In January I had that opportunity to speak at the monthly meeting of the North Brevard Historical Society. I was pleased and honored to address them at their monthly meeting held at the famous Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant. While writing Jessie I spent a lot of time at the North Brevard Historical Society. They were a tremendous help in my research. In addition to gathering facts, I had the chance to sit and talk with some of the folks at the museum who’d been in Brevard county at the time the book is set. Hearing first-hand stories, flipping through old city directories, and reading old newspapers helped me get into the mindset of the era. I especially loved the grocery ads in the newspapers. It’s hard to believe bacon was $0.59 a package and five loaves of bread were $0.99.
At the end of January, I was thrilled to learn that Jessie won the Patrick D. Smith Literary Award.The Brevard Library Foundation created the award in honor of the great Florida author, Patrick D Smith.
“Patrick Smith is a 1999 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, which is the highest and most prestigious cultural honor that can be bestowed upon an individual by the state of Florida. Smith is the author of seven novels and has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize. His lifetime work was nominated for the 1985 Nobel Prize for Literature.”
It took two weeks for me to wrap my mind around the reality that I had won. I was interviewed by the Brevard Business Magazine and it published this week. Here is a link if you would like to read the full interview. It begins on page 11. http://www.brevardbusinessnews.com/ArchiveDocs/2015/2015-02-01/BBN-021615.pdf
Good things are happening, now if only I could convince Book Bub to accept one of my books!