Kathleen Walls’ Travel Books About the Southeastern U.S.
During August, we’ve had a theme of travel and related home businesses. So I’m rounding out the month by discussing Kathleen (Katy) Walls’ travel books with her. Katy has producted them through her Florida home based publishing business. We also learn from Katy that you can write books about the places close to home without traveling to exotic locals.
Her most recent book is Wild About Florida: South Florida, one of a series.
Mary Emma: What made you think of writing a book on Florida’s natural places?
Katy: Nature and wildlife are things I have always loved. I do a lot of camping and some hiking and kayaking. I’ve lived in Florida over thirty years and have enjoyed finding lesser-known places.
With more and more people moving to Florida and wanting to know about zoos, gardens, preserves, state parks and forests, national forests and other places like that, I wanted to share this information with other nature lovers.
Actually there is so much information it had to be divided into three books, South Florida, Central Florida and North Florida. Luckily, Martin, my other half, likes this sort of traveling so he had teamed up with me and is doing the photography for the book. He has also studied photography in college and has had several pictures published over the years.
Mary Emma: Are these books based on your years of camping around Florida?
Katy: Yes, but naturally, I visited the areas more recently to see what has changed.
Mary Emma: I see this book is in full color, a change from your other travel books.
Katy: Unlike my other books, the plants and scenery of Florida just had to be in color to do it justice. After all, a black and white pink flamingo loses it punch. And what about a botanical garden all blazing with lavishly colored blooms, bird and butterflies? Black and white? No way it could do the job.
Mary Emma: You mentioned “other books.” Are these travel related?
Katy: In my nonfiction, there are Georgia’s Ghostly Getaways, Finding Florida Phantoms, and Hosts with Ghosts: Haunted Historic Hotels in the Southeast
Mary Emma: These all seem based on a ghostly theme. What caused you to write them?
Katy: Next to nature, I am fascinated by the paranormal. My Irish grandmother introduced a love of ghost stories in me at an early age. Georgia’s Ghostly Getaways and Finding Florida Phantoms explore the history behind many of Georgia and Florida’s most interesting haunted places. I dug to find the history not the psychic facts, as the people behind the occurrences are what interest me.
Since both of these books did well, I decided to go for a broader scope Hosts covers the entire southeast, from Florida to Kentucky. I found some fascinating places on these trips. Let me tell you, I really worked. People who are not travel writers do not realize that traveling to all these places and writing about it is hard work.
Mary Emma: You have an impressive list of books, Katy, in just your travel related ones. As a travel writer myself, I know the research, including the travel, takes time and is work. Thanks for sharing with us.
For more information, visit Katy’s web sites:
Her online travel publication, American Roads publishes not only Katy’s travel articles but other writer’s as well (mine included. Then there are Global Authors Publications (GAP), her publishing company, Katy Walls that promotes all her books and Wild About Florida for the new books.
(Amazon image; click here for details)
(c)2008
Tags: Florida, Georgia, home based travel writing buiness, home-+-biz-+-notes, home-business, Kathleen R. Walls, Katy Walls, Mary-+-Emma-+-Allen, Southeastern U.S., travel, travel-writingShare This
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POSTED IN: Interviews, Writing & Publishing
1 opinion for Kathleen Walls’ Travel Books About the Southeastern U.S.
Kathleen Walls
Aug 29, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Thanks so much for a nice article Mary Emma. You did a great job. What is B5Media thinking with all the unrelated links?
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