Write On. And Listen up

Many would-be Hemingways might feel they’ve been bitten by the writing bug, but it is the rare author whose career was actually launched in part by an insect bite.

Norm Zeigler of Sanibel is one such scribe. Zeigler, who spent 15 years overseas reporting for the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, was in the former Czechoslovakia when he was apparently bitten by an infected tick. Zeigler became terribly ill, was forced to quit his job and moved to the warm climes of Sanibel to recover.

It was a combination of this career change, his new home and his life-long love of fishing that led him to write Rivers of Shadow, Rivers of Sun: A Fly Fisher’s European Journal. The book—filled with his detailed reminiscences of fishing trips around Europe—was published in June 2004 by Countrysport Press.

Southwest Florida is home to a good number of famous authors as well as up-and-comers finding success in the publishing world. But it’s not easy. Writing is the first big hurdle. Then comes finding an agent, negotiating a contract, editing and marketing. It takes time and patience and more than a bit of business acumen.