Taylor, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
It has been a journey to find, but the foundation of my purpose is my deep, personal faith in God. When I was younger, the conversation was always: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I think as kids we answer that question with whatever seems fun and cool to us at the time, like being an astronaut or a firefighter (or for me, a farmer or a cowboy). But as I grew a clearer sense of my identity—of who I wanted to be when I grew up and who I was made to be—a clarity in my purpose followed. I’ve always known that I had a bent toward creativity and art, but I always just saw that as a sort of side hobby...

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, March 11, 2023 - On Friday, the Florida Book Awards announced that Taylor Thomas Smythe’s latest book, Goldie: A Magic City Wonders Novel, was named winner of the silver medal in the Young Adult Literature category.

The Florida Book Awards, established in 2006, exists to recognize, honor, and celebrate the best literature by Florida authors or about Florida published each year. Smythe and other honorees will be recognized at an awards banquet in Tallahassee, Florida, later this spring. 
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Goldie was released in November 2022. The inaugural installment in the Magic City Wonders series is set in 1980s Miami and follows the story of a young diner waitress named Donna Locke, whose life is turned upside-down when she develops an unusual and mysterious power to turn objects to gold. The next book in the young adult science-fiction series is slated to be released later in 2023.

This latest honor marks the third formal awards recognition for Smythe’s written work. In 2021, the first installment in his seven-book Kingdom of Florida middle-grade fantasy series--The Golden Alligator—was chosen as the winner of a silver medal in the Florida Authors and Publishers Association President's Book Awards and as a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards. The Kingdom of Florida series, which draws inspiration from such classics as The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, follows the journey of a group of South Florida children as they discover a magical parallel world ruled by an evil prince. 

To order Goldie: A Magic City Wonders Novel, visit www.magiccitywonders.com. More information on Smythe’s award-winning Kingdom of Florida series can be found at www.kingdomofflorida.com.

Article by Skye Sherman

The fecund verdancy of South Florida is ripe for tall tales, and that’s exactly what inspired West Palm Beach author Taylor Thomas Smythe to pen fantasy reads for the whole family. His Kingdom of Florida series is akin to The Chronicles of Narnia but with decidedly Floridian leanings . It follows the adventures of a group of South Florida youngsters who discover a parallel land of magic, strange creatures, and an evil prince.
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“It starts out as a fairly lighthearted tale, but there’s a deeper mystery bubbling up below the surface, which plays out over the course of the series,” Smythe says.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, May 29, 2021 - On the heels of its selection as a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, Taylor Thomas Smythe’s debut novel Kingdom of Florida: The Golden Alligator was named a finalist in the 2021 Florida Authors & Publishers Association (FAPA) President’s Book Awards. This latest accolade means that the book is also eligible for additional awards and recognition when the final results are announced at a banquet in Orlando, Florida, near the end of July.

“I feel blessed to have received the news of not one but two incredible accolades for Kingdom of Florida in the same week,” said Smythe. “I’ve heard tons of great feedback on the book from family and friends over the past couple years since its release, but to have my work recognized for excellence on a statewide and national scale is truly incredible. It’s so affirming that the countless hours of solitary writing have blossomed into something that’s now getting national attention.”

Each year FAPA sponsors the President’s Book Awards, which recognizes book publishing excellence and creativity in design, content, and production for authors and publishers. This year, FAPA expanded the competition beyond North America to encompass the entire English-speaking world. Finalists are chosen by publishing professionals and librarians from both within and outside of Florida and are announced at the President’s Book Awards Banquet the last weekend of July.

Smythe added: “These awards are also a testament to the great work of illustrator Alice Waller, and also the influence of my friend, former teacher, and fellow author David Athey—to whom the first novel is dedicated. Thank you both for everything!”

The Golden Alligator is the first novel in the Kingdom of Florida series, which draws inspiration from such classics as The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, and follows the journey of a group of South Florida children as they discover a magical parallel world ruled by an evil prince. The sixth installment--Coral and the Treasure Hunters—is scheduled for release this June. 

FAPA is an organization for authors, publishers and other professionals involved in the Florida publishing industry. The Florida Authors & Publishers Association, Inc., was originally organized in 1983 (then known as the Florida Publishers Group) by Betty Wright (Rainbow Books, Inc.) to provide Florida’s growing group of book publishers with an opportunity for education and networking and to provide its members with a clearinghouse for publishing information. FPG became FPA (Florida Publishers Association) and began with only six members. In 2012 FPA expanded the name to FAPA (Florida Authors & Publishers Association) to include a steadily increasing number of authors within the organization.

The first five individual Kingdom of Florida books are independently published and available via online booksellers and www.kingdomofflorida.com in a variety of formats. ​