O'Neil De Noux (born in 1950 in New Orleans, LA) is a prolific American novelist and short story writer. Although most of De Noux's fiction falls under the mystery genre, critics describe his work as character-driven crime fiction. He has published stories in many disciplines beyond the mystery, including historical fiction, children's fiction, mainstream fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, horror, western, literary, religious, romance, humor and erotica.
De Noux credits writer friends in New Orleans (including George Alec Effinger, as well as mentor Harlan Ellison in Los Angeles) help him become a critically acclaimed mystery writer and instructor of writing classes at several universities. De Noux has influenced a number of published writers at the beginning of their careers. His police procedural novels and mystery stories have been lauded for their hyper-realism, sharp dialogue and strong use of setting, primarily New Orleans. He has also carved a niche with his genre-blending fiction, mixing erotica with mysteries, science-fiction and humor.
Early Life
De Noux was born on State Street in New Orleans, LA, to a mother of Sicilian descent and father of French descent. Educated in Catholic schools like St. Mary of the Angels, Holy Rosary and Our Lady of Prompt Succor, De Noux was brought up Catholic. His father, O'Neil P. De Noux, Sr. (19281997) was in the U.S. Army. Consequently, the De Noux family traveled extensively. An army-brat, De Noux lived in Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi and Italy before his father retired and returned to New Orleans in 1966.
While in Italy, De Noux began his life-long love of books and movies. Reading a book a week from the army post library, he saw just about every Hollywood movie produced between 1960 to 1963 at the post theatre. The only exceptions were Hitchcock's Psycho and the James Bond movies, which his father deemed inappropriate for a pre-teen. He was able to see Psycho at age thirteen, which drew him to greatly admire, and later closely study the works of Alfred Hitchcock. As a youngster, De Noux's favorite writings were the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey and the We Were There series of young-adult novels, his favorite - Were There At The Normandy Invasion by Clayton Knight. He quickly moved on to the Horatio Hornblower novels of C. S. Forester.
On November 22, 1963, while home from school with a fake headache, De Noux watched the TV cover...
