Lucy and John’s Excellent New York City Adventure @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: At least once a year, John and I take the train to New York to take advantage of what the city has to offer. I confess that I’m a creature of habit. We’ll often choose a Broadway show or two to splurge on, and then run through my obsessions.

 These include a visit to the Strand Bookstore (I know, I know, I have more books piled up already than I can read in a lifetime. But still…) And we often visit the Eataly store where we have a delicious Italian lunch and come out with a huge bag of their pasta. 

Plus have dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant in the East Village, Pylos. 

Since John teases me about being such a creature of habit, this time we squeezed in a few new stops. We visited the Morgan Library and Museum to see an exhibit about Beatrix Potter, featuring many of her letters and drawings and book illustrations. What a fascinating woman, a scientist and conservationist, as well as a writer and artist. 

She also was a whiz at character merchandising. I particularly loved this game board, which was apparently too complicated to produce commercially. 

From there, we took the ferry from 34th Street to Astoria. What a glorious way to travel on a beautiful day!  

We were headed to a retrospective of ceramic artist Toshiko Tokaezu at the Noguchi Museum. She was my college best friend’s mentor, and I’m pretty sure I took a class from her, though I lacked talent and she scared me to death! I knew he would not be able to attend the exhibit so we went in his honor. 

I highly recommend both the museum and the retrospective, which will be traveling once it closes in Queens. 

I’ll put extra photos from Beatrix Potter and the Noguchi at the end if you want more. When you go someplace outside your home turf, do you revisit familiar stops or like to try new things?

Traveling Dreams

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I've been thinking and dreaming much about traveling lately. Part of that is usual for this time of year - as you may have gathered from Monday's conversation, January and February in Maine is no picnic. I've reached the point in life where, if I had more cash and fewer obligations, I would happily up stakes and seek out warmer climes in winter. But part of it, of course, is the fact that I (and most of the rest of the world) haven't been able to travel. 

 I've gone places, yes, absolutely. In the summer, when infection rates were down and we could all spend plenty of time out of doors, the girls and I drove to Norfolk to spend some time with the Sailor. I spent a week in the Philadelphia region with my dear friend Rachael. I went twice to my dad's place in upstate New York. It feels a bit like nineteenth century travel: trips to relations and close friends, nothing that takes more than a long day, and you stay at least a week. 

I know I'm luckier than many during this pandemic. Honorary Red Celia Wakefield and her husband have barely been out of their house since last February. But still. I yearn for real travel. To head out for foreign climes and experience a new culture, eat new food, learn new things. Or to revisit favorite destinations from years past. I'm coming up with a list, dear readers, and I swear, I'm going to check each location off sooner or later (because if I don't I will really have wasted a lot of time looking up hotels, flights and lists of "best things to see and do." Where am I dreaming of?

 

 

1. Tahiti. Yes, I know it's cliche. But I also know it's 85F/29C today in Papeete, and along with white and ebony beaches, they have luxe resorts with swim-up bars. I don't pretend to be going to Tahiti for culture. I want to lay in the sun, splash in the water, and overindulge in coconut-flavored drinks.

 

 

 2. New York City. So much closer that French Polynesia, but it feels as far away right now. In the Before Times, I went often enough that I kind of took it for granted. The last time I was in NYC was a little over a year ago. Youngest and I stayed at a funky hotel, saw an amazing Broadway show, ate Chinese and toured the UN (that last being her passion.) I want to do it all again.

 

3. The Winter Carnival in Quebec. As we noted, it's possible to enjoy cold weather when you're out and doing things. Le Carnaval de Québec has some aspects of New Orleans' Mardi Gras: parades, great food and drink, a jolly crowd - but with much less public emesis and nudity. (You can strip down to your bathing suit and take a snow bath with Bonhomme Carnaval, but that takes some real dedication.) Despite living only a five hour drive away - the same distance as New York - I've never been.

4. Kosovo and Albania. Youngest went to Kosovo in the summer of '19, and had so many wonderful experiences, it made me want to see it for myself. And I've been interested in Albania for some years now - the gorgeous Adriatic coast, the food (a delicious blend of Greek, Turkish and southern Slavic influences) and some of the best-preserved Roman sites in all Europe.

 

 

5. The Big Island of Hawaii. Also, not a novel destination. The beaches, Volcanos National Park, the food (oh, lord, the food) the gardens, the history... Hawaii is definitely my happy place.

How about you, dear readers? What destinations are you dreaming of, in the days-to-hopefully-come when we can meet and mingle again?

Killer Look? Killer Book!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It’s what we’re writing week! But I am bringing in a ringer.

Oh, yes, I am writing. On word number 42,280 of Untitled, and more about that soon.  And DRIVE TIME comes next, and then SAY NO MORE. Incredibly exciting.

But instead of hearing me moan about how I have changed the beginning of Untitled fifteen thousand times, and am certain I will never think of an actual title, let’s hear from a writer who is actually finished with her manuscript. And who had millions of readers waiting to get their little hands on it.

(In fact, you could be one of the first! Our storied guest will choose a lucky winner from the commenters!)

And with all her glory and all her awards and all her fans and all her sales and all her success—and all her generosity and unending good works—I was intrigued to learn what went on behind of the scenes of Linda Fairstein’s KILLER LOOK.

Who’d have thought? And--what do YOU think?

                                               

Piece de...Resistance

            By Linda Fairstein

Nothing delights me more than an invitation to return to the company of the divine ladies who are the Jungle Red Writers.  I know most of them, have signed books alongside many, and read them all.  The great graphic of this home page – those seven elegant headshots, highlighted by the bright red river of glossy nail polish – speaks volumes about their style.

What is style, after all?  It can be literary….and these ladies have that in spades.  And it can be fashionable…they’ve got that, too.  I can’t always describe it, but I think I know it when I see it.

I’ve been writing a series of crime novels for twenty years, featuring a New York City sex crimes prosecutor – Alex Cooper - and her tough NYPD detective boyfriend – Mike Chapman.  The 18^th book in the series, KILLER LOOK, debuts this week.  Throughout these two decades, Coop’s capers have taken an insider look at many of Manhattan’s landmark institutions, most of which have a dark underside.  I had her job for thirty years and know that fact well.  I was a prosecutor when a young violinist was killed backstage during a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House – the cultural center of the city.  I’ve never looked at Lincoln Center the same way since.

I’ve set murders in museums and libraries, on mysterious Governor’s Island and at the fabulous Botanical Gardens.  This time, I decided to take a look behind the scenes in the New York City fashion world – after all, we are America’s style capital, on a par with Paris and Rome, Milan and London. 

Would it surprise you to know that I met with a bit of resistance from my great friends at Dutton?  

Well, it spooked me a bit.  

The one square mile of Manhattan that is known as the Garment District has existed for more than 150 years.  For a century, most of America’s mass-produced clothing was manufactured right there, until the very recent outsourcing of the work to foreign markets with cheap labor.

The district has a fascinating history.  I had long thought it established itself when sewing machines made mass production possible…..grounded in the making of uniforms, blue and gray, for the Civil War.  I found out doing research that the actual beginnings of the industry was pre-War – that it was cheaper for slave plantation owners to ship their cotton to New York to have uniforms made for their slaves.  (There is always a dark underside, just like I said).

I’ve never had a book theme ‘approved’ by the editorial team.  What happened this time?  Well, as my JRW friends know, more mysteries are read by women than by men, in general.  I count on my women readers, but the publishing crew knows that I’m fortunate enough to have a good male following, too (which I credit to both Mike Chapman – my tough NYPD cop and his smart mouth – and to my procedural bent, writing about the investigations and forensics that I actually did in my old job).

Would I really lose my guys in the name of fashion?

I love following fashion.  I’ve never been to the big shows, never bought haute couture (and did you know that term is regulated in France by the government? I didn’t).  But I do love to shop and I do love to eyeball and admire great style.

The fix was easy.  Instead of murdering a model or making the book all about the slender girls on the runway, I got close enough to learn that the business side of fashion is terrifically cut-throat and provides plenty of motives to murder.  No spoiler – my victim is an American icon – a guy who went from rags to riches by creating an iconic American fashion business (think of a collared t-shirt with a wolf’s head where that little polo pony now sits).

I’m thinking that one of the victims in the story is bleeding Jungle Red by the end of the novel - is that okay?  And while we are at it, do you have a favorite KILLER LOOK?

HANK: Oh, great question! And that depends. I may have more black jackets than anyone here.  And I just scored some pretty darned great pink Prada heels.  But if I’m home, writing? I’m in my (black) killer sweatpants.

How about you, Reds? And don’t forget—the fabulous Linda is choosing a winner of KILLER LOOK from the commenters!

Linda Fairstein is the New York Times bestselling author of KILLER LOOK, the 18^th book in the Alex Cooper series of crime novels.  For thirty years, Fairstein was a prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s Office, where she led the country’s pioneering Special Victims Unit.

Meet Katie, you fortunate cookies!

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN:  How do you feel about fortune cookies? I am ridiculously attracted to them. I infuse them with some mystical power, cracking open each one with a bit of trepidation because--what if there’s something bad?

I save them, too. The good ones, at least. And put them on the fridge.

So when I heard about Katie Lynch’s new novel—her first, and a TOP PICK, and with an absolutely amazingly (and envy-inducing, I have to admit) premise: 

On leave from college, Jane Morrow has a new job, helping out in her uncle’s fortune cookie factory…

Oh. What a great idea. And now “you will make a fascinating new friend” and  “you will read something wonderful” and “new adventures are on the horizon.” And:

A new setting may change your life…

By Katie Lynch

I didn’t consciously set out to make New York City a character in Confucius Jane, but maybe I should have expected it: New York loves to be the star and has a way of getting what she wants.

I don’t have a clear hometown, and that’s all right with me. 

As a child, I always enjoyed the adventure of moving to a new place and starting over at a new school. But somehow, I’ve never been able to escape New York. The city and I have had a history since the day after I was born—when, five weeks premature and in need of life-saving surgery, an ambulance ferried me from my suburban hospital into the heart of Manhattan.

New York City saved my life.

Thirty years later, I returned at the wheel of a U-Haul, ready to move in with the woman of my dreams. A seasoned New Yorker and second generation Chinese-American, Jane enjoyed showing me her favorite restaurants and neighborhoods—especially Chinatown. She took me to dim sum, where I tried tripe and chicken feet for the first (and only) time. She bought me bubble tea at a nearby bakery and neglected to warn me about the tapioca pearls at the bottom of the cup. We learned about the neighborhood’s history at the Museum of Chinese in America. We took a walking tour and held hands the whole way. I was already in love with her, but she helped me fall in love with Chinatown. 

Many of our experiences there have filtered into Confucius Jane, which features a protagonist who is half Chinese-American.

 

As the novel took shape, I decided to populate its plot with favorite NYC spots that have since closed down. My most sentimental inclusion was Pommes Frites, a Belgian fry shack on Second Avenue near St. Mark’s. It was the type of place you gravitate toward late at night after over-indulging at a Lower East Side cocktail bar—where piping hot Belgian frites were served in an overflowing paper cone and smothered in the sauce of your choosing (parmesan peppercorn for me!). Sadly, Pommes Frites burned down in a natural gas explosion back in March of 2015. However, the owners are trying to make a comeback, and I must confess to chipping in fifty bucks via Indiegogo to help.

Confucius Jane also features another NYC mainstay that has since left



us. At one point near the end of the novel, my protagonist visits a restaurant in the West Village based on Manatus, a diner on Bleecker Street that opened in the early 1980s and established a foothold by catering to the LGBT community in the neighborhood. It served good, cheap food 24-7 until closing in 2014 due to an increase in rent costs. Manatus is sorely missed, and I wanted its legacy to live on in my book.

To use a spirited analogy (pun intended): 

if Confucius Jane is a cocktail, then its base liquor is New York City’s intrinsic magic, infused with my own love story.

I would love to hear some of your stories about settings that are important to you, whether in New York or elsewhere: your favorite haunts, best memories, and most delicious excursions.

Thanks for inviting me to Jungle Red today, and happy reading!

***************

Katie Lynch is an Assistant Professor of English and the coordinator of the MTS Honors Program at SUNY Rockland Community College. She lives with her wife, son, and dogs in New York City’s West Village.

Confucius Jane by debut author Katie Lynch is a lush and charming novel that vividly depicts New York City's Chinatown while taking the reader on a touching journey of family, community, and love.

On leave from college, Jane Morrow has a new job, helping out in her uncle’s fortune cookie factory, and a new roommate―her precocious 11-year-old cousin. Though surrounded by her loving family and their close-knit Chinatown community, Jane feels like a colossal failure. Writing fortunes is a kind of poetry, but Jane is penning words of wisdom for strangers while wondering if she will ever have the guts to move on with her life.

When Jane meets medical student Sutton St. James at her local noodle shop, sparks fly. Sutton stands at a career crossroads: surgical residency or stem cell research overseas? The first is what her father, former Surgeon General and “America's doctor,” has planned for her, but the latter might help find a cure for her mother’s debilitating MS. Neither would make either of them comfortable with their daughter's sexuality. Sutton’s only certainty is that she has no time for a relationship―yet neither she nor Jane can deny the chemistry between them.

Jane opens a whole new view of family to Sutton, a powerful counter to Sutton’s cold, sterile upbringing. Sutton inspires Jane to be more ambitious and to dream again―and challenges her to have faith in herself. But can Sutton and Jane overcome a scandalous secret that threatens to keep them apart?