Local Hernando County author Dallas Dunlop has created a mix of fantasy and science fiction which is set in Navaez County. Navaez is a fictional county that resembles Hernando County. Dallas has written five books and is working on a sixth book all set in Navaez County.
The book we reviewed was The Cabin, which mixes time travel into Navaez County. Some of the other books bring in vampires and a female sheriff. Dallas says that he “tries to write like people really talk.” To do this he relies on his experiences. Dallas worked for 20 years as a paramedic, before becoming an Economics Professor at Hillsborough Community College. For his writing he draws on his experience as a first responder and working closely with the police to create realistic situations.
The Cabin starts in 2001. It begins with the return of 3 teenagers that have been missing for over a year. The sheriff investigates and the mystery centers around a “haunted” cabin in the woods. Dallas manages to mix in real events from 2001 with fantasy time travel to add to the authenticity of the story. The story is fast paced with many plot twists and different narrators providing multiple perspectives.
Dunlop’s books provide an added dimension for people familiar with Hernando in that he mixes local places and history with fictional events, places and history.
Navaez is named after a real Spanish explorer Pánfilo de Narváez just like Hernando is named after Spanish Explorer Hernando De Soto.
The city of Ruffin in Navaez is named after Edmund Ruffin the man who is credited with firing the first shot in the Battle of Fort Sumter which was the battle that started the Civil War. This is similar to Brooksville, which is named for Preston Brooks a Democratic US Representative from South Carolina. Brooks became a hero of many in the south for badly beating Senator Charles Sumner with a cane on the Senate floor. Brooks was apparently angered by an anti-slavery speech Sumner had made in which he verbally attacked Brooks’ cousin Senator Andrew Butler.
The majority of the population in Navaez lives in the western portion of the county in an area known as Pine Hills, just like the majority of Hernando County’s residents live in the Spring Hill area. Navaez also has a state forest referred to as the State Forest. Navaez is a county a little north of Tampa and south of Crystal River. As you can see Dunlop has a very developed setting for his books in Navaez.
Dunlop’s website is Dallasdunlop.com and has the title “Navaez Now.” Navaez Now is the name of the local newspaper in the Navaez. In The Cabin one of the major characters is a reporter from “Navaez Now.”
Dunlop says in the past he “wrote as a hobby, but was never serious about it until he got a kindle.” He saw the opportunity to easily publish with e-books. He publishes through Amazon Publishing.
The Cabin is available as an ebook for $2.99 and a paperback for $15.95 from Amazon.