Fran's article: Peter M. Skrmetta, A Boy from Brac, appears in the Gulf Coast Writers 2014 Anthology, Mississippi Profiles, Edited by Philip L. Levin.

Fran was named a winner in the Summer 2014 Magnolia Quarterly Writing Contest with her short essay entitled From Shrimp Factory to College.

They are also available at Southern Bound Book Shop, next to Hobby Lobby on Pass Road in Biloxi MS.

Check out my New Art Gallery where I show my hand-painted items. I hope to have them for sale in bookstores and gift stores in my home area and on the internet.

Even in this high-tech world of fast living, each of us has a place of escape. My place is a quiet bayou harbor. The mirror slick surface of the black water and the swaying marsh grasses take me from season to season, not with changing colors, but with the wildlife it supports. Graceful herons, snowy white egrets, and crash-diving pelicans live alongside of alligators, blue crabs, and playful otters. Thousands of minnows bring the water to life in the spring, and mullet jump across the water in summer and fall. Most of my stories are set along the beaches, islands, and waterways of the Gulf Coast. Ironically my first novel was set in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. Even so, my heroine found her escape - and her love - in a beautiful snow-covered setting. If you can't physically get away, I hope you'll pick up a book - one of my romances, of course - and let yourself escape into a world where your problems are set aside for a few hours and love always wins.

My newest Traditional Romances revised from the original and available as an ePub at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

My newest Montlake Romance Windswept is available through Amazon (Paperback and Kindle).

En route to marry the fiancé handpicked by her father, Virginia Ames gets shipwrecked off the coast of the beautiful Florida Keys. Her rescuer, the dashing Captain Slader, is a wrecker who specializes in salvaging cargo from sunken vessels. As a native New Englander, Virginia grew up in wealth but felt most comfortable on the docks, among the ships. This special connection to the sea is one of the few things the privileged heiress and the rugged captain share. But mixed with the captain’s handsome looks, could this passion be enough to drive Virginia’s marriage plans off course?

Captain John Slader is no stranger to the winds of change himself. He’d once lost the thing he held most dear: his family. But now that those same winds have sent him the lovely Virginia, will he risk his heart yet again? Virginia’s fiancé, an up-and-coming politician, may be able to offer her a world of wealth and comfort—but could he cherish her as John would, with a love as boundless as the ocean itself?

All of her books are available on Amazon Kindle editions and Barnes & Noble. You don't need a special device to read most eBooks. Formats for your computer and mobile devices are readily available for free.

On the Crest of a Wave was a Finalist in the 2010 National Readers' Choice Awards (Traditional) sponsored by Oklahoma Romance Writers of America.

WINDSWEPT

ON THE CREST OF A WAVE

(Multiple formats on Amazon)

ONCE IN A HALF MOON

A LIGHT IN THE DARK

Available Now at your local library. Copies are still available on Amazon.com