Free eBooks Daily: Author Interview - Q&A With Wayne Stinnett About His Free Book, Fallen Palm

Link to original interview: Free eBooks Daily: Author Interview - Q&A With Wayne Stinnett


What was the inspiration for your book?

I grew up in Florida and spent a lot of time in the Florida Keys, living
there for a time. I wrote three short stories set in the Keys in the
eighties, but was never able to get them published. A year and a half
ago, at the urging of my wife who found a hand written manuscript, I
compiled the three shorts, made the main character a few years older and
published it as Fallen Palm.

How did you come up with the title?

I love this question. Fallen Palm was initially titled Lynx Key Reign. I
didn't come up with the title Fallen Palm, until I wrote the very last
paragraph. I won't give away any of the plot, but a coconut palm in the
middle of the main character's island had to go, to be able to write the
sequel, Fallen Hunter.

Share with us a fun fact about your book.

The island that Jesse McDermitt lives on is real. When I lived aboard a
1926 Alden 42' sloop in the nineties, I spent my free time up in the
back country around the Content Keys, north of Big Pine Key. I found a
small island that had a bit of a beach on the west side and camped there
quite a bit, while fishing and diving the patch reefs around the area.

Tell us about the setting. (Detailed description)

The Florida Keys are a group of about 700, mostly uninhabited islands that
stretch for almost two hundred miles from Key Biscayne off the coast of
Miami to the Dry Tortugas, seventy miles west of Key West. No, Key West
isn't the last one. It's just the last one that you can drive to. They
Keys have a rich history dating back to early Spanish colonization and
the waters surrounding the islands are teeming with life, above and
below the water.

Introduce us briefly to the main characters.

Jesse McDermitt is a retired Marine. No, not a gray haird shuffleboard
player. He retired from the Corps at the age of 37, having enlisted at
the age of 17. His dad was a Marine and died in Vietnam. His
grandparents raised him from the age of 8 and his Pappy was a Marine
also, WWII. They passed away just before he retired and Jesse was left
with a sizable fortune. Having no immediate family, he looked up an old
friend, Rusty Thurman, who lived in Marathon in the heart of the Keys
and with a little help from friends old and new, he bought a boat he
could live on and started a dive and fishing charter business, while
building his island home. Rusty's a very portly Conch, whose ancestors
have lived in the Keys for many generations. He owns the Rusty Anchor
Bar and Grill, a fictional place in Marathon, with his daughter, Julie.

Who is your favorite character in your book and why?

Jesse's dog, Pescador. I love animals and have three dogs, myself. But Pescador
isn't your average canine. Jesse found him stranded on a nearby island
after a hurricane, living off of fish he'd catch in the shallows.
Pescador is Spanish for fisherman. He's a highly intelligent and well
trained dog that never ceases to amaze Jesse.

What is the conflict in the story?

Primarily greed. A lost shipment of Confederate gold is discovered by one of
Jesse's old friends, Russ Livingston, who ends up dead, drowned while
diving and getting tangled in his own anchor line. The murderer wants
the rest of the gold that Russ knew the location of and thinks Jesse
might be able to lead him to it.

What makes this book a great read?

I hope that I was able to convey not just the location, but the smell,
flavor, and feel of the islands and the lifestyle of the Florida Keys.
Action junkies might find Fallen Palm lacking. There is action, but it
takes a back seat to adventure. 

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