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Leslie Hooton is the author of three novels. Her debut novel, Before Anyone Else, garnered a Zibby nomination. Leslie’s second novel, The Secret of Rainy Days, was a book club favorite. Her third novel, After Everyone Else, the sequel to Before Everyone Else, will be published June 28th. Kevin Wilson, Jane Rosen, Patti Callahan, Lisa Barr, and other wonderful writers have offered praise for Leslie’s novels. She has had essays published in “Moms Don’t Have Time to Grieve,” and she has an upcoming essay in Newsweek. Leslie attended The Sewanee Writers Conference for many years. Leslie has been a guest on numerous podcasts and her talks are engaging and thought-provoking. Leslie has often said some people have a stroke of luck, and she had one at birth. Having limited use of her right side and numerous surgeries allowed her to be a keen observer of human behavior. She refers to her body as her “bargain basement body” and doctors as the “men in white coats” because she has had a lifelong relationship with them. She uses dictation for each of her novels and often jokes “I haven’t typed a single word.” She brings this unique perspective to her writing with humor and heart.
Before Anyone Else is a wonder of a debut novel, a coming-of-age love story set in the fast-paced and often cut-throat Southern restaurant world, with flesh-and-blood characters that live and breathe. Bailey Ann Edgeworth is an unforgettable heroine, and Leslie Hooten is an immensely gifted writer. I can't wait to read the next one. -Amy Greene, nationally bestselling author ofBloodroot Like a good tasting menu Leslie Hooten's Before Anyone Else is full of delicious contrasts and dazzling surprises. It is also wonderfully suspenseful as we watch the fragile and intrepid Bailey make her way in the complicated world of restaurant design. Hooten understands so well how love and work are often intertwined. A splendid debut.-Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy With Before Anyone Else, Leslie Hooton announces herself as a natural-born storyteller, a writer who can evoke character and place with such finely-tuned details that you find yourself pulled completely into the world that she has created. It's a sharp examination of work, how it defines us, how it consumes us, and how much it takes to find meaning beyond it. It's a beautiful book. -Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here and The Family Fang Before Anyone Else is the romantic debut we have been waiting for, a coming of age novel that is both deeply moving and creatively beautiful. With wit and dazzle, Leslie Hooton takes us through both a love story and also the cut throat restaurant business. With charm to spare, this novel is a powerful story with a dose of hostess gold woven in for good measure. -Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis and The Favorite Daughter Romantic and deeply moving, Before Anyone Else by Leslie Hooton, is a curl-up-on-the-couch debut novel that keeps the fire burning and the pages turning. -Lisa Barr, award-winning author of Fugitive Colors
