A few words about St. James City author Fran Thomas

Fran Thomas lives full-time in St. James City and is a former editor of the Pine Island Eagle. She recently worked at Florida SouthWestern State College with first year students creating and facilitating workshops to teach them success skills. Her book Average to Awesome: How to Ace Your First Year in College Exercising Your Emotional Intelligence is available as an E-book (Kindle) for free. One Amazon reviewer gave the book five stars and said, "If I had read this book during my college years, I would've been a more productive student."

 

Fran has just released (on September 26) a fictional novella. It’s a romantic comedy about a woman named Geneva Price who finds herself in charge of the small town of Calusa when its mayor disappears in the middle of the night. Geneva soon finds herself embroiled in a dispute between townsfolk who want to preserve the ecology and business people who are determined to save the town from economic ruin. A hotel developer with good hair might be the answer to her prayers in more ways than one, but first Geneva has arrange a truce between the local ecologists and economists. Called The Lady is a Mayor, the novella is available for free on Kindle.

 

The novella is a prequel to a full length book Fran is working on. “Since I was once the editor of the local newspaper, I have lots of material to draw from,” says Fran. “So if you need a break from the debates, here's a lighter look at political goings on in a sort-of fictional small town.”

 

The novella is not the stretch you might think it is. Not only does Fran have a degree in English Literature, she's read thousands of romances, edited a bunch and has started writing a handful that she swears she’ll complete.

 

So come to Indie Author Day tomorrow at Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens and spend some time getting to know Fran and her work. She’s a wealth of knowledge.

A word or two about indie author Carol Ervin

Another of the authors taking part in Saturday’s Indie Author Day is Carol Ervin. Her story is all too common. After years of writing, she had begun to doubt that success would come to her. And (as she wryly observes) she wasn’t getting any younger. So she decided after a lot of thought and deliberation to self-publish The Girl on the Mountain. “When I decided to publish on my own, I thought I’d learned enough from forums, blogs, and books to equal a bachelor’s degree in independent publishing,” said Carol. “Still, I felt I was exposing myself as an idiot that day in 2012 when I hit the ‘publish’ button on the Kindle Direct Publishing website. Three years later, I think I’ve surely accumulated enough knocks to equal a Ph.D.”

The Girl on the Mountain is historical fiction. It is set in 1900 in a mountain logging town. Although it does not feature significant events or important historical persons, Carol regards it as “period fiction” because it shows how people were affected by the economy, culture and setting of the time. It is both a character and plot-driven story, and judging from reader responses, those features and the historical setting are responsible for its appeal.

Carol published a sequel (Cold Comfort) the next year. Then in 2014, she published the third in the series (Midwinter Sun) plus something different, a science/fiction dystopian novel (Dell Zero). Her fifth publication was Ridgetop, the remake of a story that had been in the drawer for about ten years.

Carol chose to release her novels as ebooks. She’s had mixed results. But what she has a wealth of is knowledge about how to self-publish and self-market books. Come to Indie Author Day. Carol will be glad to talk shop with you or merely share her inspiration for her stories, which are really exceptional.

In addition to Carol, a number of other authors will be in the gallery celebrating Indie Author Day. Besides myself (I'm more of an illustrator than an author .... at least for now), Betty Freberg, Fran Thomas, Michael Silberg and Tom Hall will be on hand. They'll have books, signing pens and lots of knowledge and stories to share. So I hope to see you Saturday. Indie Author Day runs from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Local attorney and author John D. Mills is participating in Indie Author Day

Indie Author Day is this Saturday at Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. A late addition to the roster of indie authors participating in the event is John D. Mills.

John is a fifth generation native of Ft. Myers, Florida. He grew up fishing the waters of Pine Island Sound and it's still his favorite hobby. He graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia with a BBA in Finance and worked for Lee County Bank in Fort Myers for five months.

He returned to Macon and graduated from Mercer's law school in 1989. He started his legal career as a prosecutor for the State Attorney's Office in Fort Myers before going into private practice in 1990. He concentrates in Divorce and Criminal Defense, which gives him lots of material for his other career as a novelist.

 

John has published six legal thrillers: Reasonable and Necessary (2000), The Manatee Murders (2002), The Objector (2004), Sworn Jury (2007), The Trophy Wife Divorce (2011) and The Hooker, The Dancer and The Nun (2015).

The Hooker, The Dancer and The Nun received the Florida Authors and Publishers Association’s 2016 President's Award in the Florida Adult Fiction category. Betrayal and secrets abound in this legal thriller set in the coastal waters of Pine Island, Florida. When three former college roommates, all recently divorced, embark on a girls’ weekend to reignite their strained friendship, horror ensues. One woman goes missing, one turns up dead in the water, and the third is arrested.

So come out on Saturday and meet John and the other authors participating in Indie Author Day. They’ll have copies of their books for sale, will happily autograph them for you and will share their inspiration and industry knowledge.

Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens is located at 4637 Pine Island Road.

The Catch of Matlacha Island

If you have not been to Matlacha Island to visit Lovegrove Gallery & Garden, then you haven’t seen the immense mural I painted on the eastern wall of the post office to greet visitors as they cross over the bridge from the mainland. It's a great location. Not only is it visible to all westbound traffic, but the mural reflects in the water at the foot of the seawall that runs alongside the building.

I call it The Catch of Matlacha Island. It depicts a large orange fish with brightly covered studios and shops on its back symbolizing how the island’s enclave of artists, sculptors, musicians and authors built a new Key West from the ashes of the fishing community that thrived here between the 1930s and 1992. 

What happened in 1992? That's when Florida voters approved a net ban referendum that put the island’s mullet fishermen out of business. The fishermen were so upset by the vote that they burned their boats that night. So bright was the fire that it could be seen on Fort Myers Beach.

For a time, the island was faced with financial ruin. But then, artists, sculptors, authors and musicians began buying up the fishing shacks and bungalows, opening galleries, studios, gift shops and even bars and eateries to take their place. I was one of the artists who came to the island in the aftermath of the net fishing ban. While no one wanted to see the fishermen lose their livelihood, the efforts of the visual and performing artists who took their place is a testament to Matlacha Island's ingenuity, resilience and pioneering tradition. We're a tough bunch that endures even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

I chose to feature a tarpon in the mural because the silver king our waters famous in the 1880s and 1890s. The tarpon is known worldwide for its shiny, metallic looking scales which resemble "a hundred brilliant looking glasses" when the fish leaps into the air. I incorporated some reflectors inside the fish’s scales. They’re from the old bridge, which was known for decades as the “fishingest bridge in the world.”

A friend of mine teases that I should have painted a snook. Historically, the snook was the fish that our early settlers lived on when they came to Matlacha Island in the late 1920s and early '30s. For years, the old timers told stories about how legendary the fishing was back then. They claim that they'd catch as many as three or four dozen snook in just an hour or two (some weighed as much as forty or fifty pounds) and could net 2,000 shrimp in less than an hour. Can you imagine?

The Matlacha Island Chamber of Commerce sponsored The Catch of Matlacha Island. They not only wanted a landmark to welcome visitors to the island, the Chamber wanted to send a message about the importance of keepin island area waters healthy for fish spawning and habitats for years to come.

Make plans to visit us on Matlacha Island soon. You’ll discover that there’s lots to see and do here whether your passion is art, souvenir shopping, kayaking or just dining out.

Indie Author Day is this Saturday at Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens

Lovegrove Gallery and Gardens will host the first Indie Author Day this Saturday, October 8, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. This event will showcase authors who have self-published or independently published their books. Similar gatherings will be held throughout North America. Partners include industry publications, library organizations, and technical partners, groups from all across the publishing industry. This will be an opportunity to meet local authors, buy their books, have them autographed and take a selfie or two at the same time!

Local authors who will be on hand with their books are Carol Ervin, Betty Freberg, Michael J. Silberg, Fran Thomas, Robin Tuthill and Tom Hall. I will be in the gallery too. I'm not only the host. I've had the honor and pleasure of illustrating several of these books.

Besides Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens, only duPont-Ball Library at Stetson University in DeLand, Lake-Sumter State College Libraries in Leesburg, Walton County Public Library in DeFuniak Springs and W.T. Bland Public Library in Mount Dora, FL are participating in this interesting, exciting, informative nation-wide event.

Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens is involved because we want to showcase the incredible talent that we have right here in Fort Myers and on Matlacha/Pine Islands. It will be a wonderful opportunity for you to meet local writers, hear about their inspiration, and get an unparalleled glimpse into the indie publishing business from pitch to publication. 

Brainy food and beverages will be served.

Pink is for National Breast Cancer Awareness month

When most people think of autumn color, they picture the reds, orange and gold of falling leaves. Not so for me. For me, the color of autumn is pink. That’s because October is breast cancer awareness month.

Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women. About 1 in 8 women in the United States will get breast cancer at some point.

The good news is that many women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. The most effective way to do this is with a mammogram. This screening test for breast cancer can help find breast cancer early when it’s easier to treat, but many women ignore this simple, but crucial diagnostic test.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a chance to raise awareness about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. To help spread the word about mammograms and encourage communities, organizations, families, and individuals to get involved, I surround myself with hot pink this time each year.

Last year, I created three pink-themed works of art for Beall’s Department Store. The designs appeared on women’s T-shirts, housewares, and even quilts that Bealls sold during Breast Cancer Awareness month. The paintings were titled Pink Lady, Pink Racer, and Pink Power.

Pink Lady depicted a sailboat. Pink Racer was a bicycle. These paintings conveyed a sense of hope and eventual freedom from this devastating disease.

The third painting depicted a bevy of pink flamingos. The flamingos symbolize the support that women give each other to battle breast cancer.

So if you're a woman, get a mammogram this month. For women 40 or older, they're covered by insurance, usually with no deductible or coinsurance.

Art and fashion collide during the Davis Art Center's annual fundraiser called Art Walks the Runway

Each year, the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center hosts a fashion extravaganza called Art Walks the Runway. The next one opens March 30 and runs through April 2, 2017.

I was given the honor of opening the runway in 2012. I was one of six fashion designers featured that year, and I presented my “Fashion Art Story" which featured my hand-painted wardrobe. I returned in 2015 with a few colorful pieces from my personal collection, as well as bright and bold original artwork that was, in fact, the inspiration behind the ladies apparel and accessories now sold exclusively at Bealls. It’s a fun time for both designers and attendees, and it’s something I’m looking forward to participating in again in the future. Plus it’s a fundraiser that benefits the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center.

I have painted my clothes for special events since I was young, but the art fashion has a way of trickling down into my every day attire. I especially love to wear hand-painted heels. They always get a second look from people as I’m out and about. I love it when someone at the checkout counter asks to have their picture taken with me...but I know it's the fun painted jacket or shoes they want to photograph.  

Given this as background, it’s no wonder that my association with Bealls is a marriage made in heaven.