Saved at the Alabama-Florida Line – A novel set in Perdido Key, Florida. Johnny Glass has had it with Nashville. He meets a beautiful girl at Flora-Bama and finds a regular gig playing music. Her father is a senator and he doesn’t take kindly to musicians...and uses his political connections to do the unthinkable: shutter the beach bar for good. Musicians and locals unite to save the bar from ruin. Hardback, 189 pages, $19.99. Out of print. Synopsis: Johnny Glass has had it with Nashville. Its many posers, pimps and politicians preyed on him for four difficult years, leaving him disheartened. A talented, struggling singer-songwriter, he still yearns to make a living doing what he loves, writing and singing songs. A former band mate lives in a broken down Airstream camper on the Florida-Alabama State line near the sparkling Gulf of Mexico for free. Playing music and singing songs at the world-famous Flora-Bama Lounge and Package Store on the beach is his everyday gig. Johnny has a standing offer to join his buddy anytime, as the owner of the place is a lover of singer-songwriters, and could certainly use someone with his skills. Lucy Whitman is a sophomore debutante at the University of South Alabama and the privileged daughter of an Alabama State Senator. Uninterested in her life as a university student and sorority girl, Lucy tilts to the wild side on the weekends where she sings, unbeknownst to her overbearing parents, in a bona fide honky-tonk band at America s Last Great American Roadhouse, the Flora-Bama. Instead of planned summer school, she has decided to spend the entire tourist season singing; and if it goes well, she likely won t go back to South. For Johnny and Lucy, it s love at first sight. Through joined artistry their relationship grows, and they become a popular on-stage duo. They enjoy each other and the creative fulfillment the partnership brings. However, Lucy s mother and powerful father want nothing of their daughter playing a honky-tonk joint in Orange Beach. After gently trying to win her favor, they make their strongest, connected attempt toward altering her brazen life path; and it has devastating consequences not only for Lucy s music, but for everyone living on Pleasure Island: The beloved Flora-Bama may be shuttered for good. Lucy s father uses his political connections to deploy an army of state government agents against the beach bar, trumping up dozens of unfounded charges resulting in its indefinite closure. Already in financial trouble stemming from bad outside investments, a great recession and an unprecedented manmade environmental disaster, the bar cannot afford to be closed during the lucrative tourist season. Johnny and Lucy, the locals and the rest of the musicians join forces with the Flora-Bama s loveable owner and come up with a plan to save the quintessential beach bar, and the community it faithfully supports. In doing so, Johnny and Lucy realize the grand futility of commercial success, and the bountiful wealth they already possess from living and enjoying life, making music and many friends, in a beautiful, unforgettable place like no other. Saved at the Alabama-Florida Line is a romantic, satirical tale of forbidden love that seeks to draw semblance to Southern living, art, failed politics and pop culture. NOMINATED: Best Piece of Fiction by an Alabama Author (Fairhope); The Alabama Library Association, 2017.

Trouble at the Alabama-Florida Line Third in a series of fictional tomes By Chris Warner Johnny Glass is busy dealing with life. His beautiful girlfriend and band mate, Lucy Whitman, is pregnant—with his baby. Estranged by her parents, Lucy has only Johnny to help her bring a child into the world. The tiny sailboat they have called home for months is no place for an infant. Their Nirvana interrupted, Johnny senses things might never be the same. He has never been more right. Johnny and Lucy are not alone in experiencing change. Pleasure Island’s favorite hot spot for live music and fun—the beloved Flora-Bama, is no longer the tiny, ramshackle honky-tonk locals knew. New ownership and a growing population brought a slew of changes that altered the dive once revered for its spontaneity, overt tackiness and penchant for the unrefined. The quintessential beach bar and ivory island strip loved by all has evolved, prompting locals and old regulars to consider the unthinkable: Seek good times, fun and frolic elsewhere. Pleasure Island is no longer the quaint retreat. The Mayor of Orange Beach and his developer cronies have unleashed a rash of dubious high rise condo construction projects that threaten to forever alter the gulf coast skyline and way of life. With the help of their powerful allies in the state legislature, new toll bridges and roads are being built to make it ever easier to get to the beach, ensuring that the risky developments will be handsomely rewarded. Despite the obvious warnings, few beach denizens realize their treasured existence hangs precariously in the balance. Marginalized by his majority stock holding partners and the hardened victim of several past surprise disasters, patriarch Joe Gideon is again in a quandary. Upset with the greed motivating the government’s misguided leadership, Gideon feels it may be time to sell out and retire in the nearby haven of West Pensacola, Florida. That is, until he hears of Johnny’s newest challenges—and realizes that everything he has worked so hard to create—the beloved Flora-Bama and the faithful community it supports, is certainly worth fighting for. Johnny and Joe reunite with the familiar cast of local characters to devise a plan to prevent during an unprecedented pandemic and an unforeseen category two hurricane the destructive domino effect from occurring. In order to save the island from certain ruin, they must win the hearts and minds of the locals as well as defeat in court and at the ballot box the energy thieves who will stop at nothing to turn a buck at the expense of their beloved way of life in the name of “progress.” Trouble at the Alabama Florida Line, the much-anticipated sequel to They Met at the Alabama-Florida Line, by Chris Warner, is another romantic, satirical tale seeking to draw semblance to Southern living, art, failed politics and pop culture.

What do four LSU fraternity brothers, three Auburn sorority sisters and a Birmingham volunteer church group have in common? They’re on a road trip to the iconic Flora-Bama Lounge & Package to first experience the world-famous Interstate Mullet Toss! Unbeknownst to them, they’re on an unprecedented collision course for fun, sun and subtle fame—meaning their lives will certainly never be the same. The Flora-Bama’s new owners, against the wishes of their minority partner, have cut a lucrative Hollywood deal to produce a “no-holds-barred…anything goes” documentary on the zany, voyeuristic beach party known for string bikinis, cold beer, frothy bushwhackers and of course, thrown fish. The filmmakers have coughed up major dough, and have been given full reign of the quintessential beach bar and its patrons for the duration of the risqué four-day event. What they witness and capture on film is wilder than anything Tinsel Town could have scripted. In their quest for a memorable time the college kids find unforgettable adventure. Amazingly, all the frat guys hook up with people who look better than them. The unfortunate fact for one is that unbeknownst to him, his significant other—a gorgeous church volunteer and preacher’s daughter—is underage—by almost two years. After a raucous night, an arrest lands the two in the local hoosegow, where that latter, salient fact is painstakingly revealed, warranting a more serious charge. The desperate kids seek and find help in the iconic bar’s founder, Joe, who uses local resources to try and ease them out of the jam they precariously find themselves. However, the gig is complicated by the fact that Hollywood producers have trained their cameras on the developing story, spooking the entrenched power players within the good ole’ boy network who will determine what level and brand of Southern-style justice is ultimately served—if at all. The loveable bar owner, Joe, and his inner circle of unique characters, musicians and connected island dwellers are challenged like never before to save not only the reputations and records of the kids he has befriended—but for posterity, the character of his beloved beach bar and the community it faithfully supports. A fast-paced yarn reminiscent of its predecessor, “They Met at the Alabama-Florida Line,” is the second fictional tome by Chris Warner set at the world-famous Flora-Bama Lounge & Package. It is another romantic, satirical tale seeking to draw semblance to Southern living, art, failed politics and pop culture.