We should complete our move to Tampa by the end of the month. I’m very excited about getting back to Florida after being in California for the last 17 years. I was based out of Tampa from 1985-2000 and still have some good friends there.

Many thanks to all of you who sent suggestions for boat names. I have decided on Reef Runner for Mac’s center console and my Parker 21. Mac’s Trawler will be named Ghost Runner. There will be a scene where one of the recurring characters names them in the next Mac Travis Adventure. Any guesses who that might be? There will also be an appearance by the winners of the contest: Rusty Faulkenberry and David Culbreath in the book. I hope to be down in the Keys in January and will get the name on my Parker.

The Keys are recovering from Hurricane Irma but still need your help. Please check out this fundraiser set up by fellow author John Cunningham. Wayne Stinnett and several other familiar authors including myself are all part of this: https://www.gofundme.com/Writers-for-Keys-Hurricane-Relief. Many of you have written and messaged me in the last few weeks about  either how Mac and the other characters in the series would have fared in and after the storm and if I would write a book about their experience.

This is the second hurricane that has affected me. I went through Andrew in 1992 and we have a vacation rental in Marathon. About ten days after the storm, we went down to check on it and found we were very fortunate. The house is new construction and came through well.

Several readers have emailed me asking if I have a book in mind about the storm. I have both experienced myself and seen firsthand the emotional toll these storms can take on people. I would never want anyone reading my work to have to experience this rollercoaster of emotions again. With this in mind, I have decided not to write about this storm directly. I will, probably in the next Mac Travis Adventure, use a fictitious storm to work in some of the ideas I got from our visit and watching The Weather Channel and my Facebook feed non-stop for a week.

I would guess that Mac and Mel’s house on the island would have survived the storm. It was rebuilt by Mac on concrete pilings. The island would most certainly have been under several feet of water from the storm surge, but the water would not have reached the main floor.  Everything else on the island would be gone. We can only hope that Mac and Mel got out in time.

Remember Kurt Hunter, the ranger from Biscayne National Park from Wood’s Betrayal? He will be the lead character in Backwater Bay. Look for it in early January.