Tim Dorsey to make appearances in Bradenton and Sarasota
It's a good week to be Tim Dorsey.
On Tuesday, his latest novel, "Coconut Cowboy" was released. It's the 19th installment of his unnamed series of the adventures of Serge Storms, an unrepentant, psychopathic but still oddly sympathetic serial killer who has been ply
ing his trade around Florida since Dorsey created him in 1999.
That same day, Dorsey, who lives in Tampa, drove to Sarasota to receive the John D. MacDonald Award for Excellence in Florida Fiction. The award has been given only occasionally since its inception in 1992.
"This is only the seventh time they've given the award," Dorsey said in a phone interview from his Tampa home. "The other people that have won it are Elmore Leonard, James W. Hall, Stuart Kaminsky ..."
He's been up since early morning doing TV interviews, and he's too exhausted to think off the other award winners, who turn out to be Paul Levine, Charles Willeford and Randy Wayne White, which puts Dorsey in some pretty heady company among Florida novelists.
Dorsey will be in Bradenton signing copies of "Coconut Cowboy" -- or any of his other books fans care to bring by or purchase -- at 3 p.m. Saturday at Books-a-Million, 4225 14th St. W.
Dorsey's known for making a lot personal appearances, almost always wearing his trademark Hawaiian shirts, especially when he's recently published a new book. His Books-a-Million appearance will be his second in the area that day. At 1 p.m. he'll be at Brant's Books, at 429 N. Lime Ave. in Sarasota. He'll be at Haslam's in St. Petersburg at 5 p.m. that evening.
And the good news continues for Dorsey, a former Tampa Tribune reporter and editor who quit journalism in 1999 to become a full-time novelist.
A TV series based on the Serge Storms novels is in the works. It'll be called, "Florida Roadkill," after the first book in the series. Because of the odd chronology of Dorsey's novels, the series won't start with the action of the first book.
"They're actually starting with a different book for the pilot," Dorsey said. "Then they'll come back to the 'Florida Roadkill.' "
The early books in the series were chronologically out of order. Dorsey has said he killed off characters in the first few books, and then realized he needed them. So the action in some books takes place before, or even in the middle of, action in earlier books, and dead characters seem to come back to life.
Although the books are meant to be read in the order published, Dorsey said, the TV series will follow the chronological order of the narrative, which starts with "Triggerfish Twist" (the fourth novel), then goes back to "Florida Roadkill," "Hammerhead Ranch Motel" (second novel), "The Stingray Shuffle" (fifth) and "Orange Crush" (third).
The television project is still in development, and it would take a successful series to cover just those early novels.
Dorsey said he has reason to think the series could be a hit, because the team involved some serious credentials. Neil Canton, one of the producers of the "Back to the Future" trilogy is on board and most of the other writers and producers also work on "The Shannara Chronicles," which premiered earlier this month on MTV.
Details: 3 p.m. Saturday, Books-A-Million, 4225 14th St. W., Bradenton. Admission: Free. Information: 941-748-3911, booksamillion.com.
Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.
This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 11:42 PM with the headline "Tim Dorsey to make appearances in Bradenton and Sarasota ."