About

Tommie W. Whitener and His Writing

Tommie W WhitenerAfter graduating from UCLA in his still beloved City of the Angels, Tommie thought he would spent a quick three years at UC Hastings in San Francisco and then move to Los Angeles to practice law. Now, some 45 years later, he still lives in Marin County with his wife Svetlana and thoughts of moving south are only a dream. However, the law career, first as a criminal defense lawyer and then as a divorce lawyer, is winding down.

Instead, creative writing (novels, short stories and memoirs) is taking over.  In this new endeavor, Tommie is often able to offer intimate first hand and insightful views on that old adage, “Criminal lawyers see the worst people at their best, while divorce lawyers see the best people at the worst”.

However, Tommie has not limited his writing to criminal law and divorce. His first novel is about three couples. One member of each couple attends a series of personal development retreats and then deals with the consequences with their spouse when they return home. To say that the results are unexpected is an understatement. The second novel, to be published later this year, is a fictional account of his grandparents, Tom and Leone, in Arkansas, where they were farmers. Both were handicapped in their own way, Tom physically and Leone mentally. Yet four sons came of the union, all of whom overcame their parents to lead normal lives.