By Susan R. Wenner
Herald Publisher/ People Editor
Lake Mary’s own, Elizabeth (Liz) Randall may have started as an editor for her father’s newsletter for IBM but as an author she is thrilling the masses.
Married for 30 years to Bob Randall, the couple have one daughter in the west and one in the midwest. She is a 1972 graduate of Winter Park Hight School, a 1978 graduate of Florida State University and a 1992 graduate of Nova Southeast University.
Her humble beginnings working with her father also follows a lineage of reporters. Her grandfather was dean of the city police reporters for the New York Daily Mirror.
“I grew up with writers ,surrounded by books and my home still looks that way,” said Randall. “My parents always read to me and my father and grandfather were journalists. My first poem ("The Hammock") was published in Jack and Jill Magazine when I was 11. I won a county wide ballad contest a year later. Teachers encouraged me. It is so important to expose children to lots of books and to encourage them to write. It leads to a lifelong love of reading. Knowing how to write is something everyone can use, and one way to learn it is through reading.”
But, that special connection to writing actually began in college while studying Organic Chemistry.
“I got an idea for a poem that so excited me I had to stop what I was doing to write it down,” she shared. “That's when I realized that my true vocation had to do with the written word.”
Even beyond college, Randall and her husband are a photojournalist team writing about Florida history. They are presently under contract with History Press for the title Haunted Key West and Monroe County. It's due out in October this year.
“We have published six books in several different genres: ghost lore, true crime, history and natural history,” she said. “I have written two novels, one of which came out February 1st: Hating Harlon.
Hating Harlon is actually a book I wrote in the 80's (on a manual typewriter) and on the top shelf of my closet for like 40 years. During Covid, I took it down and rewrote it, because, apparently, there's a market for books set in the 80s these days. One publisher rejected it right away. Another was interested. Rogue Phoenix Press offered me a contract which I took. The book is a dark comedy about a single career mom, Lily Green, influenced by social expectations and her family's indifference to set her sights on Harlon, a singularly self centered and uninspiring catch.”
Randall also cited that after writing Historic Orlando she became a member of the organization Orlando Remembers, a group related to some of Orlando's original founders, who raise awareness of Orlando's history and current trends.
She belongs to the St. Augustine Historical Society, but doesn’t frequent meetings as often as she would like.
She is also on the board of the Seminole County Retired Educators Association, which she describes as a wonderful group who raise money for student scholarships.
Being a member of PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) and the American Association of University Women in addition to several writing organizations all over Central Florida keeps her busy and always sharing with others.
“The charity I am currently recruiting for is something I started after being inspired by the Open Book Prison Library program,” she said. “This consignment bookstore in Pensacola has a grant from the Florida Humanities Council and takes requests for books from Florida prison inmates and mails them the books and magazines. I just collect books from libraries, teachers, private donors and find a place for them in conjunction with the education or library director in charge of prison libraries. Then my husband, Bob, and I deliver them. I call my charity Literacy Saves Lives. Anyone can donate by contacting me at [email protected].”
She reiterated that writing is something she will continue to do “until I keel over.” She’s always been a writer, and “I guess I always will be.”
There are also several fiction and nonfiction books she still wants to write but more than anything she wants to satisfy herself and her readers with insight, knowledge and emotion.
For more information about Liz Randall and her books go to her website at https://www.elizabethrandallauthor.com/press/ or her muck rack page of published free lance writing https://muckrack.com/elizabeth-randall. She is also on substack at https://www.elizabethrandallauthor.com/press/ and https://tinyurl.com/4a83u98v (Amazon page or just google her name).
She is active in marketing her books through newsletters, book talks, book fairs, podcasts, radio, and television. Visit her web page for that information elizabethrandallauthor.com .
You can also go to true crime (65 episodes) at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHMGMddHT6Q&list=PLD8iUdp33PqQw7u1vHwhIcDLCjU45kOb-Dive to dive into the shocking Florida Machete murder.
