I was born on St. Thomas, and grew up in a large extended family, and I loved the islands with all my heart. I married young and left but returned to live there at various times for many years. We moved to Florida in 1973. My last visit to St. Thomas was in 1995 when I spent hours depressed and in tears. So many changes and none of them for the better. Congested roads, overbuilding on hillsides, pollution, and worst of all the high crime rate. It was painful that I did not recognize faces on the streets; many Virgin Islanders have moved away, including most of my family and all of my friends. What remained, however, was the wonderful weather, incredible beauty of the water and sky, islands that dot the horizon, and the beaches. CLICK THIS LINK to see some of my photographs of the islands.

Q. Will you write a sequel to the Three Mrs. Parkers?
A: This is up to my publisher. As of now they have not asked me to do this.

Q. Will you be continuing the Ladies of Covington Series?
A. The 6th novel called Two Days After the Wedding has just been published. In the spring of 2007, there will be a Mother’s Day Ladies of Covington novella and in 2008, the 7th ladies novel will be published.

Q. Did you have formal training in writing?
A. I did not. My degrees are in History and Counseling. I am an optimist. I simply plunged in. I joined writing groups and took classes everywhere they were offered. I read books on writing, and I revised and revised and edited and edited and didn’t mind criticism, and believe me I had lots of that. You have to be thick skinned to be writer, able to take rejection and criticism, and you must have infinite patience, with yourself and the whole process.

If your question was not answered in this newsletter it will be answered in the next one. Keep the questions coming!

With this issue we begins the FIRST of several photography contests:
This is a color-only photo contest, one submission per person.
FORMAT: 8x10 photo or approximately 11x17 if made from a slide. Matt or glossy finish accepted.
TOPIC: landscape
DEADLINE: Last date that submissions will be accepted is September 14, 2006. Winners will be announced in October’s Newsletter.
Judges are prizewinning members of the F32 photography Club of Asheville.
PRIZES:
First Prize: Photograph will be featured in October’s newsletter and on my website and a half- hour phone chat with me at a time convenient to you. Send me your phone number and I will call you.
Second Prize: Photograph will be in the November newsletter and autographed copies of the first two hardcover (out of print) ladies of Covington novels.
Third Prize: Photograph will be in the December newsletter, plus an autographed copy of my Virgin Islands novel, Belonging, which is sold only in the islands.

Mail your photograph to me at Box 355, Barnardsville, NC 28709. If you wish me to return it to you, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope of adequate size along with your photograph.

email: jmedlicott@mindspring.com

web: http://www.joanmedlicott.com