In Need Of Some Assistance...

tdparrothead · Post by **tdparrothead** » November 27, 2005 7:11 pm

I work in a bookstore and recently I came up with the idea to create a small section dedicated to authors who write either about Florida or the Carribean, so I've been ordering in books like crazy. So far I have books by Jimmy Buffett, Carl Hiaasen, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Tim Dorsey, Tom Corcoran, Thomas McGuane, and Bob Morris. I'm still waiting on Herman Wouk's Don't Stop The Carnival to show up. Can anyone think of any other books or authors that might fit well in this section. I just think these authors are all great, but they haven't really seemed to catch on North of the border. I'd like to change all that. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated. It can give us Northers an escape during the cold winter.

Gulfbreeze · Post by **Gulfbreeze** » November 27, 2005 7:14 pm

John D. MacDonald and Randy Wayne White

tdparrothead · Post by **tdparrothead** » November 27, 2005 7:28 pm

Gulfbreeze wrote:John D. MacDonald and Randy Wayne White

John MacDonald... duh. I had the Coconut Telegraph album playing at work too. Should have known that one. Thanks!!!

Lundah · Post by **Lundah** » November 27, 2005 7:45 pm

Try Clive Cussler, considering his books are all about an aquatic research agency, at least ONE of his books has gotta be set in the Keys....

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » November 27, 2005 7:47 pm

Lundah wrote:Try Clive Cussler, considering his books are all about an aquatic research agency, at least ONE of his books has gotta be set in the Keys....

Yup..

conched · Post by **conched** » November 27, 2005 7:59 pm

You may want to get Naked Came The Manatee.

That one can give you some direction.

chalksoperations · Post by **chalksoperations** » November 27, 2005 7:59 pm

In my opinion the first name on your list should be Marjory Stoneman Douglas. She came he in the early 1900's to live with her dad, Jonathan Douglas. He was known for starting the Miami Herald over on Miami Ave next to the river at the time. She had a small job as an assistant editor and her writing grew from there.
What she is known for the most is her book 'Everglades - River of Grass'. It wasn't until then, when it was published in 1947, that people started to get a new perspective of what the Everglades are really about. Her and her fathers archnemesis was Governor Broward, who at the time felt it would be a really good idea to drain the Glades and sell the land for development.

Anyhow, no collection of books on the subject of the Caribbean and Florida would be complete without this one and her later book 'Voice of the River'.

Also look for a couple of Lawrence Shames books, 'Mangrove Squeeze' for one.

Elrod · Post by **Elrod** » November 27, 2005 8:04 pm

I've read some from all of those listed above. Definitely warm reads for the winter.

James W. Hall, Laurence Shames and Elmore Leonard cover a lot of Florida in their novels.

tdparrothead · Post by **tdparrothead** » November 27, 2005 8:10 pm

conched wrote:You may want to get Naked Came The Manatee.

That one can give you some direction.

Just bought it yesterday, hopefully I'll read some of it tonight.

conched · Post by **conched** » November 27, 2005 8:16 pm

I googled and found this site for Florida Mystery Writers.

http://www.mwa-florida.org/memberswebsites.htm

tdparrothead · Post by **tdparrothead** » November 27, 2005 9:32 pm

Thanks everyone for your input so far. I'm gonna make this section really cool... let's just hope people buy from it.

Lono · Post by **Lono** » November 28, 2005 11:12 am

I would include some books by James A. Michener:

1. Caribbean
2. Six Days in Havana

If you are inclined to go outside the region, I would include:

3. Tales of the South Pacific
4. Hawaii
5. South Sea Story (I think Donovan's reef is loosely based on it).

Great idea, by the way.

tdparrothead · Post by **tdparrothead** » November 28, 2005 9:58 pm

I ordered in a bunch of Dave Barry, John D. Macdonald, and Randy Wayne White books today. I also expanded my section.

doxadive · Post by **doxadive** » November 29, 2005 8:44 am

if you can find them ( i found 2 at the dollar store) books by John Leslie, he writes a series about a Key West Pi named Gideon Lowry who lives in the last private residence on Duval. they are pretty good books and give good detail about key west

MelliJellyBean · Post by **MelliJellyBean** » November 29, 2005 8:57 am

I'm not sure if it's an exact fit, but <b>Nicholas Sparks</b> books are all set within the Outer Banks - Nights in Rodanthe, True Believer, Message in a Bottle, etc. Alot of them involve stories near or around coastal towns.

col cairo · Post by **col cairo** » November 29, 2005 5:32 pm

Raining Rum by Bobbo Jettmundsen is suppose to be good. It is next on my list.

Check out the Novelist's Eye section on the Radio M'ville site.

conched · Post by **conched** » November 29, 2005 5:42 pm

col cairo wrote:Raining Rum by Bobbo Jettmundsen is suppose to be good. It is next on my list.

Check out the Novelist's Eye section on the Radio M'ville site.

Raining Rum. oh yeah...good stuff.

Quiet and Shy · Post by **Quiet and Shy** » November 29, 2005 6:27 pm

TDP...Great idea!!! That's really neat that you can do that kind of stuff at your job. How fun! Will you do tropical decorations, too???!!

Post a picture for us when you get it all set up!

tdparrothead · Post by **tdparrothead** » November 29, 2005 10:58 pm

Quiet and Shy wrote:TDP...Great idea!!! That's really neat that you can do that kind of stuff at your job. How fun! Will you do tropical decorations, too???!!

Post a picture for us when you get it all set up!

I'm gonna hopefully get some decorations for it. Right now I've just a few tables and some books on display... right in front of the store... prime real estate

. I was just put in charge of the store for the next couple months, so my display will definately be around a while, seeing as I'm in charge and all. I have the president of the company coming in next week so I want it to be decorated by then.