THE FMWA CRAZY FLORIDA BLOG HOP
“Florida
is a giant bug light for crazy people.” ~Phyllis Smallman, Sleuthfest 2014
It’s
no surprise to any author living in Florida that some of the craziest stories
we can write are actually inspired by true events in our sunshine state. Join
us in exploring a different side of Florida than the travel bureau promotes
with our first Blog Hop sponsored by the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
Read on, click the links below to read another member’s view of crazy
Florida, comment, share your favorite stories, and enter the contest to win a
Kindle Paperwhite.
|
A1A in Sunny Isles Beach |
The first time I saw Cyrillic writing on a
storefront in South Florida I was baffled. москва видео: Moscow Video?
The tiny video rental store was in a
run-down group of shops at the eastern end of the 163rd Street
causeway, which links the mainland to the barrier island between the Atlantic
Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Sandwiched between the tattered blue
awnings of Bikini City and a run down Miami Subs, Moscow Video didn’t last
long. The entire block of shops was knocked down for a huge high-rise complex
with ocean views. The neighborhood was incorporated as the city of Sunny Isles
Beach, and as I traveled through it, I began to see more and more businesses
that catered to a Russian clientele.
|
Russian Sodas |
Here’s what Biff Andromeda, the hero of
GENIE FOR HIRE, knows about the area: “There was a sizable Russian community in
Sunny Isles Beach, just over the causeway from his office, a Little Moscow
without the snow, the art-filled subway system or the communist legacy. You
could buy Russian-language DVDs, read the news in a newspaper printed in
Cyrillic characters, eat borscht and pelmeni, or hire a Russian-speaking
escort from a selection on Craig’s List.”
In my teaching job, at Broward College, I
began to see more Eastern European students, often with names like Boris and
Natasha. Maybe those names will be familiar to you – if, like me, you grew up
on Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.
Boris and Natasha Badenov were the villains, always trying to “make beeg
trouble for moose and squirrel.” I also had those Eastern European accents in
my head, courtesy of my great-aunts, great-uncles and grandparents, born in
Lithuania, Russia and Poland.
|
A Russian Deli |
So it was easy for me to slide into this
world, even creating a squirrel sidekick for Biff named Raki. Biff’s case
begins when a Russian-born photographer employs him to retrieve some stolen
digital files – boudoir shots of the wife of a Russian mobster. I loved the
research, including this: “Because he couldn’t resist, Biff stopped at the
Crimean Sea bakery on Collins Avenue and treated himself to a kartoshka, a
chocolate-covered pastry that looked like a potato.”
Biff discovers a sunny society that’s built
on dark crime – my favorite kind of contrast. I hope readers will enjoy the
trip.
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Visit our Other Contributors and win more
prizes:
Joanna
Campbell Slan, Honey, You'll Never Guess
What Rolled Up in the Surf http://www.joannaslan.blogspot.com