Andrew Ranson: St Augustine's Pirate

When his mother, the duchess, dies in childbirth, Andrew Ranson is abandoned by his father, the Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who provides the black wet nurse funds to raise him as her own in Jamaica. After he goes to sea, Andrew learns of his heritage and collides with his father’s upper-class world in England and America. While a captive in Spanish St. Augustine, Andrew saves the town from the 1702 invasion by English forces from Carolina. Andrew Ranson: St. Augustine’s Pirate intertwines international intrigue as European powers battle for control of Florida and its all-important shipping lanes. Lust, piracy, financial ruin, and unrequited love also play their part in behind-the-scene views of events that established America, including the purchase of Mt. Vernon by the father of George Washington. Andrew Ranson: St. Augustine’s Pirate received a medallion for being one of the ten historical fiction finalists in the Florida Writers Association’s 2014 Royal Palm Literary Awards.

Betsy S. Lee and K. Ross Lee coauthored Andrew Ranson: St. Augustine's Pirate, a medallion-winning historical novel. They also collaborated on writing Seven Red Knots, a time-travel mystery also set in historic St. Augustine, Florida. Seven Red Knots whisks the reader in and out of adventures in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and twenty-first centuries. Betsy S. Lee is an award-winning author, illustrator, and photographer. She is a member of the Florida Writers Association, a former member and officer of the National League of American Pen Women (St. Augustine Branch), a past member of the American Library Association, and was a featured author at the Amelia Island Book Festival and a participant at the Florida Heritage Book Festival. Among her awards and honors, Betsy is most proud of receiving the Florida Writers Association's Royal Palm Literary Award (2007), as well as a tribute from the Florida House of Representatives. Betsy's works include: Off the Track Off the Track Coloring & Activities Book Historic St. Augustine Activities Book I'm Smarter Than That Let's Color & Draw 450th Anniversary Commemorative Historic St. Augustine Activities Book Watch for Betsy's new book, Off to Hollywood. K. Ross Lee is a former member of a leading stock exchange, and was a real estate developer and broker. After retiring he received certification from the U.S. Department of the Interior for the Castillo de San Marcos, as a national monument tour guide as well as for the city of St. Augustine, Florida. He attended private schools. After rigorous studies for his bar mitzvah, he developed the fervor to search for the lifelong effects of religion on history, as revealed in his books. He has written educational monologues for historical characters, several one-act plays, and routines for stand-up comedians including a magic comedy team. He also founded and was a service leader for a Reform Jewish congregation.