On Thursday, January 9 at 5 pm ET WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers will be on BlogTalkRadio talking to author Maxine Nunes.
Like her heroine Nikki Easton, Maxine Nunes grew up in New York, did a bit of wandering and some fascinating odd-jobs before the allure of glamour drew her to Los Angeles with the idea of launching an acting career. Instead of waitressing like most of her peers, though, she lucked into a gig writing romance novels — quickie potboilers, which she wrote at the rate of one a month to make her rent. While Maxine did have a role in one feature film, Seasons in the Sun with Terry Jacks (alas, it went straight to video), she found herself much more interested writing. And writing seemed much more interested in her. She’s written and produced for TV, and currently writes for several publications, including the L.A. Times. Her satiric parody of a White House scandal won the Pen USA West International Imitation Hemingway Competition.
Here’s what her scorching, brilliant novel is about:
During a brutal L.A. heatwave, four people are murdered in the Hollywood Hills and Nikki Easton’s best friend Darla Ward has disappeared. The police think she might be one of the victims.
No stranger to life’s rough side, Nikki survived the streets as a teenage runaway and now brings that edge to her acting roles. But she has never seen anything like the battered girl on the gurney. Could this really be Darla, her beautiful face so damaged it looks barely human, her path to stardom ended in the county coroner’s morgue.
In her relentless search for the truth, Nikki discovers the hidden side of her friend’s life, laying bare secrets buried before Darla was born, and uncovering widening layers of corruption that reach far beyond Hollywood to the highest levels of government.
“Maxine Nunes crafts an outstanding tale of friendship, murder, love, and betrayal in her impressive debut… Nunes’ writing is top-notch from start to finish, and the increasingly suspenseful plot comes together with meticulous precision.” —ForeWord Reviews
“Nunes paints a brutally accurate portrait of a timeless Los Angeles, with all the romance of Raymond Chandler and the warts-and-all realism of Nathaniel West. Dazzled is a first-rate page-turner, and if you don’t fall in love with Nikki Easton, there must be something wrong with you.” —Matt Maranian, author of the Los Angeles Times #1 Best Seller, L.A. Bizarro
“Nothing is as it seems in Dazzled, Maxine Nunes’ dark and vivid tale about the underside of the Hollywood dream. Surprising and sizzling.” —Dianne Emley, Los Angeles Times bestselling author of Love Kills
L.A. has Philip Marlowe, and now it has Nikki Easton, the star of Maxine Nunes’ dazzling crime debut!… Nikki personifies the Los Angeles that Nunes writes about in perfect punctuated prose. Noir fans, rejoice! —Naomi Hirahara, Edgar Award-winning author of the Mas Arai and Officer Ellie Rush mysteries
“Hollywood is both an attitude and a place. In Dazzled, Maxine Nunes has nailed them both. A great read!” —Charles Rosenberg, author of the Amazon #1 Best Selling Legal Thriller, Death on a High Floor
Find out more about Maxine Nunes or get links to buy her books on her website: maxinenunes.com