Welcome to the award-winning The Hill Country Authors Podcast. In this podcast, Hill Country resident Tom Fox visits with authors who live in and write up the Texas Hill Country. In this episode, I visit with author Skye Alexander, a prolific author whose most recent series features protagonist Lizzie Crane and is set in the Jazz Age in New England and New York.
Alexander is the author of a mystery series set in New York City in the mid-1920s. Her main character, Lizzie Crane, is an Irish immigrant striving to rise above her working-class background. Alexander has heavily researched her series, setting the first four books in New England and the fifth and sixth books in New York City. Skye has written nearly 50 books and many more magazine articles. She does extensive research for her books and considers herself “not a morning person.” She is heavily involved with the Friends of Kerrville Library. Her third book in the Lizzie Crane series will be released in August. Tune in to the Hill Country Authors Podcast to fully explore these and other authors’ works.
Key Takeaways:
· Class Struggles in Jazz-Era New York City: A Discussion with Sky Alexander
· Research Process for Setting Novels in New England and New York City
· Writing Process of K.C. Jones
· Writing Professionally at a Young Age
· The Benefits of Volunteering at the Friends of the Library Book Store
Notable Quotes
1. “It’s a really fun way to make a living. I’m very fortunate.”
2. “My protagonist, her name is Lizzie Crane, and she is from a poor Irish immigrant family in New York City in the mid-1920s when the stories take place.”
3. “Lots of books have an atmosphere, many of us read a book or a specific author for atmosphere. But you had, in my mind, an incredibly unique atmosphere. The best way I can describe it is, I do not want to say, class conflict, but you were able to emphasize class as opposed to race or other issue in America in a way I have rarely seemed done in a mystery.”
4. “It was actually the first wave of feminism and the first wave of the women’s movement. I wanted to make sure that I was able to bring that into the story and show how women were really struggling to find their place in the world.”
Resources
Purchase Try to Catch a Falling Knife
Purchase What The Walls Know
