I write award-winning historical romance featuring pirates, privateers, smugglers, and the occasional possum, some set in Florida Territory. I love working at a job where business attire is shorts and a shirt festooned with pink flamingos and palm trees. I’ve lived in Gainesville for over 50 years, since entering the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications for a degree in Broadcasting (now, Telecommunications.)

I’ve worked as a broadcast and print journalist, obituary writer, news anchor, news director, and news producer at WGGG and WCJB, built and owned WNDT (Wind FM) radio station, and held a few other odd jobs. I’m the long-time section leader for Erotic Writing at TheLitForum.com, and serve as Membership Director for Regency Fiction Writers, an international organization for writers of works set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

My books are available in French and English in ebook and print formats, and I’ve been published in German and Estonian too. Awards include the New England Chapter RWA (Romance Writers of America) Readers’ Choice Award and the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence for The Pirate’s Secret Baby; the Denver RWA Aspen Gold award (Castaway Dreams); and the First Coast Romance Writers RWA Beacon Award (The Bride and the Buccaneer). My books are available online, can be ordered from any bookstore, and signed editions are at Barnes & Noble in Gainesville. I’m represented by Barbara Collins Rosenberg of the Rosenberg Group literary agency.

I’m tempted to answer “What I enjoy about GAWN” is the lunches (far better than most other meetings I attend), but what I really like is to reach out to people in my community who have busy lives and could use a break, a little getaway at the end of the day. My books offer that “vacation between covers” and go with you anywhere, especially the ebooks. In addition, I learn about businesses and services available to me, or that I can recommend to people in my town. That’s a valuable service, the networking and the opportunity to get out of the house and see people, hear great presentations, and support Displaced Homemakers, a cause dear to me.

Literacy and access to books also matter to me. I volunteer with my mini-dachshund Dodi in the Read to Rover program at the Alachua County Public Library, where children read aloud to dogs who never correct them. This helps kids feel comfortable with their reading skills and motivates them to read more. I’m also a volunteer with Be My Eyes, an app where sighted helpers connect with blind or low-vision users over smart phones, assisting with tasks like reading stove dials, matching sneakers, and “seeing” addresses, all of which were questions I’ve answered when taking calls. 

I’m married, have two adult sons, and an adorable grandchild. You can find me at www.darlenemarshall.com, or too often using writing time to post dog memes on various social media sites: Facebook, Threads, Instagram, and BlueSky.