Max Allan Collins
is a New York Times bestselling author of original mysteries, a Shamus award winner and an experienced author of movie adaptions and tie-in novels. His graphic novel ROAD TO PERDITION was made into a major motion picture by Tom Hanks’s production company, Playtone.
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Martin Cruz Smith
Martin Cruz Smith
Martin Cruz Smith is an American mystery novelist. He is best known for his eight-novel series on Russian investigator Arkady Renko, who was first introduced in 1981 with Gorky Park. Wikipedia
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Randy Wayne White
Randy Wayne White
SALT RIVER AND CARIBBEAN RIM are White’s most recent Doc Ford books and SEDUCED is the 4th book in his award-winning Hannah Smith series. He has also had four collections of his columns for Outside magazine and elsewhere published. In 2002, a one-hour documentary film called The Gift of the Game, about Randy’s trip to Cuba to find the remnants of the Little League teams founded by Ernest Hemingway in the days before Castro, won the “Best of the Fest” award from the 2002 Woods Hole Film Festival, then was bought by PBS and broadcast station by station in the spring and summer of 2003.
White has been awarded the Conch Republic Prize for Literature, as well as the John D. Macdonald Award for Literary Excellency. He is one of only four writers named as an Editor At Large by prestigious Outside magazine (Jon Krakauer, Hampton Sides and Tim Cahill are the others). In 2011, White was named a Florida Literary Legend by the Florida Heritage Society. A fishing and nature enthusiast, he has also written extensively for National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, Playboy and Men’s Health.
He lives on Sanibel Island, Florida, where he was a light-tackle fishing guide for many years, and spends much of his free time windsurfing, playing baseball, and hanging out at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille.
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Site Visitor User Guide
Roaming the Arts: Visitor User Guide
Welcome to Roaming the Arts, an arts discovery site built for readers, listeners, collectors, browsers, and fans who enjoy finding writers, musicians, bands, and visual artists worth exploring. The site is designed as an arts browser: a place to roam through books, music, art, videos, artist websites, author pages, and creative recommendations at your own pace.
1. Start on the Homepage
The homepage is the best place to begin if you want to see what is new, featured, or recently updated. Scroll through current posts, browse featured artists and authors, and use the visible category buttons or top menu options to move into the areas that interest you most.
2. Choose a Category
Roaming the Arts is organized around creative discovery. Visitors can explore music, books, authors, book club ideas, books by location, word-and-film connections, visual artists, recent reads, all-time favorites, and other arts-focused features. If you arrive with a specific interest, use the category menu. If you arrive open to discovery, simply browse and follow what catches your attention.
3. Use Artist, Author, and Music Posts as Gateways
Most posts are designed to help you go deeper. A music post may include an embedded video, background on the artist, and a path to hear more. A book or author post may point you toward a new series, a recent release, or a writer you may not have discovered yet. A visual art post may help you visit an artist’s online presence and see more of the work directly.
4. Follow Links and Explore Beyond the Site
Roaming the Arts is meant to send visitors outward as well as inward. When you find someone interesting, visit their website, look for tour dates, search for a new recording, check for upcoming books, or explore related work. The goal is not just to read about creative people, but to become a fan, listener, reader, collector, or supporter.
5. Browse by Mood or Mission
- If you want something to hear, begin with Music or Indie Music Artists.
- If you want something to read, try Books/Authors, Book Club, Recent Reads, or Books by Location.
- If you want something visual, visit Art/Artists.
- If you want a trusted starting point, look for favorites and featured posts.
- If you want to wander, start anywhere and let the posts guide you from one discovery to the next.
6. Interact and Suggest
Visitors are encouraged to participate. If you discover an author, musician, band, or visual artist who belongs in the Roaming the Arts universe, share the suggestion. Comments, emails, and social media interactions help shape what gets discovered next.
7. Come Back Often
Roaming the Arts is always growing. New posts, recent reads, featured musicians, and visual discoveries continue to expand the site. A quick visit can lead to a new favorite song, a book for your next vacation, a writer for your book club, or an artist whose work stays with you.
