RPLA Showcase: Dana J. Summers

Dana J. Summers is an award-winning editorial cartoonist, author, and a familiar name on the Royal Palm Literary Awards scene. This year, his novel From Hell’s Heart won the Royal Palm Literary Award for Best Unpublished Book of the Year and Gold in the Thriller/Suspense (Unpublished) category. Other RPLA recognitions include his novel Drawn and Buried which was number one in the Thriller/Suspense (Unpublished) category in 2013 and his novel Downhill Fast which was named Best Unpublished Book of the Year in 2018.

Dana is known for suspenseful thrillers and mysteries that readers call “sharp and memorable” and a “darn good murder mystery.” RPLA Showcase asks Dana to share his reactions to winning, his writing journey, advice for other writers, and where we can find his books.

What did it feel like to hear you won Unpublished Book of the Year at the virtual ceremony?

I was amazed  because I’ve won awards from RPLA in the past. Having my novel From Hell’s Heart win the gold in the thriller category plus the Unpublished Book of the Year took me totally by surprise. A few years back I won the Unpublished Book of the Year with Downhill Fast. Winning again seemed like a longshot. I’m still processing it all!

Can you tell us about your writing journey?

I’ve been a cartoonist for over forty years, thirty of those years for The Orlando Sentinel paper. I write and draw ‘The Middletons’ and ‘Bound & Gagged’ two nationally syndicated comics strips and draw four editorial cartoons a week. I also work for Tribune Content Agency in Chicago. Doing all that doesn’t leave me a lot of time to write.

I always thought I could write a novel ever since I read Live and Let Die when I was sixteen. However, jumping right into it without so much as one class in writing proved catastrophic. I wasted years writing awful stories. Then I took a three-day class with local coach Jamie Morris and my attitude began to change. At that conference I met Melissa Abrehamsen, a wonderful YA author and my now writing partner, someone I could not do without. I continued taking courses from Margie Lawson in Colorado and attended a four-day immersion class out there.

My first real novel Drawn and Buried, a story about an editorial cartoonist in over his head with a killer won first place in suspense in RPLA and also Sleuthfest’s Freddie award for suspense. One of the judges for the Freddie award was Victoria Skirnick, an agent with Levine, Greenberg, Rostan Agency in NYC. She took me on as a client.

Since then I’ve written The Dark and the Dead, which won second in suspense at RPLA, Downhill Fast, which I mentioned earlier, Simon Crumb and the Ghost of Blaine Street, which won best YA in RPLA, and From Hell’s Heart. I’m currently working on one titled Dirty Hazel and the Cat Woman.

What writing advice would you give to your past self or other writers?

As I mentioned earlier, I made huge mistakes starting out. I was impatient. I didn’t take the time to learn the craft. I’m still learning, by the way.

Where can we learn more about you and your writing?

You can learn more about me on my website danajsummers.com . There you can find cartoons I described in Drawn and Buried, read one of my short stories, and read my blog which includes a news story I wrote for The Orlando Sentinel about the time I was invited to a White House luncheon with President George H.W. Bush.

I’m also on Facebook and Twitter, although I seldom use Twitter. All of my books are available on Amazon.