Months later, when the actual published novel arrives on the doorstep, I’ll open it, skim a few pages and say to myself, “Hey, that’s pretty funny. By the time I finish working on a manuscript I’m pretty fried on the whole project, and I have to put some distance between myself and the book. It’s hard to rate your own books, but I feel pretty good about “Razor Girl.”Īuthors have complicated relationships with their novels. You’ve received raves for “Razor Girl.” Do you think it’s one of your best books or do you look at your novels that way?Ī. The real victims of the shrinking newspaper trend are the honest, tax-paying citizens, and democracy in general. Many government meetings don’t get covered by any reporters, so politicians and lobbyists can get away with all kinds of stuff. The odds of getting caught by a snoopy reporter are microscopic, because local newspapers have cut their staffs down to bare skeletons. If you’re a crook, now’s the best time to go into politics and start stealing. How has the weakened state of newspapers affected election cycles and holding officials accountable?Ī. It’s not a coincidence that so many novelists started out as journalists. The column itself is mainly therapeutic for me, especially in a year like this, but following the wild flow of news undoubtedly provides material for the books. How does writing a newspaper column help your fiction?Ī. There was a suggestion that the relationship was more than platonic. My all-time favorite Florida news story is the one about the guy in West Dade who was caught with two full-grown alligators in his bed. I’ve never lived anywhere else, so I wouldn’t be comfortable plotting out a book that was based in Nebraska or Mississippi, or the south of France. Florida is more than a setting for my books it’s practically a character. How crucial is the Sunshine State to your fiction and do you have a favorite Florida news story?Ī. From what we’ve seen the last few months, the premise isn’t that far-fetched. In “Razor Girl” I wanted to invent a “Duck Dynasty” knockoff that took the whole concept maybe one step too far, with calamitous results. Reality TV is target-rich right now, especially America’s odd fascination with so-called redneck culture. When you write satire, you feed off of popular trends. Reality television inspires a lot of comedy in “Razor Girl.” What do you think of the genre in general and “Duck Dynasty” in particular?Ī.

Carl hiaasen barnes and noble