Biography

Born in Gulfport, Mississippi, Vicki Salloum has lived in New Orleans for many years with her husband, the late Wayne Joseph Holley.  Her new novel, Candyland, was released last January by Moonshine Cove Publishing of Abbeville, South Carolina.  Her other published novels include Faulkner & Friends, published by Underground Voices, and A Prayer to Saint Jude, published by Main Street Rag.  She holds an MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Schedule

1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
State Capitol, House Committee Room 1
Book Talk
Candyland

2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Bookselling Tent
Book Signing

Candyland

A teenager with a conscience goes on a harrowing crusade to save a boy's life.

Seventeen-year-old Lázara overhears her brothers plotting to kill the teenage son of her employer for failing to pay his drug debt. Unable to bear the burden of the boy's murder on her conscience, she embarks on a crusade to save the boy, first alerting the boy's father then confronting her brothers and, finally, seeking help from a New Orleans cop. When all efforts fail, she steals a handgun and surprises her brothers during their rendezvous with the boy at the meth lab, Candyland, unleashing consequences she never expected or could ever have imagined.