Ocean, T. Lynn

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Ocean, T. Lynn

PERSONAL:

Married. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, shooting sporting clays, gourmet food, and road trips.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Myrtle Beach, SC.

CAREER:

Writer, columnist, and photographer. Also worked as television producer of commercials and educational programs.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Fool Me Once, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Sweet Home Carolina, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Southern Fatality: A Jersey Barnes Mystery, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2007.

Southern Poison: A Jersey Barnes Mystery, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2008.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Sun News; columnist for the Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC.

SIDELIGHTS:

T. Lynn Ocean is a novelist whose first book, Fool Me Once, tells the story of Carly Stone. Carly's new husband, Robert, turns out to be a cad who disappears on their honeymoon and is later discovered sleeping with another woman. When Carly returns home to her parents, she becomes involved in fighting a shady land deal that threatens her father's hardware business. She eventually meets and falls for a man who turns out to be the scion of the construction company that she has been battling.

In Ocean's second novel, Sweet Home Carolina, Jaxie Parker finds herself doing public relations pro bono work at the behest of her boss, whose hometown in South Carolina needs some boosting. Although initially distraught over the assignment, the big-city Parker eventually overcomes her initial boredom with the small town and becomes enchanted with its simpler life. She ultimately uncovers a potential link with the town and a history of piracy, knowledge that may help her promote the town as a tourist site. Writing in Booklist, Aleksandra Kostovski noted that the author "perfectly captures the eccentricities and the warmheartedness of small-town life."

In her 2007 book, Southern Fatality: A Jersey Barnes Mystery, Ocean introduces Jersey Barnes, who has just retired as a private security specialist. However, when her boyfriend, Bill, asks Jersey to do him a favor and conduct a routine surveillance job, she agrees. Jersey begins following Sam Chesterfield, a wealthy man who is the husband of a model friend of Bill's who thinks that Sam is cheating on her. Before long, Jersey realizes that there is much more going on as she discovers that some underhanded dealings are in progress at Sam's investment firm involving a scam to bilk millions of dollars from hard-working Americans. Complicating matters, Sam's son is kidnapped, and he asks Jersey to find him. With the help of a Lumbee Indian, Ox, who is Jersey's business partner in the Barter's Block pub, and a number of her dad's old poker buddies, Jersey sets out to find Sam's missing son and stop what might be the cyber crime of the century. "With a great cast of characters and a vivid feel for the locale, T. Lynn Ocean has kicked off a promising new mystery series," wrote Tanzey Cutter in a review for Fresh Fiction. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the author's "tightly woven, fast-moving plot keeps readers entertained right up to the explosive ending."

Ocean told CA: "While I've written my share of advertorial copy, news blurbs, and human interest stories for various publications, my passion is writing fiction. A friend once said that perhaps I have multiple personalities manifesting themselves as characters. I'm not so sure about that, but I do know that fictional characters become subconsciously real to the point where I know exactly what they would say or do in a certain situation. In addition to creating lively, interesting characters, my favorite thing about writing is doing research—which often results in a fun discovery, new knowledge, and new friends.

"In any event, I write purely to entertain. It is my hope that readers are compelled to turn the pages and finish the final chapter with a smile on their face. One thing is certain: I have a LOT more stories in me and plan to continue telling them as long as a publisher will turn the manuscripts into books!"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2006, Aleksandra Kostovski, review of Sweet Home Carolina, p. 33.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2005, review of Fool Me Once, p. 445; April 1, 2006, review of Sweet Home Carolina, p. 319; July 15, 2007, review of Southern Fatality: A Jersey Barnes Mystery.

Publishers Weekly, July 23, 2007, review of Southern Fatality, p. 47.