Meet L.A. Long

Writing and publishing a book was never on my list of things to do.  I never thought about it. It came about as a dare from my daughter. She was in high school, and while very intelligent, she didn’t always do her homework.  She went to a school that kept on top of their students and if homework was not turned in timely and complete the teachers would deduct a grade from the pupil’s final mark. So an “A” would be a “B” and a “B” would be a “C” and so on. As she had her eyes on some lofty college goals her GPA mattered…

Writing and publishing a book was never on my list of things to do.  I never thought about it. It came about as a dare from my daughter. She was in high school, and while very intelligent, she didn’t always do her homework.  She went to a school that kept on top of their students and if homework was not turned in timely and complete the teachers would deduct a grade from the pupil’s final mark. So an “A” would be a “B” and a “B” would be a “C” and so on. As she had her eyes on some lofty college goals her GPA mattered.

So as we discussed her homework, she deflected like a well-seasoned politician, and said, “Everyone tells you, you should write a book and you don’t but you read other people’s books.” Being the person that I am I called her on it and said, “Okay I’ll write a book and you do your homework.” That’s what we did. I sat at one end of the kitchen table and she sat on the other.  I with my “book” and she with her homework.

I had no idea how to write a book.  Sure I write, but technical things, based in fact. Could I tell a story yes, did Ashley and I make up stories when she was little and even now when we people watched yes. So I took her challenge, put pen to paper and started to write. Meanwhile, she did her homework-I had called her bluff.  Funny thing is, I loved writing.

The old is adage is write what you know. So I started writing about fraudulent insurance claims and a woman who ran a claims department.  That was my job and better yet insurance fraud is well documented, something I already knew.  Further research also confirmed that it is believed insurance fraud helped fund terrorism, most notably the 911 attacks.  That is how where the idea of Operation No Coincidence was formed.

It’s Not Too Late for Therapy’s story line conceived after I had dinner with two very successful women friends, one a decade older and one a decade younger, and I discovered we’d each made important personal and/or career decisions based on our dress sizes, or should I say our perceived dress sizes. Women’s struggles with their body image, especially weight, are well documented in the news, social media, and medical journals. To go along with that is bullying and the newly coined term, body shaming. The bullying relates back to my own life experience as an overweight child and the cruel taunts that today, even at 50 plus, still resonate in the back of my mind. 

My most recent release, Another Notch In the Beltway, was a combination of political and medical news coming together one morning while I was exercising I threw in my own knowledge of politics and self destructive behavior that I have witnessed in successful people who have become so arrogant that they think that they can do anything and there will be no negative repercussions. 

Now that you know about my entre in writing, you might be wondering what became of my daughter.  She is a graduate of Washington Jefferson College and is currently employed in the insurance industry.

To read more about L.A. Long, check out her website, Twitter, and Facebook pages