The Azure Tides could have been a set on a David Lynch film. A lone beach bar on the white sands of Lido Key, Fla. stationed behind the shell of a condemned condo that had been abandoned during construction. The perfect setting for some sort of deranged mishap (and there were a few.)

Many evenings there, I watched the sun slip into the Gulf barefoot, sitting on a wooden stool, sipping a Budweiser, chatting with friends. There was no guitar player, no bongos, no fishnet decor, just a thatch roof and concrete floor (and Led Zeppelin playing from a boom box chained behind the bar.)

It was a no-frills, come-as-you-are, don’t-piss-off-the-bartender (or locals for that matter) landmark, which closed in 2001.

A few years ago, it reopened as Lido Key Tiki Bar, and is a part of the Ritz-Carlton properties.

I am so thankful it hasn’t lost too much of its character. I went there this week with my cousin, Emily, and while I felt very strange ordering a margarita from a bartender wearing a pressed golf shirt instead of a worn Guy Harvey Tee, I am very happy to see it back in action. We even saw a bikini-clad lady yelling across the bamboo bar at her drunk boyfriend who had just ordered another Mudslide.

Ahhhh… I’m so happy it hasn’t changed too much.

I just discovered Scribd, and posted some of my essays on the community.

Sorry there’s been a lag in the blogs. I’m trying to finish my novel edits, and well, it’s requiring most of my energy.

Writing a novel is a lot like crossing a desert. It’s lonely, difficult, and if you’re not prepared, the project dies, along with a part of you. What do I mean by prepared? Well, laying the groundwork for the story, is a big part, and creating compelling characters.

But I’m not writing this to discuss Fiction 101. I’m writing this to discuss the journey that has required me to disconnect from the noise of the everyday, and plug into the world that I’ve created for my characters. In so many ways it’s been a tremendous growth experience because I’ve had to eliminate unnecessary energy drains that were keeping me from making progress.

It’s not over yet. There are many days that it’s not fun. There are many times when I doubt myself, and my decision to do this often heartbreaking work…but I show up anyway and push through.

I don’t want to say when I’ll be finished. I’m still tired of answering the same question, “How’s the novel?” (It’s been six years of writing and rewriting. How do you think it’s going?)

But it will be finished, and it will be better than ever. With that said, until I finish the book, I’ll post when I can. I hope it’s more than one week apart, but please forgive me if it isn’t.

At night, when I’m winding down from a day of rewriting and edits for my women’s fiction novel, a story developed.

Instead of saving it for later, I switched gears and started a story, which turned into a paranormal novella. Here’s a look:

What happens when a displaced, shape-shifting gargoyle falls in love with a newly divorced woman in Paris? Love, fantasy, power, and the ultimate face off.

Celebrating the anniversary of her divorce, Skylar Thomas came to Paris with her best friend, Maggie to have a little fun, but had no idea she’d be fighting for her life.

It was only his second visit with Skylar, but Philippe knew being with her was the only thing that mattered. Appearing from the mist, he understood he was breaking the sect’s cardinal rule. He was falling for an assignment. His time with her was short, for he had to return to his gargoyle sect before any suspicion arose. With a kiss good-bye, he vowed to return to Skylar, and protect her, and love her as a human forever.

As their newly discovered love grows, so does the threat to Skylar. When Philippe’s evil nemesis appears, he threatens to destroy their future together with his manipulative ways and forceful vengeance. The ultimate face-off ensues.

Under the Parisian Moon is a 50-page novella. I wrote it at night after working on my novel rewrites during the day. It’s amazing the ideas that creep into your mind after a hard day’s work of focusing on a different genre.

I’m still hard at work at the rewrite of my contemporary women’s fiction novel. It’s going well.

Penguin author, G. Neri gives his take on first drafts, doubt, revisions, selling, and more plot-driven revisions. From the blog:

So I wrote my novel, now called Surf Mules, slowly but surely, and reworked it many, many times until it seemed to make sense. But I had last minute doubts. I kept reworking it until I couldn’t tell if it was good or not. At one point, I was going to shelve it, convinced it wasn’t working. But my writers’ group literally forced me to send it out. Without them, it wouldn’t exist today. Plus they threatened physical harm if I didn’t.

The first two revision rounds were fairly straight forward and easy. No plot, character or story changes, these were all scene specific tweaks and I found myself thinking, this is easy.

But Putnam has this tradition of showing nearly finished works to all the editors as a final stop gap measure. And they all loved it only…they had one simple request.

The road trip with the two main characters Logan and Z-boy, plays a prominent role in the story. But it didn’t kick in till p.170. Their request: move it up. Like to page 100.

When I decided to write a paranormal story, I wanted to talk about energy vampires (but there are so many vampire stories out there, and let’s face it, you don’t have to have fangs to drain someone’s energy.)

While my story addresses energy drains, and good versus evil, I used a different character, and one that I felt had a little more history…gargoyles.

Have you seen these guys? Creepy. And they adorn some of the most historical cathedrals in Europe. While gargoyles were built to be protectors, they were also fear generators.

Originally designed as waterspouts to throw rainwater off of Medieval cathedral walls, they also were believed to ward off evil spirits. I find that fascinating, and a great foundation for a story.

I’ll post more about the story later, but I wanted to share a little tidbit of Gothic history.

I was in front of the television just now and saw the new Prius ad and was pleasantly surprised to hear a Bellamy Brothers‘ tune. They lived down the street from me when I was a kid!

There was something about Frank Mullen that was disarming. Perhaps it was his six-foot-something stance that made you feel protected when he hugged you, or his dark, wide eyes, that made you feel as he could see directly into your soul, but when you were in Frank’s cross-hairs, you were connected.

Frank Mullen was an iconic photographer, and it was his disarming way that allowed him to uniquely capture images from the likes of Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Outkast, David Lee Roth, and Black Flag’s own, Henry Rollins, among others.

Frank lost his battle last night with a long illness.

He was a sweet, kind, observant person…first, and a magnificent, creative talent…second.

Now, he will be using his lovely, disarming ways to capture the images of Jimi, Keith, Janice, and Jim, in those dark, seedy, magical bars that catch lighting in bottles. He’s there with all the greats, doing what he loves, and one day we will join him.

I just heard an interview with the Dali Lama who said, “Reincarnation is an extension of how we lived our life on earth.”

Only you can answer that now, Frank. But I believe it will have something to do with a butterfly coming out of the cocoon.

A memorial fund has been established to help the Mullen family. Frank was a full-time freelancer, a husband, and father. This week, a private sponsor is matching dollar-per-dollar amounts. Any donation is appreciated.

Creative Loafing interviewed Frank in 2005

My friend, Tommy first put the idea of modular homes on my radar several years ago. I have to say, it’s become a growing fascination. There are many really cool pre-fab homes out there.

Manufactured homes are now catching up with the coolness factor of modular. Manufactured in Tennessee, The Clayton iHouse is considered to be the first green/modern mobile home. Models start at $74K.

Warren Buffet bought the company in 2003.

Treehugger has some good info on the iHouse.

Needing a change of pace this afternoon, I printed out a few pages of my manuscript, grabbed a towel, and sat outside in my back yard, reworking sentences, scratching through words, moving paragraphs, and wondering if I could decipher any of it when I got back to my computer.

…then, my neighbor came outside and starting blowing bubbles, and things became much more clear.