She was the last of 10 children born to her parents — Velvie and Reuben. When Martha was 12, the family moved to Orlando, Florida--reduced now to three children, since seven of her siblings had married. Her father took up work as a paint contractor and traveled for months at the time on construction projects. Her mother raised the last three children on the edge of an orange grove, ingraining a love of the land and nature in her children. Often, dinner was made with whatever was in the cupboard.

    “My favorite pie was one mother cooked using the oranges from the nearby grove. Instead of a key lime pie, we had an orange pie. The recipe is in my cookbook,” said Perritti.

     Martha graduated from Edgewater High School in Orlando Florida in 1958, then went on to obtain a graduate certificate from Jones Business College that same year. In 1959 she met her husband-to-be, Frank, and soon became a Navy wife. In 1963, their only son, Richard was born.

     As Frank moved up in the ranks in the US Navy, Martha’s activities increased as well. While stationed in Maine, she developed a Users Guide System for the US Naval Air Station Personnel Support Department. In 1970, the Navy moved the young family to Puerto Rico and Martha was elected president of the Officer’s Wives Club. Then an overseas assignment in the early 70s placed them in Sicily where Martha was again elected as president of the Officer’s Wives in Catania, Sicily. Among the clubs projects was a cookbook that Martha coordinated, titled Buon Appetito.

     The couple returned to the states for a few more years serving the Navy and after several years of retirement, moved to Pine Island, Florida in 1989. There, the pace of daily living was  considerably laid back. At last Martha had time to write, and since she had honed her organizational skills during Frank’s Navy years, she decided to produce her own cookbook. In 1993, Cooking Our Way (Morris Press), the first of two cookbooks, was published. A second cookbook was written and published again by Morris Press in 1998, 1999 titled, Martha Lou’s Kitchen.

     “The second cookbook is the one my friends tell me they use. It includes tried and true favorites from family and friends…and it’s filled with comfort food,” notes Perritti. A new edition is in the works, since the book is nearing sell out.

       With two cookbooks on the shelf and extra time to fill on sleepy Pine Island, Perritti began working on a goal she’d had for some time--to write about her father who had lived to be 101.  During one of her morning walks along Charlotte Harbor, she organized the book outline and began several years of research and exploring. Crossing in the Rain, her first autobiographically-based historical novel covers the life of her father. In the process, Martha discovered her father had several families, unbeknownst to each of the families. Martha learned that she had 13 siblings instead of the nine brothers and sisters from her family. In Crossing in the Rain (Lifestyles Press), we meet each of those families. The book is featured on the web site: www.authorlink.com.

      After reading her first novel, many readers expressed a desire to learn more about Martha’s mother. So Martha began the slow process of research to write the next novel. She soon learned she wouldn’t begin with her mother. The story would have to start earlier in time. It was at the age of 60 that Martha discovered three of her grandmothers were Cherokee Indian. Her Cherokee heritage had been held a secret to protect her and her siblings from the cruel eyes of discrimination in a quick-to-judge society.

      “I always wondered why I felt so close to nature--why it seemed I had this innate intuition that others didn’t seem to carry. I’ve learned to appreciate the ability to be still--to meditate and listen to my inner voice. That’s how both of my novels evolved. My solitary walks and quiet moments on the porch would create pages and pages on my writing pad,’ explained Perritti.

      Martha’s book about her mother would be placed on hold and the next novel began with her first Cherokee ancestor--her great grandmother, a Cherokee Indian from the Cumberland Gap in North Carolina. 

     Retired and ready for the next adventure, the Perrittis traveled to the historical sites of Martha’s early Cherokee ancestors. Their research route followed her family from the early 1800s through the Civil War to the birth of her mother in northern Alabama.

     Martha’s fascinating historical epic, Standing against the Wind (Lifestyles Press)--was completed after three years. She writes her novels in long hand, so the process takes even longer than most writers who make use of a computer.

     Standing against the Wind is an impressive novel--one that will educate most readers on the richness of the Cherokee culture--as well as inform them of the tragic reverberations of the “Indian Removal Program.”

     Martha currently is dedicating time for speaking engagements and book lectures. Her bookings are already scheduled into July 2004. Many who read her first book are anxious to hear about her second novel. They not only will meet interesting historical characters--members of Martha’s family — but will be further educated with factual notations, offered after various parts of the novel, placing each generation into the context of historical happenings. Well-documented and thought out--Martha’s organizational skills are at full play in her second book.

     Perritti has begun the research for her third novel. This novel will indeed be about her mother. The working title of her next book is This Fertile Valley.

     An excellent speaker, the diminutive Perritti takes you on her journey and offers tips on finding your own personal heritage. She has proven to be much like her Cherokee ancestors — steady and calm, displaying a solid sense of purpose when a goal is laid out before her.

      “If I can start a writing career at 50, anyone can,” she remarks. A self-taught writer and an independent scholar, she’s no longer intimidated when it comes to publishing books. In addition, she’s known as an expert on details of the Caddo Mountains. If you happen to plug Caddo Mountains on an internet search machine, you’re likely to see her name pop up.

      Perritti is a member of the National League of American Pen Women.

     Standing against the Wind is available at the following locations: Amazon.Com, on Perritti's web site at www.marthalouperritti.com. It is also available at these stores in north Florida and south Georgia: Tattered Pages Books & Expresso Bar, 2807 Crawfordville Hwy, Crawfordville, Florida; Book and Art Tearoom, 118 Municipal Ave, Sopchoppy, Florida; The Book Shelf, 319 Jackson St., Thomasville, Georgia; and Pebble Hill Plantation, Hwy 319, P.O. Box 830, Thomasville, Georgia. For speaking engagements or interviews, contact Lynda Long.