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Other people’s books have been his life, now Keith Donnelly has decided to change that. Three Deuces Down, a Donald Youngblood Mystery, is his first published novel.
Keith Donnelly has been in the book manufacturing business as long as he
can remember, including twenty-seven plus years with his last employer,
The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group. Donnelly spent much of that
time in Manhattan working with many well-known publishing companies.
“I accepted a management training position with Kingsport Press and I have been in this industry ever since,” Donnelly said. “I have seen many changes in the industry from letterpress to offset printing and from camera copy to electronic prepress.”
Growing up Donnelly got his love of books from his mother who he said read constantly. She was always after him to read for pleasure but reading for pleasure would come much later. Donnelly graduated Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee and East Tennessee State University also in Johnson City.
“I had to read so much in school that I did not want to spend any more time reading than I had to.” He said. “After I graduated college and didn’t have all that studying to do, I started to read for pleasure.”
Donnelly always wanted to write. He tried to “write a book” when he was about ten years old. After an hour he gave up and went outside to play ball. Writing, he found out, was hard work. He tried writing a play in high school in place of a term paper but didn’t finish it. He wrote the term paper instead. After college he tried writing a science fiction novel but did not finish that either. In his mid-thirties he actually finished a golf novel entitled The Last Shot. There was some interest from an agent at the William Morris Agency in New York but nothing came of it.
“I had a full time job and a family,” Donnelly said. “I didn’t have time to pursue an unlikely dream. The percentage of people who write and actually get published is very small. I may pull The Last Shot off the shelf one day.”
But the urge to write was always lurking in the back of his mind so Donnelly thought he would give it one last try.
“I got the idea for Three Deuces Down in 1999 and started working on it in 2000,” Donnelly said. “I was just playing around with it and having fun. I never seriously thought it would get published."
Curiosity got the best of Donnelly’s wife, Tessa, and she asked to read the book. At the time she read it the novel was about half finished. Tessa liked the book so she sent it off to a publisher and it came back with a note that said, “This is good, tell your husband to finish it.” That gave Donnelly the impetus he needed to finish the mystery.
The publisher who originally liked the book never responded to the finished manuscript so Donnelly put it aside and continued his sales career. Sometime later he mentioned the book to Randall Williams at NewSouthBooks and Randall was interested in reading it.
“Randall read it and thought it was good but did not think it fit NewSouth’s publishing program,” Donnelly said. “I thought he was just letting me down easy so I put the book away and proceeded with my career as a sales rep.”
Donnelly ran into Williams a year later and he inquired about the book. Donnelly told Williams that he might self publish it someday. Williams said that the book deserved a real publisher and to send it to him and he would start the editing process and they would see what happened.
“Randall didn’t make any commitment, he just started sending me edited pages,” Donnelly said. ‘Months later I got a call from Suzanne La Rosa, the CEO, and she said ‘It looks like we are going to publish your book.’ I tried to act cool but I was really blown away.”
Early reviews have been better that Donnelly expected. He has received many calls and emails from people who have read Three Deuces Down and who are asking when the next installment will be available.
“I’m surprised by the response,” Donnelly said. “I am also surprised by how many women like the book.”
Donnelly, who is now writing full time, is currently on a
promotional tour and book signing circuit for his newly released
novel, Three Days Dead. He said 3DD has been lucky so far
and he is going to stick with that theme for future titles.
Both Three Deuces Down and Three Days Dead are available for purchase online at www.blairpub.com, www.amazon.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com. You can also order copies via John F. Blair publisher toll-free by calling 1-800-222-9796. Both books are now widely available at book retailers across America. Signed copies available exclusively through this website and events.