Sequels

                                          

 The sequel to Esperanza is called Ghost Key and will be published in August 2012. It takes place in Cedar Key, Florida. The island lies 50 miles to the southwest of Gainesville, on Florida's Gulf coast, and between these two points there isn't much except dense pine woods on either side of the road. There's just one way in and out.   

The island is often referred to as old Florida- in other words, Florida before Disney World.  No  malls or chain stores here.  The quaint streets are lined with colorful shops owned by the locals. The population hovers around 700.  It has a flourishing fishing and clamming industry and a booming artist colony.  In the evening, dolphins can be seen just offshore, particularly during the winter months when they seek warmer waters.

Cedar Key and the surrounding islands were first mapped in 1542 by a Spanish cartographer, who called them Las Islas Sabines - The Cedar Keys. The actual town of Cedar Key was first established on a different island - Atsena Otie - in 1840, when a military depot was established there.  During the Civil War, the islands became a location for blockade running and salt production. Lumber  was one of the primary industries and during the 1880s, sawmills and pencil factories dominated the town.  Today, cedar trees are a rarity on the islands. 

The area has 139 buildings and archaeological sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One of these spots is the Island Hotel, built in 1859 as a general store.  During the Civil War, the hotel was used at different times by Union and Confederate soldiers. A former owner of the hotel,  Simon Feinger is said to be one of 13 ghosts that call the hotel home. When you walk into the hotel or sit out in the old courtyard, there's a palpable strangeness, a sense that you're being observed.

Naturally, this history and the hotel ghosts appeal to Dominica,  once the leader of the largest tribe of brujos - ghosts - in the world. At the end of Esperanza, most of Dominica's tribe was annihilated. Now she has created a new, smaller tribe and intends to turn Cedar Key into the first brujo enclave in the U.S. But she doesn't realize that the human inhabitants of Cedar Key are fiercely independent and will fight to preserve their way of life and their humanity.

Here are some spots around town that figure into the story:     

                                The Island Hotel

   


         Most of the buildings sit on wood or concrete pilings. This is taken from Dock Street, the main tourist area.
    
  

   
 The salt marsh found off shore is a paradise for bird watchers. Dolphins and manatees often make their way into the marsh as the tide
rises.  During low tide, you can walk out to these various little islands.
          

          

This local fish place sits on one of the salt marshes. Nothing fancy here, but you won't find fish any fresher!

Another view of the salt marsh from Old Fenimore Mill, condos built right on the salt marsh.

A bit inland, one of the famous swimming spots 

                                                                                    

  The third book will take place in Esperanza.                                                                         

                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                 

                                                                        

                                                             

 
                                    
                                                                 










 

























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