I'm happy to welcome L.A. Chandlar back to Cozy Up With Kathy. Laurie writes the Lane Sanders Mystery series. THE HINDENBURG SPY is the fourth book in the series and was released last month.
Kathy: In THE HINDENBURG SPY Lane visits several jazz clubs and is treated to the music of people who are now legends of the jazz scene. With a musician father and love of Ken Burns I am quite familiar with several of these jazz artists, including Chick Web. If you could only see one of these performers live who would it be, Billie Holliday, Josephine Baker, or Ella Fitzgerald.
LAC: Only one?!? Haha, like choosing your favorite child. Well, I’d have to say Josephine Baker. I love her vitality, her kindness, and her power. She led a fascinating life and backed up her strong beliefs with strong actions. So seeing her in real life would be amazing. I know I’d be just as happily rattled as Lane was when she met her!
Kathy: Lane enjoyed a lot of historic experiences in the fourth Lane Sanders Mystery. Tell me, would you rather go dancing at the Savoy, take a trip on the Hindenburg (not THAT trip), have lunch at the Algonquin Round Table, or infiltrate the Cloud Club?
LAC: Though I love to dance and the Savoy would be dreamy, I’d take the ride on the Hindenburg. I don’t think we have anything today that can compare. When Lane takes that ride, she knows that airplane travel will be happening soon —Pan Am already had clipper service possible to Europe, but the US was waiting for England’s approval. England was trying to catch up to America’s air service beforehand. And she realizes that speed always eclipses the experience. Especially in America. Lane is already certain that the experience of lightly floating above Europe, able to ascend and descend at the captain’s will to see the famous sights below, was something that would not last long. Then you add on the romance and the elegance of that floating airship…I’d love to have experienced it.
Kathy: I was intrigued to read about the "creation" of chicken and waffles. Researching The Hindenburg Spy were there any interesting facts that surprised you?
LAC: So many! That’s why I love research so much. I am always learning something. With that particular scene —chicken and waffles— I was delighted to learn that it came out of the jazz culture and mixing late night / early morning dining. I love it when I come across tiny details that end up being something ordinary that becomes extraordinary. Or when you put facts together and you find a surprising understanding. For instance, I knew that on Roosevelt Island (a slip of land between Manhattan and Queens – used to be called Welfare Island), there was what used to be called a “lunatic asylum.” I knew I wanted to feature it in my books and I do. But after I’d researched it for a while, I learned that it was the place that a hero of mine, journalist Nellie Bly, did a huge investigative journalism piece by getting committed to infiltrate. It was her gusty work revealing the horrible treatment of the mentally impaired (and sometimes not impaired – it was grossly easy for men to commit any woman who didn’t cooperate) within those doors.
I was also surprised by some of the social justice and early civil rights movements that were happening in the Thirties. The Savoy itself was an influential, integrated dance hall and the stories and images that come from those days are hypnotic. The art of dance and music brought people together whether they were uptown or downtown, Black or White, Protestant or Catholic… What mattered was if you could dance. I love highlighting women and men who did big things but didn’t get all the glory in the history books. I give a cameo in The Pearl Dagger to Jane Bolin whom Fiorello appoints as the first Black woman judge and then in Hindenburg Spy the fantastic Eunice Carter. She was the first Black woman prosecutor and it was her work that took down the infamous Lucky Luciano. The DA Thomas Dewey got more fame from it than she did. But I have to say, the prosecutors today definitely know all about her! There’s a plaque in 100 Center Street of her and a current ADA told me all about her. And I loved writing about Dead Shot Mary. She is highlighted in earlier books – one of the first women detectives. She made over 1000 arrests in her career and headed up the pick pocket squad. She was a better shot than most of the men which was fabulous to discover.
Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?
LAC: Well I knew that this book would feature the actual Hindenburg disaster because it happened right in the timeline of this book. But as I read and appreciated the high concept novels of Susan Elia Macneal in Winston Churchill’s Secretary and Mariah Fredericks’s The Lindbergh Nanny, I decided why the heck not place Lane right on it? The Hindenburg crash actually had more survivors than deaths. It was shocking that such a wildly violent disaster could have anyone survive let alone the majority. This theme is part of the heart of Lane’s stories. I always write about beauty out of adversity and I felt that it was an important message of survival.
Kathy: Are you able to share any future plans for Lane?
LAC: I am currently developing a draft for her next adventure at Coney Island! In real life, Fiorello’s first wife (and this is mentioned in earlier books) died at a young age. He was certain that it was the doing of a fortune teller influencing her – a kind of self-fulfilled prophecy. He harbored a lot of grief and ill will for fortune tellers and created a law that their shops could not be on the street level. To this day palm readers and fortune tellers are mostly in basements or upper floors off the street. So I’m going to mess with this whole thing and I think I’ll call it The Fortune Killer. We’ll see – I’ll keep you posted.
Kathy: When it comes to writing I understand there are 2 general camps-plotters, who diligently plot their stories, and pantsers, who fly by the seat of their pants. Are you a plotter, a pantser, or do you fall somewhere in between?
LAC: I cannot fully plot out a book to save my life. So I’m mostly in the pantser category. However, I tend to follow a timeline then circle back to pantsing, then add more to a timeline, then circle back again. I tried plotting but for me, the soul of the novel completely dies. I believe it’s because my own creativity is in tune with flow and on-the-scene character creation. What I mean is, I get the best ideas and dialog when I’m in the moment with the characters. They continually “surprise” me because as I’m writing, I’ll get great ideas or even pivot major points because a character comes up with a sentence that changes EVERYTHING.
But I am also a student of studying what brings me joy in reading and writing, which is more in tune with plotting. For instance, in the middle of writing Hindenburg, I had this fantastic plot, wild action, surprising scenes…and there was a big part of me that was bored! I couldn’t figure out why. I started to chat about it with my husband and it dawned on me that I was missing the teamwork that Lane has with her colleagues and family. But she was on the Hindenburg thousands of feet in the air, I couldn’t just add them all to the airship. So I came up with the idea of using the radiograms between them and then having scenes that go back and forth with them at home in NYC and her on the ship.
It did two things: One, I was instantly so much happier and interested. I realized I deeply feel the connection between my characters and when it’s missing, I’m personally BORED even in the middle of the most actiony action scenes. Secondly, it gave me the idea of how unhappy Lane must feel working on her own. I ended up making that a major character arc of hers. She learns about herself in that she’s just not happy when she’s not being her true self and though Lane’s never taken her team for granted, she learns to love them all even more profoundly. I also enjoyed writing the POV chapters from some of her friend’s perspectives. I love that they knew Lane really well and were even making bets with each other about her actions. LOL
Kathy: Authors are required to do a lot of their own marketing, especially for a new release. What's your favorite part of marketing your work? What do you dislike about marketing?
LAC: I love the people part of marketing. Like this interview, going to conferences, etc. The part I dislike the most is trying to figure out algorithms and what works / what doesn’t. Sometimes that is truly disheartening. So I focus on the things that bring me life and I keep on writing. I also enjoy speaking and I have several lectures and workshops that I give on a variety of topics including history (I have one on jazz, Josephine Baker, and the Hindenburg; the history of holiday traditions; and several on the psychology of creativity and creative writing).
Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?
LAC: Yes! I have a great new book coming out at Thanksgiving this year: THE LOST STORIES. “Based on true holiday events that changed the course of history.” I adore this book. It’s a modern day novel about an investigative journalist —Lara Smith— who is tasked with what she thinks will be a fluff assignment to write about the hidden holiday stories behind the traditions. She struggles with celebrating holidays because she’s been through a lot of hardship and as a journalist has seen the worst of the worst. So just how do you “do” a fluffy holiday? But as Lara meets with historians and ancestors of the people behind famous hymns, events, and even poems, she learns that holidays have some grit even in the midst of the lights, the candy, and the frou frou. So in the midst of the novel, the reader is taken back in time to be an eyewitness to these events like the WWI Christmas Truce, the first Rockefeller Christmas tree during the Depression, the first radio transmission in 1906, the Korean war hero who became known as the Jewish Santa Claus, and how the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination happen over Passover and everything weaves together to create one of the most beloved of all time hymns. Lara learns that her editor was right: this just might be the most important story of her life.
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Review
The Fourth Lane Sanders Mystery
Lane Sanders' boss, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, is on the warpath when he hears two young boys are being held in jail after witnessing a murder. While the boys finger a well known mob boss as the trigger man, Lane and her compatriots aren't so sure. A hit in broad daylight is not his style and he would never do the dirty work himself. Lane can think of one person who would love to take the man down and take over his turf, her nemesis Daphne Franco. While visiting various jazz clubs to get the word on the street Lane finds that other gangs are antsy and everyone feels something big is brewing. Then she hears words that fill her with dread, Hindenburg hit. While she has an extraordinary team in New York City, everyone realizes that this a mission for Lane and only Lane. Heading to Europe to board the Hindenburg Lane knows it's up to her to stop the death and destruction that Daphne is surely planning.
Excitement abounds in the fourth Lane Sanders Mystery! While a general sense of unease occupies the first part of the book (Who's trying to frame Uncle Louie? What's going on with Valerie?) danger soon increases exponentially until the heart stopping climax aboard the Hindenburg!
I love how Lane's team are more than friends, they're family. They easily work together playing to each other's strengths, Even when apart they rely on each other.
One of the things I love most about THE HINDENBURG SPY, indeed this whole series, is the historical detail. Small details or a tiny historical footnote are given their moment in the spotlight. The Lane Sanders Mystery series brings history to life and I love feeling as if I'm a part of it!
Captivating, jaw dropping, and ultimately satisfying THE HINDENBURG SPY is a fast paced time bomb of a mystery.
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