Gator chow
I spent the weekend in Hilton Head, SC.
I had to make the visit because book three of Felix Gomez's adventures is set on HH. I know I shatter your illusions about the glamourous life of a novelist when I tell you that I took the red-eye from Denver to HH (via Las Vegas and Charlotte), a ten plus hour flight (departing at 9:24PM and arriving at 8:53AM). Figures the only sleep I tried to get was when I was squeezed next to a nice but wide man (1 1/2 seats wide).
CJ Lyons, the pen name of a pediatrician turned thriller writer, took time from both her writing and condo remodeling to act as my guide. We walked the island and noted the details where my characters get shot at, tortured, and killed. Fun stuff!
On the way to my opulent digs at the Comfort Inn ($42), I had to hike past signs like the one above. HH has lots of ponds and sloughs, all of them the residence of alligators. (These guys are big!) The island is also home to rich retirees who have no qualms about walking their little poochies as gator bait. I expected to read about an alligator lunging from the mud and munching on Fido but, apparently, that hasn't yet happened.
This weekend I finished my homework assignment, which I did at the airport, on the airplane, and in my motel room. Kensington Publishing had sent two manuscripts for me to blurb. I was honored that they asked. Story one,
The Devils' Mambo, by
Jerry Rodriguez, was an over-the-top, super-hard-boiled novel delving into white slavery and child porn. Yikes! Reading this manuscript was like getting my ass kicked and coming back for more.
Story two was
Succubus Blues, by
Richelle Mead. This was a fun, witty, and very sexy read. Richelle did her homework tying supernatural myths into Bible stories. I won't tell you more for now except to put this book on your must buy list.
What myths and supernatural tales would you like to see woven together? And what would you think about living next to alligators?