Longboat Key authors share summer reading list

With summer comes humid mornings, sunny days and extra free time to spend at the beach.

Four Longboat Key authors share what they’re reading now so you can fill those lazy summer days on the beach with a good book.

Terry Griffin

H. Terrell Griffin is the author of 10 Longboat Key-based mystery novels. His favorite authors include Michael Connelly, Daniel Silva, Ward Larsen and Robert Crais. Although he can’t pick a favorite book, he says these authors are the ones that take up his summer.

“When I read those guys, I think, 'Damn, I wish I could write like that,'” Griffin said. “It’s interesting. They always tell a good tale. They write well, their dialogue is realistic. Some writers just never get down to dialogue.”

Griffin, who has been a part-time resident of Longboat Key for 35 years also enjoys reading history and biographies.
 

Meredith Ellsworth

Longboat Key resident Meredith Ellsworth is the author of 10 mystery novels with real-life settings, including “Mai Tais and Mayhem: Murder at Mote Marine.” 

Her books are published under the pseudonym M.S. Spencer.

Writing consumes most of her free time, but when she does read, she usually chooses biographies or history books.

“I read a lot of stuff on Florida,” she said. “Florida has a fascinating history. It’s really amazing.”

But her favorite summer read is “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.

“It’s such perfect, perfect, exquisite prose,” Ellsworth said. “I love Jane Austen.”

Sue-Ellen Welfonder

After her time as a flight attendant, Longboat Key resident Sue-Ellen Welfonder began her career as an author. She has written 25 books — mostly medieval Scottish romance novels and a few fantasy time-travel novels, such as “The Taming of Mairi MacKenzie.” 

Welfonder is currently reading “The Other Boleyn Girl” by Philippa Gregory.

Welfonder likes novels with intrigue and atmosphere. She reads several books at a time, switching between them after two or three chapters.

“As a writer, I’m a very picky reader,” she said. “I don’t want to realize I’m reading. I like a book that sweeps me into the story. I want to disappear. I want to forget my own work.”

Patricia Gussin

Patricia Gussin, thriller writer and co-owner of Longboat Key-based Oceanview Publishing, loves a good mystery. A physician, Gussin incorporates her medical background into her writing.

She is the author of six books, four of which make up the Dr. Laura Nelson series. She published the final installment in the series, “After the Fall,” in 2015.

She is currently reading “Find Her” by one of her favorite authors, Lisa Gardner. The next book on her list is “The Lost Concerto” by Helaine Mario.

“I like the characters in the books,” Gussin said. “They’re such individual characters, and the authors have done such a good job of bringing them to life, so you actually feel like you know them, and you don’t want the book to end.”