Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4 | Page 22

consistent
I accidentally stumbled into poker around
1996 and wound up becoming a real stu-
dent of the game. I read every book I
could get my hands on and played around
South Florida at every opportunity. I
turned out to be a pretty decent player. I
ventured up to Biloxi, Mississippi, where
they had legal casinos and tried my hand
at it up there. The going was a little more
difficult, but I persisted (that confidence
thing again). A few more trips to Biloxi,
and I finally ventured out to Las Vegas. I
eventually spent two weeks out of every
month in Las Vegas. By 2006, I had left
Key West and moved out there to play
poker at the professional level.
winners.
WTT: When does the writing kick in
for real?
MD: In 2009. Remember I said I wrote a
third novel that took me three or four
years to finish? Well, that was called THE
TAKE, and Morgan, thanks to you and
your efforts with a publisher, I was of-
fered a deal. I returned home from the
Bellagio poker room on August 1, 2009 to
find an email waiting for me with the of-
fer. I accepted it immediately, of course.
Twenty-two years after I wrote my first
word of fiction, I was finally getting a
book deal! I was ecstatic.
WTT: Now there's a big leap! WTT: How long did the ecstasy last?
MD: Not as big as it might sound. Like I
say, I'd been spending half my time out
there already, so the move just cut down
on the traveling expenses and allowed me
to play every day. Plus, I had moved my
Mom, who had developed Alzheimer's
Disease, into an assisted living facility out
there, so I could see her every day. My
house was less than ¼ mile from where
she was living. I spent a lot of time with
her right up till her passing in May of
2009. MD: Not long. The moment after I accept-
ed the offer, I realized I had no promo-
tional mechanism to complement my
novel. So I made the decision to quit pok-
er and concentrate on writing.
WTT: So how did the poker go?
MD: Very well, actually. During my four
years in Las Vegas (2006-10), playing vir-
tually every day, I never had a losing year.
Which is pretty good, when you realize
that only 10% of all poker players are
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
WTT: Just like that?
MD: Just like that. I never returned to the
Bellagio. Instead, I started a series of Key
West noir novels. Needless to say, I was
fired up by receiving the offer, so the
books just poured out of me. I finished
three novels inside of five months.
WTT: Were they all released by your
publisher?
MD: No. I was not at all thrilled with their
efforts. Turns out they were a very small
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W INTER 2019