Deborah Coonts (born Deborah Buell) is an American novelist and lawyer best known for her ''Lucky O'Toole Las Vegas Adventures'' series of romantic, humorous mystery novels.

Early life and education

Coonts grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she attended the Hockaday preparatory school. She received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

Cox School of Business The Edwin L. Cox School of Business is an American business school, part of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. The SMU Cox School of Business is headquartered in four buildings on SMU's 210-acre main campus five miles north ...

, and received a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in small business finance from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

McCombs School of Business The McCombs School of Business (McCombs School or McCombs) is a business school at The University of Texas at Austin, a public research university in Austin, Texas. In addition to the main campus in Downtown Austin, McCombs offers classes outside ...

, a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in taxation from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Dedman School of Law SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its parent institution, Southern Meth ...

Career

Coonts was admitted to the Texas Bar Association in 1989 and practiced tax law in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

after being admitted to its bar in 1990. While still practicing law, she wrote for ''Aviation for Women'' magazine from 1999 to 2005. Her first book, ''Wanna Get Lucky?'', was included in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' "Notable Crime Books of 2010" and was a double finalist for the

Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by incr ...

's 2011 RITA award in the categories of "Best First Book" and "Novel With Strong Romantic Elements." ''Lucky Bastard'', fourth in the Lucky O'Toole series, was released by

Forge Books Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

in May 2013 and was a ''

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' bestseller in June 2013. An essay by Coonts was included in the anthology ''Fade, Sag, Crumble: Ten Las Vegas Writers Confront Decay'', published by CityLife Books in 2011. In a 2012 interview with ''The Big Thrill'' magazine, Coonts said her debut series is based in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

because "the whole world wanders through Vegas. The stories are endless."So Damn Lucky by Deborah Coonts : ''THE BIG THRILL'' magazine
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Personal life

Coonts is a licensed commercial pilot and instrument rated

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

in single-engine land and

sea planes A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

. She lived in Las Vegas and has one son. She is divorced from novelist

Stephen Coonts Stephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American spy thriller and suspense novelist. Early life, education, and military career Stephen Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal mining town. Following high school graduation, h ...

Books

Fiction

Lucky O'Toole Las Vegas Adventures series

*''Wanna Get Lucky?'' (June 2015) () *''Lucky Stiff'' (July 2015) () *''So Damn Lucky'' (July 2015) () *''Lucky Bastard'' (July 2015) () *''Lucky Catch'' (June 2015) () *''Lucky Break'' (November 2015) () *''Lucky the Hard Way'' (November 2016) () *''Lucky Ride'' (June 2017) () *''Lucky Score'' (February 2018) () *''Lucky Ce Soir'' (February 2019) () *''Lucky Enough'' (May 2020) ()

Brinda Rose Humorous Mystery series

*''90 Days to Score'' (October 2020) ()

Kate Sawyer Medical Thriller series

*''After Me'' (December 2016) () *''Deadfall'' (November 2020) ()

Other Books

*''Deep Water'' (March 2017) () *''Crushed'' (February 2016) () *''The Housewife Assassin Gets Lucky'' (August 2018) () *''Lucky Double'' (April 2017) () *''The Lucky O’Toole Vegas Adventure Boxset 1'' (March 2018) () *''The Lucky O’Toole Vegas Adventure Boxset 2'' (March 2018) () *''The Complete Lucky O’Toole Novella Collection'' (January 2018) (ASIN B078TNN7D2)

Novellas

*''Lucky In Love'' (June 2015) (ASIN B00ZNGJ066) *''Lucky Bang'' (June 2015) (ASIN B00ZNGJA48) *''Lucky Now and Then'' (June 2015) (ASIN B00ZNGJDKY) *''Lucky Flash'' (September 2015) (ASIN B014VCCRS0)

Non-fiction

*''Fade, Sag, Crumble: Ten Las Vegas Writers Confront Decay'' (contributor, 2011) ()

References

External links

Deborah Coonts' official site

Publisher's author page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coonts, Deborah Living people 21st-century American novelists Aviators from Texas American romantic fiction writers American women novelists Writers from Dallas Writers from Nevada Lawyers from Dallas Women romantic fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Commercial aviators Dedman School of Law alumni Hockaday School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American women commercial aviators Southern Methodist University alumni McCombs School of Business alumni New York University School of Law alumni