I began writing as a child in Bermuda when a favorite teacher had one of my essays published in a local newspaper. I am a charter member of Louisville Christian Writers and a new member of Gulf Coast Writers in Florida. I have been a contributing writer for Kentucky Monthly Magazine and my work has appeared in Essence’s Celebrating the Season and Alive! magazine. The publication in 2011 of my children’s book, Benny’s Angel, fulfills a dream.

In addition to writing, I have enjoyed drawing and painting since childhood. Three limited edition prints have been produced from my art, including “Old Timer,” which took first place in the portrait division at the 2006 Kentucky State Fair. Because of my interest in the arts, I am on the planning team for Artful Missions, which produces juried art shows and donates most of the proceeds to ministries that help women and children escape human trafficking.

I have three children, two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren from my marriage to my first husband, Bob McCrea, who is now with the Lord. With my second husband, Paul, I have two stepsons and four more grandchildren. Our blended family is a blessing.

Sharmin Fairbanks McKenny is a transplant from the Midwest where she received her BSN and Master’s degree in Nursing. She was a pioneer in civilian flight nursing, transporting critical patients by helicopter and fixed wing. She earned her private pilot’s license as a teenager and actually soloed before she had a driver’s license.

Sharmin is a farmer’s daughter and nature lover. She mounts orchids in the trees on the golf course at her Florida community. Playing golf three times a week, Sharmin enjoys the orchids, sunshine, and fresh air. She also paints using acrylics on canvas, usually birds, landscapes, and people.

As her first novel, the first in a series, Sharmin is writing an historical fiction about the original settlers of the Fairbanks family from 1600-1791. The Fairbanks family came to New England in 1633, thirteen years after the Pilgrims. In 1637, they built the oldest frame house still standing in North America. As active early American settlers, the Fairbanks founded the towns they settled, Dedham and Lancaster, Massachusetts. This first book will take the family through the Revolutionary War in Massachusetts. Later books in the series will follow their move through Vermont, Ohio, the Civil War, and Kansas.

Writing about the Fairbanks’ family history has opened other writing opportunities for Sharmin. She has articles in the Fairbanks Family of America Newsletter, the GCWA annual writing contest 2018, and the National Society of Daughter’s of the American Revolution, American Heritage Contest, “Honoring our Patriots While Preserving our Family Stories.” Her enthusiasm and passion for her work makes her a perfect fit for co-chairperson of the membership committee of the 2018 Gulf Coast Writer’s Association.

Follow Sharmin at:
http://sharminfairbanksmckenny.com/
https://www.facebook.com/FairbanksHistory/

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 @ jannieman@comcast.net

Jan’s book