We speak with Carl Hiaasen, the Florida-based author of 11 solo novels including Tourist Season, Skin Tight, Native Tongue, Strip Tease (developed into a movie starring Demi Moore), Stormy Weather, Lucky You, Sick Puppy, Basket Case, Skinny Dip, The Downhill Lie and Nature Girl.

The London Observer has called him "America's finest satirical novelist," while Janet Maslin of the New York Times has compared him to Preston Sturges, Woody Allen and S.J. Perelman.

Utimate Travel tracked Carl Hiaasen down in his beloved Florida for a Q&A about the state that's inspired his off-the-wall characters, and his latest novel, Star Island.

1.         You are a native of Florida and still live there ... what do you think are the state's most alluring qualities for a visitor?
 
The number one attraction is the water - the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay. There's great surfing, diving, kayaking and sportfishing along the coasts. And if you don't know how to swim, you can always lie on the beach and zone out.
 
2.             When you are not at home writing, where is your favourite place to get away to, and why?
 
My passion is flyfishing. When I get some time off from the books and newspaper column, I head down to Islamorada in the Keys, hop in my flats skiff and go looking for bonefish and tarpon. It's absolutely the most glorious way to clear the clutter from one's brain.
 
3.             What are your personal insider tips for this destination?
 
Islamorada is a small town but there are some terrific restaurants like Uncle's, the Hungry Tarpon, Ziggy-and-Mad Dog's and Pierre's. I always order the mahi or the yellowtail snapper, which is fresh from the ocean. I advise friends who are coming down to stop at a dock called Robbie's, which is behind the Hungry Tarpon on Lower Matecumbe Key. They have a school of impressively large tarpon that live there year-round, and the kids can get a bucket of bait and feed them. It's pretty wild.   
 
If you're a fishing nut, like I am, you should go to Sandy Moret's fly shop, Florida Keys Outfitters. In the afternoon, you can take the kids down to the charter docks at Bud n' Mary's and see the big boats come in with big mahi, wahoo and tuna. They don't kill billfish anymore in the Keys, thank goodness, but the boats fly a flag for every sailfish or marlin caught that day.
 
4.             You set your novels mostly in Florida. Have you considered an exotic location anywhere else?
 
Because I've never lived anywhere except Florida, I don't feel comfortable setting my novels in other locations. Occasionally I'll write a scene that takes place in New York or the Bahamas, but the heart of the action is always closer to home. Florida is so richly weird and corrupt that it's more than just a setting for the stories; it's one of the central characters.
 
5.         Tell us a bit about your latest book, Star Island....
 
For a long time I've wanted to write about the booming cult of celebrity - specificially, how ridiculously easy it is to become famous in these days and times. No talent whatsoever is required. Paris Hilton is the most obvious example, but there are scores upon scores of other dim bulbs, male and female, whose fame has soared in inverse proportion to their achievements, or lack thereof. Tracking the fortunes and misfortunes of these knuckleheads is a huge, lucrative industry. That's because, like it or not, people would much rather read about Lindsay Lohan than the latest car-bombing in Iraq.
 
Star Island is a story about Cherry Pye, a pop singer who can't carry a tune (imagine that). Her life is such a train wreck that a lookalike actress is hired to portray her on public outings because Cherry's often too trashed to leave the hotel. Pursuing her doggedly is a maniacal paparazzo, Bang Abbott. He is probably one of the slimiest characters I've ever devised, and therefore one of my all-time favorites. As you know, novelists are drawn to lowlifes and bottom-feeders.
 
 6.         The plot involves a derailed pop star, a crazed paparazzo, and it's set in Miami's glamourous South Beach - is the place really crawling with stars and beautiful people?
 
"Crawling" is an excellent word for it. Stars and posers alike flock to South Beach to be seen, photographed and written about. It's one of those places where it's perfectly safe to be gorgeous and shallow. If something important ever happens there, it's only by accident. 
 
7.         What do you consider are a visitor's "must-dos" when on holiday in Miami?
 
Go straight to South Beach, of course. A stroll down Ocean Drive is infinitely more entertaining than a day at Disney World, and the food there is ten times better. Then, to experience the other side of Florida - the truly wild side - you should go take an airboat ride through the Everglades. Personally, I'd rather hang out with alligators than the Kardashian sisters.
 
8.         Miami is the Mecca of the cruising world - have you ever been on a cruise ship and if not, does the idea appeal?
 
I wrote a novel called Skinny Dip, which opens with a husband throwing his wife from a cruise ship (she lives), but I've never been on a cruise myself. The idea of spending a week trapped on a giant floating hotel with two thousand tourists and a 24-hour pastry buffet - well, frankly, it's terrifying. 
 
9.         When you travel, what won't you leave home without?
 
My medicine. I'm not the world's most serene airplane passenger, but fortunately there are wondrous little pills available to calm one's nerves.
 I also require my iPod and a Bose headset that blocks out all human noises except for the pilot's voice.
 
10.          What's your advice to budding novelists?
 
Despite all the doom and gloom the one hears about the book industry, I still believe that most talented writers eventually get discovered and published. However, it's not enough just to be good; you have to be persistent and incredibly resilient. Keep writing, no matter what, and keep sending off those manuscripts to agents and editors. Most successful novelists have shoeboxes full of rejection slips they collected in the early years, but they didn't let that discourage them. It helps to have a stubborn, almost irrational belief in one's self. Sometimes that's the only thing that keeps you afloat.