DeLeon, Jana

PERSONAL:

Born in Carlyss, LA; married; husband's name Reneé. Education: McNeese State University, B.A. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, extreme sports.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Dallas, TX. Agent—Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency, 1732 Wazee St., Ste. 207, Denver, CO 80202. E-mail—jana@janadeleon.com.

CAREER:

Former corporate financial officer; corporate trainer for a software company.

WRITINGS:

Rumble on the Bayou (novel), Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Unlucky (novel), Love Spell (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jana DeLeon was born in Carlyss, Louisiana, and she and her family spent time at their camp in Cameron near the Gulf Coast. On her Web site DeLeon writes of exploring the bayou and feasting on the shrimp, crab, and fish they caught each year. Cameron was destroyed by Hurricane Rita but is reincarnated in DeLeon's debut novel, Rumble on the Bayou, and renamed Gator Bait.

The protagonist, deputy and game warden Dorie Berenger, is a beautiful loner who lives on a boat and whose relatively quiet life becomes more exciting when a huge stoned-on-heroine alligator is discovered in the pool of Maylene Thibodeaux. The animal is found carrying a backpack filled with drugs in his mouth, along with a piece of a finger. Clues leads to a drug ring being investigated by handsome DEA agent Richard Starke, who comes to town after Dorie files her report.

Booklist reviewer Nina C. Davis wrote that the story takes the reader "on a ride as intriguing and wild as a flat-bottom-boat race in the bayou."

DeLeon's second novel, Unlucky, is set in the fictional town of Royal Flush, Louisiana, where a poker tournament is taking place. A sexy heroine, a hero, and a voodoo curse move the plot.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2006, Nina C. Davis, review of Rumble on the Bayou, p. 38.

ONLINE

All about Romance,http://www.likesbooks.com/ (July 19, 2007), Jane Jorgenson, review of Rumble on the Bayou.

Fresh Fiction,http://freshfiction.com/ (September 13, 2006), Tanzey Cutter, review of Rumble on the Bayou.

Jana DeLeon Home Page,http://www.janadeleon.com (July 19, 2007).

Midwest Book Review Web site,http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (July 19, 2007), review of Rumble on the Bayou.

Romance Readers Connection,http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/ (July 19, 2007), Val Graye, "An Interview with Jana DeLeon."

Romantic Times Online,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (July 19, 2007), Susan Mobley, review of Rumble on the Bayou.

Roundtable Reviews,http://www.roundtablereviews.com/ (July 19, 2007), Tracy Farnsworth, review of Rumble on the Bayou.

Words of an Author,http://wordsofauthors.blogspot.com/ (July 19, 2007), Kelly Para, "Words of an Author with Jana DeLeon."

Writers' Circle,http://www.writers-circle.com/ (February 16, 2007), Prester John, review of Rumble on the Bayou.