Checking in

I know I am a day late and hopefully not a dollar short :)

As those of you who follow my blog, I am an avid reader and I love history. If we do not study history we do not recognize the sameness of every day events. No, I am not preaching, I am discussing.

In my research with my books set in present day Florida (especially the series set in "Peas" which is yet unpublished) I frequently make mention that Florida as more than Disney World and Miami Beach. Not that I have anything against Miami Beach. However, when I was on the way to my writers' breakfast this morning that particular observation kept bouncing around in my brain.

I am not a native Floridian but I have great respect for them. When the first settlers came here in the 1840's and then after the Civil War, there was land for the taking...but there was no air conditioning. These folks were a hardy lot. They captured the cattle out of the palmettos. They were conscripted into the Federal army post Civil War...they were survivors.

For a great read about the settling of Florida I would recommend Patrick Smith's A Land Forgotten. In order to bring about the flavor of original Florida I read anything I can get my hands on prior to the 1920's.

It really is a very interesting state.