Connie's Corner

Scribes of the Sunshine State

I went to an author (4) speaking event yesterday evening at a little museum here in Gainesville called The Matheson  . I'd never visited this particular museum before and it was delightful. I plan on going back when there is nothing going on and it is quieter. There's extensive grounds around the museum and an old house appropriately called The Matheson House, home to the original family. It is in the midst of "downtown" and that is why I have avoided it until now. I'm getting adventurous, I guess.

The title of the event was "Scribes of the Sunshine State". Consequently, each author's topic centered on how Florida influenced his or her writing. One author grew up near Marjorie Kinan Rawlings home (Cross Creek) and couldn't help but be influenced by her writing, even attending school with descendants of Marjorie's friends. Another author, a history professor, lived on the coast of South Florida, wrote about the Everglades and spoke on ecology, while the third writer was involved in the Mariel Boat Lift and had written a book about that. The fourth, of all things, writes romance novels about pirates. She told a great story about doing research with a group of spelunkers in a dry Florida cave with an opening barely big enough to wiggle through. Now, I'm not a romance reader, strictly speaking, but she was so persuasive, I ended up buying the book. And I have to tell you the name of it, The Bride and the Buccaneer. More on that later perhaps.

until next time...c