I have always wanted to write. When I was 10 years old, I won first prize in a Patriotism contest at the Children of the American Revolution (CAR). I said to my mother, “I want to be a writer.” My mother said, “Find a profession that will pay some money.” I wrote articles for the school newspaper, the local newspaper and a few magazines, but it wasn’t until I came to Florida eight years ago that I decided it was now my time to write.

I spent a year and a half creating my first cookbook, “In Addition…to the Entrée”. It’s all about the important side dishes which compliments the main dishes. It is a personal guide to help the busy working person as well as anyone to decide what to serve as a side dish for the meal. The book has one hundred and sixty recipes, over two hundred color photos, and is divided into fourteen sections with an extensive index.

Then I started working on my novel, “The Bonnie Neuk Tea Room: Friends and Uninvited Guests (Ghosts)”. Victoria Storm is facing a divorce and wants to do something different with the rest of her life. But what? She receives a cell call from someone who suggests she opens a tea room like her grandmother in her hometown of Metuchen, New Jersey. And who was that who called?

She buys an old house, renovates it into a tea room and has lots of encounters with uninvited guests or are they ghosts?

Please check out www.cookingbyconnie.com and thebonnieneuktearoom.com for more information, ordering, pricing, and photos. The cookbook is $15.00 and the novel is $10.00, plus postage if you want it mailed.

You can also purchase The Bonnie Neuk through www.Createspace.com/4775503 or on Amazon.com Or either book from the back of my car.

Visit her website at: www.thebonnieneuktearoom.com

Connie Hope’s books

Dorothy Howe Brooks writes poetry and fiction. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous literary journals, including Atlanta Review, Poet Lore, Louisiana Literature, Bayou, Poem, and Mangrove Review. Her second chapbook, Interstices, was published in 2009 by Finishing Line Press, and her full length poetry collection, A Fine Dusting of Brightness, was published in 2013 by Aldrich Press. She teaches various poetry classes in the Lifelong Learning Institute at Southwest Florida State College in Punta Gorda. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she now lives with her husband in Southwest Florida where they enjoy sailing in the coastal waters of the Gulf.

Visit her website at: http://dorothybrooks.org

Dorothy Brooks books

After 27 years in law enforcement I have down sized from the large home, the kids are on their own, the dog died and I have survived to live among my fellow retirees. So, after years of detailed planning and scheduling of life events, I’ve embarked upon a journey as an aspiring writing, blogger, and photographer of my nomadic outdoor adventures and discoveries. I post daily blogs & photographic details of my new retirement lifestyle for my children and hopefully provide them something to strive for in their’er professional lives. I’m currently comprising short stories of fiction for the world to read.

My current lifestyle is like my childhood, when I would play in my backyard all day, stopping only to eat and occasionally go to the bathroom. Now, I live a similar lifestyle, except I take my lunch and I just have to search for a bathroom, except when I’m at the beach.

Visit his website at: http://007pandas.com