Comic Mystery / Thriller / Humor
Date Published: December 28, 2023
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Whoever thought an astrologer's life could be so dangerous? Especially when you're "Hollywood's Astrologer to the Stars." Yet he once crawled out on a 20-story beam to talk down a suicidal celebrity. And when he gave a Vegas casino owner a costly piece of advice, he found himself the target of a hitman.
Fortunately he escaped only to face another crisis: the kidnapping of Sparklynn James, his most famous client. After the Feds falter on the case, the family asks him to assist Rebecca Fairway, a publicity-seeking P.I. (a.k.a. "The Glamorous Gumshoe) to find her. Not exactly the A Team.
But a coded ransom message from Sparklynn herself points them in the right direction...leading them straight into a web of corporate evil.
Interview with Thomas Collins
Introduction My Background
I grew up in Central Florida in the years before Mickey Mouse and The Magic Kingdom arrived. I graduated from Wake Forest then went onto the University of Missouri's School of Journalism to earn my M.A. with idea I would became an "ad man." However, by then I graduated there were no ad jobs to be found so I turned to public relations.
In the early 1970s I served as Manager of Public Affairs for Winston-Salem's Chamber of Commerce. There I had my own weekly radio show plus regular appearances on the local Morning Show. I also wrote and produced a 30-minute documentary on the city's recent re-development efforts called "Same Town New City" and created an anti-shoplifting campaign.
Later in my career I became Director of Corporate Communications for Blue Bell, a Fortune 500 company which makes Wrangler Jeans. During my 11-year run there I took the world's largest pair of jeans (four stories high) to the steps of the Capitol in Washington to lobby for the jobs of American textile workers. The jeans were signed by workers from 80 plants around the country and appeared in newspaper photos around the country. At Wrangler I also edited the corporate magazine and won more than two dozens profession awards for my work there including "Business Communicator of the Year" for the Southeast district of the U.S.
My Journey as a Writer
The first book I wrote was a mystery and the plot centered around the dramatic breakthrough in the development of an electric car. The man who designed it was kidnapped while on vacation in New England. The car would be fast enough to be entered in The Indianapolis 500. (This was written in the late 1980s and all of this became true, except that an electric car was not allowed to enter the race because it was not gas-powered.) The book was not published. I sent it to a former book editor for a major publisher for a critique. She tore it apart for my cardboard characters and flat style of writing.
I took this very seriously and worked hard to correct these faults when I wrote Crimeline Hollywood. I gave special attention to the characters, making them more colorful and quirky. It worked. When I sent this book in for a professional critique, I got a different kind of response.
It was extremely positive and told it was one of the best manuscripts she had seen. Armed with this positive reception , I sent it to many agents who prompted returned it with a standard reply that pretty much indicated it had not been read. That's why, after a few more years I gave it some more polish and contacted MindStir. The reader there also gave it a very positive evaluation.
Why the turnaround? Besides the attention to character, I changed from a traditional narrative style to a more free-wheeling one, which I thought to be more entertaining and reader friendly. I was heavily influenced by author and screenwriter William Goldman.
My Book
Crimeline Hollywood is a fresh take on the classic mystery. The book's cover describes it as "A madcap mystery with wide-screen suspense." This is the story of Dash Harwood Harwood, "Hollywood's Astrologer to the Stars" who teams up with celebrity detective Rebecca Fairway to so solve the kidnapping of super star Sparklynn James, Dash's most famous client, after the FBI fails to make any progress in the case. Rebecca and Dash catch a big break when Sparklynn sends a coded message hidden inside one of the ransom messages. Starting with Gloryview, a fancy health resort, Dash and Rebecca (a.k.a. "The Gorgeous Gumshoe") follow a trail that sends them into a web of corporate evil.
Crimeline Hollywood literally starts at 90 miles hour as Dash floors the accelerator on his mother's ancient LincolnTown Car to elude a hit man sent by a vengeful Vegas casino owner. For his own safety, Dash decides to lay low miles far from Hollywood in a folksy little mountain town in North Carolina where he falls in love with the beautiful Ruthann. Just as the romance heats up, Sparklynn is kidnapped and Dash is called away to help find Sparklynn. Thus the book is not only a mad cap mystery with sizzling suspense, it's also includes a heartbreaking romance. A little something for every reader.
Message For Readers
If you're a mystery lover, you'll enjoy this fresh take on the classic mystery. It's a story with wide-screen suspense, lurid tabloid headlines, and a heavy helping of humor.
About the Author
Thomas Collins wrote his first book, The Adventures of Tom and Rom, at the age of ten. (Now out of print) As an adult he gained valuable knowledge of the inner workings of big business as corporate communications director for a Fortune 500 company. Crimeline Hollywood is his first mystery though not his last, especially since the hitman from Crimeline is still on the loose. Like his hero, Dash Harwood, he is an Aquarian who likes to think outside the box… once he cuts through all the packaging.
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