A Massapequa Park woman is using her love of science, history and the written word to begin an exciting new chapter of her life; that of a successful self-published author out to put a unique spin on the teen mystery genre.
Born and raised in Queens, author Linda Maria Frank moved with her husband to a small apartment in Massapequa Park in 1962. Within two years, they bought a house and have lived there ever since.
Although inspired by her childhood love of Nancy Drew novels, Frank said that she felt that the character was almost too “perfect” at times. As a result, while Annie Tillery—the heroine of Frank’s popular Annie Tillery Mysteries book series—is a spunky teenage super-sleuth who uses both science and a keen intellect to solve crimes, she nonetheless possesses all-too-common flaws that make her a more realistic, and thus more relatable, protagonist.
“Annie Tillery is 17 years old, and she lives with her aunt Jill who is a New York City police detective,” said Frank. “Her father works for the State Department and is never home, and her mother has a problem with substance abuse.”
In the first book of the series, The Madonna Ghost (2010), Annie and her aunt visit Fire Island one summer. Once there, a foreboding mystery develops with a bit of romance and a hint of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Frank refers to her Annie Tillery Mysteries as “Nancy Drew meets CSI” to reflect that fact that the books embrace equal amounts of science and history while Annie gumshoes her way to the root of the mysteries that befall her on a regular basis.
“I wanted to make Annie a role model for girls who will try anything exciting,” said Frank. “She likes science, she has a good sense of humor and she loves life and wants to live it and get involved. She thinks she can do anything, and I want the girls who read these books to believe that they can do anything as well.”
Currently a full-time author, Frank had previously taught forensic science for more than 30 years in the Seaford school district. She later spent another 10 years teaching at Hofstra and Adelphi Universities. However, despite devoting a great deal of her life to education, becoming a teacher was never actually her first inclination. But back in the late 1950’s when she was growing up, opportunities for women in the workplace were severely limited; an unfortunate hallmark of the era, she said.
“I had wanted to be a doctor, but when I went to college, there were only three careers open to women…teaching, nursing and secretarial work. It was depressing, but I was unable to matriculate into a medical program because I was a woman,” said Frank. “So, I thought it over and decided I would become a teacher, and I don’t regret it. Teaching was very good to me, and I was very g ood to it. I had a lot of fun.”
The writing bug bit Frank while she was teaching forensic science at the high school level. She had developed exercises for her students that involved creating imaginary case studies and crime scenes for them to study, which eventually led to students presenting their evidence in a mock classroom court.
“I was always a big Nancy Drew fan growing up, and the case studies I was creating took the form of mini-mysteries. So I thought to myself that they would make for a pretty good book,” said Frank. “So, not knowing anything about writing, I took a correspondence course and wrote my first two Annie Tillery books.”
Realizing that going the traditional publishing route could take years, Frank opted to self-publish as opposed to waiting to be discovered. After The Madonna Ghost was published, Frank penned Girl with Pencil, Drawing and Secrets in the Fairy Chimneys. A fourth book is currently in the works as well.
However, writing a book is the easy part, according to Frank. It’s getting the word out about your book once it’s written that’s hard, requiring a near-constant amount of daily effort. However, those efforts have garnered her impressive sales and a growing contingent of extremely loyal fans.
“Marketing is the most difficult part. It’s very labor-intensive, and it’s mostly social media, so if you’re not on the Internet, you’re nowhere,” said Frank, who has a Facebook page called ‘The Official Fans of The Madonna Ghost.’ “I’m on Twitter, almost 30 book-related websites and I have a personal website with a blog. I also do a local access TV show from a studio in east Hampton where I interview authors. I’m always writing, marketing, or usually both.”
In addition to more Annie Tillery novels—available on Amazon.com in paper, e-book and digital audio formats—Frank said that she’s looking to possibly branch out and explore other ideas for books that she’s had brewing in her head for some time. But no matter where her career as an author ends up going, she said that the ride has been one of a lifetime.
“It feels really good. I tend to get more involved with the journey rather than look at what’s at the end, and that’s because the journey has been fun,” said Frank. “But every once in a while, I sit back and I realize that I’ve published three books and I’m working on a fourth one…it’s a big accomplishment that I’m proud of.”
If you’re interested in checking out Linda Maria Frank’s Annie Tillery Mysteries, visit her website at www.lindamariafrank.com.
