Authorpreneur Dashboard – Ro Cuzon
Under the Dixie Moon
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Four years after hurricane Katrina and the death of his wife, New Orleans bar owner Adel Destin has just kicked his heroin habit when Sondra Williams, an ex-junkie who once revived him from an overdose, begs him to help her find her missing sister. Adel has no choice but to accept, and soon is on the trail of a serial killer targeting women living on the fringe of society. Navigating temptations from his old life, dirty NOPD cops, and friends who turn to enemies in the delta heat, Adel must find the killer or end up framed for murder in The City that Care Forgot.
Book Bubbles from Under the Dixie Moon
Sense of Place
I love novels that have a great sense of place, so I work very hard at that in my own books. New Orleans is home to me now, at times I feel even more than my hometown in France ever was. It is where my daughter was born, the first place where I ever owned a home. I love this city more than any other I’ve ever lived in, warts and all which is the only way you can love New Orleans. People either get Nola or they don’t. In Under the Dixie Moon, I tried to portray both sides of the city—its abject poverty and crime, but also its incredible beauty and unique history. I think this bubble does a good job at describing the latter. It is inspired by my daily morning walks through the French Quarter with my daughter and my dog. I like it a lot.
The Post-Katrina Sanctuary of King Bolden's Bar
King Bolden's was my friend Mario Madero’s bar at 820 North Rampart in New Orleans. My first night working there was the Friday before Hurricane Katrina, 48 hours before the storm made landfall. King Bolden’s reopened two months later, in November 2005, and became the meeting place of countless New Orleaneans returning to their beloved, devastated city. It was a dim-lighted late-night spot (we often remained open till daylight) where people would reunite with friends and ease their heartbreak over strong, cheap drinks while listening to some great music. King Bolden’s also provided a place to play for many musicians retuning home. The crowd on most nights was a microcosm of the Big Easy—black and white, young and old, rich and poor. Meeting all these fantastic, resilient people from all walks of life was why I decided to stay in The City That Care Forgot at such a trying time in its existence. The King Bolden’s in ‘Under The Dixie Moon’ is based on the place that gave me a crash-course on everything New Orleans seven years ago. It is a faithful description of the bar as I remember it. For more, including photos, go to TheRogueReader.com
Under the Carib Sun
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Thirteen years prior to Under the Dixie Moon, Adel Destin is far from rock bottom, and far from coming clean. In fact, the Manhattan-born dope smuggler is on top of his game. Or so he thinks. Barely escaping Marseilles with his life, Adel lands on the exclusive Caribbean island of St. Barts, where he hopes to relax on the hot sand. But fate–and the inability to change his ways–lands him in hot water instead. Adel meets Seb, a local small-time drug-dealer looking to take his business to the next level, and Daphnée, a drop-dead gorgeous cocktail waitress who seems to instantly succumb to his bad-boy charm. For a very short while, life in St. Barts is indeed paradise. Until Adel and Seb run afoul of the neighboring island’s main drug lord, and Daphnée turns out to have a secret agenda. Soon there’s blood on the white sand beaches, paradise slides into purgatory, as Adel learns that life on plush St.-Barts can be as cheap as in the meanest asphalt jungle.
Book Bubbles from Under the Carib Sun
Real World Inspiration
This passage is directly inspired by something that happened to me, although it took place when I still lived in Nantes, France. A friend of mine—let’s call him Paul—and I were driving to the coast one summer when Paul told me he had to make a quick stop by this mechanic shop on the way. He said the owner was a friend of his who’d sold him a used car, a complete lemon, and the guy was going to give him his money back. So we stop by the guy’s garage and Paul told me he’d be right back, just like Seb does with Adel. Then everything happened exactly the way I described it. The guy didn’t want to give him his money and Paul bashed his skull with a tire-iron as I watched in shock from the passenger seat of Paul’s car. Then we left and spent the day at the beach. What didn’t make it into the book is that the mechanic and a couple of his friends came to Paul’s house a couple days later. It was shortly before midnight and they’d brought baseball bats with them. But Paul owned a shotgun...
The Real St Bart's
I moved to St. Barts from San Francisco in April 1996, six months before Adel does in Under the Carib Sun. Like Adel, it was a rather sudden decision (although I wasn’t running from anyone-- except maybe myself). I arrived there at the end of the tourist season with very little money saved, no job prospect, and no place to stay. My first year there is unfortunately reduced to foggy memories of parties, beach lounging, and countless hours of snorkeling, but there are two things that I still remember vividly. One is my first job there: digging a 20x5x7ft ditch on a steep, insect-infested hill, ten hours a day under the broiling for what amounted to slave wages. The other, which I will never forget as long as I live, is the landing on one of shortest commercial runway in the world on a very windy day. It became the first scene I wrote when I started work on Under the Carib Sun. Maybe because nothing says Welcome to Paradise like one’s near-death experience.
