Welcome

Hi. I’m J.C. Bruce, journalist, author, and editor of Tropic Press.

Tropic Press is an online news site with links to various social medial platforms covering an eclectic mix of news from politics, science, medicine and culture with a special focus on my home state of Florida and its neighbors both on the mainland U.S.A. and the Caribbean.

Wearing my author hat, I’ve written a series of award-winning novels recounting the misadventures of my Tropic Press colleague Alexander Strange, America’s only reporter covering news of the weird on a full-time basis.

I also write the Essential News column for Florida Weekly and a monthly newsletter here on Substack with more than two thousand followers.

There are six books in The Strange Files series. In sequence, they are THE STRANGE FILES, FLORIDA MAN, GET STRANGE, STRANGE CURRENTS, MISTER MANNERS, and STRANGE TIMING.

They are available as hardcovers, trade paperbacks and eBooks at all major online book retailers. MISTER MANNERS and STRANGE TIMING are also available as audiobooks.

Recently, Recently, STRANGE TIMING was named Book of the Year in the annual Royal Palm Literary Awards. It also won two Gold Medals in the thriller and science fiction categories. STRANGE TIMING also won the Bronze Medal in the Florida Book Awards in the category of Popular Fiction and was named a Finalist in the national Indie Book Awards.

STRANGE CURRENTS, GET STRANGE, and MISTER MANNERS also received top honors in the Royal Palm Literary Awards for Best Mysteries published by a Florida author.

Backstory

I first encountered Alexander Strange when we worked together at the Phoenix Daily Sun, which, sadly, like so many newspapers these days, has seen its shelf life expire. Alexander now lives in Goodland, Florida aboard his fishing trawler, the Miss Demeanor. I live nearby in a house.

I was the journalist-in-residence at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and, earlier in my newspaper career, I served as an editor, managing editor, or reporter at, among other places, the Naples Daily News, the Dayton Daily News, the Austin American-Statesman, the Longview News-Journal, the Mesa Tribune,  the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) and the Tampa Times (now deceased). Once, I even served as the press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a congressman who ended up getting indicted and sent to prison.

At various times along this journey, I nailed down a Master of Arts degree from Antioch University, a bachelor’s degree from St. Edward’s University, and I also served time  at the University of South Florida.

A perpetual joiner, I’m a member of or have been a member of various professional organizations including the American Society of News Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Florida Writers Association, Gulf Coast Writers Association, and Southwest Florida Fiction Writers.

I’m a former director of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and a former director (and lecturer) for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop. I’ve served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes and the National Journalism Awards, and am a member of American MENSA, which I like to mention so you’ll think I’m smart. And last week I scored a word worth 134 points in Word Chums.

So now that I’ve wowed you with my resume, why don’t you hit the subscribe button below? It’s easy, burns nearly zero calories, and will help make you the smartest person in the room — or the Zoom.