An unlikely heroine

Baton Rouge writer Toni McGee Causey likens her first novel, Bobbie Faye’s Very (very, very, very) Bad Day, to a sinfully delicious but simple chocolate bon-bon, rather than a fancy meal from a fine restaurant.

“Sometimes you just really, really want the chocolate bon-bon,” she says. “Bobbie Faye is nowhere near the great American novel, and I came to peace with that very early on. It’s fun. It’s a romp. I hope it makes people laugh. It’s just fun.”

How could it not be? Rapid-fire pacing hooks readers with kidnappings, bank robberies, car chases and angry bears. The main character, despite her faults, has a certain Southern-fried sass and kick-ass attitude that will have readers rooting her on to the finish.

For Causey, a native of “pretty much all over South Louisiana” with Cajun in her blood, storytelling comes first, writing second.

“I grew up with Cajuns telling stories for entertainment,” she explains. “Instead of having discourse over current events we would all try to top each other’s stories, and that’s how I relate to the world—through storytelling. So, a lot of what I tried to do with Bobbie Faye is make it feel like you’ve been sitting with someone and they’ve been telling you this great story. And, I’m not battling for perfect word choice or beautiful language, because in her world, beautiful language would stick out like a sore thumb.”

A former writer for the State Times and Morning Advocate, and an editor of Baton Rouge Magazine, Causey has extensive experience writing articles and non-fiction pieces, but this is her first foray into novel-writing, a Cinderella story of sorts.

While working on her Master of Fine Arts degree in screenwriting at LSU, Causey got swept up in the world of Hollywood screenwriting, often flying out to the West Coast to take meetings on her scripts. Most were promising, but none actually made it to film. In fact, Bobbie Faye was originally penned as a script, more for Causey’s own amusement than for publication or film.

“She (Bobbie Faye Sumrall) just kind of showed up one day and announced her presence,” Causey says. “She came to me pretty much in full form. Most of my characters tend to do that.”

Additional characters Trevor, the sexy hostage, and Cam, Bobbie Faye’s ex-boyfriend who just happens to be the state police detective hot on her trail, came to her about five minutes later. The one character Causey spent the most time crafting was Ce Ce, Bobbie Faye’s voodoo-practicing, crystal peddling-employer, and owner of Ce Ce’s Cajun Outfitter and Feng Shui Emporium.

“I didn’t want her to be a caricature,” Causey says. “Granted, she’s outrageous. But, I hope readers find her real and warm. It was important to me that she come across as smart. She does the voodoo and all of this crazy stuff, but she makes money at what she does and she’s got that eccentricity thing working for her, not against her.”

Enamored with the story and the cast of characters after reading the finished script, a friend of Causey’s then passed it onto another friend, Rosemary Edghill, a former editor at Dutton. She contacted Causey with some suggestions and told her to get in touch with Lucienne Diver, who would eventually become Causey’s literary agent.

With three completed chapters and a synopsis, Diver pitched Bobbie Faye as a three-book series to St. Martin’s Press. Causey provided two preliminary synopses for the next two books. St. Martin’s flipped for Bobbie Faye, and Causey became a first-time author.

“Everyone was so excited—my agent, the publishers… and all I could think is, ‘Oh my God what book?’ It’s not written yet,” she says. “It’s three chapters and a synopsis.”

Altering the story from script to novel took about six months from the point of sale. The first book in the series was released in May. Causey is now wrapping up edits on the second.

She recently signed with a movie agency, Innovative Artists, and there has been talk about turning Bobbie Faye into a movie, or possibly a television series. But everything is just talk at this point, according to Causey.

“There’s been a lot of good stuff, but all that means in Hollywood is that they like it, but nobody has written a check yet. And, it’s a little exciting for them—it’s a series, it’s a three-book deal, so they know they have guaranteed sequels. But until they have them in their hands they don’t know what I’m going to do with the story.” bobbiefaye.com