Arts
If Max Montgomery ever had to commit to monogamy to save his wife's life, she would just have to come back and haunt him from the afterlife. Max rested his forearm on the registration desk as his eyes anxiously crisscrossed the lobby of the Beverly Hills Ritz-Carlton. He watched as people milled about, dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns. He made eye-contact with a short, brown-skinned cutie who sashayed by in dress so tight he could see the faint outline of her thong. Max smiled. She smiled back. Too bad he was already about to get laid. Otherwise, he definitely would have taken the time to follow up on that. -- Every Reasonable Doubt, Pamela Samuels Young My conversation with Pamela Samuels Young spanned so many important issues and so many good books, I wasn't sure which one to give you a taste of. But I went with her first published novel, Every Reasonable Doubt, a legal thriller which opens with Max, as he goes to keep a date he'll never forget. His last. Pamela writes powerful legal thrillers and protagonists who have complicated, messy relationships. She's been called John Grisham with a female twist -- and, I would argue, a gift for creating characters you want to follow in case after case. She also delves into difficult and important safety issues, especially if you have a teenager in your life. And she makes it easy (well, easier) for you to address these issues with your children, having adapted two of her own novels for middle school and up: #Abuse of Discretion on the very real legal dangers of sexting, and #Anybody's Daughter on the terrifying world of sex trafficking right here in the United States. Regarding the epidemic of teenagers being prosecuted for sexting (and facing sentences that include both prison and registering as sex offenders), Pamela talks about a recent case in Minnesota. If you want further info, I have the ACLU statement here and the judicial outcome here. Newsweek offers a bleak, and sadly increasingly common story of a teenage boy whose life was devastated because of some ill-considered photos exchanged with his girlfriend. Pamela has all her legal series in order on her website. Not listed there, but findable on Amazon, is her legal erotic novella, Unlawful Desires. If, you know, you need a change of pace. As always, the transcript is below if you'd rather read than listen. Enjoy! -- Laura ********************************************************************************************* Laura Brennan: Pamela Samuels Young is an attorney, author, and anti-trafficking advocate. Her award-winning thrillers shine a light on important issues like sex trafficking, online safety, and the juvenile justice system and include young adult mysteries, legal thrillers, and even an erotic suspense novella under her pen name, Sassy Sinclair. Pamela, thank you for joining me. Pamela Samuels Young: Thank you for having me. LB: So you don't just write about justice, you work for justice in real life. PSY: I previously did, sort of. I'm now full-time author, I've been retired from the practice of law for two years. I was actually an employment lawyer, employment defense. Discrimination, sexual harassment, cases of those matters. My last job was in house with Toyota. LB: I certainly think discrimination is one of the key aspects of working for justice. PSY: I completely agree. LB: How did you get into that field? Why did you decide to go into law? PSY: I was a journalism major in college, I went to USC. And I was convinced I was going to be the next Woodward and Bernstein. Then I spent a summer while at USC working in DC at a local television station, and that became my passion. So then I went to grad school directly afterwards and got a Master's in broadcasting and began working in TV news. And after about five or six years of TV news, most recently at KCBS in LA, I was completely burned out and decided to go to law school.