WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Velma Seawell Daniels, a local author and former journalist for The News Chief, reflects on her 75-year career in telling stories crossing different mediums.
Daniels, a lifelong resident of Winter Haven spoke about her love for the city and for stories inside of the area, “I always wanted to write stories that I knew about and was interested in,” said Daniels.
Daniels has recently released two books: Duncan:” The Yo-Yo King,” and,” Lucky Is as Lucky Does: The story of the Remarkable Doc Lucky Meisenheimer.” Books that came out in 2020, a full 65 years before she began her professional career as a writer.
Daniels credits her lifelong writing career to her passion for reading and learning on a daily basis.
“My first paid story was during my college years at the University of Florida, and it confirmed what I wanted to do in the future,” she said.
Daniels stated even though she had written before for her high school and college papers, it was her first professional writing experience she had.
After starting with the Winter Haven Herald (what is now The News Chief) in the mid-1950s, she moved to reporting and writing for Channel 8 TV, where she learned valuable skills that served her in her future career as an author.
Mrs.Velma, as she asks people to call her after they meet her, discussed how out of the craziest and unique stories came the inspiration for her books,”I can’t wait to close that cover and start on another.”
This ambition and skill in an author of her advanced age as she commented herself, gave her something to do after book reviews at different newspapers died, and she ended her career as a reporter.
In her over 75 years of writing, faith has always been an important part of the process, she continues to develop content, and readers can continue to expect more in the future. Daniels left a note to future writers, “Sometimes you are given the story and in different instances, you have to dig for it, but always be looking.”
Find released books by Velma Seawell Daniels on Amazon and learn more about one of her publishing companies that she has used in the past on Amazon and Pelican Publishing.
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