Mom's arrested, heroism, 'original snowbird,' more: SW FL authors' books run the gamut
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They arrive in our electronic mailboxes regularly, emails from writers who have penned a book and want us to tell the world.
Southwest Florida authors are busy pounding away at the keyboard when you'd think they'd be outside more, enjoying the Gulf breezes and sandy beaches.
Thankfully for us, they've written about themselves, interesting real people and fascinating ones in the fictional world.
Some are for children while others definitely are not.
Once or twice a year, we share these wordsmiths' books with you. And to get things started, the first author is Annabelle Tometich, a former News-Press and Naples Daily News colleague and longtime food and dining writer. She's a supremely talented writer who can make Brussels sprouts sound interesting.
'The Mango Tree' truly a story about family
A felonious Florida mango memoir? We’re in. Author Annabelle Tometich spent 18 years writing about food and critiquing restaurants for The News-Press in her hometown of Fort Myers. Her first book, “The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony,” debuts April 2, 2024 from Little, Brown. In June 2015, when Tometich’s Filipina mother used her squirrel-sniping BB rifle to shoot out the car window of a white man she claimed was stealing mangoes from her Fort Myers yard, the police stepped in. They arrested Tometich’s mom. They charged the 64-year-old with “firing a missile into an occupied dwelling, vehicle, building, or aircraft,” a second-degree felony.
This led to a call from one of the author’s News-Press colleagues. “Did (your mom) really shoot at that guy — over a mango?” the reporter asked. Tometich told him a version of the truth: “It’s complicated.” So begins “The Mango Tree,” a book that, with humor and clear-eyed compassion, delves into the author’s multiracial childhood in Robert E. Lee County, her relationship with her widowed and fiery immigrant mother, and the fruit tree that loomed large and leafy over her fractured family.
Melanie Smith's book helps cope with trauma, loss
Former actress and Naples resident Melanie Smith adds the role of author to her resume with her debut memoir "Unfinished Business." Released this month, the books details an eight-step process guiding readers through matters of trauma and loss.
Prior to her time as a lifestyle coach, Smith has starred in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "As the World Turns, and was also featured in three episodes "Seinfeld" as Jerry's girlfriend Rachel Goldstein (Season 5, "The Raincoats," "The Hamptons," "The Opposite").
Smith has 30 years of research and extensive experience in life coaching with certifications in grief recovery, holistic health and nutrition counseling.
Naples author Adam Makos shines light on heroism
Internationally best-selling author, Adam Makos of Naples was honored with a Christopher Award for his book "Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism and Friendship" in early 2023.
The book is based on a true story of a Navy aviator duo and the Marines they fought to defend. Makos’ tale of bravery and selflessness is one of 12 winning books for adults and young people given at the 74th Christopher Awards, which gives distinction to media that “affirm the highest values of human spirit.”
The 2014 book was adapted into a movie in November 2022 with starring actors Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell.
Susan Sachs Levine
Children’s book author Susan Sachs Levine lives in Naples and takes inspiration from the local wildlife, particularly the birds, when writing books that serve as an entertaining teaching resource for young children.
As a Florida Master Naturalist and mother of two, Levine combines and applies her knowledge of child-rearing and the natural world into creative and engaging children’s stories.
Levine’s newest release, "Gilbert’s Migrant Vacation," published in July. It follows the 4,000-mile journey of a Sanderling chick migrating south for the winter. In addition to the entertaining narrative, the picture book includes adorable illustrations and educational information about common shorebirds that can be seen on beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
Ex‒NDN editor turns fiction writer
Jeff Bruce, a former Naples Daily News editor, has kept busy in retirement. He's penned a few novels about Alexander Strange, America’s only full-time weird-news reporter is hunting the elusive Florida vigilante known as Mister Manners.
His latest from last year, "Mister Manners," is about a character with the same who has been on a rampage, gluing grocery carts to car roofs, hiding pythons in tourists’ beds, and now the cops believe he dumped a load of horse manure on a naked mob bagman.
He’s become a social media phenomenon, a kind of modern-day Robin Hood, striking out against stupidity and rudeness. Who is this guy? Strange is determined to answer that question and to score the first interview with him.
Bruce said his next book, "An Angel in Time," is expected out by Christmas.
Retired doctor's autobiography details his journey
Retired Estero doctor Harcourt G. Harris published his memoir "Race and Healing: Autobiography of an Urban Black Physician" in February, detailing the obstacles he had to overcome as a black man on a journey to become a doctor.
In this autobiography, Harris elaborates his experiences as a young black man born in the 1920s hoping to be accepted into the white-dominated field of medicine. Harris hopes to inspire youth with similar dreams to his own through his own story of success.
At age 94, Harris now lives a sedentary lifestyle and spends his time playing pinochle with his friends and enjoying the company of his great-grandchildren.
Marco couple writes own books
Now living in Marco Island, Patrick Huey and his wife Dixie Lee Huey have both published their own respective books geared toward two very different audiences. Dixie Huey, a metabolic fitness coach and now author, released her self-help book "The Nourishment Mindset" this past January through which Huey aims to end American diet culture and simplify true nourishment and fat loss.
Although Patrick Huey is a veteran Naval Flight Officer and now an independent financial advisor, he has delved into the world of fiction with his debut thriller novel "Hell, A Novel." This book is a modern adaptation of Dante’s Inferno in which an Iraq War veteran travels the world as well as the nine levels of hell.
Patrick Huey’s novel benefits the Wounded Warrior Project and aims to build awareness for the hardships faced by U.S. veterans.
Nonfiction book delves into Music City history
Paula Iacampo, whose new nonfiction book is penned under her maiden name Paula Blackman, is set in Nashville during the Jim Crow era.
A part-time Estero resident, the author is a sixth-generation Tennessee native who offers untold tales from the era of segregation and the Civil Rights Movement in "Night Train to Nashville: The Greatest Untold Story of Music City."
In the book that publishes Sept. 12, the author shares personal stories shared by Gab Blackman, her grandfather who was "an advertising visionary who saw an opportunity where there was none: in broadcasting Black R&B music."
“This true story opens in February 1946 during what historians consider the opening salvo of the civil rights movement, aka The Columbia Race Riots,” Paula Blackman said in a news release.
"'Night Train' delves deep into Nashville’s history, and for those who love Music City, the portrayal of life here during Jim Crow can be disturbing. However, to ignore this history, to intentionally see only what one wants, to listen solely to opinions that confirm one’s own is the definition of willful ignorance."
Pine Island author Macomber's final novel in his Honor Series
Robert N. Macomber of Pine Island welcomed the final novel of his Honor Series this past April with "Full Naval Honors: The Final Novel of Peter Wake and His Descendants." This volume finds admiral Peter Wake dealing with shadowy espionage, gut-wrenching combat and a sense of honor and duty that is seen throughout Macomber’s Honor Series.
Macomber is a former Department of Defense consultant, internationally recognized lecturer and a multi-award-winning author. He was bestowed with the award for 2020 Florida Writer of the Year for displaying the Florida Writers Association’s motto of “Writers Helping Writers."
Book time: ‘Bad Monkey’ to ‘Sanibel Flats’: 11 Florida crime writers and their best beach reads
Randy Wayne White's latest book for young adults
New York Times-bestselling author and Sanibel Island resident Randy Wayne White is most well-known for his Doc Ford novel series. White is the author of 16 Doc Ford novels and four collections of nonfiction.
In 2020, White began a series in geared towards an audience of young adults called the Sharks Incorporated Series. The fourth book in the series, "Megalops," is scheduled for publication in Sept. 5.
"Megalops" tells the tale of a trio of brave friends who are enlisted by marine biologist Doc Ford to expose celebrity contestants for cheating in a fishing contest offering a $1 million prize.
Paperback writer: Hometown best-selling author Randy Wayne White visits Fort Myers area to introduce new Doc Ford novel
White is a partner in Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille restaurants on Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach
Newt the author: Latest book on politics
In his national bestseller "March to the Majority: The Real Story of the Republican Revolution,: former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich tells the tale of his rise from history teacher at the University of West Georgia to House Speaker.
Gingrich and former National Republican Congressional Committee Executive Director Joe Gaylord join together to share never-before-told stories about pivotal political figures and the challenges our nation faces today in the book, released in June 2023.
Gingrich and his wife Callista Gingrich permanently moved to Naples in 2021 where he has been working on documenting the history of the Republican Revolution through his eyes and taking Americans behind the scenes of the rise of the modern GOP.
Janet Evanovich latest drops on Halloween
"Dirty Thirty" is the latest book from Naples resident and New York Times best‑selling author Janet Evanovich.
The novel drops Oct. 31, the latest in the Stephanie Plum series about the fictional New Jersey bounty hunter. This time, Plum is "on the trail of a stolen cache of dirty diamonds," the book's promotion reads on amazon.com.
Before she became a stay-at-home mom, Evanovich told the Daily News in a 2018 story that worked other jobs to help make ends meet — similar to her Plum character — while raising two children with her husband, Pete, of more than 50 years.
Evanovich and Pete moved to Naples about 20 years ago. They first visited the Gulf Coast town after she spoke at a bail bonds conference in Sarasota. (In the Plum novels, Plum works as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie, who owns a bail bonds business.)
“When we came to Naples, it was like, 'This is it, this is where we belong,' " she said in the 2018 story.
Her last book, "Going Rogue," another in the Plum series, is now in paperback and was published last November.
Naples couple pens page‑turning thriller
As we reported last month, the Naples husband-and-wife writing team Matt Dorff and Suzanne Dunn on July 11 released their second novel, "With a Kiss We Die."
Published under their pseudonym L. R. Dorn, the book is about a young couple who are college-aged theatre majors suspected of parricide (the crime of killing your parents) who try to curry favor with an influential serial podcast by offering her exclusive access to their lives.
"I stayed up until 2 a.m. for a week, totally engrossed in the story," our Daily News food and dining journalist Diana Biederman wrote about the novel in her story.
Dunn, a two-time Emmy Award winner for interactive programming, has written two movies for Lifetime and Ion networks. Growing up, her family vacationed in Naples.
Dorff is a Southern California native and USC School of Cinema graduate who has written, produced, and/or directed more than 60 hours of long-form television for CBS, NBC, ABC, Showtime, HBO and Lifetime.
Their collaboration initially developed working as screenwriters in film and television.
Stories of danger, compassion, survival during Hurricane Ian
Popular Lee County artist Leoma Lovegrove painted the cover for “Storm Stories: Hurricane Ian," a collection of Ian-themed essays, poems and photos from the Gulf Coast Writers Association.
The 400-page book features work from 79 Southwest Florida writers, including a forward by Pine Island novelist Robert N. Macomber (best known for his Honor Series of thrillers). They tell true, personal stories from people who lived through the Category 4 hurricane in September 2022.
“These stories and photos are vivid, wrenching accounts, but also tales of compassion, kindness and generosity, as well,” said editor Jeanne Meeks in a news release.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Cajun Navy Ground Force, a Louisiana-based volunteer group that helps out during national emergencies (including Hurricane Ian). ― Charles Runnells, News‑Press features journalist
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Southwest Florida authors: What to know about books from area writers
