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WORK TITLE: Too Lucky to Live
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.anniehogsett.com/
CITY: Cleveland
STATE: OH
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
An Interview with Annie Hogsett
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked formerly as an advertising copywriter.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Annie Hogsett is an American writer. Before becoming a writer, she worked as an advertising copywriter. Hogsett lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
Too Lucky to Live is Hogsett’s first published book. Too Lucky to Live opens with protagonist, Allie Harper, helping a blind pedestrian cross a busy Cleveland intersection. Allie is recently divorced and sad, and meeting this man is the highlight of her day. The two begin to chat and quickly hit it off. Allie invites the man, Thomas Bennington III, back to her apartment to share dinner.
During their meal, Allie learns that Thomas is a college English professor. In their conversation, Thomas reveals that he bought a lottery ticket for the Mondo jackpot of $550 million earlier that day. Not a gambler himself, he bought the ticket to prove a point to a young neighbor. His intent was to show the young man, Rune, the foolishness of gambling. As the two finish their dinners, they hear the numbers of the lottery called out on the television, and to both of their shock, the numbers match Thomas’ ticket.
Thomas is not pleased about the news, and Allie simply wants to continue exploring the attraction she feels toward Thomas. However, neither of them can avoid the repercussions of the win. Once the news is out that Thomas has the winning lottery ticket, the two become targets for Cleveland’s criminal underbelly. Both of their homes are broken into and raided and Allie’s landlady is attacked, leading the two to hide out in hotels to avoid whoever is after them.
The story turns deadly when three bodies turn up, having been murdered by the mysterious group that is pursuing Allie and Thomas. Rune, with whom Thomas had promised to share the money, fails to keep this information a secret, and soon after he learns that his mother has been attacked and is in the hospital. When Allie and Thomas try to find Rune, they discover that he has gone missing. Desperate and worried, the two take the investigation into their own hands. When the murderous pursuer makes a bold offer, Allie and Thomas must make a decision that could result in the loss of their lives. Sue O’Brien in Booklist wrote, “fast pacing, multiple plot twists, and humor, including a Stephanie Plum-like main character, enliven the story and keep the pages turning.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2017, Sue O’Brien, review of Too Lucky to Live, p. 26.
Kirkus Reviews, March, 1, 2017, review of Too Lucky to Live.
Publishers Weekly, February 13, 2017, review of Too Lucky to Live, p. 48.*
An Interview with Annie Hogsett
POSTED ON MAY 2, 2017 UPDATED ON APRIL 26, 2017
Annie Hogsett
Today is release day for Annie Hogsett’s debut mystery with Poisoned Pen Press, Too Lucky To Live. I had the chance to ask her a few questions. Thank you, Annie.
Annie, would you introduce yourself to readers?
Hi, Readers! I’m Annie Hogsett and I’ve been writing almost my whole life. Little poems my mom liked a lot. Short stories. A truly terrible first attempt called Rain of Terror. Eek! Advertising copy for years and years. If you ever bought something you didn’t really want or need, go ahead and blame me. I have to admit, it was a very fun job. And now Too Lucky to Live. Imagine how thrilled I am.
Tell us about Allie Harper and Thomas Bennington III.
Allie Harper, happily divorced/seriously broke, part-time librarian is equal parts feisty/funny and wounded/insecure. She thinks a lot of things are missing from her life, especially love and money. Then she meets nice, smart, hot Tom Bennington and his $550 million MondoMegaJackpot. Tom’s blindness is a disability, for sure, but he loves teaching English literature and is comfortable in the life he’s carved out for himself. He doesn’t care about money—the jackpot was a total accident. And he doesn’t notice he’s missing out on love and adventure until he meets Allie.
Without spoilers, summarize Too Lucky to Live.
Too Lucky to Live
Allie rescues Tom—and his grocery bag with the winning ticket in it—from a crosswalk, after he’s been honked at by a blonde in a Hummer. Tough town, Cleveland. Right after the kissing starts, the Mondo Ball drops, and much murdering ensues. As Allie and Tom climb the learning curve of “How to stay alive when every evil scheming weasel in Cleveland is after you and your ridiculous amount of money,” they find out who they really are—and start to become the amateur sleuths they need to be.
You set your mystery in Cleveland, an unusual setting for a novel. So, where do you take visitors when they come to Cleveland?
First, I take our visitors out on the deck and show them Lake Erie. A surprising number of folks don’t know Cleveland is backed up against a Great Lake, and even many Clevelanders don’t know just how Great our lake is. After that, I’d recommend the West Side Market—a hundred years of history and every single food thing you can imagine in an architectural wonder. If our visitors are music fans, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is—forgive me—where it’s at. Readers can get a tour of the Rock Hall in Too Lucky to Live. Ms. Erie is part of Allie’s story, too.
What can you tell us about the next book in the series?
Well, it’s a bit of a spoiler if I say, “Tom and Allie are in it.” Read: Still alive. But that’s probably no surprise. I’m excited about Book #2 of The Somebody’s Bound to Wind Up Dead Mysteries, because it builds on characters I love (and one in particular I love to hate) and it takes the “T & A Detectives” into their first real case.
How did you react when you learned Too Lucky to Live would be published?
We were in a restaurant at JFK in New York when I got an email from my now editor. I cried. And then there was champagne—well, sparkling wine. It was an airport, after all. I’m sending our waiter, Glenn, a signed copy of the book, because he was there at the beginning and so excited for me.
When did it really hit you that you’re a published author?
I went to a workshop that was like the many, many I’d gone to as I was trying to learn to be a better writer and find a home for Too Lucky to Live. The presenter asked me who my publisher is. I told her, and I could feel the other writers looking at me the way I’ve been looking at published writers for years—as if I had all the answers. It was spooky. And cool. And, of course, they were wrong.
What authors inspired you?
Agatha Christie, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, Stephen King. I get serial crushes on writers and I’m shocked to discover all the ones I haven’t heard of who are everybody else’s classic favorites. Inspiration for the writing itself? Anne Lamott. Elizabeth Gilbert, and, especially, Julia Cameron, whose The Artist’s Way finally got me off the dime. They tell wannabee writers, “Try this. Do this,” and “You are so not alone.”
What were your favorites books as a child?
Well, after The House at Pooh Corner, I’d say Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and many, many books about horses. I was not a discriminating reader as a child, and I will never catch up on the 10,000 classics I missed while I was reading about horses.
What author would you like to recommend who you think has been underappreciated?
Brian Doyle, the author of Mink River, one of my favorite novels. I’m shocked by how many avid readers have never heard of him. His writing so touches my heart and its sense of place is wonderfully compelling.
What’s on your TBR pile now?
I’m trying to pare it down. Commonwealth by Anne Patchett for my book group. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead for my other book group. The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney, because everybody says so. I’m not even going to try to describe my ever-rising stack of TBRs by all the fellow Poisoned Pen Press writers I’m discovering as I go. So many mysteries, so little time….
Thanks, Annie! Annie Hogsett’s website is http://www.anniehogsett.com/
Annie Hogsett will be appearing at The Poisoned Pen on Sunday, May 7 at 2 PM as part of the 20th Anniversary Celebration for Poisoned Pen Press. You can order a signed copy of Too Lucky to Live through the Web Store. http://bit.ly/2q8PH1X
About Annie
Although Annie Hogsett has been writing for as long as she can remember and enjoyed a long career as an advertising copywriter, Too Lucky To Live, (Poisoned Pen Press) will be her first published novel. Ask her about the three others still sleeping unpublished in their digital files.
Annie’s finding the learning curve for new authors to be pretty darned steep. So much to know, do, think through, be terrified about, get over being terrified about …. She has always promised herself that if she ever got published, she’d 1) be a booster-in-print of her City of Cleveland, OH and 2) be the friend and encourager of writers that writers have been for her along her (fairly lengthy) journey. You can learn more about Annie by checking out her blog. Look for Annie on Facebook and Twitter. Talk to her in person from the Contacts page. Find Too Lucky To Live at a bookstore or library near you and at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and poisonedpenpress.com.
Annie Hogsett
Annie Hogsett
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In second grade, Annie Hogsett had to count the number of eggs in pictures of birds' nests and began to realize she should run away from anything that involved math. Luckily, Annie was a very good reader.
Given time and nurturing, a very good reader can begin to at least recognize good writing. At first Annie thought writing books of her own would be boring because she believed she'd begin to write already knowing everything that would happen in the story and how her mysteries would would be solved. Fortunately, it never works out that way for her. Annie's characters always have ideas of their own!
Annie enjoyed a career in advertising and then spent more than ten years completing three novels before she wrote Too Lucky To Live, Book #1 of The Somebody's Bound to Wind Up Dead Mysteries. Her debut novel was published by Poisoned Pen Press on May 2, 2017. She says that as far as she's concerned, the secret to being a successful writer is to love the process of writing.
According to Annie Hogsett,"If you find joy in what you're doing, you're a success, and publication is icing on the cake." She also reports that realizing her dream of becoming a published author and finding readers of her own, has been a mountain of delicious icing.
Hogsett, Annie: TOO LUCKY TO LIVE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 1, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Hogsett, Annie TOO LUCKY TO LIVE Poisoned Pen (Adult Fiction) $26.95 5, 2 ISBN: 978-1-4642-0788-4
Meeting the right guy makes a divorcee feel like she's won the lottery--that is, until it turns out he's won the lottery and
she learns the extent which people will go to get their hands on the cash.Never did Allie Harper think doing a simple
kindness would get her into so much trouble, but that's exactly what happens when she stops to help a blind pedestrian
struggling to get through a busy Cleveland intersection. The man himself, Thomas Bennington III, is no trouble at all,
easy on the eyes and all that. He's so nice, in fact, that Allie invites him back to her little apartment so they can get to
know each other better. It's what Tom has on his person that puts them both in peril: the winning ticket for the
MondoMegaJackpot, worth some $550 million. Tom explains that he's not a gambling man but a college professor who
bought the ticket to demonstrate to his young neighbor the folly of gambling. Though neither Tom nor Allie is
particularly interested in the prize now that they've found each other, they may be the only two people in the city who
aren't, as they soon discover through the series of break-ins, ransackings, kidnappings, and even homicides that follow.
Too many bodies to count keep Tom and Allie on the run while trying to hold onto the ticket through a chase in which
everyone in Cleveland seems to be after them. Cheesy dialogue between the newly minted couple interspersed with an
endless series of threats to their lives make the lottery win in Hogsett's debut seem more like a death sentence than a
boon.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Hogsett, Annie: TOO LUCKY TO LIVE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482911689&it=r&asid=e294544a414e313b9fb96e6b687ef883.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482911689
10/8/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1507496802452 2/3
Too Lucky to Live
Sue O'Brien
Booklist.
113.15 (Apr. 1, 2017): p26.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Too Lucky to Live.
By Annie Hogsett.
May 2017. 316p. Poisoned Pen, $26.95 (9781464207860); paper, $15.95 (9781464207884); e-book, $9.99
(9781464207891).
Divorced and down on her luck, Allie Harper rescues a blind man, Thomas Bennington III, who is about to be run over
by a woman in a Hummer, and they form an instant connection. That evening, while having dinner with Allie,
Bennington learns he has won the Mondo jackpot of $550 million--a real problem since he only bought the ticket to
convince his young friend, Rune, of the futility of playing the lottery. As soon as the news is out, both of their houses
are ransacked, Allies landlady is assaulted, and the bodies begin to pile up as Cleveland's criminal element works to
find and steal the ticket. The two begin to investigate to protect themselves, hiding in hotels while keeping tabs on
Rune. When the killer makes a final desperate play for the money, the two make a choice that may cost them their lives.
Fast pacing, multiple plot twists, and humor, including a Stephanie Plum-like main character, enliven the story and
keep the pages turning.--Sue O'Brien
O'Brien, Sue
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
O'Brien, Sue. "Too Lucky to Live." Booklist, 1 Apr. 2017, p. 26. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA491487876&it=r&asid=4eab98ff00228a1665ab5d61ffa22f98.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491487876
10/8/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1507496802452 3/3
Too Lucky to Live: A Somebody's Bound to
Wind Up Dead Mystery
Publishers Weekly.
264.7 (Feb. 13, 2017): p48.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Too Lucky to Live: A Somebody's Bound to Wind Up Dead Mystery
Annie Hogsett. Poisoned Pen, $26.95 (316p) ISBN 978-1-4642-0786-0; $15.95 trade paper ISBN 978-1-4642-0788-4
At the start of Hogsett's fun debut, Thomas Bennington III, a blind English professor, comes close to losing a lottery
ticket he's purchased when he's almost run over by a Hummer while crossing a Cleveland, Ohio, street. Fortunately,
Allie Harper, who was waiting for a bus, comes to his rescue. Allie takes Tom back to her house, where they share
dinner and hear on TV that Tom has won a $5 50 million jackpot. He's shocked and none too pleased, having bought
the ticket to prove to a youngster named Rune that the lottery is a waste of time and money. Rune, on the other hand, is
thrilled about helping pick the winning numbers, but the news that he's sharing the money lands him in danger. Within
hours, three men are dead and Rune's mother is hospitalized. Tom and Allie rush in to help, only to find Rune is
missing. As the plot zigs and zags, readers will enjoy hanging out with Tom and Allie, whose quirkiness will remind
some readers of Janey Mack's Maisie McGrane. Agent: Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Too Lucky to Live: A Somebody's Bound to Wind Up Dead Mystery." Publishers Weekly, 13 Feb. 2017, p. 48.
General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482198143&it=r&asid=f9360900c1bbc57922b9ec18b4bb5594.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482198143