Does a life in law enforcement give a special insight into crime? It certainly seems that way to me after interviewing O’Neil de Noux.

His first books were police procedurals, following his career in law enforcement just outside of New Orleans. Now he’s writing about private investigators and semi-retired detectives … and pursuing his stories in historical fiction as a satisfying challenge.

Like many writers, O’Neil delves into many genres, following his curiosity into multiple stories.

O’Neil De Noux (www.oneildenoux.com) is a retired police officer, a former homicide detective, and former private eye with 49 books and over 400 short stories published. His writing has been awarded the SHAMUS AWARD twice as well as the DERRINGER AWARD and POLICE BOOK of the YEAR (www.PoliceWriters.com). Two of his stories have been featured in the BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES annual anthology (2003 and 2013). He is a past Vice-President of the Private Eye Writers of America.

TIMINGS

00:40 Welcome / Introduction

2:11 Historical Fiction vs. Mystery Fiction

10:10 Writing Mentors

15:00 Indies Control Everything: Idea to Cover Design

18:46 Ideas Drive his Character Selection

24:30 Inspiration from Titles

28:00 Newest Release

32:00 Using Downtime to allow Drafts to Percolate

36:48 Closing

Total Run Time = 37:48

LINKS

website: https://www.oneildenoux.com/

Latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Dandelions-Lucien-Caye-Private-ebook/dp/B0D5YVPVHZ

Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/ONeil-De-Noux/author/

TWF Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/04/614-writers-on-writing-oneil-de-noux.html

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