I wrote my first short story when I was nine or ten based on the video game Asteroids from Atari. I have an English Lit degree and have taken multiple creative writing courses. I wrote Editorials for the Democrat & Chronicle during my early twenties and for the Rochester Magazine until it closed. Once that happened, I purchased an AB-Dick printing press and started a mini-periodical called The American Register. As the editor, I worked with four writers, as well as writing articles myself. I then went online at the AmericanRegister.com and advertised on our local radio in Rochester, NY. After a few years, the funding faded and I shut down the site. Although I did not stop writing, I did take a break from the industry.

Moving to Florida three years ago rejuvenated my mind, and I began to write feverishly and created a blog as well. Currently completing Draft IV 80K words, The Diary of Sergeant Stark, a psychological thriller. A story about a veteran cop who wants to do good but finds himself covering up a slew of his own murders. I will self-publish if it does not get picked up by an agent. The story-line has purposely placed options for a prequel, sequel, and interlude. Additional books have been shelved in order to focus on this one since I work full time at a bank.

Gianni’s blog

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/