AUTHOR’S FIFTH NOVEL IS SET IN UPSTATE SPARROWBUSH
Smithtown writer, Jeb Ladouceur, pens new Hudson Valley thriller
Publish America of Baltimore has announced that they will release Smithtown novelist Jeb Ladouceur’s latest thriller Sparrowbush in early October. The book follows upon the heels of the Long Island writer’s acclaimed trilogy composed of the crime novels The Palindrome Plot, Calamity Hook, and Frisco. The three wordplay-driven stories feature the same key characters who come into conflict in a trio of vastly different locales. Ladouceur also penned The Banana Belt last winter. That book deals with the entwined lives of total strangers in modern-day Idaho.
Mr. Ladouceur’s publicist Debbie Lange Fifer of Kings Park says, “Jeb’s new tale of suspense is probably his most action-packed and compelling to date…but then again, I feel that way about each of his stories as they’re published.” However, Ms. Fifer adds that sales tend to support her evaluation, and she points out that each of the local writer’s works outsells the one before.
Julianne Wernersbach, publicist of Huntington’s renowned Book Revue (one of the ten largest independent bookstores in the country) seems to agree. “Jeb Ladouceur is our home grown success story,” she says. “We’re proud that all of his books have had their debut here, and we hope he’ll accept our invitation to introduce Sparrowbush at Book Revue on October 20th.”
“You can bet on it,” said Ladouceur, noting that authors such as J. K. Rowling, Nelson DeMille, Barbara Walters, and James Patterson are among the hundreds of literary luminaries who have appeared at Book Revue. “I remember back in ‘07 telling Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper) that I’d been invited to speak at the prestigious venue. She was highly complimentary and in her typical supportive manner told me, ‘Good for you! I practically had to beg to get in there!’
“With some 17 million books in circulation,” Mr. Ladouceur observes, “it’s unlikely Ms. Picoult has to beg her way into any bookstore on the planet these days. We ought to be proud that Jodi’s a native of Nesconset,” he says.
Jeb Ladouceur is recognized throughout Long Island for his career in advertising, public relations, and publishing. A former New York Senate candidate and charter member of Gov. Mario Cuomo’s State Arson Task Force, he is the founder and Publisher Emeritus of The Fire News, circulated continuously among firefighters in the Northeast since 1973.
An honors graduate of St. John’s University in New York, where he majored in English Literature, the Smithtown novelist has made a number of reading and book signing appearances at commercial area book outlets. Ladouceur has been featured on multiple occasions at the Huntington Book Revue, Borders Book Stores in Stony Brook and Commack, and Baby Grand Books in upstate Warwick He will inaugurate a statewide book tour at the vast Borders store in Middletown, NY in October.
Ladouceur has recently discussed his books with Talk Radio personality Joe Bartlett on WOR, 710 in New York, appeared on the Larry Davidson Radio Show (WGBB in Freeport), visited Vic Latino’s Neighborhood (Party 105 Ronkonkoma), and discussed his career with the hosts of WRIV in Riverhead.
Mr. Ladouceur has lectured on writing at Hofstra University, was featured during Meet the Author appearances at the Smithtown Public Library, addressed The Suffolk County Ethical Culture Society, and has been a guest speaker at meetings of The Smithtown Book Club (founded in 1937), the Smithtown Township Arts Council, and several other diverse Long Island organizations.
The popular writer is a member of the Long Island Authors Group and the exclusive Smithtown Writers Workshop. He was chosen to deliver the Keynote Address at the annual Smithtown Library Foundation awards banquet in December of last year.
Mr. Ladouceur and his wife Elizabeth are 50-year residents of the historic ‘Landing’ area of Smithtown. As for his innermost personal objectives, Mr. Ladouceur has already discussed with administrators the spearheading of a weekly program wherein local authors would read their works for blind veterans at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Northport. Says Ladouceur, himself a veteran of the United States Air force having served both in this country and in North Africa, “It would be wonderful if such a volunteer effort caught on nationally, wouldn’t it?”
The author can be reached at 631-724-3717, or online at JebLadouceur@aol.com. His books are available through Amazon, local bookstores, PublishAmerica, and are stocked in the Smithtown Public Library’s four branches.
Photos by Debbie Lange Fifer