Welcome to the RPLA Showcase
2016 Unpublished Novella
Butterfly in a Hurricane by Kerryn Reid
In Butterfly in a Hurricane, Lydia DiMarco is a young woman with beauty and brains, and no idea what to do with them. She also has Asperger’s Syndrome. Hiding away in her little house in Bonita Springs, she’s doing just fine, thank you… until she falls in love with a cop.
At the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Awards Banquet, author Kerryn Reid won First Place in the Unpublished Novella category. Each year at the RPLA Banquet, authors experience the joy of earning accolades for all the hard work that is often done in the privacy of the home with little to no recognition. We’re showcasing the best of the best with our First Place winners spotlight. Not only does RPLA recognize extraordinary talent, but we’re giving readers an opportunity to sample excerpts from the winning stories.
Click the link to read a sample:
Excerpt from Butterfly in a Hurricane
Q & A with Kerryn Reid
Q: Where do you get your story ideas?
A: I have a couple of ideas that came from dreams. But my most productive imagining time is before sleep, lying in the dark with the wheels spinning in my head. Sensory deprivation is key. Sometimes it interferes with getting to sleep, but hey, what’s more important???
Q: Anything in particular about your award-winning RPLA entry that you’d like to share?
A: I wrote Butterfly in a Hurricane for the real live Aspie in my life. (An Aspie is a person with Asperger’s syndrome.) It was a way for me to work through some of my thoughts about how Asperger’s might affect the dynamics of a romantic relationship. But the story is for everyone. It’s not hard to identify with Lydia, the butterfly of the title; I think most people have a little Aspie inside.
A: First and foremost, my father. He wrote academic texts rather than fiction, but I was so impressed and fascinated by the process. Then, of course, those special authors I read (and re-read) through my formative teen years. Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and Mary Stewart top the list.
Q: Any tips for new writers?
A: Join a writers’ group or two and find some good critique partners — absolutely vital! And grow a thick skin so you can accept their criticism. You don’t have to follow their advice, but at least consider it.
Thank you for sharing, Kerryn, and congratulations! Visit her website: www.kerrynreid.com
A message about supporting literacy in Florida:
If every member of FWA went to Smile.Amazon.com, chose Florida Writers Foundation, Inc. as their charity and, instead of logging into Amazon.com, logged into Smile.Amazon.com, FWF would receive 0.5% of the purchase funds. Every time.
We could significantly fund the literacy efforts of our organization. No money out of your pockets…just some invested time to set this up.
How easy for us to make a difference. To see all of our work, please read the pages of our website www.floridawritersfoundation.com. You’ll be proud.
Tom Swartz, President, FWF
