Interview of Jenny Dandy

I'm having fun with the Houses of Crime mystery series. Last week I reviewed The Brownstone of E. 83d Street and next month I'll be reviewing The Penthouse on Park Avenue. But today is an interview with author Jenny Dandy. Don't miss a chance to enter the giveaway HERE.

Jodi: You began the Houses of Crime mystery series while a participant of the Lighthouse Writers Workshop Book Project. Can you tell us a little more about LWWBP?

Jenny: I love Lighthouse Writers Workshop! They’re in Denver and support all kinds of writers. You can take classes on Zoom, too. The Book Project is a two-year program that works with book-length manuscripts. If you’re accepted, you get a mentor and a cohort of five other writers, weekend intensives, workshops, etc. The most significant part of it for me was the full manuscript read by my mentor, Ben Whitmer. He gave me back 16 single-spaced pages that totally changed–and made–my first book. I would not have a book (nor a series) if it weren’t for Lighthouse and The Book Project.

Jodi: That is amazing! I want to be a Ligbhthouse Writer. What do you feel is the most valuable thing you learned from the LWWBP?

Jenny: Wow, too many valuable things to choose from! I think perhaps the best thing I learned is revision. How to listen to the critiques and suggestions and then create a better manuscript. Even if it means throwing away tens of thousands of words!

Jodi: Oooh, I feel the pain of having to jettison beloved words. So tell us, have you always been a writer?

Jenny: Yes! I’ve always been a writer, but never published until now. Though I did win a state-wide poetry contest when I was in eighth grade! I worked in publishing after college, but because my husband invented something for skiing, we moved to the Rocky Mountains where there aren’t many publishing jobs available. Plus I had twins to raise! I ran his company and raised our children and then really started writing in earnest. So this is maybe my fourth career.

Jodi: Good for you! I'm a big fan of reinventing ourselves. Why are you drawn to the mystery

genre?

Jenny: I love a good mystery! Solving the puzzle, following the detectives through the series. I always considered it my “popcorn” reading, because what I really loved was a good character-driven novel, and mysteries tend to be more plot-driven with characters, and even lovely sentences coming after plot. But I wanted to write about Isabelle Anderson and her manipulativeness and she was conning people and committing crimes and an FBI agent was getting involved, so the book had to be in the Thriller/Mystery/Suspense genre.

Jodi: Do you have a favorite mystery writer or book to recommend?

Jenny: There are too many favorites! I’ve recently read James Byrne’s latest Dez Limerick novel CHAIN REACTION. Now there’s a character well-developed for you! He’s hilarious and deadly, with a strong moral code–even though he’s killing people right and left (but they’re always the bad guys). I tend to go gritty these days, so Dennis Lehane is a favorite–gorgeous sentences–and Jordan Harper (EVERYBODY KNOWS, THE LAST KING OF CALIFORNIA, SHE RIDES SHOTGUN) does it all: character, language, plot. Colin Walsh’s KALA is very well-written and engaging, as is Chris Whittaker’s ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK. Also I just finished Rob Hart’s ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS–talk about a brilliant premise: a group of assassins in a twelve-step program to give up killing. And anything by Lou Berney. I know I’ve left out a lot of people. There are some truly excellent books out there!

Jodi: Stop! You're killing me. Now I'll have to add a second page to my TBR list. Your series is set in New York City but you've lived all over the world. Is there a reason why you chose New York City as your books’ setting? Any other places you’d like to use as a book setting?

Jenny: New York is such an amazing city. So many places for people to hide. Everyone seems to stay in their neighborhoods, so you can go undercover on the Upper East Side and return to your apartment in midtown near the East River and no one will catch you. There are such great contrasts there, as well. The ultra-wealthy, the homeless, the people just trying to get on with their lives, the tourists.

I think where I live, in the Rocky Mountains offers excellent contrasts as well. And with people flying in on their jets and hiding out in their slope-side mansions–well, a lot of opportunities for things to happen! 

Jodi: You haven't had much time for the slopes. Your first book was released a little over a year ago so you’ve been on the promotion trail for quite a while. Are you writing one book while promoting another?

Jenny: I’ve been lucky on this. Or unlucky. I started looking for an agent during the pandemic. I finally signed with Gwyn Jordan of Gold Dust Literary, but the process of being on submission was so long (she couldn’t go to any conferences to meet editors!), that by the time she pitched the first book to Shawn Simmons at Level Best Books, I had two full manuscripts and was starting on the third, so Gwyn got me a three-book contract. So, yes, the promotion takes up quite a lot of time, but I’m revising rather than starting fresh with a first (and second and third) draft during the year I have to get the next manuscript delivered.

Jodi: Cheers to you for just carrying on while waiting to hear back on your first book. You accomplished so much while waiting! Can you give us a sneak preview of what’s up next for Frank and Ronnie?

Jenny: I thought you’d never ask! I love talking about my characters! My latest book, THE PENTHOUSE ON PARK AVENUE was released at the end of April, and Ronnie and Frank are teamed up once again, this time to go after a suspected money launderer for the Mataderos Cartel. Ronnie is embedded as a live-in butler at the money launderer’s penthouse. And Frank is still searching for his daughter–it all gets very messy and very dangerous.

Jodi: And very fascinating, I'm sure. Thanks for visiting and I'm looking forward to reading The Penthouse on Park Avenue and posting a review in June.