The wacky world of deadly yet endearing psychotic serial killers, frenetic Florida road trips, and various and sundry oddball characters recently came to Wilson. Novelist Tim Dorsey spoke at the Friends of Hackney Library's Fall 2011 dinner on October 25, 2011 in Hardy Alumni Hall on the Barton College Campus. The event began with a book signing at 6:00 pm followed by dinner and the program at 7:00 pm.

A former journalist with fourteen novels featuring manic serial killer Serge Storms under his belt (and one more on the way), Dorsey writes in the vein of Carl Hiaasen reminiscent of Elmore Leonard, but with his own distinctive voice. The series featuring Storms is composed of a set of hilarious yet violent farces taking place in various Florida locales. The Chicago Tribune has called Dorsey's characters “some of the most wacky villains and situations since Hiaasen stuck a plastic alligator down a stranger's throat and called it Tourist Season.” The Dallas Morning News has called his work “wildly funny, maniacally disrespectful and genuinely out of control.” The New York Times characterizes Dorsey's novels as “vulgar, violent and gaudier than sunsets on the Keys….” And referring to fans’ anticipation of Dorsey's next work, the Miami Herald says simply, “There ought to be a law: If it's summer, we get a new Tim Dorsey novel.” (And this year, we'll even get a Christmas novel as well--read on.)

Dorsey was born in Indiana but moved to Florida at age one, growing up in the small town of Riviera Beach, about an hour north of Miami. He got his journalistic start at Auburn University, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Plainsman. For four years after graduation, he was a police and courts reporter for the Alabama Journal, the now-defunct evening newspaper in Montgomery, Alabama. He then moved to the Tampa Tribune, where he held a variety of positions, including general assignment reporter, copy desk editor, political reporter (in the paper's Tallahassee bureau), night metro editor and night news coordinator.

He left the paper in August 1999 to write full time and has since had thirteen novels published in several languages: Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Orange Crush, Triggerfish Twist, The Stingray Shuffle, Cadillac Beach, Torpedo Juice, The Big Bamboo, Hurricane Punch, Atomic Lobster, Nuclear Jellyfish, Gator A-Go-Go, and Electric Barracuda, which was released in February 2011.

His most recent work is a Christmas novel about Serge–-When Elves Attack: A Joyous Christmas Greeting from the Criminal Nutbars of the Sunshine State–-released on October 25, 2011, the date of our Fall Dinner. Next to follow in the Serge lineup is Pineapple Grenade, which is due in January 2012.

The author lives in Tampa, Florida with his family.

Enjoy this interview we conducted with the author in advance of this event: