After six years of determination and hard work, 31-year-old Massapequa Park native David Abolafia recently published his first novel, Letter Perfect, under the pen name N.H. Avenue. The book is a character-driven mystery that explores the prejudices and experiences of Detective Amanda Ross, an openly gay member of the New York Police Department.

In a recent interview, Abolafia was quick to credit his hometown of Massapequa Park for his success. "Massapequa Park was a nice, safe, nurturing environment to grow up in. The teachers and activities in Berner Junior High School helped me to explore the things I wanted to find out about, such as drama club and orchestra, which really allowed me to become the diverse individual I am today."

The road to becoming a published novelist was not always the obvious one for Abolafia. As a high school student, he excelled at math and science, and a writing career seemed an unlikely prospect. At age 16, he headed off to college in New York's capital district and became involved with the school's student newspaper, writing feature articles and movie and theater reviews.

Two years later, it became evident that writing was not going to be just a pastime, but rather a profession. Abolafia had already spent two summers on Long Island, writing features and fiction for The Fire Island Tide. The author's first play was published in 1993, just one year after graduation. In the meantime, he did odd jobs around Albany to pay the bills. The following year precipitated a move to Plattsburgh, NY, where he was inspired to begin work on what would become the novel Letter Perfect.

In March of 1995, Abolafia moved back to Long Island and resumed his career as feature writer and critic, this time for Long Island Lifestyles. He also contributed the occasional piece of fiction. However, it wasn't until 1997, when a new job in Manhattan gave him the opportunity to finish the novel that a real writing career was born.

Letter Perfect follows Detective Amanda Ross and her partner Randy as they investigate the murder of Charles Taylor, a highly successful financial consultant and world-class womanizer. The events are set in motion by an earthquake that hits Manhattan, which serves to underscore the wreckage of Amanda's personal life. She begins seeing a police psychologist to understand the panic attack she suffers at the beginning of the story. Desperate to heal her own heartsickness, Amanda finds herself falling for Taylor's beautiful sister Pamela, but must keep her emotions in check long enough to clear Pamela of suspicion. There are plenty of suspects, but not many clues leading Amanda and Randy into the dark world of Charles Taylor. Amanda must also contend with a sexual harassment charge levied against her by a rookie cop she had been trying to help.

"I had previously dealt with such adult themes in short fiction, and have taken my experience working in New York to invest the work with a high level of authenticity," Abolafia explained. In his dozen years as a journalist and PR writer, he has researched and written about a variety of topics, including panic attacks, earthquakes, finance and medicine.

"Writing is not necessarily one of the most lucrative careers," Abolafia said, "but it gives a person an opportunity to use all of the gifts he or she has been given in a way that allows the writer to really make a difference."

Letter Perfect can be ordered through bookstores and is available online at www.iuniverse.com and www.amazon.com.