WELL READ Magazine August 2024

ENCOUNTERS WITH NATURE

Amelia Island Writers and Artists

These humorous, inspiring, and uplifting tales from fifteen members of Amelia Island Writers are written by established authors and emerging writers. Amelia Island Writers is a chapter of Florida Writers Association, a 501(c)(6) educational organization. We thank Mandy Haynes for editing and formatting our book, and Story & Song Center for Arts and Culture for their publishing assistance.

Reader reviewers offered helpful suggestions to improve our fiction and nonfiction stories for you to enjoy: M.J. Carlson-Florida Writers Association, Katherine Dudley Hoehn, Catherine Masoulf, and Andrea Patten-Amelia Indie Authors. We thank the Clay County chapter of Florida Writers Association and Ocala Freedom Writers for sharing their experience in publishing an anthology. Jon Michael Miller of the Dunedin Writers Group explained to us the process of publishing an anthology, he being the catalyst for what is now their annual anthology.

We share a fragile habitat with the creatures who also call Nassau County, Florida, their home. These stories express a love of nature and our appreciation of local conservation efforts. We are pleased to dedicate this book’s proceeds to Keep Nassau Beautiful (KNB), an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. Further, Encounters with Nature is gifted to, and owned by KNB for use in their educational programming. Thank you to Pat Martocci, Coordinator, and Marla McDaniel, Originator, for organizing the project, and for inviting local artists to contribute original art to accompany each story.

In addition to individual donations, contributions from our sponsors have helped to make this book possible: Fernandina Observer, Keep Nassau Beautiful, and Story & Song Foundation