Last year, after NPR invited me to give reporter J.J. Sutherland a tour of New Orleans for their “Crime in the City” series, a fascinating group of professionals asked if I’d customize a tour for their annual meeting here. They were fascinating partly because they were fascinated-- eager to learn and soak up what I had to show them about pre- and post-Katrina New Orleans—what I call Life in Atlantis.

It was so much fun I decided to form Novel New Orleans and show my city-broken as it may be-to other groups interested in the daily life, history, architecture, geography, culture, and recovery of New Orleans. We cover most of what the NEW YORK TIMES calls "the sliver by the river," the part of New Orleans left battered but dry after Hurricane Katrina-plus some of the worst hit areas. What we don't cover is the French Quarter, which is easily enjoyed on foot, with a map and lots of time for beverage stops. "Life In Atlantis" is for those who want to go a little deeper. All tours are at least three hours. We offer three levels of Life In Atlantis:

Level 1: Quality Paperback Edition We pick you up at your hotel in a luxurious van, and first explore the neighborhoods that didn’t flood—from the warehouse and Arts District, through the funky Lower Garden District, the gorgeous Garden District proper, the sumptuous Uptown and University Districts, ending with a drive down Magazine Street, one of the longest, most varied shopping streets in the world. This leg includes a stop at one of our famous cemeteries, a walk on the river, and miles of magnificent architecture, including houses once --and sometimes currently--owned by historic and literary figures and (if you’re one of my readers), even settings from some of my books. For the second leg, we go downtown to the flooded areas-- through the hip Bywater (aka the Upper Ninth Ward), then the famously recovering Lower Ninth, briefly visiting the steamboat houses of the Holy Cross Neighborhood, the Global Green model recovery house, and Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Project; on the way back, we’ll take a detour to Musicians’ Village and end up in my own neighborhood, the Faubourg Marigny, with its rich history and contemporary music scene, which I call the thinking person’s answer to Bourbon Street. Three hours; 40-person limit.

Here's the NPR tour that started it all

Level 2: Hardcover First Edition

Includes two stops beyond the basic tour:

• The House of Dance and Feathers, a unique cultural museum in the Ninth Ward, where guests will meet and enjoy a brief informal talk by Ronald Lewis, Mardi Gras Indian, city and neighborhood booster, and all-around cultural icon.
• My very own funky Faubourg Marigny residence, where you’ll be served a snack and a refreshing beverage while your carriage awaits.

Four hours: 20-person limit

Level 3: Signed Limited Edition

Includes House of Dance of Feathers, a gourmet champagne lunch at my house, and a signed copy of NEW ORLEANS NOIR, the anthology I edited after Hurricane Katrina, which features stories by a wide variety of prominent authors set in eighteen New Orleans neighborhoods. (Incidentally, it includes the section from which the tour takes its name: Life In Atlantis. )

Four and a half hours: 20-person limit.

Please write julie@casamysterioso.com for schedule and prices.