TEXARKANA - What started out as a series of vignettes written for local writer Matt Coleman's wife turned into a full-fledged mystery involving an anti-social divorcee, the Junior League, drug deals, home invasions and murder - all in Texarkana.
It's the book "A Rocky Divorce: A Rocky Series of Mysteries," conceived as the opener of a book series, the author said. In his latest novel, out now via indie press Pandamoon Publishing that published his first two novels, Coleman chronicles the exploits of Raquel "Rocky" Champagnolle.
The Cape Cod drink-swilling Rocky's post-divorce life somehow inspires her to join the Junior League, which leads to a milieu of blondes and soccer moms. Rocky is based, to some extent, on the author's wife, and so Coleman started just messing around with a story loosely based on this scenario.
"In the story, of course, in the fictionalized version, she's a bit of an amateur sleuth. Of course, mystery ensues," Coleman said. His wife liked it. She started asking him to write another "chapter of Rocky," he said. Originally, he didn't think anyone else would read it, but she encouraged him to publish it.
"Of course, I needed her permission because the character is based on her," he said. Other characters are exaggerations of people he knows. "It's all positive," he adds. He was in a humorous mode.
In his novel, Coleman says he pokes fun at the Junior League but also shares the positive things about their projects. "I think it's a pretty fair depiction. We'll see what they think," he said, noting the book is "very Texarkana."
"There are a lot of Texarkana landmarks," the author explained. "A lot of local places, local restaurants, like Pecan Point and Zapata's make appearances." There's a reference to Elvis and Johnny Cash playing at the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium, speaking to old Texarkana culture.
"At the heart of the mystery that is happening in the book, there is a decades-old serial case that is nothing like the Phantom Killer but it kind of has echoes of that a little bit," Coleman said. "It's a little more current. It happened in the '80s in the book but it's happening at the heart of the book, you know, and it plays into the plot of the book pretty importantly."
It's fun but anxiety-inducing to write about Texarkana, Coleman admits, because it's his take on it and not everyone shares the same perceptions.
"The book is very much a love letter to my wife, but I think it's also a bit of a love letter to Texarkana," Coleman said. In that latter sense, "A Rocky Divorce" is a bit like his first book, "Juggling Kittens," which was recently optioned for a movie. They're Texarkana-centric.
"The first one really sort of dove into some of the seedier sides of town, a little grittier: trailer parks and some of the things that are kind of on the outskirts and some of the weirdness," Coleman said. But in "A Rocky Divorce," the plot climbs up the social ladder, in a sense.
"We're dealing with Junior Leaguers and some of the wealthiest people in town," Coleman said. "Rocky very much has a foot in both camps. She's from a little town that is very similar to like a Genoa, kind of grew up as a little bit of a country girl coming from that place, a very much like that."
That said, it's fun to use a backdrop with which he's this familiar. "That I do love and be able to highlight some things that I love but also put it in a fictional story so I can poke and prod at some things I'm not so crazy about where we live," Coleman said. For example, the class structure here.
What's it like being a three-time novelist?
"When you think about success as a writer, it's such a weird thing because it's such a moving target," Coleman said. "It's like you never know exactly." When you hit points of success, there are just other points of success to achieve next, he observes.
"There's always something else," Coleman said, although he appreciates that he rarely writes for free now and doesn't much write for simple exposure. He's getting paid - not much, but he's getting paid. "It's not quit-your-day-job money, but it does help."
As for the movie adaptation of his first novel, "Juggling Kittens," it's been pretty exciting even if moving slowly, the author says. It's in the screenplay stage at the moment with an English film company, Mon Reve Productions. Coleman has been working back and forth with the screenwriter.
"Their plan, though, currently is to film it here and use some of the landmarks," Coleman said.
People can find Coleman's new novel on Amazon and other retailers. It's in both paperback and e-reader formats. Coleman also had a short story published recently in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
(On the Net: Mattcolemanbooks.com or Pandamoonpub.com.)