Ex libris Florida

By SAMANTHA PUCKETT

OF FACT AND FICTION: Well-known St. Petersburg author and teacher Roy Peter Clark penned the title piece of "The Line Between Fact and Fiction," the latest issue of the Pittsburgh-based literary journal Creative Nonfiction. Inspired by his work with the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Poynter Institute, Clark's essay explores the ethics of contemporary journalism. The internationally distributed Creative Nonfiction is $10 at bookstores; the latest issue offers essays by other established writers on the subject of fact versus fiction, including Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz.

ROCK 'N' ROLL FANTASYLAND: Mickey Trotter tells the story of her rock band, Godopossum, from beginning to end in a new novel by Gulfport's Ellen Williams. Godopossum: Printed Words is Williams' literary answer to the concept album: fictitious autobiography. It's fascinating, it's realistic, and Williams' style puts you right in the middle of her rock 'n' roll fantasy. Godopossum is available for $28.95 at http://godopossum.homestead.com.

MYSTERIES AND ADVENTURES: Known for his award-winning series the Kipton Chronicles, St. Petersburg science-fiction writer Charles L. Fontenay has opened a new chapter with Modal (Silk Label, $24.95), the first of a series of four books that will be published this year. Set in a dark future America, Modal brings us characters with "modality," the use of multiple intelligences. Acclaimed science-fiction writer Ben Bova called Fontenay's latest endeavor "terrific."

Resurrection Angel, by William Mize of St. Petersburg, is a mystery based in the Tampa Bay area. A finalist in the St. Martin's Press Private Eye Writers of America Best First Novel Contest, Resurrection Angel is the story of a teenage girl with a sudden case of amnesia and an unexplained pregnancy that could lead to a supernatural discovery. It's $20.95 at booksamillion.com.

For $12.99 at www.trafford.com, you can take A Journey to Enchantment. Carl W. Goggins, who lives in St. Petersburg, combines romance, adventure and the supernatural in this novel. Follow the journey of David Noble as he comes to learn that Nirvana is right here on Earth.

In the spirit of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, George H. Weber's Boxcar follows two teenagers on an adventure through South Dakota. It can be ordered or downloaded as an e-book from www.1stbooks.com. Weber, who has authored and edited nine books, lives in Sun City Center.

Experience one tough cat's trials with Catfish: My Story. Available for a $5 donation to the SPCA of Pinellas County, Bettylou Rosen's version of this feline's adventure is a heart-wrenching one. Catfish is the kitty who was fished out of Boca Ciega Bay in 1995 after being badly burned, then locked in an anchor storage compartment of a boat for a week. Catfish, you'll be glad to know, now makes a happy home at the SPCA.

FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO COFFEE TABLE: The entire collection on display in the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg is now available in book form.Dali: The Salvador Dali Museum Collection, with an introduction by leading Dali scholar Robert S. Lubar (Bulfinch, $60), offers 94 beautiful full-color photos of our favorite pieces and a comprehensive review of the artist's career.

WHERE RAP COMES FROM: Rap music wasn't invented in the 1990s. It wasn't even invented in the '70s or with the Sugar Hill Gang'sRapper's Delight. It began hundreds of years ago with the tradition of griots, West African singers and storytellers. University of Florida professor James Haskins offers the history of hip-hop music for kids in One Nation Under a Groove: Rap Music and its Roots (Hyperion, $15.99). From the griots to Eminem, Haskins explores this most popular and controversial art form. For ages 10 to 14.

- Samantha Puckett is on the Times staff.

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