The Author Is A Lady

 

Here is an excerpt from the author Deborah Coonts that wrote two of the books that I have reviewed

in an earlier post.  She is a very talented person and I really enjoyed her books, so read this little note
she wrote and you will know a little bit more about a very special lady.

How Exactly Did I End Up Here Again?
By Deborah Coonts,
Author of Lucky Stiff

I know a lot of writers and they each have their own reasons for writing. Some love to play with words. Some love to craft devilish plots. Some love the fantasy. Me? I write because I am eminently unemployable.

I don't play well with others, never did. And my mind seems to jump around like a water droplet in a hot skillet -- either I am insatiably curious or I'm gluten-intolerant and have ADD -- either way, boredom is an issue. I can't imagine doing the same thing over and over, day in, and day out. If that had been my life, I would've punched my own clock years ago.

So, I make stuff up. It's safer that way. Trust me.

According to my mother, I was born to be a professional liar. However, back when my talent first reared its ugly head, I was punished for it, now I'm paid for it. Go figure. Ironic, isn't it?

There's a lesson in there somewhere and it is this: find your best thing and go with it. You laugh at the simplicity or even the innocence, but doesn't it have the ring of truth? I know it does, you see, I'm proof.

A good observer, I learned early on that I was expected: to speak only when spoken to, to consider anything written by Emily Post to be second in importance only to the Bible, to be fluent in china and silver patterns and, to aspire to marry the scion of some oil family and join the Junior League. And if my husband was voted in as a member of the Dallas Country Club? Well, I would have achieved far beyond my potential. You see, I was raised in Texas during the last gasp of the Donna Reed era. Suffice it to say, brainpower was not in the top five traits most admired in a woman. Hell, it probably didn't even make the list.

My grandmother used to tell me I was smart enough to play dumb. Apparently, she wasn't accurate in that assessment. So, I retreated into stories where adventures awaited and I could be anything, do anything -- the world was my oyster. Unfortunately, this forward-thinking ideal hadn't reached my little corner of the universe.

I was told I had to become an accountant. I loathed accounting. Thus began a duplicitous existence. I studied accounting, but I also majored in kinesiology (Heretic that I was, I thought I wanted to be a doctor). It turns out neither was a good fit. But I didn't know what was. I mean, who announces at twenty she is going to make a living as a novelist? Certainly not the little girl who was told she could aspire no higher than the Junior League.

A great disappointment to my southern friends and knowing there had to be more, I launched myself into the adventure of life. I've been everything from a mom (life's very best adventure) and a wife (I'm not so well-suited for this one), a tax lawyer (boring), a business owner (close), a pilot and a flight instructor (sometimes too much of an adventure).

A veritable Walter Mitty, my well of human experience is deep. And since you gotta live it before you can write it, I've come full circle back to my best thing. But it wasn't quite that simple. Oh, I started putting words on the page -- long, rambling sentences, too much backstory, plots with holes you could drive a tank through, purple prose . . . drivel.

But I was writing! Watch out Sandra Brown!

And, over fifteen years later, I'm an overnight success.

Along the way I put in my 10,000 hours, my million words. And I learned some things along the way: I'm no Sandra Brown . . . no, I've got way too much funny bone. And I'm not terrified to speak in front of a crowd. Apparently I'm over 40/64^th hambone. Who knew? God, don't give me a mike and an audience, you'll regret it. And I have a terribly inappropriate sense of humor, as my mother would tell me. To be honest, I like that part.

Finally, I am me.

© 2011 Deborah Coonts, author of Lucky Stiff

Author Bio
Deborah Coonts, author of Lucky Stiff, says her mother tells her she was born in Texas a very long time ago, though she's not totally sure -- her mother can't be trusted. But she was definitely raised in Texas on barbeque, Mexican food and beer. She currently resides in Las Vegas, where family and friends tell her she can't get into too much trouble. Silly people. Coonts has built her own business, practiced law, flown airplanes, written a humor column for a national magazine, and survived a teenager. She is the author of the Lucky O'Tool Las Vegas adventure series.

The first book in the series, Wanna Get Lucky?, has been nominated by the Romance Writers of America for the 2011 RITA awards in the categories of Best First Novel and Best Novel with a Strong Romantic Element. Her second book, Lucky Stiff, was published in February 2011.

For more information please visit http://www.deborahcoonts.com/, and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

County Line

COUNTY LINE is a masterpiece of storytelling. Some critics have described it as "crime noir" -- I'm not entirely certain what that means, but it seems to fit: the book has an undeniably dark tone and crimes are committed. It's a genre in which I'm not well read. But I know good writing when I see it, regardless of genre, and in reading this book it became patently obvious very early on that Cameron is a fiercely talented writer.

The protagonist, Skin Kadash, a homicide cop for 25 years, is now retired and living in Portland, OR. Ruby Jane, the woman he cares about -- even he seems reluctant to define her as something more serious, given that he's not quite sure his feelings are reciprocated -- has gone missing. And there's a dead guy in her bathtub. So Kadash sets out on a mission to find her. This book is about his relentless journey halfway across the country and back, and deep into Ruby Jane's painful past, to find a woman who seems determined not to let anyone discover where, or who, she really is.

Kadash is smart and also a bit of a smart-ass. He's wryly self-deprecating while at the same time projecting a tough quiet confidence in his knowledge and experience as a cop. He's not afraid of physical pain, in fact seems to expect it, but is vulnerable to emotional anguish -- his own, but especially that of others. It's a delicate balance and Cameron draws that line with finesse.

Ruby Jane is a pure mess. We see her primarily though the hellish yet oddly matter-of-fact first hand account of events from her distant past. She's a character featured in earlier books, but I haven't read those so my first impressions are not of her as a grown woman but as a teen, a girl with experiences and responsibilities beyond her years. Her story is heartbreaking without being maudlin. Her strength and resilience stand as defiant affirmation without the lecture. Again, an incredibly difficult but brilliant characterization.

In fact, the depictions of Ruby Jane's horribly dysfunctional home life and of teenage girls with their capacity for cliquish cruelty are handled so well, with such simple unflinching authenticity, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend COUNTY LINE as a YA selection.

Cameron employs a complicated and potentially disjointed method of telling this story, switching between present and past events and offering narrative from diverse alternate points of view, but he pulls it all together seamlessly. There's just enough wry humour to keep it from being too dark, just enough sensitivity to serve as a salve to the brutality, and definitely enough "what the heck is going on?" to make it gripping and unpredictable all the way to the end.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review from FSB Media, whether it was good or bad review.  I definitely think I am ready for the next one.
it was a great read, so give it a try

Wanna Get Lucky?

I watched Deborah write this tale, and when she gave me chapters to read, was blown away. She had written two previous manuscript novels, went to countless critique groups, and written a humor column for a national magazine. But when she tackled Las Vegas, something magical happened: Deborah became Lucky and Vegas came marvelously to life.
WANNA GET LUCKY? is the Vegas we hope to find when we visit for a weekend or a week; slightly naughty, funny and a welcome change from our work-a-day lives.
Lucky O'Toole makes it come alive, because Deborah is Lucky and Lucky is Deborah, the hippest, coolest gal in Vegas.
Deb has already written Lucky II and III, and they are as marvelous as the first Lucky tale. Buy, borrow or steal this novel and come join Lucky, a/k/a Deborah Coonts, for a delightful visit to America's adult wonderland. You'll never be the same again.

I was given this book by FSB Media in exchange for an honest review written by myself.....I'm ready for another book!!

Lucky Stiff

On the Vegas Strip, the Babylon Resort and Casino is perhaps the glitziest of the glitzy. Customer Relations chief Lucky O'Toole understands where she works attracts people who "Wanna Get Lucky?" However, even Lucky is unprepared for the honeybee horde just in front of the hotel caused by a truck tipping over as a fight weekend begins. O'Toole cannot remember the last time the Strip shut.

The next morning O'Toole learns the county District Attorney hides in a closet after becoming the third wheel in a tryst. That same morning, private investigator Jeremy Whitlock argues in public with ruthless bookie Evelyn Wabash "Numbers" Neidermeyer. Later that day, Numbers' number is up in Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino's shark tank; cops suspect Jeremy as the murderer. On a more normal note, Lucky's mom the Madame plans a "virginity auction" and Lucky's songwriting lover Teddie Kowalski is in Los Angeles on a recording deal. Musing O'Toole knows life in Vegas is never dull.

This is an amusing Vegas thriller in which the heroine feels she crapped out as one hell of a night has become one hell of a day. The jocular story line is character driven with Lucky the hub of the zaniness and the support cast like her mom, her lover, her P.I. hunk and the unlucky stiff the speaks to. Although there is a similarity in the glitzy lampoon tone and its Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes Bad Luck lyrics to the first tale and over the top of the tower of the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower; fans will enjoy this casino caper.

This book was given to me to read and write a very honest review by FSB Media, which I have done and received nothing in return for my comments except the book to read.