Fun Facts about Dead Lake, a Mystery by B. J. Robinson

Setting: Wewahitchka, Florida, small town called Wewa.

The Seminole Indian name means "water eyes" because when the two lakes are viewed from the air, they resemble eyes.

Town best known for the legendary Dead Lakes and their world-famous Tupelo Honey.

Dead Lakes State Recreation Area is only a mile north of Wewa.

Nature photographers will find an oasis.

Sand bars created by the current in the Apalachicola River blocked the Chipola River and high water killed the trees in the flood zone, giving the area its name.

I've really been fishing on one of the two Dead Lakes.

The idea for this book was born during my fishing trip.

Peter Fonda's 1997 movie about the bee keepers, "Ulee's Gold," was set in this majestic beauty.

I didn't know there was a movie until after I'd written my book, and I never viewed the movie until after the book was completed.

They say great minds think alike. My book has a few similar threads. There is an escaped convict in my story, but not in the movie. Money is hidden in an old truck in the swamp in the movie. Money is hidden in different spots in the book.

I got the idea on my fishing trip to create a mystery series using the Dead Lakes setting. Something about them inspires mystery.

Multi-published, award-winning author B. J. Robinson takes readers to the Florida Panhandle northern Gulf County best known for the Dead Lakes and Tupelo Honey in her Dead Lake Mystery Series. Dead Lake is the first novel of the series.

Judy and Jim Knowlton, a retired couple who enjoy fishing, decide to fish and explore one of the two legendary Dead Lakes in Wewahitchka, Florida, and soon find themselves boating through hauntingly beautiful cypress trees, skeletons, stumps, and knees in a lake considered the best freshwater sport and bass fishing in the nation. Brace yourself with courage to boat in a graveyard of trees and explore.

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Though Judy admits nature photographers would find an oasis, she can't shake the ominous feeling that snakes through her body. A lone cypress tree forms an eerie silhouette, but it isn't the only creepy rising skeleton from Dead Lake. Many bony fingers reach for the sky. Dawn breaks. A spectacular sunrise washes across the skyline, but fingertips of pink reach for the skeletal arms.

Judy likes to fish off bank, while Jim's pride and joy is his fifteen foot red-and-black Bass Tracker. He's all about boating and fishing on Dead Lake, and it'll take more than skeletal trees to change his mind. He can't wait for a diverse fish supper the lake offers.

An unsolved mystery from long ago entangles Judy and Jim in its web when an escaped convict decides he wants to search an old junk heap behind their mobile home. When their grandson and beloved pets are affected, the stakes are raised. Whose bones are discovered in Dead Lake near Swamp Rat's cabin in the woods? Judy spies the waters of the lake bubbling. Somehow, it doesn't remind her of discovering oil and becoming rich. The water is doing its on weird thing, and the tops of the cypress trees along the bank blur like wind is rustling through them, but there's no wind. Everything is still. A Florida evening T-storm drums down with wind gusting as Judy attempts to show Jim the water, but her voice is lost in the wind, and he steers the boat away without looking back. The lake water spirals around that certain strand of trees and ripples in a huge circle. Is the mystery of Dead Lake over, or is it just beginning?

My husband and I went fishing one day with my in-laws on Dead Lake near the small town of Wewahitchka, Florida, called Wewa for short by the locals. Yes, there are really dead lakes with a lot of dead trees that could make the trip dangerous, however, we survived. The name of the lake and the dead trees inspired this mystery set on Dead Lakes in Wewahitchka, Florida. Yes, there's more than one lake. These lakes are legendary. According to Florida State Parks, Gulf.com, and the City of Wewahitchka, sand bars created by the current in the Apalachicola River blocked the Chipola River. High water killed the trees in the flood zone and gave the area its name.

The Seminole Indian name means "water eyes" because when viewed from the sky there are two round lakes resembling eyes. The city is located in the Florida Panhandle's northern Gulf County and has approximately 1,800 residents. It's best known for the Dead Lakes and Tupelo Honey, which is world famous and has been harvested for over one hundred years from the Apalachicola River Basin. Peter Fonda's 1997 movie "Ulee's Gold" was set in this majestic beauty. It's a story about the beekeepers.

If you decide to try your luck with fishing on Dead Lake, be forewarned of a graveyard of cypress knees and dead stumps that can tear apart a boat or motor. I hear the fishing can be good. In fact, it's considered the best. You'll find crappie, blue gill (bream), shellcracker, large mouth bass, and white bass. Maybe you'll have better luck fishing than we did, if you believe in luck, fisherman's luck, that is. Dead Lakes State Recreation Area is only a mile north of Wewa.

The many cypress trees create a beautiful majesty and though we didn't catch any fish that day, I enjoyed the boating and beautiful scenery. You'll find a variety of trees including magnolia, cypress, longleaf pine, and sweetbay. I took a spiral notebook and pen with me and began this mystery. I hope you'll find it intriguing. It's the first one in my Dead Lake Mystery series. If you want to experience a hauntingly beautiful area of cypress skeletons, stumps, and knees in lakes that are considered the best freshwater sport and bass fishing in the nation, brace yourself with courage to boat in a graveyard of trees and explore. Nature photographers will find an oasis. Enjoy.

~About the Author~

Author, B. J. Robinson, is an award-winning, multi-published author with four traditionally published novels as well as independently published short stories, novellas and novels. She writes from Florida with a golden cocker spaniel, golden retriever, and a shelter cat for company, blessed with a husband, children, and grandchildren. She's an avid reader and passionate writer. Visit her at http://barbarajrobinson.blogspot.com

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