Guest Post

Guest Chick: Rochelle Staab #giveaway

Fellow Angeleno resident Rochelle Staab has written a great historical mystery set in the City of Angels. And wait until you read about her deep and fascinating dive into the city’s past! You’ll feel like you’re right there with her. And Rochelle is giving away a paperback copy of her new release, Behaving Badly, to one lucky commenter.

SLEUTHING SETTINGS

I’m a big fan of the Chicks on the Case, and so happy to be here thanks to the wonderfully funny and talented Ellen Byron. I recently released my first noir historical, specifically chosen to challenge my reporter protagonist (and me) to do her job without a cell phone or computer. To travel back to 1932 Los Angeles for Behaving Badly, I pulled resources like old newspapers, books, photos, and radio shows and movies created in 1932. Really swell, but I struggle putting physical settings on paper in a snap, so my research included an Esotouric Tour of early downtown LA. You can’t beat snooping around the abandoned remains of a 1920s and 30s speakeasy in a tunnel beneath 5th and Los Angeles Street on a Saturday afternoon with fellow writers and academics.

Actually, I prefer playing gumshoe solo, and that’s where my hiking experience served me well. I knew that I couldn’t know old downtown LA well until I explored inside the old buildings. Smell the smells, see the view from the windows, hear the traffic outside, see the shine or dirt on the floors, the wall cracks or old-timey wallpaper—details that bring settings to life.

I love how willing and helpful people were when I entered an abandoned public building or iffy spot, found the nearest security or receptionist and said, “Hi, I’m a mystery writer and I’m using this (location) in my next mystery novel. Can you tell me if…” Even if they couldn’t allow me to explore freely, most were great resources for background and rumors. Important scenes came to life from the ground up. A big one wrote itself when I made the trek from LA City Hall to the top of the bridge above the 2nd Street tunnel. Another required a motor trip to time the drive from DTLA to Long Beach and back on streets, because highways didn’t exist in ’32. I walked a quarter mile out to the lifeguard station at the end of Cabrillo Pier in San Pedro Bay to interview the lifeguard and see where gambling ships once anchored. Sure, you probably can scout all of what I saw in AI or on YouTube, but what fun is that?

Times File Photo — Opening of the Los Angeles 2nd St. Tunnel.

The PR person at the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office building on Mission Street, built in 1920, met me in the octagonal lobby and shared the what’s, and the how’s of corpse delivery in the past. And then there was my mid-day trek into the alley behind the famous and haunted Alexandria Hotel.

The PR woman at the elegant Los Angeles Examiner building on 11th and Broadway was my best informant. Her invaluable background on the lobby elevator that only William Randolph Hearst could use, the staircases for everyone else, and the fire alarm board that gave me the name and floor for each department, giving heart to the old paper.

Footwork brought Behaving Badly to life, allowing me to write locations like I’ve been there because I have, even if it was decades later!

Readers, I’m not unique in settings footwork and would love to hear about your in-person research adventures! Any tips?

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ABOUT BEHAVING BADLY: A Tess Hammond Novel: Recently widowed crime beat reporter Tess Hammond turns grief into purpose when her editor assigns her a seemingly small missing-teen story that balloons into murder, corruption, violence, and white slavery in Depression-wrought, Prohibition-era 1932 Los Angeles. As the search for the young woman leads Tess from an underground speakeasy to a Poverty Row studio, from Hollywood Boulevard nightlife to a gambling ship at sea, she encounters a world of mobsters, corrupt cops and, eerily, the chain of duplicity and corruption that cost her detective husband his life and almost ends her own.

“Overall, [Behaving Badly] is a well-paced mystery that feels fresh, authentic, and uncannily modern.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

BIO: Rochelle Staab is a Los Angeles mystery writer, avid hiker, trail blogger, historian, and former radio and music industry executive. With Mother Nature as a tour guide, Rochelle has blogged about more than three hundred different hikes in the mountains, urbs, and burbs of Los Angeles, exploring SoCal from the ground up. She returned to the mystery writing community following a hiatus to earn a BA in history with an emphasis on American and Los Angeles studies. Her interest in the evolving roles of women in Los Angeles during the early twentieth-century interwar period inspired the historical noir mystery, Behaving Badly, Rochelle’s fourth novel.

BUY LINK

You can reach Rochelle at

Website: www.rochellestaab.com

Facebook: Rochelle Staab

Instagram: rochellestaab

LinkedIn: Rochelle Staab

35 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Rochelle Staab #giveaway”

  2. WOW! Your research for this sounds fun, fascinating and a bit overwhelming. I have done deep dives in books and libraries for research papers back in the olden days when I was still in school, but never real “boots on the ground” like this. Your new book sounds gripping and interesting, Hope it sells like hotcakes!

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    1. Thanks for commenting! The footwork IS fun, and I love calling the research “boots on the ground.” Very cool. I’ll use that the next time I hit the streets. I have a new “street” adventure coming up, a small but important follow up scene in book 2 from a scene in book 1. Going “boots on the ground” will help inspire me. Thank you for the warm wishes on BEHAVING BADLY!

      Rochelle

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    1. Hi Liz, thank you for the comment. It is amazing to me how much people are willing to reveal when they know they are talking to a writer. The walls talk, too. Old buildings with old photos on the walls are the best for bringing a spot back to life!

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  4. Love all the research, Rochelle! Wishing you the very best on Behaving Badly! I appreciate doing in-person trips; I got to visit a fortune cookie factory for my Magical Fortune Cookie series. But I also just enjoy exploring–I’ve wandered around downtown LA before and hopped into The Bradbury Building. But maybe I should set stories in more far-flung places to write off the expenses?

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    1. Hi Jennifer! Now THERE’s an idea. I wonder how far out of LA I can take Tess in book 2? The fortune cookie factory stop sounds delicious. I did visit Coles for French Dip for Tess, before it closed down. Thank you for the good wishes on BEHAVING BADLY. The reception has been good, and it’s so much fun connecting.

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  5. As a third-generation Angelino myself, I love this post, Rochelle–so many things I never knew about my home town!

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, and congrats on the new book; it looks terrific!

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    1. Hi Leslie! Thank you so much for the warm welcome. Taking Tess on the Internet road is so encouraging. The more I study LA, the more fascinating it is to me how a city this big grew so fast, attracted so many talented people, and created its own style. I envy natives like you who got to watch the city grow. That’s why I chose to write about a native reporter in a city of newcomers.

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  7. Rochelle, thanks so much for guesting! In terms of research tips, nothing beats boots on the ground. I couldn’t have written my upcoming release, A MURDERER’S GUIDE TO MARDI GRAS, if I hadn’t taken the plunge – an expensive plunge – to join krewes to parade myself.

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    1. That’s so awesome, Ellen! It’s true. If you can, nothing matches writing after being there, boots on the ground. Especially somewhere like Mardi Gras. I can’t even imagine. And thanks so much for the invite and the chance to intro BEHAVING BADLY to the Chicks and followers. xo

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  8. I loved “Behaving Badly” and so enjoyed reading about all the in person research you did to bring the locations to life so authentically!

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    1. Hi Marjorie! You’re so kind, and I’m thrilled that you enjoyed BEHAVING BADLY. Thanks for coming by. Taking the photos, especially the then and now ones like the bridge, is half the fun of going on site. xo

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  10. Rochelle, thanks so much for visiting us Chicks today! Love this post–absolutely fascinating, and Behaving Badly sounds amazing (on my TBR). I did some in-person research at the famed Parker House hotel in Boston, which was fascinating–and a little ghostly. I snuck into the (closed) restaurant, which was very dimly lit. I ended up losing my purse in there (or was it stolen?). Bonus research: a trip to the nearest Boston PD to file a report. (And guess what? Someone did find my purse!)

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    1. Hi Lisa! I’m thrilled to be here with this talented group. Great story about the Parker House. And of course a ghost stole your purse—had to be, right? They gave it back… I forgot to talk about my collection of police department visits and the detectives so eager to share. But major kudos to you for sneaking into the closed restaurant of a 171 yo hotel. That’s utterly cool.

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      1. I absolutely blamed it on a ghost! And boy, did I get some great creepy photos. It was pretty bad when I had to tell the hotel detective (and later the cops) where I’d last seen my purse. No one could find it until the ghost finally coughed it up.

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  12. Hi Linda! I love learning from mysteries too. California history is one of my favorites, so I lean toward the California North-South classics, Hammett and Chandler. Thank you for visiting my post. Writing BEHAVING BADLY taught me a ton about California and Los Angeles. history.

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  13. Wow! That sounds like fun research. The lobby of the Examiner is absolutely gorgeous! One time I was staying at my friend’s cottage in the wine country and needed to research wine caves. I did a quick google search and the winery right across the road from her not only had a wine cave but had a tour starting in 15 minutes! Thanks for stopping by today and congrats on what sounds like a terrific read.

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    1. Thanks Marla! Hearst’s architect Julia Morgan, the first licensed female architect in California, designed the Examiner building and lobby in 1915, then later San Simeon. It’s been said that Morgan designed from the “inside out,” thinking of the people who would use the building. Before I learned the elevator was for Hearst’s use only, I had my protagonist Tess, getting off the elevator several times a day. When I found out she wasn’t allowed, rewrites made the poor woman trudge up and down three flights several times daily. The discovery of your wine cave is serendipitous! Have to love when discovery happens. Was it spooky?

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  14. Hi Rochelle! It’s wonderful to meet you and learn more about Behaving Badly, especially your location research. I’ve lived in the L.A. area for 70 years (the last 36 up in the ‘burbs of Santa Clarita), and this is the nudge I need to visit downtown L.A. For seven years I commuted via Metrolink, and walking through Union Station never got old (although eventually my wonderful job did…). My husband has never been to the L.A. Central Library, so now we’ll plan a trip down, with lunch at Philippe’s! Adding Behaving Badly to my TBR.

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  15. Thank you for the visit and comment Laurie! Wonderful choice for an afternoon trip to DTLA on a hot day. I was just at Union Station a few weeks ago, and the design of that building never gets old as it launches one back to its opening in 1939. I wish I had been there to see the ticket room and restaurant in action. And yum on Philippe’s! Thank you for considering BEHAVING BADLY. As many of the reviews comment, Tess is one strong woman.

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  16. I enjoyed reading about your research. The last time I remember doing in-depth research was when I was in college. I do still do low key research on things I read about in books and want to learn more about.

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  17. No, Rochelle, despite having done term papers in college (using card catalogs to access books and microfiche to read back issues of newspapers), I’ve never done a deep dive research project like the one you describe. Thanks for taking the time and effort to make your books more authentic and for running the giveaway (print books are the absolute best prizes).

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  19. Hi Rochelle! Thank you for the opportunity to know you and your “Behaving Badly”. Congratulations on your new release! The book sounds interesting. I appreciate your thorough research for your book in order to make it original and authentic. Now, the haunted Alexandria Hotel has really piqued my curiosity!

    I love travelling, and if I am going to visit some famous landmarks, I will do some brief research on internet, so when I set my feet on the ground, I will look for those places against my research – I kinda do “the other way” round of research, LOL!

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    1. Hi Emily! Yes, the Alexandria doesn’t get near the attention its history warrants. It was a really big deal until the Biltmore showed up and stole its shine.I do a little advance research before each adventure, even more when I go out for hikes. It’s the little info “gets” that make being there

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