When the going gets strange, Alexander Strange gets going.

These are the books in The Strange Files series, listed in order of publication. They are available for sale at all major online book retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop.org, BookBub, Thrift Books, and at our great Canadian friends and trade partners in Canada, Kobo.

Follow the adventures of America’s only full-time weird-news reporter as he uncovers the crazy and bizarre denizins of the Gunshine State — and tries to stay alive while doing so.

The Strange Files

Before he relocates to Florida, Alexander Styrange begins his career as a Phoenix newspaper columnist. He loves his job writing about news of the weird, but his own life becomes bizarre when shots riddle his uncle’s Scottsdale, Arizona home. Who would want Superior Court Judge Leonard D. Strano dead? And why? Strange has twenty-four hours to find the answers or he’ll have a death on his hands. Maybe his own. To solve the mystery, he must cobble together an unlikely alliance of newspaper and television reporters, a sketchy bailiff, and a retired madam–all the while dodging the intrusive eyes of a pair of dubious FBI agents, packs of wild dogs, a freeway shooter, and an uncontrolled forest fire. And how in the world did he end up in those high heels?

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Florida Man

When a New Orleans psychic warns weird-news reporter Alexander Strange that his days are numbered, he figures he’s got nothing to lose. So he agrees to help a friend in Florida tormented by a stalker texting her in verse. But as the mad rhymester directs them on a scavenger hunt to a series of haunted tourist traps, and when the pieces of the puzzle begin to take form, Alex realizes that what began as an oddball adventure might end in tragedy. Why is his friend being so secretive about the stalker’s mysterious hold over her? What does he want? And that French Quarter soothsayer—who is she, really? The only way to find out is to play the game to the end. To get there, Alex must first explore the land of the Hollow Earth, sample the metallic waters of the Fountain of Youth, and evade the ominous Everglades Skunk Ape. But he will not find the answers he seeks until he finally descends to Hell’s gateway—the Devil’s Millhopper.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Get Strange

Weird news reporter Alexander Strange is munching grouper balls and sipping a Cuba Libre when a naked body floats up to the dock at Stan’s Idle Hour in Goodland, Florida. It’s already been a hell of a day—earlier, somebody tried to poison his fried okra. The face of the corpse has been devoured by sea creatures, but Alexander knows who she is, and from the ligature marks on her neck, it appears she’s been strangled. Or hanged. Alexander fears he’s being framed when police find a bloodstained noose under his dry-docked fishing trawler where he lives with his dog Fred and Mona the mannequin. He needs help, and it arrives in the form of a urinal-screen-salesman-turned-detective and a gorgeous public defender who wants more than to find the victim’s killer: She want’s Alexander to forego his “catch-and-release” love life–and ditch Mona. When an inmate in the county jail is found hanged by a rope identical to the one found under Alexander’s trawler, the stakes get higher. The trio must discover who is behind all this mayhem before they, too, find themselves on the end of a rope.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Strange Currents

Alexander Strange lives and works aboard a fishing trawler in Naples, Florida. His laid-back lifestyle is disrupted when a feisty author of conspiracy books insists he investigate the death of her brother in Key West. The cops think it was an accident, a scuba diving death caused by nitrogen narcosis. She believes he was murdered, and the motivation behind his killing is far more noxious. When she tells Alexander her brother’s last words to her were, “I found a mermaid,” it’s a story too good to resist. But when the bullets start flying and the sharks start circling, he realizes he’s gotten into something literally over his head.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Mister Manners

Alexander Strange, America’s only full-time weird-news reporter, is hunting the elusive Florida vigilante known as Mister Manners. Mister Manners has been on a rampage, gluing grocery carts to car roofs, hiding pythons in tourists’ beds, and now the cops believe he dumped a load of horse manure on a naked mob bagman. He’s become a social media phenomenon, a kind of modern-day Robin Hood, striking out against stupidity and rudeness. Who is this guy? Alexander Strange is determined to answer that question and to score the first interview with him. But first he must dodge a hired gun, a crazed narc, the Queen of Murder and Mayhem, and, of things, a deadly toad — all during a raging pandemic. And Mister Manners, himself, could be tricky to deal with — he’s a trained killer, after all.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Strange Timing

This is Alexander Strange’s wildest adventure yet. Set in the ten days before Christmas it’s got a talking mannequin, a guardian angel who fears for her life, dinosaurs, a missing baby Jesus snatched from a nativity scene at a megachurch and golf resort, naked snake charmers, mad scientists, and a smidgen of time travel. Oh, and Elvis seems to be missing and the future in-laws are turning into a real nightmare. Winner of Best Book of the Year in the Royal Palm Literary Awards. Gold medals for Thriller and Science Fiction writing.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

J.C. Bruce is an award-winning journalist and author of The Strange Files series of mysterious novels as well as his popular Essential News column and website. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida.

Proud publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures.

GET YOUR VERY OWN COPIES HERE

ORDER YOUR COPY OF SCRIBBLES

Sure, he looks like a dog. And he’s blue. But inside, he’s so much more. And he has things to tell us about our place in the universe. Spoiler alert: We’re not alone.

Scribbles From Space recounts Daxion Xantharix’s adventures on Earth, starting with his crash landing six decades ago to his ongoing efforts to avoid capture by the men in black.

There are some in government who don’t want you to know about this. But you do need to know. And finding out is easy and inexpensive. Just click here:

YES, I WANT TO READ SCRIBBLES' STORY

By CARLIE ADMIRE

Florida Weekly

J.C. Bruce has strange things going on.

A Naples journalist and author, when Bruce isn’t writing his Essential News column for Florida Weekly, you can find him working on “The Strange Files,” a series of six novels chronicling the mysterious adventures of his protagonist, Alexander Strange, America’s only reporter covering news of the weird on a full-time basis.

Those efforts have paid off in the form of literary recognition. The latest book in the series, “Strange Timing,” was recently named Book of the Year by the Florida Writers Association. It also won Gold Medals in the organization’s annual Royal Palm Literary Awards in the genres of thrillers and science fiction.

Most of the stories in “The Strange Files” series are set here in Bruce’s native state. Where better to find weirdness than the home of Florida Man?

Bruce has lived in Naples for more than 14 years after a newspaper career that took him around the country. He worked as a reporter, managing editor and editor at papers in Texas, Arizona, Ohio and Florida.

J.C. Bruce is seen accepting one of the awards at the Florida Writers Association 2024 Royal Palm Literary Awards ceremony.

“I started working in Tampa while I was in college at the University of South Florida,” he says. “I worked in a bunch of different places and traveled around a lot. I moved to Austin, Texas, and worked for Cox Newspapers. I was there for 10 to 12 years before going to Longview, Texas, and then Phoenix, Arizona. My final stop was Dayton, Ohio, where Cox was founded. When I was younger, I was a cop reporter and should have stuck with it. I covered police reports, government and general assignment work. I became an editor fairly young and did a lot of columns while editor.”

Additionally, Bruce worked as an educator and press secretary for a congressman in Washington, D.C.

“I was the press secretary for a congressman. I was constantly rooting for the reporters coming in to get interviews,” says Bruce. “After I left, he got indicted and sent to prison.”

“I taught journalism at Wright State University and wish I had done it earli- er. You learn something differently when you have to (teach) it. You reanalyze everything. I wasn’t there for very long before moving back to Florida, where I failed miserably at retirement and began working at the Naples Daily News.”

J.C. Bruce held court and sold some of his novels at the Books by the Bay Festival in Pensacola held earlier this year.

The Miami native “served time” and “nailed down” a Master of Arts degree from Antioch University and a bachelor’s degree from St. Edwards’s University and the University of South Florida.

“While in Ohio, I got a master’s in creative writing, and to complete the program, you had to write a novel. I always wanted to do it and envisioned writing books, but it seemed daunting. The program kind of forced you to do it.”

Bruce’s series of mysteries in sequence are: “The Strange Files,” “Florida Man,” “Strange Currents,” “Mister Manners” and “Strange Timing.” They follow reporter Alexander Strange as the road-trips across the country from Arizona to Florida and uncovers eerie and uncanny stories rooted in the Sunshine State. Each book features in-depth, vivid descriptions of locations in the state, all captured by Bruce’s thorough personal research.

My sister read the first book and really wanted to meet Alexander Strange,” Bruce laughs. “I work to get all the details of the settings and places. When writing ‘Strange Currents,’ I spent two weeks stalking the place to get the scenes like inside the police department in Key West. In ‘Florida Man,’ the book covers a statewide murder scavenger hunt. I drove around and explored Florida, taking pictures and noting specific details.”

He continued, “They are real places with real things; I genuinely describe the locations. It is where I get inspiration. Like having Alexander Strange living aboard the Miss Demeanor, his fishing trawler in Goodland, Fla. If you go there, you can see it. I also talk about Devil’s Mill Hopper in Gainesville. It is a 200-step-deep sinkhole. There is a hollowed-out tree near the steps; I detail that in the book, along with a note found inside. You can see it, and the note might still be in the tree.”

Bruce says there are two types of novelists: plotters and pantsers. Plotters extensively outline their stories before writing. Pantsers write by the seat of their pants. He’s a pantser. He explained that he begins with a novel concept and then “fiddles around with it” without outlines. “I write by the seat of my pants; it’s a sort of temporary insanity. I don’t dictate my characters’ actions; they decide for themselves. It’s like voodoo.”

Bruce is a member of numerous writers’ associations. Among them: Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, the American Society of News Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

He learned about police techniques at the Writers’ Police Academy in Wisconsin, studying forensic sciences and brutal car crash scenes, among other things. The academy is sponsored by an organization known as Sisters in Crime, founded by female mystery and crime writers.

“I asked if boys were allowed to join. They said ‘yes,” says Bruce. “We learned about poisoning people and dying of toxins created from bacteria in week-old food that doesn’t die when you heat it up again.”

He added, “I was at a thriller-writing conference in New York, and there was a contest for best opening line. I had to submit something. I wrote, ‘I knew my number was up when the flamingo stepped on my face.’ It was one of the winners, and I used it for my third book, ‘Strange Currents.’”

Bruce says he dedicates three months to writing a book’s first draft, producing 1,000 words a day, noting that the typical mystery novel averages around 90,000 words. Bruce has published an average of one book a year, with the first installment of his six-book series released in 2019.

“If you think about writing a 90,000- word book, it seems paralyzing. But if you break it down, you can do anything in 90 days. Well, except maybe holding your breath,” says Bruce.

Bruce was thrilled with the awards won for his latest novel, “Strange Timing.” He had entered it into two categories, Thrillers and Science Fiction. “I am really happy about it. I was out of my mind ecstatic,” says Bruce. “The novel fits a few genres since it hints at paranormal activities.”

Earlier this year, the latest book in the series also earned accolades at the Florida Book Awards, the President’s Awards from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association and the national Indie Book Awards. Previous titles in the series, primarily set in Florida, have also accumulated numerous awards.

Bruce’s novels received high praise from Kirkus reviews. Critics stated, “Over the course of this novel, Bruce delivers snappy dialogue and crackling prose, and he’s clearly having a great time spinning an intriguing and well-paced adventure story” and “the story also manages to serve as an unexpectedly warm homage to the state of Florida itself.”

Other readers admired Bruce’s writing style: “He also gets high marks for deftly managing the thorny time paradoxes… as well as reanimated dinosaurs, skunk apes and an Elvis Presley impersonator. There’s even James Bond references shaken and stirred into the mix.”

Bruce began writing his Essential News column for Florida Weekly in September, covering trendy topics ranging from National Cheeseburger Day and hurricane season to the anniversary of The Tonight Show.

“I write about interesting things and trivia. I like to make it fun and cover topics that I find exciting,” says Bruce. “I want (the column) to be entertaining, useful and something to look forward to reading.”

Bruce teased that his next book will introduce a new cast of characters and a different storyline.

Stay updated on Bruce’s articles and upcoming publications by visiting floridaweekly.com and jcbruce.com. ¦

I'm pleased to share that Strange Timing, the sixth book in my Strange Files series, received multiple awards at this year’s Royal Palm Literary Awards banquet sponsored by the Florida Writers Association.

It won BOOK OF THE YEAR out of all the published books in the competition. It also received Gold Medals in the genres of Thrillers and Science Fiction.

This has been a big year for the novel. It has also won accolades in The Florida Book Awards, The Presidents Awards sponsored by the Florida Authors and Publishers Association, and the national Indie Book Awards. You should check it out:

Order on Amazon

Other books in the Strange Files series have received recognition in previous Royal Palm Literary Awards. Both Get Strange And Strange Currents have won Gold Medals in the Mystery category and Mister Manners has won a Silver Medal.

Here’s what Kirkus Reviews said about Strange Timing:

“Over the course of this novel, Bruce delivers snappy dialogue and crackling prose, and he’s clearly having a great time spinning an intriguing and well-paced adventure story.”

“He also gets high marks for deftly managing the thorny time paradoxes … as well as reanimated dinosaurs, skunk apes, and an Elvis Presley impersonator. There’s even James Bond references shaken and stirred into the mix.”

“The story also manages to serve as an unexpectedly warm homage to the state of Florida itself.”

The full review:

Kirkus on Strange Timing

Here’s a big thank you to the members and judges of the Florida Writers Association who work so hard in putting on this annual writing competition. I really like FWA’s motto: “Writers Helping Writers.” It’s a wonderful organization and I’m deeply honored to have my work recognized by such a great group of fellow scribblers.

J.C. Bruce is a journalist and author of the award-winning Strange Files series of mysterious novels (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, other online booksellers, and at selected libraries). He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida.

Sponsored by TROPIC PRESS, publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures.

GET YOUR VERY OWN COPIES HERE

When the going gets strange, Alexander Strange gets going.

These are the books in The Strange Files series, listed in order of publication. They are available for sale at all major online book retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop.org, BookBub, Thrift Books, and at our great Canadian friends and trade partners in Canada, Kobo.

Follow the adventures of America’s only full-time weird-news reporter as he uncovers the crazy and bizarre denizens of the Gunshine State — and tries to stay alive while doing so.

The Strange Files

Before he relocates to Florida, Alexander Styrange begins his career as a Phoenix newspaper columnist. He loves his job writing about news of the weird, but his own life becomes bizarre when shots riddle his uncle’s Scottsdale, Arizona home. Who would want Superior Court Judge Leonard D. Strano dead? And why? Strange has twenty-four hours to find the answers or he’ll have a death on his hands. Maybe his own. To solve the mystery, he must cobble together an unlikely alliance of newspaper and television reporters, a sketchy bailiff, and a retired madam–all the while dodging the intrusive eyes of a pair of dubious FBI agents, packs of wild dogs, a freeway shooter, and an uncontrolled forest fire. And how in the world did he end up in those high heels?

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Florida Man

When a New Orleans psychic warns weird-news reporter Alexander Strange that his days are numbered, he figures he’s got nothing to lose. So he agrees to help a friend in Florida tormented by a stalker texting her in verse. But as the mad rhymester directs them on a scavenger hunt to a series of haunted tourist traps, and when the pieces of the puzzle begin to take form, Alex realizes that what began as an oddball adventure might end in tragedy. Why is his friend being so secretive about the stalker’s mysterious hold over her? What does he want? And that French Quarter soothsayer—who is she, really? The only way to find out is to play the game to the end. To get there, Alex must first explore the land of the Hollow Earth, sample the metallic waters of the Fountain of Youth, and evade the ominous Everglades Skunk Ape. But he will not find the answers he seeks until he finally descends to Hell’s gateway—the Devil’s Millhopper.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Get Strange

Weird news reporter Alexander Strange is munching grouper balls and sipping a Cuba Libre when a naked body floats up to the dock at Stan’s Idle Hour in Goodland, Florida. It’s already been a hell of a day—earlier, somebody tried to poison his fried okra. The face of the corpse has been devoured by sea creatures, but Alexander knows who she is, and from the ligature marks on her neck, it appears she’s been strangled. Or hanged. Alexander fears he’s being framed when police find a bloodstained noose under his dry-docked fishing trawler where he lives with his dog Fred and Mona the mannequin. He needs help, and it arrives in the form of a urinal-screen-salesman-turned-detective and a gorgeous public defender who wants more than to find the victim’s killer: She want’s Alexander to forego his “catch-and-release” love life–and ditch Mona. When an inmate in the county jail is found hanged by a rope identical to the one found under Alexander’s trawler, the stakes get higher. The trio must discover who is behind all this mayhem before they, too, find themselves on the end of a rope.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Strange Currents

Alexander Strange lives and works aboard a fishing trawler in Naples, Florida. His laid-back lifestyle is disrupted when a feisty author of conspiracy books insists he investigate the death of her brother in Key West. The cops think it was an accident, a scuba diving death caused by nitrogen narcosis. She believes he was murdered, and the motivation behind his killing is far more noxious. When she tells Alexander her brother’s last words to her were, “I found a mermaid,” it’s a story too good to resist. But when the bullets start flying and the sharks start circling, he realizes he’s gotten into something literally over his head.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Mister Manners

Alexander Strange, America’s only full-time weird-news reporter, is hunting the elusive Florida vigilante known as Mister Manners. Mister Manners has been on a rampage, gluing grocery carts to car roofs, hiding pythons in tourists’ beds, and now the cops believe he dumped a load of horse manure on a naked mob bagman. He’s become a social media phenomenon, a kind of modern-day Robin Hood, striking out against stupidity and rudeness. Who is this guy? Alexander Strange is determined to answer that question and to score the first interview with him. But first he must dodge a hired gun, a crazed narc, the Queen of Murder and Mayhem, and, of things, a deadly toad — all during a raging pandemic. And Mister Manners, himself, could be tricky to deal with — he’s a trained killer, after all.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

Strange Timing

This is Alexander Strange’s wildest adventure yet. Set in the ten days before Christmas it’s got a talking mannequin, a guardian angel who fears for her life, dinosaurs, a missing baby Jesus snatched from a nativity scene at a megachurch and golf resort, naked snake charmers, mad scientists, and a smidgen of time travel. Oh, and Elvis seems to be missing and the future in-laws are turning into a real nightmare. Winner of Best Book of the Year in the Royal Palm Literary Awards. Gold medals for Thriller and Science Fiction writing.

AMAZON

Barnes & Noble

J.C. Bruce is an award-winning journalist and author of The Strange Files series of mysterious novels as well as his popular Essential News column and website. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida.

Sponsored by TROPIC PRESS, publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures.

GET YOUR VERY OWN COPIES HERE

Daxion Xantharix, a.k.a. Scribbles, is supposed to stay out in Neptunian space but he figures his robotic dog suit will be the perfect disguise to visit Earth. But when he collides with Elon Musk's roadster orbiting near Mars, he's propelled back in time and Gene Roddenberry's study. Now he wonders if he'll ever get home. And if he wants to.

That’s the pitch for my latest writing project, Scribbles From Space, a 15,000 word novella that later this year will be included in an anthology of science fiction short stories.

Scribbles launched as an Ebook earlier this year. This week, it will be available as a paperback and as an audio recording.

Regarding that audiobook: This is a bit of an experiment. Amazon is now offering authors free audiobook narration using AI. It’s not nearly as good as a real voice actor, such as in my previous two audiobooks, Mister Manners and Strange Timing. But is is better than earlier efforts at automating this process, so I decided to go with it and see what people think.

Let me know.

GET YOUR COPY NOW

J.C. Bruce is a journalist and author of The Strange Files series of mysterious novels (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, other online booksellers, and at selected libraries). He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida. His latest novel, Strange Timing, was recently named Book of the Year in the Royal Palm Literary Awards where it also won Gold Medals in the Sci-Fi and Thriller categories. When he’s not writing, he’s in training for the International Underwater Ping-Pong Championships.

TROPIC PRESS, publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures, is pleased to also be the official publisher of Scribbles From Space.

GET YOUR VERY OWN COPIES HERE

The space aliens needed a place to land to do their business. They picked the Florida panhandle. In deer season. What could go wrong?

Cool as a Moose Egg on AMAZON

There are codes, and then there are the nuclear codes. And there are those who have sworn an oath to keep them out of the wrong hands. But what if …

AMAZON

There’s this old joke:

The comedian starts out saying: “Alright. Now I’m going to tell you the easy way to pay zero taxes on a million dollars.

“Step One: Make a million dollars…”

There is no Step Two. That’s the joke.

It comes to mind because of the topic at hand here: How do you go about publishing your own book?

Well, first you have to write a story people will want to read. That’s the blood, sweat and tears part.

As it turns out, the publishing bit is the easiest.

So, let’s say you’ve written something and you want to share it with the world. There are many ways to do that. You don’t have to actually print a book on paper. You could, for example, serialize your story on various online media, like here on Substack, or Medium, Wattpad, Royal Road and other platforms.

Any number of traditionally published authors started that way. In fact, my latest novella, Scribbles From Space, began as a serialization right here on Substack. It will be released soon as a free-standing ebook on Kindle and later this year will be included in a science fiction anthology along with the works of a number of other writers.

Here’s a sneak-peek at the cover:

When it comes to self-publishing your own book, the best way, in my opinion, is to go straight to Amazon and their Kindle Direct Publishing platform. There you can create ebooks, paperbacks, hardcovers, and even roll over to Amazon’s Audible for audiobooks.

The easiest of these is the ebook format, Kindle. Once your manuscript is complete, signup to create your KDP account, then download the Kindle Create app on either your PC or Mac and follow the step-by-step guidelines.

For the six books in my Strange Files series, I did not take this route but, rather, used a commercial book designer based in New Zealand named Damonza, which I highly recommend. In my case, my publishing company, Tropic Press, was creating ebooks, trade paperbacks and hardcovers for not only Amazon but another major book distributor as well, Ingram Spark. So I thought it best to subcontract the book production.

But you certainly don’t need to do that, especially if you are satisfied to just publish ebooks.

For my latest short story, The Code, which is now available as an ebook on Kindle, I did it myself using Kindle Create to format the text, and I used AI-generated artwork from Canva for the cover.

Creating either paperbacks or hardcovers is a little more challenging than ebooks as you have to navigate cover formatting for the front, back, and spine of the books. Not saying it isn’t do-able. Millions of people have done it. I just haven’t done it myself.

As I promised in my column, here are a few links to get your started. You will no doubt discover more on your own.

One word of advice: There are a lot of people out there eager to help you — for a fee. Buyer beware. Before you give your hard-earned dollars over to anyone, do your homework.

In fact, let’s start there. Here’s a helpful story from The Authors Guild:

Publishing Scams to Avoid

And here are some other useful articles to get your started:

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202172740

https://kindlepreneur.com/kindle-create-tutorial/

https://kindlepreneur.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Create/b?ie=UTF8&node=18292298011

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/bookshelf

And remember, the hard part of all this is the actual writing, creating a readable story. If you can do that, then the publishing part of the equation will be relative easy.

Good luck!

J.C. Bruce is a journalist and author of The Strange Files series of mysterious novels (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, other online booksellers, and at selected libraries). He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida. His latest novel, Strange Timing, was recently named Book of the Year in the Royal Palm Literary Awards where it also won Gold Medals in the Sci-Fi and Thriller categories. When he’s not writing, he’s in training for the International Underwater Ping-Pong Championships.

Sponsored by TROPIC PRESS, publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures.

GET YOUR VERY OWN COPIES HERE

For eight days, newspaper editor J.C. Bruce and a group of other civilians traversed the country with the American military. They flew out to an aircraft carrier at sea and explored submarines in port. They witnessed live-fire assaults, Marine beach landings, and were rescued by Special Forces from the American Embassy in Nogoland. In a series of five reports, Bruce recounts what that was like and what it means to be a member of today's armed forces.

Tour of Duty on AMAZON

Read Time:1 Minute, 41 Second

The influential Kirkus Reviews calls the sixth book in The Strange Files series — STRANGE TIMING — “A highly entertaining romp through high strangeness.”

Among other comments:

“Readers will encounter plenty of scenes of peril before the tale is told.”

“Over the course of this novel, Bruce delivers snappy dialogue and crackling prose, and he’s clearly having a great time spinning an intriguing and well-paced adventure story.”

“He also gets high marks for deftly managing the thorny time paradoxes … as well as reanimated dinosaurs, skunk apes, and an Elvis Presley impersonator. There’s even James Bond references shaken and stirred into the mix.”

“The story also manages to serve as an unexpectedly warm homage to the state of Florida itself.”

Here’s the full review.

What’s the story about?

It helps to know that Alexander Strange, the protagonist in this series of mysterious adventures, is America’s only journalist whose full-time job is covering news of the weird. All too often, Strange finds himself not just writing about the oddities of the world around us, but caught up them as well.

The STRANGE TIMING story starts out, like many of Alexander’s adventures, with a story he’s covering — this time, the theft of a headless baby Jesus from a Naples, Florida, nativity scene. But if that’s not weird enough, Mona, his shipboard pirate mannequin, suddenly begins channeling a woman from the future who claims to be Alexander’s guardian angel.

But, it turns out, she’s the one who needs protecting. And if he doesn’t immediately fly to Portugal and rescue his girlfriend, Gwenn, well, bad things will happen. Even then, he doesn’t anticipate that his converted fishing trawler will soon be home to multiple seances, that a mad scientist will try to blow him up, or that the Elvis impersonator he’s hired for his wedding will ghost him. And his future in-laws? Now there’s a real nightmare.

Readers are saying this is the best book in The Strange Files series. Decide for yourself. Order your copy here.

Read Time:32 Second

So, the good news: Alexander Strange discovers he has a guardian angel.

Oddly: She’s from the future and she’s communicating to him through his shipboard mannequin, Mona.

Strange, right?

Now the bad news: His guardian angle is the one who needs protection. And Alexander must figure out how to save her — from the past.

But who better than America’s only journalist devoted to covering news of the weird on a full-time basis. But this is uncharted territory even for him.

Strange Timing is book six in The Strange Files series and critics are calling it Alexander Strange’s most bizarre adventure yet.

Get Your Copy Here

Since the publication of my latest novel, Strange Timing, I’d been fielding questions from fans of Alexander Strange’s adventures about when the next book would arrive.

I actually wrote Strange Timing in such a way that it could serve as a conclusion to the six-part series should I decide to move on to other projects. I wanted to leave the door open to further installments, but I’ve had other kinds of stories I want to tell.

I had this idea:

What if a visitor from another world were to arrive on Earth on a scouting mission of sorts? What would this extraterrestrial have to say about the state of affairs on the third rock from the Sun, looking at us from a — literally — detached and distant perspective?

Which is how I started developing the idea of a series of essays I would call Letters from Earth. And as I always do before plowing ahead with possible titles, I checked in with Google to see if anyone else had thought of that idea.

Uh, yeah. Somebody named Mark Twain and a series of short stories published posthumously entitled nearly the same thing: Letters from the Earth. They comprise a scathing critique of culture and religion told from the perspective of Satan who visits Earth and is appalled by what he discovers.

I’ve always considered myself a fan of Twain’s work (and as an aside, I commend the retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the Pulitzer-nominated novel James by Percival Everett). But I had never heard of this collection of Twain’s stories. Turns out, Twain’s discomfort with Christianity — indeed his apparent disdain for it — was too hot to handle in his lifetime.

And while my idea for a series of essays wasn’t designed to target religion, per se, the approach was similar and I certainly didn’t want appear to be appropriating Twain’s title.

So, I spent some time with my Thesaurus, looking for words similar to “letters” — which are multitudinous — and was struck by one that tickled my fancy:

Scribbles.

Which sounded like a clever name for a journalist’s pet, perhaps informed by my calico cat Scoop who has long since ventured off to the Great Litter Box in the Sky.

Oh, I wondered, what if the visitor from another world was, indeed, a pet? Or disguised as one? One idea snowballed into another, which is how the basic concept for Scribbles From Space was born.

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The blue dog who would end up being the visitor from outer space, how he got here, his back story, all that, well, that was an ongoing process.

As I mentioned in my June Strange Files Newsletter, I’m a “pantser,” a writer who attacks the blank page by the seat of his pants. I sit down at the keyboard and engage in one of the most pleasant forms of insanity — I let the story flow from my subconscious with no idea where and how it will play out.

Every writing session is a surprise. I never know what my characters will say or do next. It is much more fun to write this way than with an outline, the dull routine of “plotters.” Or so I imagine. I’ll never know. I’d rather crawl through broken glass than endure the tedium of trying to preconceive all the details of a story. Really, that’s not my job. It’s my characters’ roles to play. I am merely their scribe.

Ordinarily, I give myself ninety days to write the first draft of a nbovel — one thousand words a day for three months. Then, because I have eschewed that dreadful outline, I spend weeks and months rewriting and reorganizing, trying to ensure the tale holds together, that it has the necessary coherency to be an actual story.

It’s a task done mostly in solitude, although I am blessed with a handful of first readers, starting with (in chronological order) my wife Sandy, my daughter Kacey, and my son Logan, who keep me more or less on track. But, still, the vast majority of work takes place in isolation.

But not this story.

I decided to write Scribbles From Space in real time, posting first-draft episodes on a special Substack page I created as they decamped the keyboard. But this time, no ninety-day deadline. No set schedule.

I have to confess: Sharing raw copy is a little intimidating. It’s a high-wire act. And nothing I’ve done before. I had no idea whether it would work. Or not.

While I was in the midst of this process, I was contacted by an author and fellow member of the Florida Writers Association who asked if I would like to contribute a short story to a science fiction anthology. My latest novel, Strange Timing, had just won a gold medal in the organization’s annual writing competition in the science fiction category (it also won Book of the Year). That’s how I came to his attention.

Which is how this story in development took a ninety-degree turn from a novel in progress to a novella near completion.

As this is written, the anthology has yet to be published, but Scribbles From Space is now out in the world as a small paperback novella, Ebook and audiobook.

A big shout-out to everyone who contributed their ideas, criticisms and suggestions during the experimental online writing process.

You are the best!

J.C. Bruce is a journalist and author of The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida. He was recently awarded a doctorate degree from the Lightgate Institute of Extranormal Studies, a Miami institution he totally made up for his award-winning novel Strange Timing.

Sponsored by TROPIC PRESS, publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures.

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Scribbles From Earth is a novel in progress, and you are invited to participate in its creation as I post episodes as they are completed on ScribblesFromEarth.Substack.com. Several readers have already offered very helpful ideas, so thank you.

It occurred to me that some of you might be interested in watching the actual writing taking place, so I video recorded the first few minutes while beginning the second episode of the book. If you watch this video, you’ll hear me say that I hoped it would be completed in a couple of days. In fact, I finished it last night. So, if you wish, you can see the first few paragraphs here and compare them to the “finished” episode on the Substack website.

I use the word “finished” advisedly since I know I will be going back and fiddling with it some more, but at least this will give you a flavor of the process since the entire idea here is to make writing this book as open and accessible as possible.

Let me know what you think and if you’d be interested in seeing any more videos like this. Took a bit to figure out the technology and how to do it, but it turns out to be fairly easy, so I’m happy to do it if you like.

Cheers.

J.C. Bruce

J.C. Bruce is a journalist and author of The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida. He was recently awarded a doctorate degree from the Lightgate Institute of Extranormal Studies, a Miami institution he totally made up for his award-winning novel Strange Timing.

Sponsored by TROPIC PRESS, publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures.

Order your Copies Today

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The Strange Files Series

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The Strange Files

Phoenix newspaper columnist Alexander Strange enjoys his job writing about news of the weird, but his own life becomes bizarre when shots riddle his uncle’s Scottsdale, Arizona home. Who would want Superior Court Judge Leonard D. Strano dead? And why? Strange has twenty-four hours to find the answers or he’ll have a death on his hands. Maybe his own. To solve the mystery, he must cobble together an unlikely alliance of newspaper and television reporters, a sketchy bailiff, and a retired madam–all the while dodging the intrusive eyes of a pair of dubious FBI agents, packs of wild dogs, a freeway shooter, and an uncontrolled forest fire. And how in the world did he end up in those high heels?

Florida Man

When a New Orleans psychic warns weird-news reporter Alexander Strange that his days are numbered, he figures he’s got nothing to lose. So he agrees to help a friend in Florida tormented by a stalker texting her in verse. But as the mad rhymester directs them on a scavenger hunt to a series of haunted tourist traps, and when the pieces of the puzzle begin to take form, Alex realizes that what began as an oddball adventure might end in tragedy. Why is his friend being so secretive about the stalker’s mysterious hold over her? What does he want? And that French Quarter soothsayer—who is she, really? The only way to find out is to play the game to the end. To get there, Alex must first explore the land of the Hollow Earth, sample the metallic waters of the Fountain of Youth, and evade the ominous Everglades Skunk Ape. But he will not find the answers he seeks until he finally descends to Hell’s gateway—the Devil’s Millhopper.

Get Strange

Weird news reporter Alexander Strange is munching grouper balls and sipping a Cuba Libre when a naked body floats up to the dock at Stan’s Idle Hour in Goodland, Florida. It’s already been a hell of a day—earlier, somebody tried to poison his fried okra. The face of the corpse has been devoured by sea creatures, but Alexander knows who she is, and from the ligature marks on her neck, it appears she’s been strangled. Or hanged. Alexander fears he’s being framed when police find a bloodstained noose under his dry-docked fishing trawler where he lives with his dog Fred and Mona the mannequin. He needs help, and it arrives in the form of a urinal-screen-salesman-turned-detective and a gorgeous public defender who wants more than to find the victim’s killer: She want’s Alexander to forego his “catch-and-release” love life–and ditch Mona. When an inmate in the county jail is found hanged by a rope identical to the one found under Alexander’s trawler, the stakes get higher. The trio must discover who is behind all this mayhem before they, too, find themselves on the end of a rope.

Strange Currents

Alexander Strange lives and works aboard a fishing trawler in Naples, Florida. His laid-back lifestyle is disrupted when a feisty author of conspiracy books insists he investigate the death of her brother in Key West. The cops think it was an accident, a scuba diving death caused by nitrogen narcosis. She believes he was murdered, and the motivation behind his killing is far more noxious. When she tells Alexander her brother’s last words to her were, “I found a mermaid,” it’s a story too good to resist. But when the bullets start flying and the sharks start circling, he realizes he’s gotten into something literally over his head.

Mister Manners

Alexander Strange, America’s only full-time weird-news reporter, is hunting the elusive Florida vigilante known as Mister Manners. Mister Manners has been on a rampage, gluing grocery carts to car roofs, hiding pythons in tourists’ beds, and now the cops believe he dumped a load of horse manure on a naked mob bagman. He’s become a social media phenomenon, a kind of modern-day Robin Hood, striking out against stupidity and rudeness. Who is this guy? Alexander Strange is determined to answer that question and to score the first interview with him. But first he must dodge a hired gun, a crazed narc, the Queen of Murder and Mayhem, and, of things, a deadly toad — all during a raging pandemic. And Mister Manners, himself, could be tricky to deal with — he’s a trained killer, after all.

Strange Timing

This is Alexander Strange’s wildest adventure yet. Set in the ten days before Christmas it’s got a talking mannequin, a guardian angel who fears for her life, dinosaurs, a missing baby Jesus snatched from a nativity scene at a megachurch and golf resort, naked snake charmers, mad scientists, and a smidgen of time travel. Oh, and Elvis seems to be missing and the future in-laws are turning into a real nightmare.

Reviewed by Shrabastee Chakraborty

for Readers’ Favorite

Alexander Strange specializes in the bizarre. As a reporter, his life revolves around quirky, inexplicable stories to write about in his Strange Files series. Yet, this Christmas couldn't be more strange. At first, his detective friend Lester enlists his help to retrieve the baby Jesus missing from a defiled nativity scene. Afterward, Mona, the mannequin inhabiting Alexander’s boat, comes to life and utters a dire warning. While convinced that he is hearing the voice of his future granddaughter, Alex is nonetheless skeptical of his visions and sudden feelings of déjà vu. As the story unfolds, it turns out that some mysteries traverse the boundaries of time. Can Alex and his friends solve the puzzle in time? Find out in Strange Timing, a novel by J. C. Bruce.

Strange Timing is a genre-defying read full of thrills, adventure, science fiction, and a little bit of romance. Humor laced every single page, making the read engaging. I loved the satirical anecdotes regarding the religious and political overviews of Florida. There was a certain whimsy to the storyline, which included rampaging triceratops, genetically engineered alligators, a cutlass-wielding mannequin, kamikaze pilots, a psychic extraordinaire, and an impromptu wedding, among other things. While the elements sounded random at first, it was amazing to discover the hidden patterns and interconnections. The time travel paradox was mind-boggling yet made me ponder a lot. With this book, I honestly could not anticipate what would transpire at any given moment. It was just as well because the twists and turns exceeded anything I could have imagined by myself. I recommend Strange Timing to anyone who wants an entertaining package. Note: When the manuscript for what became "Strange Timing" was submitted for review consideration, it had been tentatively titled: "The Time Angel." The original version of this review used that title. It has since been updated.

Alexander Strange has an unusual guardian angle -- she's the one who needs protection.

Not enough that he's typing his fingers to the bone covering resurrected triceratops terrorizing Miami or that he's on a quest to find a headless baby Jesus snatched from a Naples megachurch and golf resort.

Now his shipboard mannequin, Mona, is channeling a woman from the future. Her message: Fly immediately to Portugal, do not stop for Cuba Libres, and save your girlfriend's life or your guardian angel will also cease to exist.

It's weird, but that's Alexander Strange's everyday nine-to-five as America's only full-time weird-news reporter. Though even he doesn't anticipate that his converted fishing trawler will soon be home to multiple seances, that a mad scientist will try to blow him up, or that the Elvis impersonator he's hired for his wedding will ghost him. And his future in-laws? Now there's a real nightmare.

It's all in the latest installment of  The Strange Files series, STRANGE TIMING.

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The books in The Strange Files series are available for sale at all major online book retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

The Strange Files

Phoenix newspaper columnist Alexander Strange enjoys his job writing about news of the weird, but his own life becomes bizarre when shots riddle his uncle’s Scottsdale, Arizona home. Who would want Superior Court Judge Leonard D. Strano dead? And why? Strange has twenty-four hours to find the answers or he’ll have a death on his hands. Maybe his own. To solve the mystery, he must cobble together an unlikely alliance of newspaper and television reporters, a sketchy bailiff, and a retired madam–all the while dodging the intrusive eyes of a pair of dubious FBI agents, packs of wild dogs, a freeway shooter, and an uncontrolled forest fire. And how in the world did he end up in those high heels?

Florida Man

When a New Orleans psychic warns weird-news reporter Alexander Strange that his days are numbered, he figures he’s got nothing to lose. So he agrees to help a friend in Florida tormented by a stalker texting her in verse. But as the mad rhymester directs them on a scavenger hunt to a series of haunted tourist traps, and when the pieces of the puzzle begin to take form, Alex realizes that what began as an oddball adventure might end in tragedy. Why is his friend being so secretive about the stalker’s mysterious hold over her? What does he want? And that French Quarter soothsayer—who is she, really? The only way to find out is to play the game to the end. To get there, Alex must first explore the land of the Hollow Earth, sample the metallic waters of the Fountain of Youth, and evade the ominous Everglades Skunk Ape. But he will not find the answers he seeks until he finally descends to Hell’s gateway—the Devil’s Millhopper.

Get Strange

Weird news reporter Alexander Strange is munching grouper balls and sipping a Cuba Libre when a naked body floats up to the dock at Stan’s Idle Hour in Goodland, Florida. It’s already been a hell of a day—earlier, somebody tried to poison his fried okra. The face of the corpse has been devoured by sea creatures, but Alexander knows who she is, and from the ligature marks on her neck, it appears she’s been strangled. Or hanged. Alexander fears he’s being framed when police find a bloodstained noose under his dry-docked fishing trawler where he lives with his dog Fred and Mona the mannequin. He needs help, and it arrives in the form of a urinal-screen-salesman-turned-detective and a gorgeous public defender who wants more than to find the victim’s killer: She want’s Alexander to forego his “catch-and-release” love life–and ditch Mona. When an inmate in the county jail is found hanged by a rope identical to the one found under Alexander’s trawler, the stakes get higher. The trio must discover who is behind all this mayhem before they, too, find themselves on the end of a rope.

Strange Currents

Alexander Strange lives and works aboard a fishing trawler in Naples, Florida. His laid-back lifestyle is disrupted when a feisty author of conspiracy books insists he investigate the death of her brother in Key West. The cops think it was an accident, a scuba diving death caused by nitrogen narcosis. She believes he was murdered, and the motivation behind his killing is far more noxious. When she tells Alexander her brother’s last words to her were, “I found a mermaid,” it’s a story too good to resist. But when the bullets start flying and the sharks start circling, he realizes he’s gotten into something literally over his head.

Mister Manners

Alexander Strange, America’s only full-time weird-news reporter, is hunting the elusive Florida vigilante known as Mister Manners. Mister Manners has been on a rampage, gluing grocery carts to car roofs, hiding pythons in tourists’ beds, and now the cops believe he dumped a load of horse manure on a naked mob bagman. He’s become a social media phenomenon, a kind of modern-day Robin Hood, striking out against stupidity and rudeness. Who is this guy? Alexander Strange is determined to answer that question and to score the first interview with him. But first he must dodge a hired gun, a crazed narc, the Queen of Murder and Mayhem, and, of things, a deadly toad — all during a raging pandemic. And Mister Manners, himself, could be tricky to deal with — he’s a trained killer, after all.

Strange Timing

This is Alexander Strange’s wildest adventure yet. Set in the ten days before Christmas it’s got a talking mannequin, a guardian angel who fears for her life, dinosaurs, a missing baby Jesus snatched from a nativity scene at a megachurch and golf resort, naked snake charmers, mad scientists, and a smidgen of time travel. Oh, and Elvis seems to be missing and the future in-laws are turning into a real nightmare.

J.C. Bruce is a journalist and author of The Strange Files series of mysterious novels (available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, other online booksellers, and at selected libraries). He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and Florida.

Sponsored by TROPIC PRESS, publisher of The Strange Files Series of Mysterious Adventures.

GET YOUR VERY OWN COPIES HERE

Bruce’s prose is consistently crisp and controlled, and the tension between the various characters is genuinely entertaining throughout. A charming and suspenseful page-turner punctuated by dashes of the surreal.

Kirkus Reviews

Florida Man by J.C. Bruce will take you on a pleasant ride. It is full of twists and turns. It is simultaneously mystery and comedy…It’s a unique and entertaining plot. The dialogue was my favorite part of the novel…I would recommend this book to fans of mystery, murder, and mayhem… Those who do give it a try are sure to be as hooked as I am on the adventures of Alexander Strange.

Online Book Club

This story has the feel of a dark Florida river chock-full of weird creatures and bizarre surprises as it winds its way through swamps to somewhere wonderfully strange.

Florida Writers Association Judges

(Strange Currents) was a very well-written and fun book to read. I was impressed with the tightly woven plot where every detail was meticulously placed and then threaded together with ease... The use of language was also exceptional with descriptions vividly painted, action scenes came to life, and each sentence was fresh, crisp, clean, full of meaning, and original.... The mystery about a dead diver who may have encountered a mermaid is a story fans of Tim Dorsey would like. The descriptions are deftly feathered into the narrative with just enough detail to give the reader a sense of place without slowing the pace of the story... This mystery reeks with creativity that inspires an interesting plot. The descriptions are flowing and detailed. They make it easy for the reader to visualize the rich Florida settings.

Royal Palm Literary Awards

  I went through Strange Currents like a box of fine French candy, carefully savoring each delicious piece. What a well-crafted story.

Bill Pflaum

I've read all of the "Strange" books, and this (Strange Currents) is the best! It's got the most sophisticated plot, the most-developed characters, the most memorable settings, and the best dialogue. And it is strange, which is what makes J.C. Bruce's series so unique and readable. 

J.B. Tillson, author of The Dayton Book Guys

Mystery, intrigue, and laugh-out-loud moments with a noir flavor that just won’t quit. Think Carl Hiaasen, Clark Kent, and a little Woodward and Bernstein…”

Bill Roorbach, author of The Smallest Color

A fast-paced mystery that resonates with wit as delightfully dry and intrigue as heated as its Arizona setting…

Jess Montgomery, author of The Widows

I have read all four books, and I’m a big fan of Alexander Strange and J.C. Bruce. Twisting engrossing plots, tear-producing humor, and wonderful characters and dialogue will leave you begging for more.

Charlie Freydberg

Bruce weaves a funny, quirky, and memorable tale involving oddball characters, voodoo (sort of) … and an off-beat, sometimes unreliable narrator into a mystery story that's also a voyage of discovery. If you're looking for a fast-paced, enjoyable read that keeps you guessing, you'd be wise to purchase Florida Man.

Marc Simon, author of The Leap Year Boy

This is what happens when you have a great writer with a wicked sense of humor and is also an experienced newspaper journalist who writes a great crime mystery. Lots of fun stuff. Action. Adventure. 

Mark Wilson

Naples Daily News

Staying home has given Southwest Florida a new appreciation for all things local. Two local authors have found that love being extended to them with books that have been published as the coronavirus developed. In fact, one of them is in print because the coronavirus developed. Meet authors Jeff Bruce and Ronnie Antik:

'Florida Man'

J.C. Bruce has been seeing Strange things happen, and he's delighted.

The Naples mystery writer, a former executive editor for the Naples Daily News, has been mining the life and times of his continuing protagonist, columnist Alex Strange, with new sagas nearly annually. Strange is a geographic mutt in the silver-white sunshine of Southwest Florida, and as he develops, his audience does as well, with reviews that have applause beginning to come in.

Bruce's book, "Florida Man," published in January, is his fourth in the Strange Files series. And as something of a prequel to Strange's Florida adventures, it's the perfect one for attention from grassroots groups. Says the national Online Book Club: "From the very beginning, I loved this book"; and Readers' Favorite: "The plot flows flawlessly from the entrancing beginning to the smashing conclusion. ... I can't wait to meet up with Alexander again."

"Florida Man" is a two-word sobriquet for the everyman victim/perpetrator in Florida's inexhaustible supply of bizarre tales. Florida Man does things like throwing an alligator through a Wendy's drive-in window or breaking into a farmers market in a tutu to steal fruit.

In the latest book, Strange has left his defunct Phoenix newspaper to take the enviable and exhausting job of documenting those tales for an online news service. But not before he entangles himself with a spiritual reader who already knows his history and a friend who is being blackmailed with deadly overtones.

"The two books that follow this book I actually wrote before 'Florida Man,' and it  occurred to me that I'd never told the story of how Alexander got from Arizona to Florida," Bruce explained. "I mean, I knew the story but never told the story."

In fact, he knows the movements of his character, Alex Strange, so well that Alex, under Bruce's computer skills, even writes an occasional weird news blog for Bruce's own author website. "He's picking up a bit of a following," said Bruce, pleased.

At least one of Bruce's Alex Strange plots embarks from the free lodgings aboard his uncle's boat, the Miss Demeanor, in Goodland ("Get Strange"); another story ("Strange Currents") docks in Key West. Alex roams through Pelican Bay, Ochopee and other fascinating points of Florida in his sidetracked column quests. Any good editor would fire him for not producing enough copy.

He's self-published but then, he says, "If you're a new author, even if you're published by one of the five publishing houses, under whatever title, you're going to be responsible for your own marketing."

Establishing his own publishing entity has become the promise of a second industry.  His Tropic Press is taking on other independent authors

"I have spent the last five years really trying to get a handle on the book publishing industry," he said. International Thriller Writers Conference in New York. He met wonderful people and gleaned some good tips. But part of the education was about how mercurial the industry has become, with social media, e-books, podcasts biting off chunks of income and attention.

And then came the coronavirus restrictions. Book signings and festivals are out of the question. "And as every writer will tell you, THE single most important marketing tool you have is word of mouth."

"There are a lot of different strategies, depending on what people like to do. My thinking is that I want to continue to write books. I want to send out books for reviews. Having that validation of people who will review the books and, hopefully, there's good things to be said about them, will help create the basis for people being willing to take the risk of buying them."

Even though he spent enough of his years in Ohio to develop an affection for the basement-dwelling Cincinnati Reds and was an editor at the Dayton Daily News, Bruce is a proud Florida native. His home state alternative frustrates and fascinates him.

"Florida has always been the last refuge for scoundrels and con men and grifters," he said. "We're crazier here — it's warm year 'round so people can run around naked and do stupid stuff. There are easy ways to smuggle drugs in, and you can hide here effectively. People have sort of adopted the pirate mentality around here."

He lets Alexander Strange say it best: "It's the Candy Land for crazies."

Neither Alex nor Bruce would want it any other way.

"Florida Man" and the other Strange Files series books are available via Barnes & Noble, iBooks, amazon.com and other bookstore chains.