I am very happy to introduce you to writer Lesley Kagen author of Whistling in the Dark, Land of a Hundred Wonders, and Tomorrow River. My playgroup’s book club chose her first two books to read this spring and her third book was released just last month.
First off, a little about Lesley:
I was born in Milwaukee and spent my early years in a great working class neighborhood, much like the one where Whistling in the Dark is set.
I attended Marquette University for one year, fell in love, and followed my boyfriend to New York City. I lasted about six months. I was so intimidated, I spent most of my time running from my apartment to the grocery store and back to my apartment, which was located above a 24 Hour Soul Record Store. Hence, I have the dubious ability to recite every lyric to every James Brown tune ever recorded.
After returning to Milwaukee, I enrolled in the University of Wisconsin where I majored in Radio and Television. I fell into a job as a morning drive DJ on one of the country’s first alternative radio stations— WZMF. I got to interview lots of very cool rock n’ rollers like Frank Zappa, Hendrix and John Lennon.
In 1976, I moved to Los Angeles, where I began a ten-year career working for Licorice Pizza record chain where I produced, wrote and voiced thousands of commercials as Lesley from Licorice Pizza. When I set out to expand my career, I ended up doing on-camera commercials, a couple of Movies-Of-The-Week, and a Laverne and Shirley.
I met my husband, Peter aka Sushi Man, in Malibu, which is pretty funny considering he was from Milwaukee as well. While we both loved living in California, after the birth of our kids, Casey and Riley, we felt this overwhelming need to return to the roost, so we moved back home in 1990.
Ten years ago, we opened up Restaurant Hama. (Best sushi…bar none!)
Well, that’s about it. Oh, wait. The writing. I adore it. I crave it. But it wasn’t until Casey went off to college, and teenage Riley made it clear that any form of communication between us was to be restricted to—”With or without pepperoni”—that I found the opportunity to sit down and let ‘er rip.
Okay, let’s talk about the books:
Q: The main characters from your first two books were girls, from two different decades, who were left in vulnerable situations. The media would have us believe that the world is far more dangerous now than it has been in the past – do you agree with this and how does this question play out in your books?
A: Gosh…more dangerous then or now. It’s hard to quantify. What made things so tough for kids back in the 50’s and 60’s was the lack of respect and support they were given by adults. Parents were so ignorant about how important good parenting skills were. Much of the damage inflicted on kids, the really devastating stuff, is caused by parents inability to deal. So the things we had going on back then, which are not too different than the problems we have now… bullying… rape…unwed motherhood…gangs…physical and sexual abuse…were never discussed. Or barely discussed. They were pull yourself up by your bootstraps decades.
The real difference, I think, is our knowledge of what’s going on. We barely had TV in the 50’s. Now we have streaming CNN. Awareness is heightened, which is always a good thing.
Q: You have a gentle way of moving your characters through the process of finding out “that things are not what they seem”. Is there a lesson about life that you hope your readers will take away from your books?
A: Yes, there is a lesson I hope readers pick up on. Pay attention! Guard your heart! We often find ourselves in horrible situations that could have been avoided if only we’d entered into them with eyes wide open. A little suspicion is a good thing.
Q: Another commonality between your first books is that they are written with a voice very different from your own. I can imagine that writing from the girls’ perspective in Whistling in the Dark was not as foreign as it might be to write from Gibby’s N. (not) Q. (quite) R. (right) view-point in Land of a Hundred Wonders. Did you enjoy writing from one perspective more than another and does this theme continue in your new book Tomorrow River?
A: I love to write from a child’s voice. Gibby’s voice, while she wasn’t a child per se, is child-like. The narrator of Tomorrow River is almost twelve-year-old Shenny Carmody.
Sure we adults can parallel park and some of us even know how to balance our checkbooks (not me), but deep beneath, we’re not so different from children. We’re nothing more than kids wrapped in suits-of-armor. When I write, I try my hardest to communicate authentic feelings. The real deal before we learn to hide behind our defenses.
Q: Being from Wisconsin also, I really enjoyed having Whistling in the Dark set in such a familiar place – is there any chance your future books will again be set in your home state?
A: There sure is! I’m currently working on a sequel to Whistling in the Dark . It takes place the following summer. The summer of ’60. Feels great to be back home again:)
Check out Lesley’s website for more information about her books. I’m going to start Tomorrow River this week – Let me know what you think and as always… happy reading!
8busyfeet 
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