FRDP Final Cover
I just sent the final revision of “For Rent: Dangerous Paradise” back to the publisher a few minutes ago. Now things are really going to start to get interesting! The brave new world of e-publishing is about to have another newbie in its ranks.
I feel like I’ve still been living in Venice Beach for the past six years. My little apartment at the top of the stairs and the courtyard I walked through thousands of times seem in many ways more real to me than the street in Las Vegas where I live now.
I’ve been living so closely with the reflections and shadows of my not entirely make-believe world in Venice that it feels a little strange to have finally hit SEND and released them into the broader world. It’s like the moving van finally arrived, packed me up and carried me (kicking and screaming?) out of there.
Well, time to open a nice bottle of red to celebrate. This 2007 Chumeia Cabernet is from a very special, small family owned winery in Paso Robles.
Here’s the list of characters in “For Rent: Dangerous Paradise”. More to come about each of them soon!
The Modern Day Residents
of 399 Broadway
Unit 1 – Vacant
most recent occupants: Serena Andrews and Mark, her teenage son
Unit 2 – Dana Santoyo (note: the hero of the novel)
27 years old, journalism student, 9 month resident
Unit 3 – David Bernwich
38 years old, artist, 8 year resident
Unit 4 – Pete Connor
32 years old, software salesman, 2 year resident
Unit 5 – Jennifer Barker
29 years old, coffee barista, 18 month resident
Unit 6 – Sara Josephs
24 years old, unemployed musician, 3 month resident
Unit 7 (*) – Max & Francine Popovich
both mid-20′s, boxer & waitress (evicted in 1968)
Unit 8 (*) – Tim Green
29 years old, local reporter (evicted in 1968)
Unit 9 – Spence
34 years old, trust fund baby, 10 year resident
Unit 10 – Jean-Paul & Simone d’Clavier
early 30′s, petty thieves, 4 year residents
Unit 11 – Max & Francine Popovich
now in their mid-60′s, retired, 14 year residents since returning
Unit 12 – Tricia & Alamo Perez
late 20′s, receptionist & her ex-con brother, 2 year residents
Unit 13 – Tohi, Vantu and Kriti
and other ghosts attached to the property
Unit 14 – Jared Doffelsberger
33 years old, amateur astronomer, 8 year resident
Unit 15 – Anita Dobson
42 years old, resident manager, 15 year resident
Unit 16 – Paul Nottingham, Jr. & Fiona Martin
61 year old building owner and his 34 year old fiancée
(*) in 1968 the two self-standing center courtyard units, Unit 7 and Unit 8, were demolished to make room for a small swimming pool.