- November 2, 2024
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Former CEOs, athletes and even spies live on or around Longboat Key, so it’s not surprising there are enough writers to hold a showcase. Seven signed up for Longboat Library’s Author Showcase held March 19 on the library’s lawn.
One couldn't attend. But two of the authors check the writer and spy categories. Both worked for the CIA, live on Longboat Key and are named Hughes. Since truth is stranger than fiction, there’s no relation. The showcase was their first introduction.
The Observer asked each author three questions: What’s your favorite book you wrote? What’s your favorite book someone else wrote? And what are you ordering from the Maine Line for lunch today?
The food truck has become a Longboat sensation. Outdoor events don’t feel complete anymore without dipping a lobster roll into drawn butter, so Owner Kurt Turner answered three questions too.
Owner, Maine Line food truck
What’s your favorite dish on your menu? Probably the warm lobster roll with butter.
What’s your favorite dish on someone else’s menu? Probably pulled pork from Mouthhole BBQ.
What are you having for lunch today? Red snappy dog. It’s a Maine red snapper hotdog. They all come from a place in Bangor, Maine, and they’re made by a company that’s been making them since 1860, W.A. Bean. Maine hotdogs are traditionally red. So this red hotdog, I fly down, and it’s all natural, only it’s red. So it’s actually not a bad hotdog for you. We steam it, then we grill it and it goes on that same buttered roll you get your lobster roll on.
Hughes has written four books, three novels and one about finances. The latter is due to her day job as a professor of finance.
I guess my favorite book is “The Spy’s Wife” because it goes back to my time with the agency and to something that actually happened to somebody I knew there that gave me the germ of the idea for the book. And in the book, they travel all over the world, and so I Ioved writing all those travel pieces. They go to Jerusalem, they go to Paris, they go to Bermuda, that was a lot of fun.
The book I wrote my senior thesis on was “Middlemarch” by George Eliot. She wrote about everyday things. She wasn’t writing “War and Peace.” She was writing about neighborhood gossip and matchmaking and things like that, but the way she wrote it and the way she drew the characters, it was great literature even though it was just about who married who and who went out with who and who hurt who’s feelings and who inherited money, and it’s wonderful literature. She made it clear that you can write fiction, even light fiction, and still have it be meaningful.
I can’t answer that because I can’t eat shellfish for religious reasons. I’m going to have leftover pasta from Venezia, which is my favorite pasta place. They have this pasta al fresco, which is angel hair with little roma tomatoes and lots of garlic and basil. It’s heavenly.
When an injury stopped Hughes from playing golf, writing took its place. The Longboat Key resident has since written two fictional books based on his experiences as a CIA station chief.
“Doubled” is my first. My second is called “Delusional.” The second is definitely better. The first time around, you don’t know quite what you’re doing. The second time around, you think you know what you’re doing.
I suppose “The Devil in the White City” is one of my favorites, but I think probably my favorite book is “Undaunting Courage.”
I’m going to get a lobster roll, warm with butter.
Angiolillo describes herself as a storyteller. After people kept telling her to put those stories into a book, she paired up with Author Ron Kule and self-published a novel based on her childhood.
“A Brooklyn Saga: Stories from the Stoop,” I wanted to capture the old neighborhoods in New York. I grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Around me were all different neighborhoods—Jewish, German, Irish, Puerto Rican and Italians, so I wanted to talk about what it was like growing up there in the 1950s through '70s with the mafia influence and the church influence and the old world Italian culture.
My favorite book is the Bhagavad Gita. It’s part of the Hindu scripture. It really captures the strengths and weaknesses we have as humans, and we have to also take in what we’re dealt with. It’s a story about a war between families, but it really highlights that when you’re born into a family, you inherit the ancestry. Sometimes you have no choice but to follow through.
Maybe the clam chowder. I might order a couple of things, but the chowder is real clam chowder, that’s for sure.
Jordan's debut novel was a hit with critics, winning over a half a dozen awards. The book is historical fiction based on a series of murders that took place in the 1930s in Cleveland, Ohio.
“The Company of Demons” is my favorite book I’ve written because this is the only book I’ve written so far, but the second is on its way. This is a crime thriller; the second one is a World War II thriller.
I would say Robert Ludlum, “The Bourne Identity.” I thought that was a terrific book — the character development, the plot. His writing was at its peak at that time. It was just a terrific novel.
I’ve had it before, and I’m going to have it again — the lobster roll with mayo.
Born and raised in Sarasota, Klaus has published six books and won numerous awards. She was also named as one of Amazon's top 100 authors in the mystery/romance category.
“Secretariat Reborn” won the most awards, but if you ask me my favorite, I would have to say “Flight of the Golden Harpy,” which is dedicated to Brad Pitt. I spent 12 hours with Brad Pitt on the set of “Ocean’s Eleven,” and when he came on the set, he was mobbed by the extras wanting his autograph and picture. He was real sweet. He inspired the story about this beautiful preacher, who was a trophy, he was being hunted like a game animal. It’s an adult fantasy.
Oh man, I’m fantasy. I would have to say “Dune,” Frank Herbert. It’s an incredible story.
I will go with the lobster roll. I’m a purist. I think it's a sin to put lobster on macaroni and cheese. This beautiful delicate flavor, you’re ruining it with macaroni and cheese. Give me a break!
Tarsy was the only children’s author in the lineup. The Bird Key resident wrote both books about her beloved cocker spaniel Molly. All proceeds benefit animal rescues.
My favorite would be “I’m in Heaven” because that’s where I’m going.
It’s a hard question because I’ve enjoyed so many. Most of them turned into movies. How about “Gone with the Wind?”
It was suggested I get the lobster with the butter, as opposed to the mayo.
Mario's husband had an unexpected health issue, so she couldn't attend or eat from the lobster truck. She sent her answers via email.
"Shadow Music," I think, is the best-written, with a dual World War II timeline added and themes of family, loss, courage and redemption.
I am a fan of big, well written stories that I can fall into and favor suspense, romantic suspense, historical and espionage genres. Kristen Hannah and Kate Quinn are two of my favorites. And Mary Stewart, no longer with us, was my greatest inspiration.
My very favorite lunch on Longboat Key is the fish taco at the Lazy Lobster. I could eat on their terrace every day.
