Award-Winning Novelist's New Book on Arrival of Europeans in the Americas to Be Released in October, Appropriate for Columbus Day Coverage

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Mar 17, 2010, 07:45 ET

GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Archaeologist Faye Longchamp returns in Strangers, the sixth installment in Mary Anna Evans' well-reviewed mystery series, and she's digging in a spot where the Old World met the New. Spanish conquistadors stepped ashore and founded St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. Even after all these centuries, traces of those men still remain for Faye to find: bones, weapons, buttons, beads, and a journal that describes their harrowing journey across the Atlantic to North America and their fateful encounter with the people who were already there.

Because of its powerful backstory of a Spanish priest's work with the doomed Timucuan tribe, Strangers will be of interest to journalists interested in a feature article tied to the observation of Columbus Day. Ms. Evans will be touring extensively in October, speaking on the historical research that went into this book.

About Mary Anna Evans

Ms. Evans has degrees in chemical engineering and physics. She lives in Florida with her daughter, a 7.5-foot monster of a piano, and a cat.

She is on the board of Anhinga Writers' Studio (http://anhingawriters.org), where she serves on the faculty of their summer workshops in Gainesville, Florida, and as an online instructor.

Photo: http://www.ereleases.com/pr/MaryAnnaEvans.jpg

For the Media

Interviews, media kits and advance review copies available upon request. Permission is granted to use author photos and book covers. Author photo jpegs in color and b/w are available via email or by download from author website: http://www.maryannaevans.com. Book cover is in process and will be available by email and on the website when complete.

The October release date of Strangers coincides with Columbus Day. Strangers and other books by Mary Anna Evans are available online and at bookstores nationwide or directly from Poisoned Pen Press at http://www.poisonedpenpress.com.

What People Are Saying

In books by Mary Anna Evans, readers can expect...

...a good story. She won the Benjamin Franklin Award and a Florida Book Awards Bronze Medal. Artifacts was named an "Adult Mystery with Young Adult Appeal" by Voice of Young America.

...factual accuracy. She received the Florida Historical Society's Patrick D. Smith Florida Literature Award.

...thought-provoking reading. Booklist praised Artifacts, citing its "multilayered, compelling plot." Legendary author Tony Hillerman called Effigies "fascinating."

Her books have received praise from influential publications such as:

Tampa Tribune (Artifacts) -- "It's always fun to discover a new Florida voice, especially one who can bring to life the rich texture of the state's coast...the menace and the history are resolved in a hurricane of a finale."

Publishers Weekly (Effigies) -- "Intriguing...Though Evans has been compared to Tony Hillerman, her sympathetic characters and fascinating archeological lore add up to a style all her own."

Starred Booklist review (Floodgates) -- "...a fascinating tale...Voodoo, Native American spirituality, greed, and corruption all play roles in what is easily the best installment yet..."