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Author Spotlight: J.C. Kenney’s Here with a Fab New Series!

And we have a winner! *Drumroll* Janine, you were chosen at random to receive an e-book copy of Panic in the Panhandle! J.C. will be in touch with you! Thanks to everyone who stopped by this week to celebrate with J.C. and me! Sure loved seeing you!

I gotta tell you, I think I’m almost as excited about J.C. Kenney’s new release as I’ve been about my own! Right off, I kinda have a stake in his new Elmo Simpson series of mysteries with Tule Publishing. I was the one who encouraged him to submit the proposal to Tule–I just knew they’d be a good fit, and because I freelance for Tule, at J.C.’s request, I get to be the copy editor on the books. I can tell you from firsthand experience that Elmo Simpson is a character to fall in love with! I’m just delighted to have J.C. and Elmo in the Spotlight today!

J.C. Kenney is the bestselling author of mysteries full of oddball characters in unusual settings. He’s also the co-host of The Bookish Hour and The Bookish Moment webcasts. When he’s not writing, you can find him following IndyCar racing or listening to music. He has two grown children and lives in Indianapolis with his wife and a cat.

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Thank You, Jimmy

Hi, folks! I hope you all have had a fantastic week. We’ve made it to Thursday, which I like to refer to as Baby Friday. It gets us to the weekend a little more quickly, especially since I’m still celebrating the release of Panic in the Panhandle, book 1 in my Elmo Simpson Mysteries series.

I’m both humbled and thrilled with the reception this whodunnit filled with oddballs and misfits has received. The positive way readers have responded to my wild animal removal turned amateur sleuth, Elmo Simpson, is way beyond anything I had thought possible. So, thank you to all of the readers who have given Panic in the Panhandle a read and another thank you to all of those kind folks who have posted a review.

While people tend to think of writing as a solitary venture, bringing a book from an idea to a published work really is a team effort. For some folks, like editors and cover artists, the contribution is both considerable and practical. For others, it can be more esoteric.

Like Jimmy Buffett’s contribution to the Elmo Simpson Mysteries. I’ve listened to Jimmy’s songs for years and it provided the perfect musical backdrop to the Paradise Springs, Florida setting. It’s not an overstatement to say that the weird and wonderful characters who populate Panic in the Panhandle wouldn’t exist if not for the inspiration provided by the equally weird and wonderful characters in Jimmy’s songs.

With that in mind, I’d like to share some of my favorite Jimmy tunes that have a bookish connection.

“Jolly Mon Sing” – This fairytale about a singer who brought happiness to the islands and a magical dolphin is a true gem. It’s also the basis for the children’s picture book The Jolly Mon, which Jimmy wrote with his daughter Savannah. I read this story to my kiddos countless times when they were little. The song appears on the 1985 album “Last Mango in Paris” and the book is available wherever books are sold.

“Desdemona’s Building a Rocket Ship” – Originally appearing on Jimmy’s 1996 album Banana Wind, the song tells the strange tale of Desdemona, a psychic who is building a spaceship. We first meet Desdemona in the novel Where is Joe Merchant, which came out in 1992. I’m not certain that Desdemona is all there, if you know what I mean. Then again, very few of Jimmy’s characters are all there, which is what makes them so wonderful.

“Quietly Making Noise” – Jimmy loved to travel. Among the places he fell in love with is Paris, France. He opens this song name dropping the one and only Oscar Wilde then proceeds to paint a loving tribute to the City of Light. You can find this tune on the 1994 album Fruitcakes, which might be my all-time favorite Buffett album.

“Remittance Man” – In what should come as no surprise to anyone with a passing familiarity with Jimmy, he was a great fan of Mark Twain, especially the travelogue Following the Equator. His 1995 album Barometer Soup includes the track “Remittance Man.” The subject of the song is a fellow taken straight from Following the Equator who has been kicked out of his family and now spends his days abroad, never to be welcomed home again. It’s a haunting song, and even more moving because it’s based on fact.

“The Pascagoula Run” – In 1989, Jimmy released the album Off to See the Lizard. That same year, he published a collection of short stories called Tales from Margaritaville. Many of the stories, like “The Pascagoula Run,” share their titles with songs from the album. It’s a fun series of crossovers and yet another example of how the man could tell a story in so many ways.

So, there you go. Five wonderful tunes to go with five unique stories. Now, the next time you’re at your favorite bookstore or favorite record store, you’ll know what to get—some serious Florida and Caribbean vibes. Until then? You could always do me a solid and check out Panic in the Panhandle. It’s great fun and I’d be ever so grateful.

Until next time, friends, wishing you blue skies and pleasant breezes.

GIVEAWAY: J.C. is giving away a free e-copy of Panic in the Panhandle to one lucky commenter. Just tell him your favorite Jimmy Buffet song … and if you’re not a Buffet fan, tell him your favorite song, whatever it is, because we’re all about the music today!

Panic In the Panhandle

This is no ordinary wild animal removal call…

In the sleepy panhandle of Florida, Benjamin “Elmo” Simpson has carved out a comfortable niche as the go-to wild animal removal specialist. Life is sweet until a peculiar service request takes him to a local condo and an unexpected scene. Retired lawyer Fran Cohen is missing and in his apartment is a well-fed alligator that appears to have enjoyed a nice breakfast with…or rather, of…Fran.

All evidence points toward murder, and local alligator farmer, Waldo “Rambo” Quigley has the motive and the means. When Rambo pleads for help to clear his name, old debts and a history of friendship leave Elmo no choice but to investigate. With his girlfriend, Nicola, by his side, and Rambo’s freedom on the line, Elmo’s on the hunt for the real killer, but don’t panic…Elmo’s got a plan…sort of. Maybe.

Reptilian clues lead to unexpected allies, and the call of danger is addictive. Can Elmo uncover the identity of Fran’s killer before becoming the next victim, removed from the scene like an unwanted pest?

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14 Comments

  • Janine

    I don’t know. There are so many great Jimmy Buffett songs. I’m a huge fan. Maybe, 5:00 Somewhere or Come Monday.

    • J.C. Kenney

      So many memories of Jimmy telling the crowd to “Please stand for the national anthem,” and then kicked into Margaritaville!

  • Ruth Atherley

    So excited for this book – while there are many Jimmy songs that I LOVE (he wrote the soundtrack to my life AND has been a huge influence on me), I have two that means so much – Come Monday – which is the song I first heard at 10 or 11 years old and which started me on my life-long relationship with Jimmy and Bubbles Up, one of the last songs he ever recorded – and what I believe is his love note to us, his fans. Jimmy made the world a better place – and his legacy will live on forever. I feel grateful that I lived in the same era as this incredible poet, songwriter, performer and human.

    • J.C. Kenney

      So well stated! The first song I really connected with was Changes in Latitudes. The first time I heard Bubbles Up, I ended up in tears. He was a gift to us all and I am so thankful that he’s been a part of our lives.

  • Liz Flaherty

    Panic in the Panhandle is a great beginning to what promises to be a wonderful series, and there is so much to love about Elmo and friends that I’m not sure where to start. Listening to Jimmy Buffett for a while can put you in the mood, but Mr. Buffett and Mr. Kenney are both good to sit back and relax with any time at all.

    • Liz Flaherty

      Oh, I forgot…my favorite Jimmy Buffett song(s): It’s Five O’clock Somewhere, Pencil Thin Mustache, Come Monday…

      • J.C. Kenney

        Thanks so much, Liz! You are so kind and I’m over the moon that you’re enjoying Elmo and his pals. 5 o’clock Somewhere is such a fun song, isn’t it? Speaking of which…