystery Writers of America and two critique groups.
Website: www.authorsden.com/joyceadaniels
Dr. Marianne de Deugd
Dr. Marianne de Deugd has been a full-time counselor for over 20 years and currently serves as the director of Royal Palm Ministries Counseling and Training Center in Fort Myers, Florida. She obtained a Doctorate of Ministry in counseling and has also earned two Master degrees.
Dr. Marianne is a frequent speaker, seminar leader and author. During her career she has been busy writing college level curricula, workshops, newsletters and has published several articles. In November 2008 her book "Fifty Two Mondays" was published.
Website: www.drmariannejdedeugd.com
Carol deFrank
I am a non-fiction writer that has been published in hundreds of articles over a 25 year period. My profession before moving to Southwest Florida was advertising.
My byline has appeared in GulfShore Business, Naples Daily News, The News Press and the Fort Myers Magazine, The Business Journal, Parent Magazine, Senior News, The Vindicator as well as many other publications
During my writing tenure I was commissioned to write a coffee-table book titled Visions of the Valley. I have written hundreds of newsletters, brochures and advertisements for newspaper, radio and television. I have written and disseminated a seminar that teaches small business owners how to handle their own marketing and advertising.
A Cum Laude graduate of Youngstown State University with a Bachelors Degree in business/communication and a minor in journalism, I attend writing workshops and seminars to hone my skills .
Contact Carol: cjdassociates@aol.com
Nita DeWeese
Nita DeWeese is an avid reader and writer of fiction. A grandmother of fourteen, great grandmother of three, she lives in South West Florida at Shell Point Retirement Community. She writes quirky short stories and is working on a novel. She won second place for fiction in 2010 GCWA Writing Contest. Her dream is to write Christian fiction in the ‘Steven King’ style. Is that possible?
Nita’s blog with some of her stories can be found at nitafay.wordpress.com.
Keith M. Donaldson
I am an author and playwright, a graduate in drama, and have acted and directed for nearly 50 years. Along the way, to pay the bills, I worked in network broadcasting production for NBC radio and television, and then in local radio as an account executive. I matriculated into advertising and marketing, forming my own agency in 1977. During those years, I founded and published the Washington Flyer magazine. Avocationally, in 1979 I became a theater reviewer on WEAM ‘Big Band Radio’, aka Keith Montgomery, for five years and continued covering theater for seven more years writing commentaries for three local magazines.
I began writing plays in 1988 and when I ended reporting on theater, I became an active participant as an actor, director, and writer. I am a member of the Playwrights Forum of Washington. Most of my short plays have been produced in and around Washington, DC. A scene from my one act; A Touch of Spring, was published in the Best Stage Scenes of 1996.
I turned to fiction writing in 2004 and as of 2010 have self-published three novels: Death of an Intern, a mystery, and The Hill People, a mystery/political thriller, winner of two finalist awards in Politics and Multicultural fiction at the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Both books star my fictitious Washington, DC newspaper reporter Laura Wolfe.
My third novel, Rude Awakenings, a mystery with international intrigue, politics, and a dash of romance was published in November 2009 and recently won a finalist award in Mystery at the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Website @ www.donaldsonkeith.com
Robert Dornburg
Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., after graduating from high school, entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. He served in the pacific and when World War II ended was assigned to occupation duty in Japan. Returning to civilian life, he became involved in airline flying and accumulated twenty-five thousand flight hours in thirty five years, beginning with the piston engine DC-6 to the 747 jet aircraft. He retired in 1987 and presently he and his wife reside in a retirement community in Fort Myers, Florida.
Robert has published two novels, Windmeer and Thorn Castle.
Carol Drummond
Carol Drummond writes essay, short story, and poetry, with a focus on poetry. She manages a hotel in Southwest Florida and lives in Naples.
“Do what you love, the money will follow,” some wise person said. Although many years in the hotel business had been good to me, I realized in October of 1999 while strolling through the aisles of a bookstore, that my love was words and ideas and the art of those who could string them masterfully across the page.
Within days I learned of a 6-week creative writing class. Maybe I could learn how to make money doing the things I love. Our first assignment was to write a short story. I went to the library to familiarize myself with the form. Writing was easy.
I joined a critique group, and submitted a few stories and poems. I won a local contest, had some freebies published, and received rejections or no replies. Another wise person once wrote: “Writing is easy. All you have to do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein.” Writing is hard.
But the satisfaction I get when I’m happy with my opening line, or am astonished at words that flow and wonder where that came from, or have an ending that surprises me because my character comes to life and does what she wants to do, or my poem makes the reader pause and think and send me an e-mail ... those things make the hard worth doing.
And for now, I still have my day job.
Lenore Farkas
I have been writing stories and poems all of my life, yet never did anything more than put them down on paper. Now I want to learn, network, share, and write.
I write nonfiction and poetry. I have written a few children's stories, many inspirational poems, and some other serious and humorous nonfiction. I have nicknamed herself "The Woman with a Tickle in the Middle" for I love to laugh with the world.
My other gifts--I am a passionate professional vocalist, entertainer, storyteller, and a laughter leader. My destiny--placing joy of abundance everyone's heart.
Ken Feeley (writing as Peter Yule)
Now retired from the daily routine of “normal work” I spend my days in what I consider to be my 5th career choice.
As a young man I studied electronics and pursued employment as a commercial radio operator in the Merchant Marine. (1st)
While the work was rewarding, it lacked any real security for a married man. I married at age 25 and soon found my way into the retail business. I worked long hours and became successful working my way to the top as a senior administrative manager at the corporate level for a large department store chain. 85 stores spread across New England New York and New Jersey. (2nd)
I spent my 3rd phase of career choices as a branch office manager for a large wholesale liquor distributor. (Think Budweiser) After 17 years I retired to live in Florida and to go into business for myself . I moved to Bonita Springs in 1990 and opened my own company in the field of home security and as an installing dealer for closed circuit TV systems and electronic access control equipment. (4th)
I sold the business at age 65 for reasons of health, and from then on I have dedicated myself to the fine craft of writing.(5th)
I had been writing short stories for my own entertainment and to share with family and friends. It was very challenging and I knew that I had a love of the work. After much encouragement from my readers, I became very serious about this new God Given talent and decided to learn all I could of the fine craft of writing, and all that went into it. I became a member of the Florida Writers Association and joined the best writing group in the area, The Gulf Coast Writers Association. I applied myself on a regular daily basis to the chore at hand and structured my life with deep respect for the art of quality writing. I chose as my topics only the things that I was most comfortable with, people and the history of our country. After 3 years of writing and re-writing my first complete novel (Sparrow in the Dark) I was rewarded with many more favorable comments. The possibility of becoming a well published author at a very late stage in my life, now over 70 years old, became my 5th career choice and within the next year I had released my second novel (Sparrow in Flight). Once again I was lifted up and my long 8 to 10 hour days were filled with the creative juices, that took my mind off of the less important issues of acute heart disease. (9 stents and a pacemaker) As a dedicated and active Christian I knew that God had intervened in my life to use the gift given to me as a writer and to take away the pains of old age and despair. My third effort a book called Short Stories from Oxnard Bow was released in the past year and my 4th book The Bay Road Legacy will be out soon. I am now able to coach other would be writers and have held many classes in writing and in publishing in the area. I work every day, 6 or 7 days a week at my new career and my third novel following the Sparrow series, titled Sparrow at Dawn is well on its way to completion.
Richard Georgian
Mr. Georgian is self employed, and since 1994 has conducted research in American Tent Shows (1892 -1921), and the American Communist Party (1919-1927). He is working on a non-fiction manuscript; Buffalo Bill’s Deceit, the Cossacks Curse, a history of Georgian, Gurian riders in American wild west shows. He is developing; Red Mill Crossing, an historical novel about Buffalo Bill’s wild west exhibition set in 1901. He is continuing his research for a biography of the life and times of Alexis E. Georgian. Mr. Georgian from 1984 to 1994 was a senior systems analyst with Validity Corporation. He was a program manager, technical writer, training department head, instructor, and organized the corporation’s trade shows. Mr. Georgian from 1962 to 1984 was in the United States Navy and specialized in communication system.
Mr. Georgian's book Cossacks, Indians and Buffalo Bill was published in May, 2010.
W.C. (Chuck) Highfield
My interest in writing began in the early 1990s. With eagerness to write stories for children, I enrolled in, and successfully completed, a course in Special Publishing offered by the Institute of Children’s Literature.
In 2000, I decided to write an adult-themed novel. In 2001, I self-published In Sun Down Far. The story is set on Fort Myers Beach, Florida, but I fictionalized all of the names of locations and establishments (to protect the innocent and the guilty). Having regularly visited Fort Myers Beach since 1991, I drew on many personal experiences, and worked some of them into the book. As a theme for the story, I take a somewhat critical look at the pursuit of materialism. The narrative presents an island slice of life with an emphasis on the music of the blues. I strive to strike a correlation between the two.
My second novel, Streets, was completed in 2010. Streets is set in Key West, Florida and the story’s subject concerns the ever-growing crisis of homelessness. The main character undergoes a series of surreal experiences that begin to have a positive impact on his life. The dilemma our country faces with a continuing increase of its citizens living on the street is a subject that concerns and distresses me. The book uses an out of the ordinary means to consider the problem.
Both novels, several children’s stories, and a number of articles written for The Island Sand Paper (Fort Myers Beach) appear on my website: www.WCHighfield.com.
I am a graduate of the University of Delaware and also a native of The First State. After a decade of employment in the moving and storage industry, I embarked on a twenty-year run of ownership of a residential and commercial painting business. In 2006, I moved to Fort Myers.
Sports have always been a big part of my life. Baseball was tops from an early age, and culminated with playing ten years in the Delaware Semi-Pro League. Later, I picked up the running bug and participated in hundreds of road races ranging from 5Ks to half-marathons. I continue to take part in various forms of physical activity and endeavor to enjoy outdoor life
Connie Hope
My first experience cooking was on a chair next to my mother. Then I learned to add spices and herbs, create appetizers, mix fruits and vegetables to make salsas and chutneys, use fruits to make jellies, jams, and experiment with all type of ingredients to make homemade soups. You can use side dishes to make a ho-hum meal into a excellent meal. My book, In Addition...to the Entree helps you put your meals together quickly and easily by making it enjoyable. Don't eat out every night, why not try cooking by help from Connie.
In Addition…to the Entrée is all about side dishes. It has fourteen sections, one hundred and sixty recipes, sixty five colored photographs and many sketches to let you experience the recipes first hand.
Harold Hunt
? - 2011
Harold was GCWA's 2nd President. He ran the very successful First Writers Conference. He contributed to GCWA's anthologies, edited the GCWA hard copy newsletter, WRITE, contributing articles sources and website for GCWA members. He was an inspiration to all. In addition, he was a book critic for newspapers.
Timothy M. Jacobs
For more than 30 years I've been writing poetry, short stories, articles and books. My work has been published in such publications as Kracked Mirror Mysteries, Lighthouse Digest, The Connecticut Nutmegger, Gulf & Main Magazine, Patriots of the American Revolution, and WRITERS' Journal. I've also written for such newspapers as The Beacon, The Source, The Valley Courier, Guilford Courier, and Florida Weekly.
Books I've written include: Goodspeed's Folly: The Life of William Henry Goodspeed and his Opera House; Milestones & Memories: The History of the St. George Catholic Community Church; The Basics of Research, Writing and Self Publishing; Almost Home: The 1864 Diary of Sgt. Samuel E. Grovsenor and my latest release is H. E. Heitman: An Early Entrepreneur of Fort Myers, Florida.
I’m also the founder and former editor for Patriots of the American Revolution magazine.
I'm currently forming a writing consultant business to assist writers with their craft.
Please visit www.tmjacobs.com to learn more about me, my writing, upcoming lectures, current projects, and much more. I’ve been a member of the Gulf Coast Writer’s Association for six years, and was a guest speaker in May 2005 and July 2011.
Michelle A. James
Michelle was always an avid reader since her childhood days, spent in her island home of Jamaica. She would read primarily romance and mystery novels which piqued her interest. The adventure later began in her college years when her thirst for knowledge was unquenchable. She would thumb through endless pages of various magazines and publications: science, business, home and garden and religion... just to name a few. It was then that she realized that she had a knack for writing, particularly poetry.
Now, instead of keeping all her thoughts on paper to herself, she feels the need to share them with the world. “One never knows whether or not this seed of mine that is being sown, will fall on the soil of another person's heart, to burst forth roots of encouragement, produce fruit of inspiration, or bloom flowers of blessing,” she says.
Much of the content of Michelle’s material stems from the foundational roots of her Christian faith.
Her published works include "A Black Sheep in the Fold" (fiction) and “Writes of Passage” (poetry).
Michelle says she hopes “to continue to shine this little light of mine, which God in His grace has given to me, in a dark and dying world. Whatever the impact, I pray that, as He has been a blessing to me, I will pass the batón throughout this Life Race and be a blessing to others as well.”
Feel free to visit her website at: http://michellejameswrites.webs.com
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Patricia B. Janda
My interest in writing goes back to childhood days in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1942, at the age of ten, I was impressed by a movie newsreel account of General James H. (Jimmy) Doolittle’s crucial bombing mission over Tokyo in World War 11. That evening I composed a poem about him and my grandmother mailed it to the War Department in Washington. A short time later, the general responded. He said my poem "was indeed inspiring"…and he would take it with him and go on to victory. Those words, and the rest of his letter, gave me the encouragement to pursue writing. Continuing to write poems and short stories, later I joined the high school newspaper and yearbook staff.
In 1977, my husband and I and our sons moved to Spencer, Iowa, where I got a job working in the Activity Department in a nursing home. It was there that I had the opportunity to start a monthly newsletter for the residents. Not knowing how to type, I wrote the copy in long hand and the Activity Director typed it. The Lantern continues to this day. In 1983, I was again working at a nursing home, this time in Topeka, Kansas. A resident wanted to improve his English and asked me if I had any books on grammar. I searched my home and found an old workbook from college days in 1951. One exercise had never been turned in. A question on the page asked, "What do you really want to be?" I had written, "I want to be a writer." Realizing then just how long this love of writing went back, I decided to really pursue my desire to write.
Enrolling at Washburn University, I took all the Creative Writing and Writer's Seminar courses available. I joined Kansas Authors Club and eventually my poem, Wayward Boy, was selected for their yearbook. It remains on file at the university library. I was now writing poems and stories for the classes and initiated a newsletter for the Newcomers Club, writing in long hand and my friend typed it. When she moved out of town, I was forced to learn to type. Unable to attend the typing classes offered at the time, I bought a $3.00 instruction book, sat at my kitchen table for hours at a time, and typed on my son's manual typewriter with a grocery bag on my head (so I couldn't peek at the keys!). In one week, I could type – very, very slowly, but accurately. A column called Personally with Pat for the Topeka Weekly Review came next. The pay was ten dollars a week, but I had a byline with my picture!
My first check ever for writing was $50.00 (for five columns). That made me a ‘professional writer!’ Taking the coveted check to the bank, I suddenly snatched it back from the teller before she could cash it. I just couldn’t let it go. Hurrying over to a Xerox machine, I made a copy to keep forever and finally cashed the check.The tiny Sherwood Gazette periodical hired me for a 300-word piece and paid the unbelievable salary of $20.00 a month!
My poem for the newsletter Compassionate Friends was published on the front-page and circulated in several states. In Topeka, Kansas, all my dreams came true. Perhaps I was going to be a writer after all. Another transfer, and we were in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Joining a writers' club, I began submitting non-fiction manuscripts to the big magazines. I learned the hard way that you do not send a story about the elderly to Redbook, which caters to 18 to 40 year olds; finding the right market is key.
My 300-word piece to Reader's Digest came back so fast, it almost made my head spin. Later I learned they receive 50,000 unsolicited manuscripts a year. I'm sure mine never had a chance. Little by little, I was discovering the trials and tribulations a writer must go through. From White Bear Lake we relocated to Florida. While working at the Seven Lakes Association, I had the opportunity to write stories for their seasonal Seven Laker newspaper. Besides my regular column about the residents called At the Pavilion, I wrote more than one hundred additional non-fiction articles over an 11-year period.
In October 2001, Gulf Coast Writers Association came into my life. Since then several of my articles have been published in the club's Anthology and five pieces have appeared so far in Ft. Myers Magazine. My association with Gulf Coast Writers has been extremely gratifying. The members' encouragement, assistance and caring help me more than I can ever say. Looking back over the years, I smile when I think of General Jimmy Doolittle’s kind words, as well as that gentleman in Topeka, Kansas who wanted a book on grammar. Because of them, I realized that, "Yes, I want to be a writer."
Dr. Carol Kennedy
Dr. Carol Kennedy has authored three books: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PARENTING FROM A TO Z, SO HELP ME GOD, now in its fourth printing. You’ll find practical parenting tips as well as literacy games for the whole family. THE FIFTEEN MINUTE GUIDE TO PARENTING complements the A-Z book, and is a Christian workbook. THE GRIEF MONSTER carries the reader on a journey, as Dr. Carol shares gripping moments as she struggled with her ‘monster’ when her sister was killed. In progress is the fourth book, ONLY GOD CAN UNSCRAMBLE EGGS. Dr. Carol speaks to schools, churches, ladies groups and conventions. To find out more please visit www.drcarolkennedy.com. She is also in the speakers’ bureau of www.faccs.org
Lew Knickerbocker
A long military career sent Lew around the globe in assignments ranging from embassy duty to clandestine activities and special operations. Along the way, he earned advanced degrees in management, political economics, and economic forecasting. Returning to civilian life, he held a management post with a Fortune 500 corporation and later founded an international consultancy. He wrote numerous articles that appeared in industry publications and co-authored two niche-market non-fiction works on pesticides published by Agro/Informa (UK). Loss of his eyesight ended the days of poring over spreadsheets. Nowadays he dictates novels and short stories in collaboration with Fanci Shipp, his seeing eye person and editor.
Lew's first novel, That Moment of Moments, is the story of an easygoing war hero who believes only in luck falls in love with a girl who believes only in self-discipline and planning every move. When opposites attract, sparks fly. It received a 4.5 star reader rating on Amazon.com.
He’s searching for a publisher for his recently completed novel, The Earth Endures. The good, the bad, and the CIA clash in Argentina. CIA agent Kurt-Gustaf von Arnheim is there because Argentina has oil. The US wants it. Argentine President Juan Peron stands in the way. Along the way, von Arnheim collides with Argentina’s chief spycatcher, a beautiful assassin, a rich bitch and a bomb-throwing courtesan.
Ernie Lijoi, Sr.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY on St. Marks Ave in 1943 of Italian decent. I was a Police Patrolman for the Transit Authority back in the 1970’s in Boston, Massachusetts.
After a specific arrest of a suspect for narcotics, I was asked to take a 30 day job as a Deep Cover Investigator for a larger City in Massachusetts. This job required a new identity. 18 years later, because of the expertise that I acquired, I was still doing the same job under the guise of Eddie Pannoni.
In 1980 Sonny Grasso and Eddie Eagan came to see me (Known for the French Connection Movie and others) they wanted to do a book about my career. By that time I had the first two contracts on my life. I refused the book because of the never ending work that I had to finish.
Since my retirement people are always asking about my experiences throughout my career as a DCI. They seem to enjoy them. I have been told, many times, that I should write them down. At age 65 I decided to write the first book and had the help (after a search) of Larry Mathews. The book name is “Street Business” and was published a few months after it was written. I began another book and Larry looked it over. He suggested that I send it in without any help from him. I did and it was published.
I now am 67 years old and have three books published named “Street Business”, “Shoveling the Tide” and “Chasing Snow”. I have Four more books that I have not submitted yet, “Destructive Obsession”, “Meth or Myth”, “The Cash Mule” and now “The Preyers” . I am also working on a movie script for the book “Street Business” with an award winning script writer. The books are based on fact although told in a fictional manner with everything, including locations which, in most cases are changed along with names and dates.
I should mention that I worked with The FBI, ATF and DEA as a deep cover detective. I have enough material (newspaper clipping, reports, etc.) for at least a hundred or more books. I worked narcotics, murders, robberies and more. I was always on the inside of these jobs as a deep cover operative.
You may read more about me at http://www.erniesr.com.
Carmine and Dorayne Lombardo
CARMINE LOMBARDO – 2009 SENIOR POET LAUREATE OF FLORIDA, AUTHOR, LIBRETTIST, LYRICIST
Carmine began his writing career at age 16 and to date he has written 11 children's books, poems, many which have been published in collections and anthologies and 11 musicals - DOBDINOB, The Children's Book and DOBDINOB, The Family Musical being his latest, was recently published by Heuer Publishing LLC. (See Hitplays.com) Presently, he has completed the lyrics and, in collaboration with his wife, Dorayne, the book of his new musical, The Studio. He has also collaborated in writing over 800 songs, many of which have been published and have become hits. As a member of BMI, (Broadcast Music, Inc.), he won a scholarship to a musical theatre workshop under the direction of Lehman Engel. Carmine became a staff writer for Southern-Peer Music, Inc. and Fred Fisher Music in NYC. He spent 13 years in Nashville producing albums and collaborating with many famous country writers. He was honored to receive the 2009 17th Annual National Senior Poets Laureate of Florida Award sponsored by Amy Kitchener’s Angels Without Wings Foundation. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, The Authors’ League and Gulf Coast Writers Association, Inc. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Seton Hall University and became a Language Arts and drama teacher. His family of three children, six grand children and five great grand children are closer than pages in a book. Happily and gratefully blessed, he now lives in Cape Coral, Fl with his wife, Dorayne.
DORAYNE LOMBARDO - WRITER- ARTIST- SINGER - DESIGNER
Dorayne Lombardo, aka Lydia Ann Cummings, has a long and successful singing and writing career. A member of BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) and Gulf Coast Writers Association, she collaborated in writing, editing, participating in and designing the costumes and staging for many musicals and revues, the latest – DOBDINOB, The Family Musical.
Her creative art works have been widely accepted in the United States and Europe. She is a member of The Cape Coral Art League and Pine Island Art Association, where she instructs. Presently while continuing her fine art, she is engaged in contributing her artistic talents as set designer and art director for Cape Coral’s Cultural Park Theatre.
Dorayne’s music, editing, visual, creative costume designs and scenery for DOBDINOB, The Family Musical, have contributed to its illustrious productions. Recently, in collaboration with her husband, Carmine, she completed the book of their exciting new musical, The Studio.
Email for Carmine and Dorayne: cdpenbrush@aol.com
Judy Loose
I started making up stories to tell whoever would listen, virtually when I started talking. I started writing the stories down when I was nine or ten. Yet, somehow as an adult, for about thirty years, the only writing I did was business and technical writing. I spent those years working for corporations in the High-Tech industry, specializing in implementing company-wide Information Systems. At age fifty, I started writing for pleasure, again - first poetry, then short stories, and finally novels.
I am currently trying to find publishers for my last two novels:
• Junkanoo is an international thriller about trying to stop a very deadly computer virus.
• Mangrove Madness, set in Florida, is a humorous mystery about a newly licensed female PI trying to track down first one, then two...then seven missing people.
Next is a follow up novel to Mangrove Madness.
I am currently self-employed - designing websites, educating users on computers, and solving computer problems. I'm also the current webmaster for the GCWA website, gulfwriters.org. Please feel free to email me at jcloose@looselinks.com
Mary Beth Lundgren
Mary Beth Lundgren has belonged to Gulf Coast Writers for six years. She especially loves to write for children, and is the author of two picture books—the award-winning Seven Scary Monsters, and We Sing the City, and teen novel, Love, Sara, a Junior Library Guild selection. Her stories, poems, and articles have been published in anthologies and magazines for children: Spider, Cricket, Pockets, and My Friend, she’s also published articles, memoirs, and essays in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines for adults. For three years, she tutored students at Project: LEARN, an adult literacy program in Cleveland, OH, which published her award-winning, restricted-vocabulary book about computers. Since moving to Florida in 1999, she’s been a member of the Florida Native Plant Society, and put together the monthly newsletter of the local FNPS chapter for a year. She lives in "The Cape" with husband, Ted, a computer consultant, and three gorgeous and loving black cats.
Doug MacGregor
Doug has been a cartoonist for 32 years. He got his professional start drawing editorial cartoons for The Norwich Bulletin in eastern Connecticut in 1980. He moved to Florida in 1988 and was the News-Press editorial cartoonist from 1988 to June of 2011. Doug has also been a children's book author and illustrator since 2002. He has self-published five children's books. He is also a member of SCBWI, The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the AAEC, The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
His two new children's books are - Turtellini, The Turbo-Charged Turtle, and Rad Hair Day. Doug also has a current and popular book called Get Creative…Turn on the Bright Side of Your Brain.
When Doug is not at his drawing board he is out playing music. He sings and plays harmonica in the popular local blues band, Cracker Blues. Doug does freelance cartoon work and also likes to make small iMovies to share his thoughts with the world.
Check out his website at: dougcreates.com.
Jeri Magg
Jeri, a freelance writer for the past fifteen year, has written interview, health, travel, history and art pieces for local, regional and national magazines and newspapers. Recent articles have appeared in The National Cowboy Hall of Fame Magazine, Persimmon Hill, Transitions Abroad, Mature Lifestyles, Ft. Myers News Press, Sanibel Island Sun, Sanibel Islander and Ft. Myers Magazine. She has produced newsletters and designed and maintains the GCWA and Sanibel Historical Village and Museum websites. Her nonfiction book Historic Sanibel & Captiva Islands, Tales of Paradise was released in November 2011. She is a resident of Sanibel Island, Florida for the past 26 years, and a founding member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association.
Contact Jeri: jerimagg@comcast.net
Joseph X Martin
Joseph Xavier Martin is a freelance writer from Buffalo, New York. He is an avid reader and has a keen interest in history. He has been writing for over 30 years and has been published in numerous periodicals. Martin has written short stories, a play and numerous essays. His travelogues has guided many a friend on their journeys. Westward from Eire is his first novel and his new book, A Piece of the Banner, is due out in April, 2010. Joe is 5th generation Irish American and like many others of Irish descent has been involved in local, state and national politics.
http://web.me.com/jxmartin1/JXMARTIN/Home.html
Sandra McClinton
Sandra McClinton, author of Lyrical Aviators: Traveling America's Airways in a Small Plane, was born in the cotton mill town of Sycamore, Alabama. She attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama before transferring to Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Mathematics.
McClinton has worked at a number of jobs where she has gained valuable experiences for her writing. She taught Algebra in junior high schools before she switched to computer programming. Most of her career has been spent as a software engineer for NASA, the Army and Newport News Shipbuilding.
McClinton fell in love with flying and spent a year at the Garner Airport in Windsor, Virginia, learning how to fly sailplanes and crew for the Tidewater Soaring Society. She soloed in a Schweizer 2-33. She has been part owner of a Cessna 150 and a Cessna Cutlass 172-RG. She has been active in several aviation organizations, including the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society. McClinton and her husband have put more than 300,000 miles on their Cessna, traveling to remote places like Alaska and exotic places like the Caribbean.
In addition to the nonfiction book, Lyrical Aviators (published by Whistling Swan Press in 2000), McClinton has written several articles and poems in flying magazines. "Blue Water to Baja Mar" was published in Plane & Pilot and Air Race Classic 2002 was published in the International Women Pilots magazine. She is a poet as well as a writer and is a member of The Poetry Society of Virginia. Some of her poems were published in The Poetry Society of Virginia 80th Anniversary Anthology of Poems.
McClinton and her husband find a lot of material for her writing when they island hop in the Caribbean and fly the harrowing passes of Alaska. She lives in Cape Coral, Florida, with her husband.
Dick Miller
Dick Miller was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. A Lutheran minister for 38 years, he served as Pastor of congregations in Connecticut and New Jersey, and Senior Pastor of a large multi-staffed church in Florida before retiring in 2001. Dick has made presentations on book-related topics to students, church groups, seniors and civic organizations, and is available for speaking engagements.
This is his first published work of historical fiction. Dick lives in Florida with his wife, Donna. He has two sons, one in North Carolina and the other in Florida. Dick and Donna have six grandchildren. Dick has published his first book - The Boxcar Kid --- Get Free Sample and More Data at
Kyle Miller
Kyle L. Miller — Award winning author, publisher, and wildlife educator, Kyle Miller retired from teaching and coaching in the northeast to relocate to Sanibel Island, FL in 1999. She founded Jungle House Publications in 2005 and wrote and published her first wildlife storybook for children, DILLO — A Baby Armadillo’s Adventure on Sanibel Island, for kids 6-10. For kids, 7-12, Kyle's 2011 release, Snowy Pea and the Ghost Crab, is a chapter book designed to teach kids about shorebirds through an entertaining fictional format. Kyle is currently working on a true story about a blind raccoon, The Story of Trouper the Blind Raccoon, due to be released in early 2012. Her passion for teaching kids about wildlife is at the heart of her writing and publishing business.
Ms. Miller earned a MS in Physical Education from Ohio University and a MA in Counseling Psychology from Slippery Rock University. She on the Board of Directors of the Florida Publishers Association (http://www.flbookpub.org/) and a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (http://www.pma-online.org/).
She is currently offering presentations to schools, libraries and groups interested in her books about wildlife. The Trouper presentation will include a live visit from Trouper, the blind raccoon, and his caregiver, Dot Lee. Kyle can be reached at (239) 395-4518, email: junglehousepub@yahoo.com, www.junglehousepublications.com.
Her passion for wildlife and environmental preservation, and education is at the heart of her writing and publishing business.
Ms. Miller earned a masters degree in Physical Education from Ohio University and a masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Slippery Rock University. She joined the Florida Publishers Association in 2006 she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Florida Publishers Association. Kyle can be reached at (239) 395-4518, email: junglehousepub@yahoo.com, www.junglehousepublications.com.
Tom Nelson
What’s a small town boy like me doing, publishing another book of stories about Fennimore Wisconsin, the town I grew up in, then left a long time ago; but can’t quite ever leave in my mind? Thanks to an assignment from the Fennimore Times newspaper, in 2002, I have had the wonderful opportunity to recall friends, acquaintances, relatives and events in a weekly newspaper column called Fennimore… As I Remember.
My latest book, Still My Story, And I’m Sticking to It! is the third gathering of a number of yarns and tales from years past. The first book, That’s My Story, And I’m Sticking to It! was followed by, That’s My Story, And I’m Still Sticking to It! I trust readers will find this latest account to their liking and that my narratives of Fennimore, past and present, will give you similar affection for my favorite hometown and its history. I caution people that these too could be your stories, merely change the names and your friends may appear on every page.
I recently read that author, Studs Terkel, said, “People are hungry for stories––its part of our very being. Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another.” Sounds good to me, for I’m a story teller, not an author.
As for my background, I was educated as a mining engineer, followed by a stint in an Arizona copper mine and then pursued a career in sales and management in mining and construction related industries. After living in eleven locations around the country my wife, Dorothy, and I have settled down in the Ft Myers Fl area. I can be reached at normsson@yahoo.com.
Jan Nieman
After teaching second graders, raising five children, and supervising a Social Security office, I fell into owning a mobile pet grooming business. Instead of dealing with humans, I acquired new skills such as trimming hair to disguise a dog’s missing eye and crawling under vans to detect which hose was spewing green fluid. Upon retiring, I tried to purge my nightmares about that quirky career by writing about it. I joined GCWA, and with its guidance, terrific speakers, and workshops, I wrote my creative nonfiction, humorous tale, Going to the Dogs; Confessions of a Mobile Pet Groomer. New Chapter Publisher’s Editor-in-Chief, Chris Angermann, and our own Grammar Granny, Martha Jeffers, guided me through the maze of content and grammar editing.
Released in October 2010.
Contact Jan @ nieman.jan7@gmail.com
Jan's blog is www.authorjannieman.blogspot.com
Gerald Petersen
I earned a bachelor’s degree in economics with an undergraduate minor in history from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in economics from Case Western Reserve University. A veteran of service in Vietnam on board a destroyer in the United States navy, I am proud to be referred to as a “tin-can sailor.” During a varied career as a stockbroker, trust officer with two banks, planned giving officer with a state university, a small business owner, self-employed, and both an employee and contractor of the Department of Defense, there was often the thought of writing but life for me was too busy.
This would change with retirement when I began writing letters to the editor to three different newspapers. The scope of these letters ranged from economics to government and politics to interpretations of the Constitution. The letter writing would be interspersed with the writing of a blog on one newspaper’s blog site. Also, periodically, I will write papers about the political economy and other important macroeconomic issues. Recent papers were entitled Thoughts About Current Economic and Political Issues and A Micro-Macro Dichotomy.
And then, the realization of a lifetime would be fulfilled, that is, to write a meaningful book. And with this my passion for history took control. With many questions requiring answers, the research began. The information and answers which this research discovered would lead to the writing of the book A Right to Bear Arms? What Were the Founders Thinking?
Bill Phelps
Born in Norwalk, Ct in 1954 and lived there until 1964. Moved to Warwick, Rhode Island until he graduated from High School. Served in the United States Air Force from 1973-1993. He's been around the world a couple of times and has lived in Germany, Turkey, Thailand, the Philippine Islands and other fun places like Omaha.
Bill has mined his experiences as a former intelligence analyst and foreign operative during his twenty years in the military to create prose and poetry that speaks with sensitivity to aspects unique to veterans of the Viet Nam era. He is currently working on some fiction pieces derived from his military and intelligence experience. Not your usual spy stuff, but the dangerous, unglamorous, brutal and essentially pointless power politics of the 70’s and 80’s. They will encompass three novels
Maynard Poland
I am a Hoosier by birth. After medical training and a free tour of Vietnam courtesy of Uncle Sam, I practiced medicine for 35 years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In my later years there, I served as medical director for a large physician group and three hospitals. I have been an avid boater, have published sailing adventures in addition to medical articles, and since 2006 have been an adjunct professor at Edison State College.
After five-years of interview, research, and writing from 2001 to 2006, I published the memoir of a woman who overcame severe gender bias and resisted harassment to become a pilot. In July 2011, an expanded edition of the book was published, titled On Wings of Trust-Captain Carole Leigh Litten's Courageous Pursuit of Her Dream to Become a Navy & Commercial Pilot. The book is available in soft cover and eBook at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and barringerpublishing.com.
Gulf Coast Writers Association programs and activities have considerably helped my growth as a writer. I am currently working on a medical novel aimed at exploring the changes that occurred in medical practice and care during my career before retirement.
Joy Rocco
I spent many years in the Tampa Bay area as a commercial and residential designer/space planner which produced an instant income while writing my first novel. It took nearly 10 years to write. During that time I wrote design articles for several magazines, copy for ads, sales manuals, and interior design books. None were fulfilling. I needed to write fiction to use my imagination. All my books are written solely by me. I love sweeping readers away to another time and place where they can play out fantasies without leaving their home--only their challenges are left behind for a few hours. Oh, I also had two children during that time so I was a little busy.
My first novel-a mystery/romance set in Manhattan, called Chocolate Days Margarita Nights has a real surprise ending. I have just completed the second, a fiction romance. I have another mystery completed just waiting to be edited and a new one in progress. The first book was published under a pen name, mckenna davis. When it was restocked someone used my real name instead--so much for anonymity. My new book, fiction romance set in Birmingham, Alabama, Strawberries in December. Both books are available at Amazon.com, print and all major book stores. Strawberries in December is also available for Kindle, Nook, ebook, ipad, iphone and other electronic reading devices. (more - pdf)
Steve Ruediger
Steve Ruediger, 69, is a retired newspaper reporter and stockbroker. He has worked at The Miami Herald, the Tampa Tribune, the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, and the Fort Myers News-Press. He has a BA in international relations from American University in Washington, D.C. and wrote for Congressional Quarterly. He is a member of Mensa, the high IQ society. To contact Steve Ruediger: e-mail: sruediger@aol.com
Steve Ruediger has self-published his mystery novel PS: I'm Innocent. It is available in softcover, hardcover, and e-book editions through online sources such as Barnes and Nobel.com or, by order, through bookstores. The ISBN number is 978-1-4620-6934-7 for the softcover edition. Steve is working on two other novels.
Jane Kennedy Sutton
1/15/1949 - 5/9/2011
For years, moving around the globe with my husband and daughter, I considered myself a 'professional tourist.' While living in Taiwan, Korea, England, the Netherlands, Italy, and Saudi Arabia, I had the chance to explore many other places. Now that I’m back in the states, I'm an occasional tourist and full time writer.
I’ve had several articles published in the AWAR Forum magazine in Rome. I’ve won a short story contest and received an honorable mention for best first chapter of a novel.
ArcheBooks published my first novel, The Ride. It was released 2008 and is available from the publisher, ArcheBooks, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other internet markets. Local bookstores will be able to order it if you don't see it on their shelves by providing them with ISBN-10: 1-59507-193-8 or ISBN-13: 978-159507-193-4 numbers.
Please visit my blog, janekennedysutton.blogspot.com, my web site, janesutton.com, or read my short story at www.authorsden.com/janesutton.
Paula Watson
Paula Watson is a freelance writer and native Floridian. She has 24 years experience researching, writing, and editing in a variety of industries – airline, banking, education, engineering, financial services, insurance, mortgage, non profit, real estate, retirement services, securities and the stock market.
Since August 2004, she has provided creative and technical writing services exclusively through her company PWCTW, INC. Writing services include articles, biographies, blogs, database manuals, grant applications, grant letters, historical research, human interest stories, marketing materials, newsletters, operational procedures, style guides, training manuals, user software manuals, white papers and other documents on a project-by-project basis.
She has also written with and without a byline for Shell Point Life magazine since June 2008. Articles published with her byline include Discovering the Calusa (June 2010), chillin': Keeping Shell Point Cool and Bug Busters: Mosquito Control in Lee County (July 2009), Managing Medications (May 2009) and The City of Fort Myers and A Passion for Music & Medicine (February 2009).
Dave Wilcox
Dave Wilcox is a retired banker from Cleveland Ohio who resides on Fort Myers Beach. He writes travel articles and novels. His first novel is entitled BORN AGAIN: A CONSPIRACEY TO CREATE A THEOCRACY. It is about an unscrupulous religions leader who plots to overthrow the government and sets the plan in motion. He believes the benefits of the new order will justify the costs required to achieve it. The book is available through amazon.com, authorhouse.com, the Fort Myers Beach Library, and the author at dyw4468@cox.net
His second novel is SICILIAN SPRING. It is a story of love, Mafia revenge, and a clash of cultures. It takes place in southwest Florida and Sicily. It is scheduled for release at the end of 2010.
Sonora Revenge is Dave’s current project. It reflects his experience on the Arizona border and is a fictional story about human and drug trafficking, Mexican cartels, violence, and corruption. It highlights the plight of illegal aliens in their quest to live in America.
Dave is a graduate of Ohio University with a BA in government.
Check out his travel blog at http://www.travelpod.com/members/ospry
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams, professional storyteller and writer, is a retired educator who has spent 35 years as a high school teacher of English and also of mathematics. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Queens College and a Master of Education degree from Columbia University. She has been a member of the Fort Myers Toastmasters for the past eight years where she has earned the Advanced Toastmasters Silver Award specializing in the Storytelling and Entertaining Speaker categories. She was the club’s Toastmaster of the Year for 2006-2007. She is a member of the Florida Speakers Association, where she received the New Member of the Year Award for 2005-2006. She is a member of the Tamiami Tale Tellers of Fort Myers and the Gulf Coast Writers Association. She is a member of the board of the Florida Storytellers Association and was recently nominated for the 2010 Literary Artist of the Year award by the Lee County Alliance for the Arts.
Mary Lou also wears another hat as a nutrition lecturer and writer. She has lectured extensively in this field and writes a nutrition column for four local newspapers.
In addition to all of this, Mary Lou has illustrated a new Children's book, Silly Sally, written by Marilyn Lane Hurley.
You can contact Mary Lou @ mwfortmyers@aol.com
See her website @ www.story-theartre.com