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O’Neil De Noux (born November 27, 1950 in New Orleans, LA) is a prolific US writer of short stories and novels. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Although most of De Noux’s fiction falls under the mystery genre, he has published stories in many disciplines including children’s fiction, mainstream fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, horror, western, literary, religious, romance, humor and erotica.

A working friendship with western writer John Edward Ames and encouragement from friend George Alec Effinger and mentor Harlan Ellison, helped De Noux become a critically-acclaimed mystery writer and instructor of writing classes at several universities. John Edward Ames (born December 30, 1949) is a prolific American writer of Novels and short stories from Toledo Ohio. George Alec Effinger ( January 10, 1947 &ndash April 27, 2002) was an American science fiction author, born in 1947 Harlan Jay Ellison (born May 27, 1934) is a prolific American Writer of Short stories, Novellas, Teleplays De Noux has influenced a number of published writers at the beginning of their careers. De Noux’s police procedural novels and mystery stories have been lauded for their hyper-realism, sharp dialogue and strong use of setting, primarily New Orleans. Realism in the Visual arts and Literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in Everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation He has also carved a niche with his genre-blending fiction, mixing erotica with mysteries, science-fiction and humor.

O'Neil De Noux
O'Neil De Noux

Contents

Early life

De Noux was born on State Street in New Orleans, LA, to a mother of Sicilian descent and father of French descent. Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Educated in Catholic schools like St. Mary of the Angels, Holy Rosary and Our Lady of Prompt Succor, De Noux was brought up Catholic. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". His father, O’Neil P. De Noux, Sr. (1928-1997) was in the U. S. Army. Consequently, the De Noux family traveled extensively. An army-brat, De Noux lived in Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi and Italy before his father retired and returned to New Orleans in 1966.

While in Italy, De Noux began his life-long love of books and movies. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Reading a book a week from the army post library, he saw just about every Hollywood movie produced between 1960 to 1963 at the post theatre. The only exceptions were Hitchcock’s Psycho and the James Bond movies, which his father deemed inappropriate for a pre-teen. Psycho is a suspense / Horror film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock, from the Screenplay by Joseph James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story He was able to see Psycho at age thirteen, which drew him to greatly admire, and later closely study, the works of Alfred Hitchcock. As a youngster, De Noux’s favorite writings were Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey and the We Were There series of young-adult novels, his favorite We Were There At The Normandy Invasion by Clayton Knight, before moving on to the Horatio Hornblower novels of C. S. Forester.

On November 22, 1963, while home from school with a fake headache, De Noux watched the TV coverage of the assassination of his hero, President John F. Kennedy, an event which changed his life dramatically. Awakening to the dramatic social changes occurring in the south in the 1960s, De Noux grew to admire Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

Influence of his father

The trauma of Vietnam visited the De Noux home with telling effects as his father, set to retire in 1965, volunteered for service in Vietnam. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially A criminal investigator for the C.I.D., O’Neil, Sr. was promoted to provost marshal first sergeant of the First Infantry Division and followed his combat tours in World War II and Korea (where he received three purple heart medals) with a tour in Vietnam. Shot outside Saigon by a Viet Cong sniper, O’Neil, Sr. READ DISCUSSION PAGE BEFORE MAKING ANY EDITS TO CAPTION BELOW http//en suffered bruised ribs but no gunshot wound when his bullet-proof vest stopped the bullet. Learning he would not receive a fourth purple heart because he did not shed blood for his country in this shooting, O’Neil, Sr. threw away the flak-vest, declaring, “Next time I get shot, I’m getting a purple heart. ”

His father retired from the U. S. Army and brought the family to live in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, where De Noux returned to Catholic School at Archbishop Rummel High, where he graduated in 1968. Metairie (local pronunciations /ˈmɛtəɹi/ /ˈmɛtɹi/ is a Census-designated place (CDP in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States Upon earning a gold certificate as a top English student, De Noux, a faithful Marvel Comics fan, listed Stan Lee as his favorite author (to the chagrin of the Christian Brothers). Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922) is an American Writer, editor, creator of comic book characters While at Archbishop Rummel, De Noux added H. G. Wells, George Orwell, J. D. Salinger, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway to his list of favorites (after Stan Lee). Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Jerome David "J D" Salinger (born January 1 1919 (ˈsælɨndʒɚ is an American author best known for his 1951 Novel The Catcher in the Rye Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24 1896 – December 21 1940 was an American writer of Novels and Short stories, whose works are evocative of the Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21 1899 — July 2 1961 was an American novelist short-story writer, and Journalist. Reading Ray Bradbury’s The Martain Chronicles drew De Noux to science-fiction and inspired him to begin writing. During the next few years De Noux penned twenty of the worst science-fiction stories ever written. He still has the stories and goes back to them to remind himself just how badly he could write.

De Noux’s father, a strong influence in his life, rose through the ranks of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to command the Crime Scene Division. Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the Suburbs of New Orleans. Upon graduating from high school, De Noux joined the sheriff’s office as a police cadet, attending Loyola University New Orleans where he studied criminology. Loyola University New Orleans is a private, Co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans.

Military service

Leaving the sheriff’s office in 1970 to join the F.B.I. as a clerk, De Noux was promptly drafted into the U.S. Army for service in Vietnam. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Military service in its simplest sense is service by an individual or group in an Army or other military organization whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary While awaiting shipment to Southeast Asia, angry at being a second-generation to serve in Vietnam, De Noux was shocked when his shipment was cancelled as the gradual reduction in forces began. From California’s Fort MacArthur, De Noux was stationed at the U. Fort MacArthur is a former US Army installation in San Pedro California (now the port community of Los Angeles) named for General Arthur MacArthur S. Army Aviation Center, Fort Rucker, AL. Fort Rucker is a US Army post located mostly in Dale County, Alabama, United States.

His army MOS was Photographer: Combat Still. De Noux took run-of-the-mill army pictures while expressing himself creatively with black-and-white still-life photos, winning several Best Photo Awards. In later years De Noux’s photos adorned the covers of several fiction magazines, as well as the covers of three of his books (LaStanza: New Orleans Police Stories, New Orleans Confidential and New Orleans Irresistible). While at ‘Mother Rucker’ De Noux earned a Bachelor’s Degree in European History from Troy University. Troy University is a public University located in Troy, Alabama and founded in 1887, as "Troy Normal School"

With his father a war hero, De Noux felt he’d succeeded in his military service when he was signing out of the army and met his company commander for the first time. His captain declared, “What have we here, a new man?” To which De Noux responded no, he was leaving the army. “How long have you been in my company?” asked the captain to which De Noux advised eighteen months. An article in Stars-And-Stripes topped De Noux’s military career as it explained how he managed three years of military service without anyone knowing he was even there. This followed De Noux’s earlier election as Senior Most Likely to Remain Anonymous at Archbishop Rummel. By this time, De Noux’s affection for science fiction drew him to “New Wave” authors Roger Zelazny, Samuel R. Delany, James Sallis, and Harlan Ellison, his new favorite writer. New Wave is a term applied to Science fiction writing characterized by a high degree of experimentation both in form and in content and a Highbrow and self-consciously Roger Joseph Zelazny ( May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American writer of Fantasy and Science fiction Samuel Ray Delany Jr (born April 1, 1942, New York City) is an award-winning American Science fiction James Sallis (born 21 December 1944 in Helena Arkansas) is an American Crime writer, Poet and Musician, best known for his series Harlan Jay Ellison (born May 27, 1934) is a prolific American Writer of Short stories, Novellas, Teleplays He read everything available by Ellison and renewed his pursuit of writing science-fiction with the same results – bad stories, badly written.

Police career

For the next three years, De Noux served as criminal intelligence analyst for the Regional Organized Crime Information Center in suburban New Orleans. Criminal intelligence is information gathered or collated analyzed recorded/reported and disseminated by law enforcement agencies concerning types of Crime, identified While working the nightshift, De Noux abandoned his dream of becoming a successful science-fiction writer. "Nightshift" is a 1985 hit song by The Commodores, featured on the album with the same name He turned to mysteries and began working on what became a five hundred page, single-spaced manuscript, a disjointed series of stories featuring his first literary creation. Instead of following other New Orleans writers who focused on characters with French surnames, De Noux tapped his mother’s side of the family to create his Sicilian-American cop hero, NOPD Patrolman Dino LaStanza. The manuscript depicted the escapades of a patrolman with no central plot. Too episodic, the only encouragement De Noux received from editors was praise for the realistic dialogue and strong use of setting.

From 1977 to 1980, De Noux was a uniformed patrol officer for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the most rewarding working experience of his life. In Military tactics, a patrol is often a small tactical grouping sent out by land sea or air to perform a specific task When promoted to the Homicide Division, De Noux found his calling and finally discovered what he should write about. An exceptional career as a homicide detective followed in which De Noux solved every murder where he was lead investigator (fifteen) and assisted in over fifty other homicide investigations. List of countries by homicide rate Homicide ( Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut kill refers to the act of killing another In 1980 De Noux completed the Homicide Investigation curriculum at The Southern Police Institute of the University of Louisville. The University of Louisville (also known as U of L) is a public University in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

Earning seven commendations, De Noux was named Homicide Detective of the Year in 1981. Shortly after, he was transferred from Homicide, banished to a quiet police district when a new sheriff was elected. Offered a lucrative position as chief investigator at a private investigative firm, De Noux worked as a P. I. for the next six years. Freed from working double shifts with the sheriff’s office, De Noux sat down to pen a homicide novel in 1986.

Author career

Turning Patrolman LaStanza into a homicide detective, De Noux completed Grim Reaper, which was immediately purchased by Zebra Books. Four subsequent LaStanza novels followed, The Big Kiss, Blue Orleans, Crescent City Kills and The Big Show. Lauded for their hyper-realistic portrayal of police homicide work, the LaStanza Series received critical acclaim for its sharp dialogue and fast-pacing. In 1999, a short story collection, LaStanza: New Orleans Police Stories (Pontalba Press), received an “A” book-review rating from Entertainment Weekly magazine. De Noux adapted one of the LaStanza stories “Waiting for Alaina” into a screenplay, which was filmed in New Orleans and broadcast on local TV in 2001.

With the release of Grim Reaper, De Noux met George Alec Effinger, a talented science-fiction writer living in near obscurity in the French Quarter. George Alec Effinger ( January 10, 1947 &ndash April 27, 2002) was an American science fiction author, born in 1947 Effinger’s first book in his Budayeen Series, When Gravity Fails, was just released. A strong friendship developed as Effinger encouraged, then taught De Noux how to write short stories. When Effinger introduced De Noux to his literary idol, Harlan Ellison, De Noux found his mentor. Ellison, the award-winning grand master of speculative fiction took De Noux under wing and remains a strong influence in his writings. In an article about writing, voracious reader De Noux stated, “I read all the time. Then I go back and read Ellison to cleanse my palate, like good wine. ”

Effinger also introduced De Noux to another of his “New Wave” heroes, James Sallis, who had just begun writing his New Orleans mystery series of Lew Griffin novels. James Sallis (born 21 December 1944 in Helena Arkansas) is an American Crime writer, Poet and Musician, best known for his series Sallis later penned the introduction to De Noux’s collection New Orleans Confidential.

Shortly after accepting De Noux’s story “The Desire Streetcar” in 1991, for their Pulphouse: Fiction Spotlight, the legendary publishing house, Pulphouse Publishing (Eugene, Oregon), offered De Noux a job where he trained as an editor. The city of Eugene ( "yoo-JEEN") is the County seat of Lane County, Oregon, De Noux became the founding editor of two short-lived fiction magazines, Mystery Street and New Orleans Stories. He also succeeded in selling his first science-fiction short story.

Returning to New Orleans in 1992, De Noux began a long association with Louisiana colleges, teaching writing classes (creative writing, short story writing, mystery writing and science-fiction writing) at Tulane University (1993-1997), the University of New Orleans (1998-2005), and Delgado Community College (2004-2005). Tulane University is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The University of New Orleans, often locally called UNO, is a medium sized public urban University located in New Orleans Louisiana, United States Delgado Community College is a Louisiana public Community college with campuses throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area, the East and West Banks of In 1993, De Noux’s non-fiction book Specific Intent, a lead title from Pinnacle Books, became a main selection of the Doubleday Book Club. This true-crime book detailed the intricate police investigation of a murder case which shocked south Louisiana. By the end of the Twentieth Century, De Noux had sold nearly two hundred short stories and had written articles for The Writer Magazine, The Times-Picayune newspaper, Gambit Weekly and Police Magazine.

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, severely damaging De Noux’s home, he relocated with his wife (Debra Gray De Noux, editor of the anthology Erotic New Orleans) to Southwest Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest in the history of the United States Southwest Louisiana (SWLA is a five- parish area intersecting the Acadiana and Central Louisiana regions in the U Taken in by generous patrons of the arts, Anne and Dr. Lee J. Monlezun, De Noux taught mystery writing at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA, in 2006. McNeese State University, founded in 1939 is a University located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA. Nearly a year to the day after Hurricane Katrina, De Noux resettled across Lake Pontchartain from New Orleans in St. Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest in the history of the United States Tammany Parish.

In March 2006, his short story collection, New Orleans Confidential, featuring N. O. Private Eye Lucien Caye, was published by PointBLANK Press (Holicong, PA). This collection of 1940s noir stories received rave reviews. From Publisher’s Weekly' — “an engaging, fast-paced collection of stories featuring private eye and womanizer extraordinaire Lucien Caye as he tracks philandering husbands, possible murderers and missing cats … these stories-abounding with ample bosoms and willing women-are fun, and the author knows his stuff when it comes to the Big Easy. ”

Cementing his niche in genre-blending, De Noux’s collection of erotic detective stories, New Orleans Irresistible, was published by EAA Signature Series Books in May 2006. One story in the collection, Death on Denial, previously published in the critically acclaimed anthology, Flesh & Blood: Guilty as Sin, edited by Max Allan Collins and Jeff Gelb (Mysterious Press) had been chosen for the Best American Mystery Stories 2003 Collection (Houghton Mifflin).

De Noux is also the creator of two additional recurring characters, 1890s New Orleans Police Detective Jacques Dugas and contemporary NOPD Homicide Detective John Raven Beau. These characters, along with Dino LaStanza and Lucien Caye, have appeared in dozens of magazines and anthologies, including top mystery magazines such as Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock and Crimewave (UK). Beau, half-Cajun and half-Sioux, is prominently mentioned on several Native-American Detective web sites.

Now in the 21st Century, De Noux lists his literary influences as (alphabetically): John Edward Ames, Max Allan Collins, Bernard Cornwell, George Alec Effinger, Harlan Ellison, Ken Follett, Thomas Harris, Greg Iles, Alexander Kent, Elmore Leonard, C. L. Moore, Jeff Shaara, James Sallis and Kate Wilhelm. He has also developed a particular affinity for mystery writers Frederic Brown, Howard Browne, David Dodge, Loren Estleman, David Hewson, Wade Miller, Marcia Muller, Max Phillips, Bill Pronzini, Harry Whittington, Charles Willeford and Charles Williams.

De Noux married Debra Gray De Noux in 1992. They have collaborated on a number of short stories. He has two children from a previous marriage. Extremely proud and protective of his children, De Noux describes them as his greatest collaborative effort.

Shamus Award Winner! The Private Eye Writers of America awarded its prestigious Shamus Award for Best Short Story 2007 to The Heart Has Reasons by O'Neil De Noux (which appeared as the cover story of the September 2006 Issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine). The Shamus Award is given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. The 26th Annual Shamus Awards were announced at Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Anchorage, Alaska, on September 28, 2007. The Heart Has Reasons features De Noux’s private eye Lucien Caye.

Bibliography

Novels

Short Story Collections

Non-fiction books

Selected Short Stories

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