Randy Wayne White Shares Stories Behind His Thrillers

White signing his book. STEPHEN MITSKAVICH / BABCOCK RANCH TELEGRAPH

It wasn’t a dark and stormy night, and there appeared to be no intrigue, trail of clues, shadowy figures or apparent mayhem at Lake Timber Lodge, but fans of the Doc Ford’s mystery series lined up at the door anyway on June 25 to meet prolific Florida fiction author Randy Wayne White. Attendees were thrilled to meet the author and peek at his latest book, “One Deadly Eye.”

It is part of his ongoing series of 20 thrillers, which started with “Sanibel Flats,” published in 1990. White asked if anyone had a first-edition copy of the limited-edition press run from when he was an unknown author. Hint: If you do, it could be valuable.

Recently released “One Deadly Eye” has our fictional hero, marine biologist and retired NSA agent Marion Ford being drawn into a plot as a Russian crime ring blows in with a deadly hurricane to caseout the coastal homes of Florida’s very wealthy for a series of extremely valuable art and jewelry heists. At the same time, the island is deserted by residents and law enforcement due to the mandatory evacuation. Or is it?

The room was filled with an eager crowd, waiting to meet Randy Wayne White and hear his captivating stories and insights. STEPHEN MITSKAVICH / BABCOCK RANCH TELEGRAPH

White, who found his calling in 1988 as a nonfiction writer on nature, travel and adventure for magazines such as Men’s Health, National Geographic Adventure and others, is a natural-born storyteller. He kept the standing-room-only crowd enthralled with his sometimes poignant and often humorous back-story tales of locations and real-life characters on Sanibel Island and those strips of land in the gulf extending to the Thousand Islands area. In person, White is as interesting and entertaining as his prose. Truly, if someone had dropped a pen or a pin, it surely would have been heard.

White writes about the land, the waters, the climate, and the people he knows, which may be why his books resonate with his readers, although the stories are works of fiction. Or are they? He knows his material well, the quaint beach towns and turquoise waters along with backwater terrain, First Nation shell mounds and many of the preverbal old salts who have inhabited them for generations.

White and Donna Byars.

Writing wasn’t White’s first career. For 13 years, he was a soft-tackle fishing guide with a steady clientele and about 3,000 charters under his belt before the marina closed, and he was out of a job. Writing was actually his fallback career, one in which he said he had been “so lucky.” However, he admits that despite his seemingly easy prose, “it is work and hasn’t gotten any easier.”

There is no doubt more literary treasure for White to mine as he continues his series. “One Deadly Eye” concludes with at least one loose string: one more of Doc Ford’s friends to be found who was, or wasn’t, lost in the storm.

Although his website states that his characters are works of fiction, White himself introduced us to several in the flesh who accompanied him to the Babcock Ranch event, including his good friends and neighbors who rode out the real-life cataclysmic storm with him during Hurricane Ian, which is as much of a character in “One Deadly Eye” as the human ones.

Left to right: Paul Primeaux, Wendy Webb, Randy Wayne White and Paul Primeaux’s son Alec. STEPHEN MITSKAVICH / BABCOCK RANCH TELEGRAPH

During the Q&A, one attendee asked White whether he would continue the storyline about the recurring character, Tomlinson. With a twinkle of his azure eyes, White chuckled and answered by asking the women present why it is that his female readers are attracted to Tomlinson, a womanizer, new age mystic and character who is both likable and unlikeable at the same time. “Women always ask me about that one, I don’t under- stand why they care about him so much. He has no moral compass.” White said.

Despite this nod to the genre of romantic literature, White describes himself as a nerdy writer. He writes with researched historical and geographic accuracy.

White said he considers “One Deadly Eye” his best in the series, but most authors tend to favor the one they are working on or just completed. Perhaps this is a measure of the time and effort spent in the creation process. He asked who in the audience is a writer or keeps a journal and was pleased to see the response.

“You are all writers. The written word is all we leave behind in this rocket sled of life. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. That’s bull. Photos do not age well, but writing does. Encourage others in your life, especially older folks, to write at least one honest page before they leave Earth. Their stories will live on through you.”

Like his character Doc Ford, White is a ham radio operator and talked about some of the rescue work he and other residents did in the aftermath of Ian before FEMA and state emergency workers arrived. He explained that rather than being a potential burden to rescue workers, radio operators who did not evacuate were at the front line of the rescue effort because cell service and other communication lines were down. Some real-life stories were woven into the book, as were accurate descriptions of the storm itself and its destruction of buildings and the natural habitat.

The crowd not only left with an autographed copy of “One Deadly Eye” but also had the chance to meet a Southwest Florida legend. Some encouraged him to venture inland and consider writing about Babcock Ranch in his next book.

White said he is familiar with the area and that there is a former gun club nearby, so that may not be out of the question.

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