- November 27, 2024
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‘Hidden Truths’
Jeff Boyle Courtesy photo
Kathy Stickney Photo by Wayne Grant
Two Ormond Beach authors have been successful at getting their latest books published and they can be found at local book signings.
Jeff Boyle, city commissioner from January 1996 to December 2005, has turned his attention to writing full-time and recently published “Hidden Truths,” a collection of 16 short stories.
Boyle was also the owner of Baseball Card Exchange on West Granada Boulevard, from 1989 until 2010, in the building now occupied by The Pocket Jeweler.
“Hidden Truths” follows Boyle’s first book, a novel called “Nam World,” which won third place in the Florida Writers Association in 2012 in the mainstream literary category. It was about a Vietnam veteran in Daytona Beach, with elements of government and the seductive power of business and money, Boyle said.
While many writers search for publishers, Boyle was contacted by Bold Venture Press, who asked to see samples of his work. As a result, the South Florida company has published “Hidden Truths,” now available at boldventurepress.com, Amazon, barnesandnoble.com and walmart.com. It will soon be on Kindle and Smashwords.
Boyle has book signings coming up: Oct. 19, Florida Authors at Daytona State College; Nov. 10: Port Orange Authors Bamfest; and Feb. 16: New Smyrna Beach Library, a one-man presentation.
He plans to attend the Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Awards dinner on Oct. 22 to see if two of his stories win awards.
In “Hidden Truths,” his characters come to realizations about themselves and life, he said.
The publisher notes state, “The tales are sprinkled with humor, compassion and an eye for detail of the surroundings.”
Boyle said his writing has been helped a lot by a local group, City Island Fiction Writers.
He spends a few hours every day writing, he said, usually in the morning or evening, and about 50% of his time is spent editing.
“I’ll go to bed thinking something is really solid, and look at in the morning and make 30 changes,” he said. “I don’t know how people did it before computers.”
Kathy Stickney, of Ormond Beach, has been a genealogy researcher for 18 years and has recently published “For Those I Love,” which relates the true experiences of her ancestors in the Civil War. A member of Halifax Genealogical Society, which meets at Ormond Beach Regional Library, she’s been a genealogical speaker and published several articles.
On Sept. 24, she had a book signing at Biggby Coffee, 1345, W. Granada Blvd.
The publisher notes for her book state, “It features the story of brothers, cousins and townsmen who fight together in the Civil War and face the anguish of seeing loved ones wounded or killed. Only their faith in God and love for their families back home can sustain them and enable them to keep fighting.”
This is her second book. Her first book was self-published but this one was published by Kate Bloom Publishing LLC in Oklahoma. Stickney said she sought a publisher that would be a good fit for her book and submitted the manuscript.
“I looked at their statement of purpose,” she said.
She spent nine years researching the experiences of her ancestors in the war. Everything is factual, except she had to make up conversations and imagine some of the emotions. Written as a novel, it follows their battles from enlistment to Appomattox.
“I wanted it to be factual,” she said.
Her ancestors are from Alabama and her father moved to South Florida when she was a child. Writing the book was an eye-opening experience.
“I had no idea … the hardships they faced,” she said.
For example, if a soldier was wounded, he was expected to return to the battlefield as soon as he recovered.
The book also delves into the reason why many fought in the war, saying most soldiers were poor farmers who did not own slaves.
She said she writes when she feels creative, and doesn’t force herself.
“I sit down to write and sometimes it just flows,” she said.
Stickney is a member of the Florida State Genealogical Society, Alabama Genealogical Society, Henry County (Alabama) Historical Group and United Daughters of the Confederacy.
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“I wanted it to be factual.”
KATHY STICKNEY, author of “For Those I Love”
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CANDO DISSOLVED
Jeff Boyle was involved in the successful effort to limit the heights of buildings in Ormond Beach to 75 feet. Citizens voted in favor of the referendum in 2006. The effort was the beginning of the CANDO citizen’s organization, which was dissolved in January, “ten years to the day after it was formed,” Boyle said. Citizens and Neighbors Devoted to Ormond Beach had not been active, and Boyle said there were only a few members when it disbanded.
