By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
For Danette Fogarty, it was the realization that she had turned 40 – and the prodding of her husband – that convinced her to take the leap.
For Carol DeMarco, it was the fact that she finished raising two sons and sold her business that finally propelled her to jump in feet first.
Leaping into the writing world, both DeMarco and Fogarty are now published authors. Fogarty has self-published several romance novels, while DeMarco recently released her first book – a history of Brown’s Lake titled “Lake of the Shining Arrow: A History of Brown’s Lake.”
One author writes fiction, the other, non-fiction. But their stories dovetail nicely in terms of what brought them to writing.
Last week, Fogarty presented four of her books to the Burlington Public Library, which will have them on display. DeMarco, meanwhile, held a book signing and did a reading of her works Monday at the Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine.
“These people, to me, are real”
Fogarty has been writing fiction for a long time, but didn’t pursue getting published until 2012 – when she turned 40.
Her second husband, Ben Fogarty, pushed her to make the jump.
“The kids were getting older, and I was thinking, ‘what am I going to do?’” Fogarty said. “(Ben’s) just fantastic. He’s not perfect, but he’s pretty darned close.”
So is Fogarty’s job. As a self-published author, she maintains editorial control on her works, picking her own editors and deciding when to publish. Currently, she tries to put out a book every 2-3 months.
It’s a job she loves.
“My job is to make stuff up, is to bring people through something that can be extremely painful and into something wonderful,” she said. “I have the best job in the world, and I can do it in my PJs.”
The four books she presented to the library are her first series, the “Semper Fi in Love” books. The four titles are: “A Marine to Remember,” “The Lady & the Marine,” “Moonlight & A Marine,” and “A Marine & Her Sensibilities.”
But in addition to her current publications, Fogarty will have a book coming out next May that is a little closer to home – well, Burlington anyhow. The main character comes to town, renovates a home here, and finds something under the loose floorboards of the house.
“There’s a lot of description of downtown,” said Fogarty, who added that Burlington is very comfortable to her, even though she lives in California now.
“Whenever I come back here, I feel good,” she said. “It’s kind of like an old blanket you’ve packed away and forgot about.
“And when you find it, it’s the softest blanket.”
Fogarty’s website is www.danettefogarty.com.
“I said, ‘There’s got to be a story in here’”
DeMarco isn’t the only author in the family. Her husband, Tony, has a number of books, including the mystery “Murder at Any Age,” which has been on display at Plaza Theater in Burlington.
But for Carol, the urge to write began in 1976, when she and her husband moved into their home on Brown’s Lake, and received what is known as an “abstract of title” on the home – the history of the home’s owners.
It was 70 pages long.
“I said, ‘there’s got to be a story in here,’” DeMarco recalled.
At the time, she began interviewing old-timers at the lake and began the research process, but also found she needed time to raise her sons and run her business – a temporary employment service called “At Your Service.”
“That was all put on hold until I sold the business,” she explained.
That happened in 2008, and coupled with the research and interviewing it took her until now to publish the book. It is about 260 pages long, and covers the time from about 1840 until the 1950s. There is also a short afterword bringing people up to date on who lives where on the lake.
DeMarco said the Internet helped with a lot of her research, but also the help of Don Vande Sand and the Burlington Historical Society.
“(He was) a wellspring of information,” she said.
As of Monday night, she had already sold 200 copies, and the crowd at the Coffee House had taken her initial supplies of the book down even further.
She is taking orders, though, and the book is available at www.burlibooks.com.
“I am pleased that there are that many people interested in the history of their community,” she said. “It’s been very enthusiastic.
“And not just lake people,” DeMarco added. “It’s Burlington people as well.”
The books will also be available for sale at The Pharmacy Station and the Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine.
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