Announcing Lawrence Allan as CTBC's September Guest
I’m thrilled to announce Lawrence Allan as Comp Title Book Club’s next guest author! Join us for a live craft and book club discussion on September 16, 2023!
I’ve known Lawrence—who, honestly, it’s hard for me not to call “Larry”—for a couple of years now, and to know him is to be delighted by his jokes and his playlists, the latter of which can be found in each of his novels.
His Jimmy Cooper Mystery series, which now includes Big Fat F@!k-Up and Big F@!king Deal, follows former child actor and addict-in-recovery Jimmy Cooper as he makes his name as a private investigator in Los Angeles. Jimmy’s narrative style is hilarious, his observations of SoCal culture and traffic delightfully critical, and the mysteries are fun to solve. (Big plus: There’s a wealth of honest human emotion in the series.)
Larry’s books have (so far!) won two Claymore Awards at Killer Nashville, including Best Comedy. His debut, Big Fat F@!k-Up, is a finalist for the Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel.
If they’re so awesome, their author must have been inspired by some pretty cool books while he was writing them, no? I think so!
Join me and Lawrence Allan as we read and discuss his comp title, Spellman Files #1 by Lisa Lutz.
The first book in the eponymous series follows Isabel “Izzy” Spellman as she tries to fend off her family of private investigators’ well-intentioned snooping into her personal life. If Wednesday Addams being a member of the Bluth family sounds like your jam, you should definitely register for our live conversation, taking place September 16 at 1 p.m. Eastern, here.
As always, you can catch the recording a few days afterward. I’m also working on setting up a Facebook group where you can ask your burning questions of Lawrence and of future CTBC guests. More on this to come, so subscribe to this Substack for real-time updates!