The Venice Beach Sharks Tooth Festival
The Venice Beach Sharks Tooth Festival is an annual event held in Venice, Florida. The event has been held during August in past years, but for the past 2 years it has been held in April. The festival has a huge tents full of venders of sea fossils: shark teeth, shark jaws, sting-ray spine fragments, ray teeth, alligator teeth, sea biscuits, and a lot more-including Steve Alten!!! :) There are individual venders in mini-tents that sell sea-related things, too. Artisans sell homemade crafts, jewelry, clothes, and other sea-related tresures. A food area, as well as a Jamaican-flavored live music, is located across the street.
		I bought these teeth from Vito Bertucci (left) at the 1998 festival. The tooth in my hand is from a Carcharodon Megaladon, a 75 foot-long prehistoric cousin of the modern Great White shark, whose tooth is to the right.
I finished MEG in 5 days at my Auntie Nancy's house in New Hampshire. The only other book I ever finished was THE FIRM, and that took me 2 years! (I got through high school with Cliff's notes.) I HIGHLY SUGGEST reading Steve Alten's books!		At the 1999 festival, I met Steve Alten, author of my favorite book MEG, for the first time.	Steve signing a copy of THE TRENCH, the sequel to MEG, for me!!!
		I was just walking along the booths at the Shark Tooth Festival, when I saw some literature on the novel MEG and a new novel THE TRENCH by Steve Alten. I thought, "that was a really cool book, I'll have to get THE TRENCH." All of the sudden, I glanced at a sign that said, "local author" and standing beside it was Steve Alten! I started freaking out! After a few minutes of crying and talking jibberish, he leans over and said, "can you come back and do this every hour?" That was so cool!
Steve Alten and I at the 2001 festival!	Sandcastles of sharks at the 1998 festival.		My friend Nikki and I standing in front of a replica of a Carcharodon Megaladon's jaw.
Click on a link to see more pictures from previous festivals-if I put them all on this page, they would NEVER download! :) 2001 2002		I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Fenz this year, author of "Fossiling in Florida" and his new book "Megalodon: Hunting the Hunter". For his website, click here