Laura (L. A.) Starks

Author Details

Social Media

Biography

Texan L. A. Starks is the author of the award-winning Lynn Dayton thriller series set in the high-stakes world of global energy: 1) 13 DAYS: THE PYTHAGORAS CONSPIRACY, 2) STRIKE PRICE, 3) THE SECOND LAW, and 4) WINNER’S CURSE.

The SECOND LAW was a mystery/thriller quarterfinalist in the 2019 BookLife Prize competition, an Action/Adventure finalist in the 2020 National Indie Excellence Awards, and a quarterfinalist in the 2023 ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition. WINNER’S CURSE was a finalist in the Action category of the 2025 IAN (Independent Author Network) Book of the Year Awards and a finalist in the 2026 Indies Today Awards.

Starks is honored that “Risk Reduction” was chosen for the second SinC North Dallas anthology, Reckless in Texas, published in March 2023. A previous short story, “Gumbo Filé,” was published in the Dreamspell Nightmares thriller anthology. “Essence of Genius, Genius of Essence” won honorable mention in WOW!’s Spring 2021 Flash Fiction contest.

L. A. Starks earned a B.S. (engineering) at Tulane University and an MBA (finance) at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Besides writing high-stakes thrillers, through her energy investment-focused company, Starks Energy Economics, LLC, she has been a paid contributor to Seeking Alpha, writing over 700 energy investment articles (1.3 million words, but who’s counting?)

Starks has served as development co-chair, investment oversight chair, and treasurer of the Friends of the Dallas Public Library. She has also run twenty-three half-marathons.

Starks was in the first group of 25 (out of 33,000+ graduates in the last century) inducted into the Ponca City High School Hall of Fame.

Achievements & Recognitions

Lynn Dayton Thriller Series Awards

2026 Indies Today Awards Finalist (Winner's Curse)

2025 The Independent Author Network Finalist (Winner's Curse)

2023 ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition Quarterfinalist (The Second Law)

2020 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in action/adventure (The Second Law)

2019 BookLife Prize, Quarterfinalist, mystery & thriller (The Second Law

2019 Texas Authors First Place Award-international thriller (The Second Law)

2014 Texas Authors First Place Award-mystery/thriller (Strike Price)

Lynn Dayton Thriller Series

L. A. Starks has done approximately two hundred signings--many at Barnes & Noble stores--and numerous media events. The website link shows the current schedule. The dropdown menu has a link to prior events.

Winner's Curse: A Lynn Dayton Thriller

For Winner's Curse, the most recent Lynn Dayton thriller (published August 2024), L. A. Starks launched and marketed with both her Texas P.R. professional (focus: book signings) and, for this book, with New York-based Finn Partners. Several of her media appearances are shown in the Media dropdown on her website (link below).

Books by this Author

13 Days