Dickens on Centre 2016

Jane Marie with Bonnie Johnson,

owner of Southern Touch

      Amelia Island, Florida's second annual Dickens on Centre Festival was pure fun in so many ways, but for me, it was extraordinary.  Why?  Because my historical Goodbye Lie 
novels are set in the 1880s and 90s, not too far from the time of Charles Dickens, who died in 1870.  As I, in period costume on a very chilly Saturday afternoon, greeted visitors and locals in front of Sea Jade, an old-Florida type souvenir shop on Centre Street, the main drag in our historic district, we chatted about the characters in my books.  Here I was wearing the garb of my fictional Dunnigan family, watching other costumed town folk walk past, with the same buildings surrounding us, the same Amelia River to the west and the same Atlantic Ocean to the east, as are in my stories. Inspired, my imagination was and is alive and racing with more adventures to come for Breelan and Carolena, Jack Patrick and Miss Ella, and Peeper and Aunt Noreen and all the rest of our favorite characters.

Jane Mare "then"
outside Sea Jade Souvenirs

     The Friday evening before, I signed books inside Southern Touch, also on Centre Street,  with its beautifully old original pressed tin ceiling and walls above and around me and creaking wooden floor boards beneath me. Time stood still, as shop owner Bonnie Johnson, in cut lace apron behind the counter, welcomed her customers in warm holiday fashion. 
     I am already thinking about what to wear next December for the 3rd  Dickens on Centre event. Consider attending the celebration yourself.  I'll see you there!
     For more info, click on: Dickens on Centre