Happy Friday! Today we’ve got a Page 69 Challenge excerpt, an interview with author Rich Leder, and a special offer for his upcoming release, Let There Be Linda.
Blurb: Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder
Leder’s black comic thriller tells the tall tale of estranged brothers Mike and Dan Miller—accountant and con-man talent agent respectively—up to their necks in the virtual quicksand of LA’s San Fernando Valley during the hottest summer in Southern California history.
The root cause of their problems could be the missing seventy-five thousand dollars, or the sadistic, loan shark dwarf and his vicious giant, or the psycho comedian cop on the case, or the coke-snorting dentist, or the deranged zombie real estate developer. Or perhaps it’s the poodle—the poodle is suspect, no doubt. Or maybe it’s the grocery store checker who breathes life into death.
Oh yes, it could be her too.
And so to repair the head-on collision the Millers have made of their personal and professional lives, the brothers summon their mother back from the dead to clean up the wreckage. But what the Miller men discover is that screwing with the laws of nature is a violent, bloody, hysterical, and hilarious idea.
Author Interview:
Rich Leder has been a working writer for more than two decades. His screen credits include 18 produced television films for CBS, Lifetime, and Hallmark and feature films for Paramount Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, and Left Bank Films.
He has written four funny novels: McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication; McCall & Company: Swollen Identity; Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench; and Let There Be Linda.
He founded Laugh Riot Press as an imprint for his funny books and the funny books of other indie authors.
He has been the lead singer in a Detroit rock band, a restaurateur, a Little League coach, an indie film director, a literacy tutor, a magazine editor, a screenwriting coach, a PTA board member, a commercial real estate agent, and a visiting artist for the University of North Carolina Wilmington Film Studies Department, among other things, all of which, it turns out, was grist for the mill. He resides on the North Carolina coast with his awesome wife, Lulu, and is sustained by the visits home of their three children.
Why did you make the transition from screenwriting to novel writing? After 25 years of telling stories in the strictly regimented format of screenwriting, I had the strong desire to work a deeper, wider canvas. In a script, the writer can only access the thoughts of the characters with action or dialogue. In a novel, the writer can explore the mind and heart and soul of the characters at his/her leisure—discuss the characters’ actual thoughts and feelings. Budget is a non-issue with a novel but a big concern with a movie. Sheer number of characters can be problematic in a script but not in a book (so long as the characters are meaningfully created). Number of locations, page count, and other considerations a movie must make are non-existent in the world of a novel.
I wanted to experience writing without regimentation.
Describe Let There Be Linda in two words. Try Two Sentences. I can do six words: black comic thriller of the year. And I can do five words: silly, bloody, violent, hilarious fun. And I can do five words again: Monty Python meets Quentin Tarantino. And, finally, I can do two words: wild ride.
Where did Let There Be Linda come from? Who and what were the inspirations? Left field? Shadows in the wood? Breeze in the meadow? Dark side of the moon? I have no real idea where LINDA came from. It was, I suppose, that indescribable moment of creative human magic. But I know who inspired the spirit of the thing: Monty Python and Quentin Tarantino.
What type of readers would love this book? Readers who like dark comedy. Readers who like thrillers. Readers who like wild rides. Readers who like to laugh out loud.
Are you done writing films? If so, what does the future hold for Rich Leder and Laugh Riot Press? It feels like I’m done writing screenplays on spec. If I’m hired to write, then I’ll write one. But if I’m just going to sit down and write a story, I’m going to write a novel from this point in my life onward. That’s what it feels like.
Why should people read your books? To experience characters they’ll never meet in real life that are so real they’ll think they’ve met them in their real life after all. To laugh out loud. To be thrilled. To be transported to another place. To laugh out loud. Did I mention that one?
What do you want readers to know about you before they start reading you? I love to write, and I love to make readers laugh. I love to tell fantastic stories—hilarious mysteries and dark comic thrillers—and I care enough about my characters to make them real people readers will fall for.
Page 69 Challenge: Page 69 of Let There Be Linda, by Rich Leder, Laugh Riot Press
That was Marshall McLuhan’s advice anyway. I invite readers to submit their own or other works (pg. 69 only of course!) via the Contact Form here.
Danny knew Omar was right; he was about to black out. He could sense the sun setting, even though it was the middle of the day. And he could hear Harvey singing the last verses of “Danny Boy.”
“And if you come, and all the flowers are dying, If I am dead, as dead I well may be, I pray you’ll find the place where I am lying, And kneel and say an Ave there for me,”
I’m going now, Danny thought, but something happened split seconds before he lost consciousness, something he knew was important in spite of the singing dwarf and the giant choking the air out of him. It was the thing that was wrong with the room, the odd thing, the offbeat and out-of-tune thing.
“And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me, And all my grave will warm and sweeter be, And then you’ll kneel and whisper that you love me, And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.”
It was the fern on the bamboo coffee table, the dehydrated-dry-and-shriveled-brown dead fern that Jenny Stone had taken in her hands and breathed on. He was looking straight down right at it. Alive, he said in his head, it’s alive. And then everything went black.
But wait… There’s more!
Laugh Riot Press Promotions
Buy One Get One Free: Let There Be Linda is on presale on Amazon for $2.99. On July 1st it will be $4.99.
If you preorder Let There Be Linda before July 1st, and send Rich (rich@laughriotpress.com) a proof of purchase, he will send you a free e-copy of his romantic Hollywood sex comedy Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench. That’s two great reads for $2.99!
Ask a Question, Win a Signed Book! Email Rich any questions you want answered on the Laugh Riot Podcast (http://www.laughriotpress.com/podcasts/) for the chance to win a free signed book!
For more info or to pre-order your copy of Let There Be Linda:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads |
Facebook | LaughRiot Press | Twitter
Barb Taub 
Thanks, Barb. I must check it out!
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I’m about halfway through, and it’s (darkly, awfully, horrifically) hilarious. Absolutely excellent writing in the way that some movies (say Pulp Fiction) are funny and well-done even as you dislike all characters.
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‘Monty Python meets Quentin Tarantino’ ! Who could resist?
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Hi Barb…and everyone. I’m thrilled and grateful to be a part of your cool site today. Thank you for your upbeat thoughts. Your support means everything to me.
Darkly, awfully, horrifically hilarious is just what I was hoping for.
Thank you so much again…
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This post looks great! Thanks again for being a part of the Let There Be Linda virtual book tour. Your support and feedback means everything to us. We can’t wait to read your review!
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