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Florida Life - Novel Ideas
Meet Florida authors Jennifer Valoppi and John Manrique
John Manrique
Vice president, sales and marketing, Starwood Vacation Ownership, Palm Beach Gardens
Centering around an exotic dancer looking to strike it rich by selling luxury condos just before the real estate bust, the book features a plot that twists and turns and a cast of colorful characters inspired by people Manrique has come across.
Manrique's latest book is "For the People: The Invisible Hand of Power's Unofficial Guide to the 2008 Presidential Election."
On his night table: "I enjoy a wide range of authors from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Mark Haddon, and recently my wife, Michelle, turned me on to the brilliant David Sedaris. For Florida fiction, I enjoy Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey and the great John D. MacDonald."
Inspiration: "My satire focuses on the topical, so everything from the Publix checkout line to the church parking lot offers ideas."
Writing full time: "With the first book, I didn't have much research to do, but the second one required quite a bit since the subject wasn't something I knew intimately."
Up next: "I'm in the early conceptual stages of my next novel, which is shaping up to be a satire of organized religion. The working title is 'The Book of Judas.' "