Dark Money: Interview with Author Larry D. Thompson & $25 Amazon GC Giveaway!



Larry D. Thompson was first a trial lawyer. He tried more than 300 cases throughout Texas, winning in excess of 95% of them. When his youngest son graduated from college, he decided to write his first novel. Since his mother was an English teacher and his brother, Thomas Thompson, had been a best-selling author, it seemed the natural thing to do.

Larry writes about what he knows best…lawyers, courtrooms and trials. The legal thriller is his genre. DARK MONEY is his fifth story and the second in the Jack Bryant series.
Larry and his wife, Vicki, call Houston home and spend their summers on a mountain top in Vail, Colorado. He has two daughters, two sons and four grandchildren.

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About the Book:

DARK MONEY is a thriller, a mystery and an expose’ of the corruption of money in politics.

Jackson Bryant, the millionaire plaintiff lawyer who turned to pro bono work in Dead Peasants, is
caught up in the collision of money and politics when he receives a call from his old army buddy, Walt Frazier. Walt needs his assistance in evaluating security for Texas Governor Rob Lardner at a Halloween costume fundraiser thrown by one of the nation’s richest Republican billionaires at his mansion in Fort Worth.
Miriam Van Zandt is the best marksman among The Alamo Defenders, an anti-government militia group in West Texas. She attends the fund raiser dressed as a cat burglar---wounds the governor and murders the host’s brother, another Republican billionaire. She is shot in the leg but manages to escape.
Jack is appointed special prosecutor and must call on the Texas DPS SWAT team to track Van Zandt and attack the Alamo Defenders’ compound in a lonely part of West Texas. Van Zandt’s father, founder of the Defenders, is killed in the attack and Miriam is left in a coma. The authorities declare victory and close the case---but Jack knows better. The person behind the Halloween massacre has yet to be caught. When Walt and the protective detail are sued by the fund raiser host and the widow of the dead man, Jack follows the dark money of political contributions from the Cayman Islands to Washington to Eastern Europe, New York and New Orleans to track the real killer and absolve his friend and the Protective Detail of responsibility for the massacre.

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  • Dark Money is available at Amazon.
  • Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?

My professional career has been that of a trial lawyer before I started writing about ten years ago. I have always followed what the Supreme Court has written. I was dismayed with the decisions in Citizens United, Speech Now, and McCutcheon. In the name of First Amendment free speech, the court turned the keys to our political system over to the rich and corporations. My legal thrillers always have an underlying message. So, in Dark Money, the story is a thriller, a mystery and an expose’ of the corruption of money in politics.

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

Surprisingly enough, it was not all that hard. Once I had the idea and wrote the outline, the story flowed. My advice to other writers is to first outline. I know there are many good authors who just say, “What if?” and start that journey to the end of the story. More power to them. I need to draft a roadmap. Then, once the first draft is completed, re-write no less than ten times. Every re-write is better than the one before.


Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I started with Tor/Forge and then was with St. Martin’s for my next two novels. When I discovered that the major publishers had started paying only modest advances and did no promotion, my agent recommended a switch to Story Merchant Books, an imprint he developed in conjunction with Kindle. That decision has proved to be the right one. I am a big believer in supporting brick and mortar book stores, but Kindle is where readers go to buy books. So, it was an economic decision and one I’m glad I made.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

Only how difficult it was. I wrote what I was sure was the great American novel, but I was rejected by every agent and publisher. I self-published at first. Then I met my agent, Ken Atchity, who believed in me and convinced Tor/Forge to take a chance on a new author.

Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?

I usually write legal thrillers, but I’m going in a slightly different direction with my next story. My brother was Thomas Thompson, an internationally famous true crime author in the eighties. He died way too young. His best book was Blood and Money. Since it was a true story about murders in the rich River Oaks section of Houston, three of the characters sued him and Doubleday for libel. I defended and won all three cases. Now Blood and Money is going to be made into a ten part series (after 35 years, but Hollywood moves slowly). I found the libel trials to be a fascinating part of my life. So, I’m working on Blood and Money, The Libel Trials, to be published at the time the story is told on the screen.

Q: What’s your favorite place to hang out online?

I actually don’t spend much time online, but I frequently check Facebook to see what friends and family are doing.

Q: What’s your nightly ritual before retiring for the night?

After watching the news I crawl into bed with my Kindle and read until I am ready to fall asleep, usually about thirty minutes. And, of course, I read more thrillers than anything else.

Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?

Readers need to understand what the Supreme Court has done to our society with the three decisions I mentioned. The court has turned our political system upside down. It will take years to educate the public and correct the problems caused by huge, secret donors to political causes and races. Dark Money is one of the first efforts to do just that.
  
Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

Most readers are enjoying Dark Money. As I write, it is carrying 4.8 stars on Kindle. I hope people will read it. It’s a very good thriller. If more people read it, perhaps, they will get involved in politics and we can begin to reverse what the court has done. 

Larry D. Thompson is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Amazon Gift Card
  • This giveaway begins March 1 and ends May 27.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on May 28.
  • Winners have 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!


  



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