Diane Frank reads from her novel, Mermaids and Musicians; Janet Popesco Archibald reads her poems.

Diane Frank reads from her novel, Mermaids and Musicians; Janet Popesco Archibald reads her poems.

Diane Frank, poet and publisher, has now published her debut novel, Mermaids and Musicians. Janet Popesco Archibald, capping a long career in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, has a body of work as a poet that she'll draw from to open the evening. Mermaids and Musicians is a very unusual love story... A virtuoso violinist falls madly in love with a mermaid, but can he deal with loving a woman who isn't completely human? And can their love travel through time? The novel begins on Signal Mountain in Tennessee and migrates to the coast of Northern California. As a poet and musician, Diane Frank reveals what it takes to become a musician, what music means to those of us who play it, and what music gives to the world.“From Diane Frank, a beautiful love story from the dream world, where humans and mermaids meet. In her masterful lyrical style, this poet musician takes us on a journey through realms of water, music, passion and art. As we follow the lives of a family of creative souls, we feel the flow of the sacred feminine, orchestrating and guiding at every turn. A gift from a master of light and dreams, Mermaids and Musicians speaks to the artist, musician, poet and dreamer in all of us.” – Jennifer Read Hawthorne, co‑author, Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul, #1 New York Times bestseller  “One of the best ways to learn about humans is to listen to their songs.” With exquisite language, Diane Frank weaves joy and heartbreak, community and loneliness, surrealism and realism into a novel of hope. This delectable book uproots readers from the Appalachian Mountains and transports them to the Pacific coast, following the dreams of various characters, all of them artists and musicians, all believers that this wild, precious earth is worth saving. Frank delights in every color and sound, every magical moment we sometimes forget as we traverse from childhood into adults. This is a book I would devour first, then go back and luxuriate in the second, third, and subsequent readings. A must‑read for anyone who longs to return to a world of compassion and beauty. – KB Ballentine, author of Spirit of Wild