My Debut!
Thanks to Marilyn Puett for inviting me to guest blog today!
My debut novel, Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure, has just been released. It’s such an exciting time!
When I first began writing seriously over a decade ago, one of the first pieces of advice I heard was to “write what you know.” But as a CPA/tax attorney, what I knew were the rules for itemizing deductions, who qualifies as a dependent, and a half dozen methods for computing depreciation. Not exactly fodder for an interesting novel, huh?
But I knew some other things, too. I knew about criminals. Not your standard burglar or purse-snatching thug, but savvy and sophisticated criminals who knew how to pull off a financial crime.
One of my first jobs after law school was working as an assistant attorney general at the State of Texas Attorney General’s office. Many of the cases I worked on involved white-collar crimes. Ironically, it later came to light that the state AG was falsifying documents in order to fraudulently divert tobacco company settlement funds to his cronies’ law firms. He later pled guilty to criminal charges and spent some time in the slammer. Sheesh!
My innocence tarnished, I took a job with a large accounting firm, proud that such a prestigious outfit would hire little ol’ me. After my experience at the AG’s office, I was glad to now be among nerds who were surely too straight-laced to engage in criminal activity. Then, lo and behold, one of the partners was indicted for tax shelter fraud.
Was there no one I could trust?
Worried I’d find myself in jail as an unwitting accomplice to my next employer’s criminal deeds, I decided self-employment would be a good idea. I also realized my experiences with white-collar crime made excellent fodder for mystery novels. My fingers hit the keyboard and thus began my “Death and Taxes” series, which stars a female criminal investigator for the IRS.
Ever worked with a criminal? Maybe been the victim of a financial crime?
We’d love to hear about it! Post a comment to be entered in a drawing to win an autographed copy of Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure, book #1 in the Death and Taxes series. The winner will be announced at 9:00 pm central time.
For more information about my series, please visit me at www.dianekelly.com.
Thanks for stopping by the Writing Playground!
P.S. Catslady is Addison Fox's winner from Monday. Please email Angel at readdaniwade@gmail.com to arrange for your prize.
