Laura Lee's Blog
May 9, 2025
How to Read My New Novel for Free
I am very excited to announce the release of my new novel Saturn’s Favorite Music. It’s been ten years since my last novel, and I hope you will find it worth the wait. The new book is set in a radio station in a small rural town in northern Michigan in the early 1990s. Clara Jane, an alternative music loving broadcast school graduate is trained in cuing vinyl and splicing audio tape when she embarks on her radio career. She is less well prepared for the characters she will encounter and the technological changes that are on the way.
If you enjoyed the novel Angel you will find some of the themes of trying to find one’s place in a world of constant change. If you enjoyed Identity Theft, some of the themes of the importance of music and the search for identity will be here as well.
If you were a music-obsessed kid in the 1990s, there will be a lot of warm memories here, but Saturn’s Favorite Music is also highly relevant in our current world of technological change.
I’d love for everyone who might enjoy the book to have an opportunity to read it, especially if you are able to write a review on your favorite platform. Just like Youtubers say “like and subscribe” authors gain visibility in the various algorithms when there are more reviews.
So, in addition to the ordinary methods to buy the book, there are a few ways you can get it absolutely free. Downloadable ARCs are available for a limited time on Booksirens, NetGalley and the book is also available via Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoyed the novel Angel you will find some of the themes of trying to find one’s place in a world of constant change. If you enjoyed Identity Theft, some of the themes of the importance of music and the search for identity will be here as well.
If you were a music-obsessed kid in the 1990s, there will be a lot of warm memories here, but Saturn’s Favorite Music is also highly relevant in our current world of technological change.
I’d love for everyone who might enjoy the book to have an opportunity to read it, especially if you are able to write a review on your favorite platform. Just like Youtubers say “like and subscribe” authors gain visibility in the various algorithms when there are more reviews.
So, in addition to the ordinary methods to buy the book, there are a few ways you can get it absolutely free. Downloadable ARCs are available for a limited time on Booksirens, NetGalley and the book is also available via Kindle Unlimited.
Published on May 09, 2025 14:43
April 22, 2025
Saturn's Favorite Music
Would you like a vacation from current events? Spend a little time with Clara Jane and her co-workers at a small market radio station in 1992 with my new novel Saturn's Favorite Music, available now.
My hope with the novel is that you will get a real feel for what it was like to work in a radio station in the analog day when DJs could accidentally play the wrong side of a 45, or run from the break room to catch a record skipping on the air, or mistakenly put a personal call out over the airwaves.
The ambitious young Clara has her sites set on radio fame in a big market and views the small town of Saturn as a stepping stone. She loves city life and has trouble understanding what callers are talking about when they describe their lost horses.
She meets an eccentric cast of characters including the morning man, Seth, who takes Clara under his wing. Seth is rebellious, and uses humor to mock authority. But he is also the station's highest rated talent.
Clara and Seth develop a friendship based on a mutual love of different kinds of music. But just as Clara is starting to feel at home with her new radio family, dramatic changes come to the station. A new owner brings in automation and no one's job is secure.
If you enjoyed my first novel, Angel, you will find some similar themes. In particular, Saturn's Favorite Music explores the themes of change and impermanence from a different angle.
Readers of my second novel, Identity Theft, might find this book of interest because it also explores how music impacts and inspires the characters. Identity Theft takes the reader into the office of a touring musician, Saturn's Favorite Music takes you into a radio station before computers changed everything. My hope is by the end of the novel you will feel as though you were there and you miss it a little bit.
You can read more about it, listen to playlists inspired by the book and order in ebook or paperback at lauraleeauthor.com/saturn.
My hope with the novel is that you will get a real feel for what it was like to work in a radio station in the analog day when DJs could accidentally play the wrong side of a 45, or run from the break room to catch a record skipping on the air, or mistakenly put a personal call out over the airwaves.
The ambitious young Clara has her sites set on radio fame in a big market and views the small town of Saturn as a stepping stone. She loves city life and has trouble understanding what callers are talking about when they describe their lost horses.
She meets an eccentric cast of characters including the morning man, Seth, who takes Clara under his wing. Seth is rebellious, and uses humor to mock authority. But he is also the station's highest rated talent.
Clara and Seth develop a friendship based on a mutual love of different kinds of music. But just as Clara is starting to feel at home with her new radio family, dramatic changes come to the station. A new owner brings in automation and no one's job is secure.
If you enjoyed my first novel, Angel, you will find some similar themes. In particular, Saturn's Favorite Music explores the themes of change and impermanence from a different angle.
Readers of my second novel, Identity Theft, might find this book of interest because it also explores how music impacts and inspires the characters. Identity Theft takes the reader into the office of a touring musician, Saturn's Favorite Music takes you into a radio station before computers changed everything. My hope is by the end of the novel you will feel as though you were there and you miss it a little bit.
You can read more about it, listen to playlists inspired by the book and order in ebook or paperback at lauraleeauthor.com/saturn.
Published on April 22, 2025 12:00
March 29, 2025
Novel About Radio Days Coming Soon
I am currently preparing the release of my new novel. Saturn's Favorite Music is set in a small market radio station in 1992, the era when the analog world of cuing records and splicing tape was on the cusp of being replaced by automation. Clara Jane is an alternative music-loving graduate from a broadcast school in Detroit. She lands her first job at a small market station in northern Michigan in a one stoplight town called Saturn. The hyper-local programming (featuring lost farm animal reports and radio obits) and its mix of light hits and great oldies is a far cry from the rock star glamour she hoped to achieve with a radio career. But Clara finds a home with an eccentric cast of characters, especially the recently-divorced morning man Seth Jones. As Clara and Seth bond over their shared sense of humor and a mutual love of different genres of music, they start to become something more than friends. But just as Clara starts to become comfortable operating the board, the station is sold and staff members start to be replaced by automation. Will she find the radio stardom she craves before the station goes completely robotic?
To find out more or place your advance order visit https://www.lauraleeauthor.com/saturn
To find out more or place your advance order visit https://www.lauraleeauthor.com/saturn
Published on March 29, 2025 14:46
November 26, 2022
Wilde Nights & Robber Barons Now Available
In 2011, a pair of love letters, hidden for more than a century, were discovered uncatalogued in an archive in Sydney, Australia. They were passionate declarations of love from one young man to another. The writer referred to the recipient as his “darling pretty.” He talked about how much he missed him and imagined sending “millions of kisses all over your beautiful body.” He signed off “your loving boy-wife.” The letters were addressed to Maurice Salis-Schwabe. Of much greater interest was who they came from– Oscar Wilde’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas, known to his intimates as Bosie.
Until the discovery, Schwabe had been an obscure figure in the Oscar Wilde story. Although he introduced Wilde to his co-defendant Alfred Taylor, and was, himself, accused of having sexual relations with Wilde, his name was initially concealed, written on a piece of paper instead of being spoken in open court. The testimony made clear, however, that the mysterious “gentleman on the paper” was a catalyst for much of what followed. After Wilde’s first criminal trial ended in a hung jury, the decision of whether or not to re-try him fell on one man, Maurice Schwabe’s uncle, Solicitor General Frank Lockwood, which caused some of Wilde's supporters to allege a cover up.
But this is just the beginning of Schwabe’s story. In the early 20th Century, Schwabe hosted all-male sex parties for an aristocratic clientele, all the while collecting scandalous secrets that insulated him from prosecution. He spied and cheated on several continents as part of an organized crime syndicate made up of well-dressed, elegant men who adopted false titles of nobility. The false barons made their living traveling around the world on luxury ships, cheating at cards, selling shares in dubious business enterprises, seducing for profit and collecting secrets to be used for blackmail and espionage. They were even suspected of at least one murder. The colorful characters in Schwabe’s orbit were so grand that they seem to have been ripped from the pages of fiction, but it is all true. Hidden for a century in police files, business documents, letters and and articles in many languages in archives on multiple continents, Maurice Schwabe’s story can finally be told.
Until the discovery, Schwabe had been an obscure figure in the Oscar Wilde story. Although he introduced Wilde to his co-defendant Alfred Taylor, and was, himself, accused of having sexual relations with Wilde, his name was initially concealed, written on a piece of paper instead of being spoken in open court. The testimony made clear, however, that the mysterious “gentleman on the paper” was a catalyst for much of what followed. After Wilde’s first criminal trial ended in a hung jury, the decision of whether or not to re-try him fell on one man, Maurice Schwabe’s uncle, Solicitor General Frank Lockwood, which caused some of Wilde's supporters to allege a cover up.
But this is just the beginning of Schwabe’s story. In the early 20th Century, Schwabe hosted all-male sex parties for an aristocratic clientele, all the while collecting scandalous secrets that insulated him from prosecution. He spied and cheated on several continents as part of an organized crime syndicate made up of well-dressed, elegant men who adopted false titles of nobility. The false barons made their living traveling around the world on luxury ships, cheating at cards, selling shares in dubious business enterprises, seducing for profit and collecting secrets to be used for blackmail and espionage. They were even suspected of at least one murder. The colorful characters in Schwabe’s orbit were so grand that they seem to have been ripped from the pages of fiction, but it is all true. Hidden for a century in police files, business documents, letters and and articles in many languages in archives on multiple continents, Maurice Schwabe’s story can finally be told.
Published on November 26, 2022 04:42
April 25, 2020
Meet the Author Virtual Event May 3
Sunday, May 3, 3 PM Eastern (New York) Time. (Use https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/ to find your own time.) Join Laura Lee, author of “Oscar’s Ghost” for a discussion of the posthumous feud over Oscar Wilde’s legacy. Years after Oscar Wilde’s death, two of his closest friends, Lord Alfred Douglas and his literary executor Robert Ross– both had been Wilde’s lovers–engaged in a bitter battle over Wilde’s legacy and who was to blame for his downfall and early death. The centerpiece of the conflict was Ross’s handling of Wilde’s prison manuscript, De Profundis, which was written in the form of a letter to Douglas, full of recriminations. The bitter feud had ramifications for how the story of Oscar Wilde was told and remembered. The link to join the Zoom discussion will be posted on the Oscar’s Ghost Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/oscarsghost/
Published on April 25, 2020 18:29
•
Tags:
oscar-wilde
May 7, 2018
Ballet and Books
The Grand Rapids (MI) Ballet has premiered a new work based on Oscar Wilde's children's stories. There is still time to get tickets for performances on May 11 and 12. I'm pleased to announce that I've been invited to sign copies of Oscar's Ghost at Friday's performance. Even more exciting: The Grand Rapids Ballet has created a special coupon code just for readers of Oscar's Ghost (and even those who have it on their to be read list). Buy one ticket to Grand Rapids Ballet's Happy Prince and get one free for performances on May 11 or 12.
Here's how: 1. Go to: www.ticketmaster.com
2. Search: The Happy Prince
3. Select: May 11 or 12 performances only
4. Enter: OGHOST in the offer code field as shown below to access BOGO tickets (must be purchased in multiples of 2 for the discount to apply)
Then enjoy your show.
Here's how: 1. Go to: www.ticketmaster.com
2. Search: The Happy Prince
3. Select: May 11 or 12 performances only
4. Enter: OGHOST in the offer code field as shown below to access BOGO tickets (must be purchased in multiples of 2 for the discount to apply)
Then enjoy your show.
Published on May 07, 2018 16:07
•
Tags:
ballet, lord-alfred-douglas, oscar-s-ghost, oscar-wilde, robert-ross
October 21, 2017
Oscar's Ghost at the Oscar Wilde
I am thrilled to be able to announce that I will be doing a book signing at the Oscar Wilde bar in New York City. The Oscar Wilde is elegant enough for Oscar, a place where “extravagance is always in season.” I’ve already spent way too much time gazing at the decor through its 360 view. I can’t imagine a better combination of setting and theme and I’m honored that I will be the first author to do a book singing there!
So I hope you will stop by on November 4 from 2-4 PM and say hello, maybe buy a book and have it signed or just have a chat about Oscar Wilde and the battle between Robert Ross and Lord Alfred Douglas after his death. While you’re there enjoy a “50 Shades of Dorian Gray” or “Happy Prince” cocktail. Or if you wish to be more historically Oscar, you can order his drink of choice: whiskey and soda. I’m told the Oscar Wilde’s Whiskey Bar has some of the best varieties in the entire city. Snap a picture with the Oscar Wilde statue. I know I will!
I’m really looking forward to it and I hope I will see you there.
If you will not be in New York, here are some other places you can find me:
October 22: Clawson, MI: Leon & LuLu Books and Authors Event. 11 AM-5 PM.
October 24: Rochester Hills, MI: Rochester Hills Public Library. 7:00-8:30 PM. Discussion of the battle over Oscar Wilde’s legacy.
November 4: New York, NY: Oscar Wilde NYC. 2-4 PM. Book signing.
November 6: Cleveland, OH: Cuyahoga Public Library Beachwood Branch. 7:00-8:00 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost and book signing.
November 7: Swickey, PA: Penguin Books. 7:00-8:00 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost.
November 12: Rochester, MI: Tonia’s Victorian Rose Tea Room. 2 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost and a lovely tea. This is a ticketed event.
November 14: Toledo, OH: Lucas County Public Library Sanger Branch. 6:30-7:30 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost.
November 18: Flint, MI: Totem Books. 1:00-3:00 PM. Oscar’s Ghost book signing.
December 9: Lake Orion, MI: Orion Township Public Library. Author Fair. 1:00-4:00 PM.
So I hope you will stop by on November 4 from 2-4 PM and say hello, maybe buy a book and have it signed or just have a chat about Oscar Wilde and the battle between Robert Ross and Lord Alfred Douglas after his death. While you’re there enjoy a “50 Shades of Dorian Gray” or “Happy Prince” cocktail. Or if you wish to be more historically Oscar, you can order his drink of choice: whiskey and soda. I’m told the Oscar Wilde’s Whiskey Bar has some of the best varieties in the entire city. Snap a picture with the Oscar Wilde statue. I know I will!
I’m really looking forward to it and I hope I will see you there.
If you will not be in New York, here are some other places you can find me:
October 22: Clawson, MI: Leon & LuLu Books and Authors Event. 11 AM-5 PM.
October 24: Rochester Hills, MI: Rochester Hills Public Library. 7:00-8:30 PM. Discussion of the battle over Oscar Wilde’s legacy.
November 4: New York, NY: Oscar Wilde NYC. 2-4 PM. Book signing.
November 6: Cleveland, OH: Cuyahoga Public Library Beachwood Branch. 7:00-8:00 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost and book signing.
November 7: Swickey, PA: Penguin Books. 7:00-8:00 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost.
November 12: Rochester, MI: Tonia’s Victorian Rose Tea Room. 2 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost and a lovely tea. This is a ticketed event.
November 14: Toledo, OH: Lucas County Public Library Sanger Branch. 6:30-7:30 PM. Discussion of Oscar’s Ghost.
November 18: Flint, MI: Totem Books. 1:00-3:00 PM. Oscar’s Ghost book signing.
December 9: Lake Orion, MI: Orion Township Public Library. Author Fair. 1:00-4:00 PM.
Published on October 21, 2017 07:08
August 8, 2017
Oscar's Ghost Coming Soon
Years after Oscar Wilde's death, two of his closest friends, Lord Alfred Douglas and his literary executor Robert Ross-- both had been Wilde's lovers--engaged in a bitter battle over Wilde's legacy and who was to blame for his downfall and early death. The centerpiece of the conflict was Ross's handling of Wilde's prison manuscript, De
Profundis. The furious dispute led to spilled secrets, stalking, witness tampering, prison and a series of dramatic lawsuits. The feud had long-lasting repercussions, not only for the two men, but also for how we remember Oscar Wilde today. Oscar's Ghost, the first book to focus on the conflict, will be released in hardcover by Amberley Publishing in the UK on August 15, and in the U.S. on November 1. Oscar's Ghost: The Battle for Oscar Wilde's Legacy
Profundis. The furious dispute led to spilled secrets, stalking, witness tampering, prison and a series of dramatic lawsuits. The feud had long-lasting repercussions, not only for the two men, but also for how we remember Oscar Wilde today. Oscar's Ghost, the first book to focus on the conflict, will be released in hardcover by Amberley Publishing in the UK on August 15, and in the U.S. on November 1. Oscar's Ghost: The Battle for Oscar Wilde's Legacy

Published on August 08, 2017 07:47
April 20, 2015
Bloggers: Sign Up Now for the Identity Theft Virtual Tour
About IDENTITY THEFT
When the rock star she idolized responded to her e-mail, Candi was thrilled.
When he started to flirt with her, she thought all her dreams could come true. The fantasy takes over her entire life, but none of it is true.
The man of her dreams is not a rock star at all, but a bored office worker whose internet game quickly spins out of control.
IDENTITY THEFT BLOG TOUR: 05/18/15 - 05/29/15
To be a part of the tour follow this link.
When the rock star she idolized responded to her e-mail, Candi was thrilled.
When he started to flirt with her, she thought all her dreams could come true. The fantasy takes over her entire life, but none of it is true.
The man of her dreams is not a rock star at all, but a bored office worker whose internet game quickly spins out of control.
IDENTITY THEFT BLOG TOUR: 05/18/15 - 05/29/15
To be a part of the tour follow this link.
Published on April 20, 2015 17:57
April 13, 2015
Dreaming of Rock Stars and Oscar Wilde (who are not all that different, really.)
I wanted to share a recent interview with you. In this interview from the blog of author Dayna Leigh Cheser I talk about the role Adam Ant played in inspiring my new novel Identity Theft, my thoughts on writer's block and how I would like to sip wine with Oscar Wilde and Bosie Douglas at the Cafe Royale.
Published on April 13, 2015 19:49