“I Loved the Ride” – Premier Book Reviews
[ No Comments ] Posted on 02.29.08 under Read a Review
Miami has always held a magical aura to me. The warm weather and beautiful scenery is so picturesque that I want to know more but have never been able to visit. Landmark Status is a beautiful inside look at the city and nearby areas that truly made the city come alive.
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This mystery unravels with exciting plot twists and amusing snafus. I loved the ride and anyone else who likes a good problem to solve will too!
Reviewed by Sabrina Sumsion
Read the entire review at Premier Book Reviews
Alan’s Interview with Juanita Watson of Reader Views
[ No Comments ] Posted on 02.03.08 under Interviews
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Juanita: You bring into this book glimpses of the historical origins of Miami and the ethnic influence in the politics of this city. Would you elaborate, and did this take any additional research?
Alan: In a way, the ethnic aspect was the easy part, because living in Miami is like taking a lab course in community. Tribal politics is still ascendant here, and the clash of cultures is everywhere, splattered across the local newspapers and television screens. I kept finding the characters going to places that demanded I tell their stories, too. So I did. The internet made it possible to research almost anything on the fly, from the history of the not so escape-proof prison atop the Dade County Courthouse (which offers cold comfort to a claustrophobic reporter trying to get down the stairs when the elevator won’t come), to the smallest details, like what brand of cigarettes Frank Sinatra was bumming for the ride back from the Deauville after card sharps Moe and Izzy Fine cleaned him out one night fifty years ago.
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Juanita: Alan, because this novel is considered satire, would you tell us about the deeper messages you were hoping to convey through this story?
Alan: There’s a persistent subtext about dislocation and trying to fit in, trying to find your place in a new or changing place, particularly for Delia as a Cuban-American who grew up in New Jersey and can’t seem to get both feet down in Miami, even though she’s in the bosom of her family. It’s not easy for Walter, either, as Miami morphs around him into something he barely recognizes. They all have immigrant stories in this new city where even the Native Americans are from somewhere else, but only Delia, and to a lesser extent, Benjy and Raj, are thinking about what it all means.
Read the entire interview at Reader Views
Don’t Move and No One Gets Hurt
[ No Comments ] Posted on 02.02.08 under The Everglades Room
“Don’t move and no one gets hurt!” Always loved that line when I was a kid, whether delivered by a bank robber, burglar or generic bad guy, no matter the context or medium. I loved it so much it stayed in my head without my knowing it, falling out years later onto the lead sheet for the only dance song I ever wrote, a wry little number called “Do the Nothing.” It was the mid-Seventies and disco was refusing to die, obstructing my band’s progressive rock career (we were recording songs like “U Thant, the Beatles and Me,” while everybody else was bumming a ride to Funkytown).
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