Florida authors always seem to have a unique voice. Capturing the Florida lifestlye can be tricky, and an author really needs to live here to do it justice. Just my opinion.

I enjoy Randy Wayne White's books. I read Sanibel Flats years ago and was hooked, and look forward each spring to a new book in this long-running series. Doc Ford is the hero and is the kind of person many men wish they could be. His sidekick is Tomlinson, who manages to push the envelope of normality while being the most human character in these books.

Doc is a "retired" covert operative/marine biologist, and most of the books have him pulled back into the black world thanks to his former life. A couple of the books are lighter fare with a bit more humor, and I particularly enjoyed The Man Who Invented Florida.

Enjoy!

We spent a bit of the day without power at work, today. I thought it was due to the massive storms that rolled through North Florida, but apparently there was a glitch in Florida's electrical grid that cascaded and wound up taking out a number of power plants, including a nuclear power plant.

About 3-4 million people were affected. Amazingly, most seem to have their power back already. A far cry from the weeks we spent without power during a season of hurricanes in 2004. With no clean-up, power comes back quick.

I'm a big fan of Tom Corcoran's Alex Rutledge mystery novels. Rutledge lives in Key West and when I saw this picture of a house in Key West, it immediately struck me as "Oh, it's Rutledge's house."

Which is weird, because Rutledge is fictional and I've never seen his house. I guess Corcoran does a pretty solid job of descriptive writing if I had picture in my head that was so vivid, I immediately thought of it when I saw a photo.

The Amelia Island Book Festival brings authors and readers together each fall on the extreme northeast coast of Florida, in the town of Fernandina Beach on Amelie Island. A wonderful time of year to visit, by the way. Authors range from locals up to world-renowned best-sellers. A must-do for the bibliophile.

To go with yesterday's post about the Lighthouse in St. Augustine, here is the inside view, looking up. That's your climb - enjoy!

Photo credit: WordRidden on Flickr

I love lighthouses. This shot of the St. Augustine Lighthouse is really nice. The lighthouse is open to the public, so you can climb to the top and see St. Augustine from on high. There is also a great summer camp that takes place there, with a lot of focus on natural science and marine biology. My daughter has gone twice and loved it.

Photo credit: eye2eye at Flickr

Any guesses?

The Florida State Flower is the Orange Blossom. Wish I knew where I got it so I could give them credit, if you know drop me a line.

Santa brought his helpers to The Paper Porch in Brooksville, FL after last Christmas. Guess they needed a vacation. Also, they might have been checking out Roger's Christmas House.