My name is Leslie Langtry and I write dark humor/mystery. I have four books about a family of assassins.
'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy
Guns Will Keep Us Together
Stand By Your Hitman
I Shot You Babe
Why do I write about assassins? Because it's fun. That and my husband, a bodyguard, has a larger library on assassination than our local library. That doesn't sound weird, does it?
Each book is about a different member of the Bombay family, starting with Gin Bombay. I loved writing them. Sometimes, I pick them up and skim the books and wonder if I really did write them.
I'd written the first book and nervously pitched it to the lovely and amazing Leah Hultenscmidt at Dorchester. She bought it one week later.
Interestingly enough, I recieved a rejection letter from an agent on the same day I got THE CALL with the offer. The agent said, "This book will never sell. I'm not interested." I had that letter framed.
That just goes to show you how subjective this crazy business is. One person's trash is another's treasure. Which is how we come to what I'm reading.
The best book I've read this year is THREE MEN IN A BOAT - TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Jerome K. Jerome. And it was written in the nineteenth century. It's a charming and funny little book about three men in straw hats and striped jackets taking a boat trip along the Thames.
After that, I read Connie Willis' TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG, a hilarious time travel book that has some connections to my first recommendation. Read them. Trust me.
I read quite a range of books. I just finished THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin and STIFF: A CURIOUS HISTORY OF HUMAN CADAVERS by Mary Roach. Good stuff - I highly recommend.
I'm thrilled to be part of this blog, among some talented and wonderful fellow authors! I honestly don't know why they let me in. (No, seriously, why did they let me in? If you know, tell me.)
Leslie
Oh, c'mon Leslie, every group blog needs someone who can act as an assassin, don't you know that? Plus you've got the chili dog thing going for you!
ReplyDeleteLove the premise of your books! Can't wait to read them
Hi Leslie, your titles made me smile, which is good because this is my housecleaning day and I need all the smiles I can get ;)
ReplyDeleteLove the story about the day you got your call!
Judy - you are absolutely right! There's nothing a good chili cheese dog can't fix!
ReplyDeleteMaria - my philosophy is that I can either have a clean house, or be an interesting person. You can't have both. Knock back a few martinis and get caught up on Mad Men.
ReplyDeleteI love the titles of your books, Leslie. I keep thinking about reading The Passage. Maybe I should give it a whirl.
ReplyDeleteIt was really good. The only problem is I read it on my Kindle and couldn't figure out why it was taking me so long to get through it. So I went to the bookstore and discovered it's over 700 pages. I'm glad I read that on an e-reader.
ReplyDeleteLeslie, you know I adore your books. I have them all--and the first one I have like 6 times because I keep loaning it out to people to read. But your reading list... *shakes head*
ReplyDeleteWe need to arrange a conference where we can sit and drink martinis. Think someone will accommodate us? A conference between our two places...
A martini conference! I'm there, Hellie!
ReplyDeleteI just gave up on UNDER THE DOME, so I'm a little wary of THE PASSAGE. Though, we share an audiobook reader, so I do want to support. TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG sounds fantastic. I think I'll download it to my iPad...
ReplyDelete