Passion, Betrayal, Murder and a Hurricane Named Charley
In a tiny Central Florida community best known for citrus and bass fishing, the August heat turns toxic with bigotry, politics and crime. Old secrets must now be revealed, while two families cope with tragedy. One forbidden romance defies time and circumstance.
Come back to the summer of 2004 to relive Florida’s unforgettable hurricane season. Visit the tiny town of Blossom Lake where old secrets and new crimes risk ripping two families apart.
Summer, 2004
Introduction
The novel originated as an Internet drama called Blossom Lake, serialized in eight parts during the summer of 2002. I set out to write an entertaining tale of passion and intrigue, flavored with orange juice. While the little town may have some similarities to places drawn from fond memories of growing up in Polk County, the characters and events are strictly from imagination.
Several readers who followed the saga encouraged me to write the novel. Well, I finally decided to do that during the summer of 2004. Since the story takes place during August, while Congressman Whittemore is running for reelection, it only seemed logical to set the adaptation during that heated political summer.
Much of the action takes place during a hurricane that was modeled after Hurricane Donna, back in the original drama. The storm comes ashore around Ft. Myers and exits the state at Daytona Beach. I was born in Lake Wales; my earliest memory is Hurricane Donna (1960). Try to imagine my shock and disbelief while writing the novel, suddenly watching the approach of Hurricane Charley. This was the storm described in Blossom Lake. I was stunned by the similarities. My imagined storm now had a name.
Unfortunately our hurricanes just kept coming during the summer of ‘04. I can tell you with absolute certainty that had I not been well into rewrites by the time Frances and Jeanne dropped by for a visit, ain’t no way I woulda written a hurricane story from scratch. Indeed, by then I was reluctant to admit that I was writing about a hurricane.
Ten years later, as I format the novel for Kindle, I can only laugh at the absurdity of it all.