In anticipation of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and The Battle of New Orleans in 2015, New Orleans writer O'Neil De Noux spent the two years researching and writing an epic historical novel set during that titanic struggle. BATTLE KISS (320,000 words) is an intense, accurate depiction of the battle and life in and around New Orleans in the days and nights preceding and following the monumental event. It is a saga of love and war, of battlefield heroes and lovers - a tale of spies and privateers, ladies and rogues, patriots and traitors, sudden passion and sudden violence as the battle unfolds in stages until the cataclysm of January 8, 1815, when a rag-tag army of Creoles, free-men of color, pirates, American backwoodsmen, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Attakapas braves, fortified by a limited number of U.S. army regulars and marines and led by a general whose only experience was fighting insurgent Creeks, stands between New Orleans and a battle-hardened army of British soldiers, led by one of the Duke of Wellington's finest field commanders and hero of the Peninsula War against Napoleon - Major General Sir Edward Pakenham. Centered around two Creole families (one of French descent, the other Spanish), BATTLE KISS chronicles the tumultuous events preceding the battle as frantic citizens argue over surrendering New Orleans to the British in order to save the city from destruction. They are pitted against the rock-hard determination of General Andrew Jackson and the Americans who would burn the city rather than let the British have her. During this turbulent time, two young women recognize their growing affection for several young men caught in the battle, young men vying for their love yet willing to sacrifice their lives for their new country. The story climaxes at the battle where rivals for the affections of the women stand side-by-side on that frosty January morning as the British come across the cane fields of the Chalmette Plantation. O'Neil De Noux, award-winning, international author of eight novels, seven short story collections and over two hundred published stories, was surprised when conducting his exhaustive research (forty-two source books) to learn there is no full-length saga written about the battle. Like TITANIC and GONE WITH THE WIND, De Noux's epic is a love story set against a stirring historical event. Native son O'Neil De Noux has penned a gripping panoramic novel destined to be the finest written of this explosive time when New Orleans changed from a Creole town into an American city. So timely is BATTLE KISS, the Louisiana Division of the Arts awarded an Artist Services CAREER ADVANCEMENT AWARD FOR 2009-2010 to O'Neil De Noux for his work on the epic. The Battle of New Orleans was the last time American and British armies met as enemies on a battlefield.
About the Author: Born in New Orleans, O'Neil De Noux is a prolific American writer of novels and short stories. Much of De Noux's writing is character-driven crime fiction, although he has written in many disciplines including historical fiction, children's fiction, mainstream fiction, science-fiction, suspense, fantasy, horror, western, literary, religious, romance, humor and erotica. In 2007, The Private Eye Writers of America awarded its prestigious SHAMUS AWARD for Best Short Story to "The Heart Has Reasons" by O'Neil De Noux (the cover story of the September 2006 Issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine). The Shamus Awards are given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. "The Heart Has Reasons." De Noux is also the 2009 DERRINGER AWARD winner for Best Novelette for "Too Wise." The Derringer Awards are given annually by the Short Mystery Fiction Society to recognize excellence in the short mystery fiction form. Another De Noux story, "The Bonnie and Clyde Caper" was runner up in the Derringer Award Best Long Story category. In 2010, De Noux made a move to eBooks and print-on-demand books, teaming with other artists in the art co-op Big Kiss Productions and he quickly published a number of books: SLICK TIME, a sexy caper novel, NEW ORLEANS NOCTURNAL and MAFIA APHRODITE, an erotic suspense novel. In March 2011, the novel JOHN RAVEN BEAU was published by Big Kiss Productions, which was named 2011 POLICE BOOK OF THE YEAR by Police-Writers.com, a group that boasts of 1153 state and local law enforcement officials from 485 state and local law enforcement agencies who have written 2504 police books. In 2011, BATTLE KISS was released, a 320,000 word epic of love and war set against the panorama of the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. In 2012, Mr. De Noux's first private eye was published. ENAMORED, a novel of obsession and murder, is set in 1950 New Orleans and BOURBON STREET is a crime novel set in 1947 New Orleans. Books published in 2013-2016 include USS RELENTLESS, a saga of the US Navy in the Age of Sail, the Lucien Caye mystery NEW ORLEANS RAPACIOUS and the first Jacques Dugas novel, THE FRENCH DETECTIVE, John Raven Beau novels CITY OF SECRETS and Nude in Red, LaStanza novels NEW ORLEANS HOMICIDE, THE BLUE NUDE and THE LONG COLD and the World War II novel DEATH ANGELS. In 2013, O'Neil De Noux was elected Vice-President of the Private Eye Writers of America. De Noux's web site is http: //www.oneildenoux.net