The Big Easy
I'm going to Mardi Gras. I've just finished the book that is due out this December, turned it in and now I have an idea for a new series that takes place in the gritty city of New Orleans.
Now, I have to approach my interest in a new way. I have to capture everything I can. Photos, notes, interviews, images, characters and personalities all have to resonate. In five short days I want to absorb as much of the culture as I possibly can. I'll make friends with a bartender, a cop, a cab driver or someone who works the nightlife. I need to explore as many aspects as possible of this remarkable civilization.
I don't believe that any other city in this country behaves the way New Orleans does. And the fact that the cities' population has shrunk 27% since hurricane Katrina just plays into the mystic of this earthy town. While tourism drives the economy, there is an underbelly that squirms. I want to know both sides, the up and the down.
Reading a blog site about New Orleans, the blogger referred to a trip back in 2009. Getting mugged one evening, getting mugged a second time, and telling the third mugger that there was nothing left to mug. I can only hope I don't have to report on that aspect of thise shrinking metropolis.
Mardi Gras, the party city, the jazz and the Dixieland music...Bourbon Street, Voodoo and witchcraft, it all has a magical feel. Couple that with the crime, the corruption, the greed that drives any major city and I feel certain there's a series just waiting to come alive. Wish me luck!
