Six questions for Florida’s November elections

Florida's Aug. 26 primary (as pathetic as the turnout was) set the stage for some high stakes races in the Nov. 4 election. Here are six questions I have about those contests.

Who is the worst, dirty, baby stealing scoundrel, Charlie Crist or Rick Scott?

The campaign ads have been 99 percent negative and we’ve only begun to see the tens of millions of political dollars hit the airwaves. Medicare fraudster! Job killer! Climate change denier! Flip flopper! It would be nice to hear more about their stances on the issues and their plans to address the state’s biggest problems. But hey, that wouldn’t be any fun.

What will happen first, the Miami Dolphins make the playoffs or Rick Scott directly answers a question from a reporter?

Google “Rick Scott evades questions” or “Rick Scott dodges questions” and you’ll get hundreds of thousands of hits, including this video on MSNBC. To use an X-Men analogy, he’s the Nightcrawler of answering questions. Poof, he’s gone. When he does reply, it’s often like he’s reciting a script and he’s ignoring the question. 

Could Crist be hauled in for an embarrassing deposition during campaign season?

Florida’s lawsuit against Digital Domain and the executives of the failed company aims to recover $20 million in taxpayer dollars, but Scott wouldn’t mind if it puts Crist in hot water as well. It was Crist’s bright idea when he was governor to award this unproven company taxpayer dollars up front when its finances were a mess. It’s likely Crist will be called for a deposition, and it would sure be a shame if that got picked up by the press.

Will stoners light up the ballot boxes?

The medical marijuana amendment has strong support in opinion polling, but the 60 percent vote it needs for passage is a high bar, pardon my pun. This measure might increase youth and liberal turnout, which is exactly what Crist and the Democrats are hoping for. Forget oranges, Florida is about to have a new cash crop.

Are gay marriage opponents in for a rude awakening?

Few issues have seen a rapid swing in public opinion like gay marriage, with polls showing that a majority of Floridians now support it. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi  has aggressively battled every lawsuit seeking to legalize same-sex unions and she’s proud of it, issuing all kinds of press releases touting her stance. Democratic opponent George Sheldon would have the state drop its fight and support these unions. If supporters of same-sex marriage take out their frustrations on Bondi at the ballot box, she could be in trouble. Still, she has a huge fundraising advantage. 

Will incumbent members of Congress be punished for their slacker ways?

If you had any employee as unproductive as this Congress has been, I bet you’d fire their asses. In a world full of crises in need of urgent action, Congress bickers and stalls and bickers some more. Often times, people blame representatives in other districts, not their hometown hero. Yet, if this is a job evaluation based on “what have you done for me lately”, I see a lot of zeros on the board.

I’d ask a question about the races in the Florida Legislature, but those districts are gerrymandered so bad that most "contests" aren’t competitive. That last sentence could have been written 100 years ago.

Mute jumps off the page as artistic audio

Book trailers, ah yes, they have been done before. It would have been fun to see some actors try to play out a scene in Mute, but that’s not what I’m really offering to readers. You can’t download a Mute movie, so I’m not going to tease people with one. I wanted to make a video that showcased what is available: A dramatic novel. So I enlisted the help of some friends.

And now, here is the “artistic audio” presentation of Chapter 24 from Mute.

(If that didn't play for you, just see it on YouTube.)

This started when Celia Coulombe, who formerly worked at the Business Journal with me, told me how much she loved audio books and wanted to be a reader. So I sent her one of my favorite chapters and asked her to give it a shot. Celia did a tremendous job.

I realized that it would be hard for me to post the audio online by itself, but I could make it into a video. First, I enlisted the help of El Cesana, who took the cover photo for Mute. She told me I could select some photos from her gallery. What a treasure trove indeed.

I’ll have more to say about El Ces later, as this Australian photographer has an amazing story.

The presentation needed a depth of emotion that could only be captured by amazing artwork, and Hilda Vazquez certainly provided that. The Fort Lauderdale artist (and Business Journal graphic artist) let me use some images from her Facebook fan page.

I also used FreeDigitalPhotos.net to grab some stock photos, such as the fire, the gun and the binoculars. 

There you have it. Four creative souls collaborated to give everyone a sample of what Mute’s all about. If you want to read the rest of the story, you know where to go.

New publisher seeks stories of Florida, Caribbean adventures

Charles Kropke has launched Tropic Moon Press in Miami and is looking for both non-fiction and fiction stories set in Florida and the Caribbean. 

My recent story in the South Florida Business Journal describes how Kropke is an adventurous businessman. He owns eco tourism company Dragonfly Expeditions and he’s reviving Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. As you might guess, he’s looking for stories that capture the essence of Florida in its natural state. He told me that he enjoys reading Randy Wayne White, who I enjoy as well, A.C. Brooks and Jimmy Buffet – yes, he’s an author too.

In non-fiction, Kropke is following up South Beach – Stories of Renaissance with other books that combine photography with real stories. The initial focus is on the Everglades and the Keys, especially places really off the main paths. He's open to stories set in the Caribbean as well.

Kropke is not an ebook enthusiast. He likes to hold his paper, especially with high quality photos. Yes, it can be tough to sell print copies, and many smaller publishers are going digital (including mine). Yet, Kropke has plenty of connections, including with the owner of Books & Books in Coral Gables. He can also market the books to the adven-tourists on his expeditions so they can learn about the places they are going.

If you have an idea for Kropke, check out this web site and see the contact page.