Hollon, Frank Turner 1963-

PERSONAL:

Born 1963; married; wife's name Allison; children: three. Education: Louisiana Tech University, B.S., 1985; Tulane Law School, law degree, 1988. Hobbies and other interests: Whiffle Ball, running, literary classics.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Baldwin County, AL. Office—Hoiles, Dasinger & Hollon, P.O. Box 1058, Robertsdale, AL 36567.

CAREER:

Worked for district attorney in Baldwin County, AL, for four years; Hoiles, Dasinger & Hollon (law firm), Robertsdale, AL, attorney.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Pains of April, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2002.

The God File, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2002.

A Thin Difference, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2003.

Life Is a Strange Place, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2003.

The Point of Fracture, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2005.

Blood and Circumstance, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

OTHER

Glitter Girl and the Crazy Cheese (children's book), illustrated by Elizabeth Dulemba, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2005.

Contributor to Stories from the Blue Moon Café, edited by Sonny Brewer, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2002, Stories from the Blue Moon Café II, edited by Sonny Brewer, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2003, The Alumni Grill, edited by William Gay, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2004; and Stories from the Blue Moon Café V, edited by Sonny Brewer, Macadam/Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

ADAPTATIONS:

Life Is a Strange Place was adapted for film as Barry Munday, 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Frank Turner Hollon, a practicing attorney, is the author of several crime novels, including The God File and Blood and Circumstance. Hollon began writing when he was a teenager. His first novel, The Pains of April, was written while he was in law school, but he did not show it to a publisher for over ten years.

The Pains of April is narrated by an eighty-seven-year-old man who lives in a nursing home. As he thinks about the past and the position he is in now, he tells stories of events that have happened in his lifetime. The man is terribly afraid of being left in the dining room all alone and hates being in the nursing home. "The style, the originality of language, the believable characters, the narrator with his burden of human freedom, the humor, the wit, and the message make this a remarkable debut for Hollon," noted Harbinger contributor Kay Kimbrough.

In The God File, Gabriel Black takes the blame for his girlfriend when she shoots and kills her husband. He never hears from her again after he is sentenced to life in prison without parole. While in prison he searches for God and works on his "God" file, in which he collects information on occurrences in the jail, stories, and quotes that relate to God. With his God file he hopes to prove whether God exists. Library Journal contributor Melanie C. Duncan claimed: "Not for the faint of heart, this is an outstanding example of the continuing exploration of gritty reality in spiritual fiction."

Hollon's third novel, A Thin Difference, introduces hard-driving defense attorney Jack Skinner, an alcoholic whose personal life is in shambles. Skinner agrees to defend Brad Caine, who is charged with murder, and pours all his energy into the trial in an attempt to avoid confronting his own demons. Skinner finds himself in an impossible position, however, after his client drops a bombshell while testifying. "The author's writing is smooth as silk, the plotting masterful," according to Luan Gaines on the Curled Up with a Good Book Web site.

A dysfunctional marriage is the focus of The Point of Fracture. Michael Brace, a frustrated writer, has grown increasingly distant from his wife, Suzanne, who suffers from mental illness. When Suzanne discovers that Michael's new book incorporates episodes from their life, she feels betrayed and decides to exact revenge. She begins plotting her own death, leaving clues that point to her husband as the murderer. Joe Hartlaub, writing on Bookreporter.com, called the novel "extremely well-written" and "profoundly unsettling."

Blood and Circumstance is "an intriguing look at the nature of mental capacity," noted a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. In the work, a prison psychologist must determine if an inmate who murdered his own brother is fit to stand trial. During their sessions, however, the prisoner learns to manipulate the doctor and convince him that the killing was an act of mercy. Hollon's work "is a chilling story full of unexpected twists and turns," in the words of Booklist contributor Joanne Wilkinson.

"I've been writing for as long as I can remember," Hollon told Bookreporter.com interviewer Joe Hartlaub. "I often find myself motivated by my personal need to understand. By facing issues through characters in situations other than my own, I can make a little more sense of this strange world."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2006, Joanne Wilkinson, review of Blood and Circumstance, p. 32.

Entertainment Weekly, January 12, 2007, Tina Jordan, Nicholas Fonseca, and Will Boisvert, "From Mideast Violence to Missing Books," review of Blood and Circumstance, p. 83.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2002, review of The God File, p. 220.

Library Journal, April 1, 2002, Melanie C. Duncan, review of The God File, p. 88.

Publishers Weekly, March 11, 2002, Bridget Kinsella, "McPublishing, It's Not: To Break out New Authors, Three-Year-Old MacAdam/Cage Will Try almost Anything," p. 20; October 16, 2006, review of Blood and Circumstance, p. 33.

ONLINE

American Center for Artists Web site,http://www.americanartists.org/ (June 3, 2002), John Sledge, "Frank Turner Hollon Interview."

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (June 3, 2002), Sarah Rachel Egelman, review of The God File; (January 26, 2007), Joe Hartlaub, review of Blood and Circumstance and "Author Interview."

Curled Up with a Good Book Web site,http://www.curledup.com/ (February 25, 2007), Luan Gaines, reviews of A Thin Difference, The God File, and The Point of Fracture.

Emerging Writers Forum Web site,http://www.breaktech.net/EmergingWritersForum/main.aspx (January 5, 2004), Dan Wickett, "Interview with Frank Turner Hollon."

Harbinger Web site,http://www.theharbinger.org/ (June 3, 2002), Kay Kimbrough, review of The Pains of April.

Over the Transom Web site,http://www.overthetransom.com/ (June 3, 2002), review of The Pains of April.