“Set in Texas after the Civil War and based on real-life characters, Lottie Deno tells the story of an innocent young woman, Carlotta Tompkins, who becomes the notorious lady gambler, Lottie Deno. Carlotta drifts from town to town and saloon to saloon in search of her fugitive outlaw lover, Frank Thurmond (a relative of the author). Along the way, she meets up with Doc Holliday and gets herself kidnapped by desperados and kidnapped from the kidnappers by a band of Kiowa warriors.  It’s a rip-snortin’ tale of love and adventure in the Old West, and its spunky, intrepid heroine will remind you of Mattie Ross in True Grit. So, who will play Carlotta in the movie?”

“I loved this story. The descriptions of the land and places are amazing. I feel the journey while reading it. It is like poetry woven into the story.”

“Thurmond’s powerful novel inspires and excites in equal measure, telling the story of a young woman’s struggle to survive in the lawless post-Civil War South. Thurmond brings to life a brutal world populated by desperadoes like Doc Holliday, willing to stake everything on a throw of the dice; a country where death stalks the living around every corner.”