I am a trail lover since childhood when riding my horse on the well-developed trails of the Watchung Reservation in NJ was a treat. Later when there was no longer a steed at hand, my own feet served me well. Then I learned about the benefits of exercise and endorphins and just kept walking.

My work life has centered on land use having been a legal secretary specializing in real estate and land use board administrator and now a Realtor.

My first book, You Can Get There from Here – Hiking Hunterdon County Trails, in collaboration with Sue Dziamara grew from our walking and exploring in Hunterdon County NJ and wishing to share the wealth. A sequel trail book, Hiking NJ Trails Hunterdon County and Beyond –You Can Get There from Here Too, broadens the quest.

As a transplant to sunny Florida, I added kayaking to my outdoor interests.  I have a new adventure book sharing the fun of Lee and Collier County trails and waterways — 10 Adventures and More in Lee and Collier Counties – Florida on Land and Water.

In the end, walking and paddling are my most fun land and water pursuits yet and writing about them a bonus.

Enjoy my award-winning memoir with kitchen tips and tricks and 50 recipes, Recipes and Life – Life is Too Short to be Stuck in the Kitchen.

Visit my website at: aliceoldford.com.

Alice Oldford’s books

Cris Pacetti is a native Floridian. Theatre found her at age fifteen. She staged plays in her carport promising friends the best roles in order to assume other characters in familiar tales. She graduated from University of South Florida in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Florida State University’s School of Theatre in 1980. After acting in numerous roles in university and professional theatre she discovered her dream job was to raise two children, Liz and Nick. In addition to acting, a glance at Cris’ resume reveals employment as a puppeteer, director of a cultural center, theatre teacher for preschoolers, elementary, middle, high, and postgraduate levels. Cris started writing at age 13, but never finished anything until necessity provided an opportunity to write plays for her students. A retired teacher, Cris spends many hours walking through memories, (not necessarily her own), writing them down.

A freelance ghost writer, Nancy helps high tech companies promote products by writing white papers, blogs, articles, webpages, manuals and other collaterals. Nancy is writing on her first two books; a cancer memoir and a woman’s fiction story. She splits her time between Denver and Ft Myers Beach. Nancy is passionate about traveling, enjoying different cultures and seeing wildlife. She has visited more than 50 countries and went trekking to see mountain gorillas in 2015.

Visit her website at: http://objectech.com

Born on Broad Street not far from where the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and Sixers ply their trades, a graduate of three local schools (Bishop Neumann High, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, and Temple University), it’s hard for me to imagine anyone being more Philadelphian than I.

Nonetheless, during the 40s and 50s, if you asked me or my buddies what’s your nationality, to a man we’d say, we’re Italians. A badge of honor, we knew Italian was the way we could distinguish ourselves from other ethnic groups that surrounded our little world, our little Italy, known to us simply as South Philly. Filled with immigrants from Naples, Sicily and Calabria, we grew up eating the best Italian food, listening to the best music sung by the likes of Como, Bennett, Sinatra, and Deano; rooting for great athletes like Graziano, Marciano and DiMaggio; going to the same schools with other South Philly Italians, Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Darren, Buddy Greco, Bobby Rydell and Mario Lanza.

While growing up Italian, few if any of us kids ever aspired to visiting Italy let alone having the chance to live there for a year. Well, I did live in Italy. More accurately, Nancy and I did. The experience changed our lives. What we learned could fill a book. So, we wrote one. When you read it, we hope it will inspire you to do something exciting, something adventuresome. For us, it was Italy. For you, it might be something else. Climb a mountain. Write a book. Ask for that raise. Life is short. Find your Italy and do it. Avanti.

Visit Nancy and John at: http://NotInATuscanVilla.com

John Petralia’s books

Nancy Petralia grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and will forever be a Steelers fan. Always moving eastward, she lived in Harrisburg then Philadelphia where she met husband John. He taught her about good olives, opera, tennis and Italian cooking. She taught him about Irish stew and having a dog. Together they started a book club that’s met every month for nearly 20 years.

They retired to the Jersey shore where Nancy improved her backhand and discovered a talent for ceramic sculpture. They took Italian lessons. And they dreamed…of living in Italy. When they decided to make that dream a reality it was the start of the best year of their lives–and a story they wanted to share.

Nancy and John recently relocated to Fort Myers, Florida, a city they hope to love as much as Parma, Italy.

Visit Nancy and John at: http://NotInATuscanVilla.com

Nancy Petralia’s books