Episode 93 Notes and Links to Steph Cha’s Work
On Episode 93 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Steph Cha, as the two discuss her work as an “Elite Yelper,” book reviewer, mystery writer, and award-winning novelist. The two discuss, among other topics, her early relationship with words, her inspiration for food writing and Yelp-ing, as well as her mystery writing and its connections to escape and/or reality. The two finish by discussing the historical fiction/mystery/character-driven modern classic Your House Will Pay and its vivid characters and prose.
Steph Cha is the author of Your House Will Pay, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the California Book Award, and the Juniper Song crime trilogy. She’s a critic whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, where she served as noir editor, and is the current series editor of the Best American Mystery & Suspense anthology. A native of the San Fernando Valley, she lives in Los Angeles with her family.
Buy Steph Cha's Your House Will Pay
Buy Steph Cha's Follow Her Home
Buy Steph Cha's Dead Soon Enough: A Juniper Song Mystery
Buy Steph Cha's Beware Beware: A Juniper Song Mystery
Review: Kirkus Review for Beware Beware
Los Angeles Times Review of Books Review for Your House Will Pay
Your House Will Pay: A Conversation with Author Steph Cha on Race Relations-hosted by LA Public Library The Rumpus Interview with Steph Cha from 2015
Steph Cha’s Yelp Reviews
At about 1:40, Steph talks about growing up in the San Fernando Valley and her early love of reading, as well as interesting anecdotes about her mother’s role in encouraging her reading
At about 5:30, Steph discusses her relationship with bilingualism, growing up with Korean as her first language
At about 7:00, Steph outlines her early reading loves, including reading Jane Eyre at eight or nine and The Phantom Tollbooth, among others; she relates a funny early reading of Catch 22
and her voracious appetite for manga
At about 11:20, Steph is asked about representation in what she read as a adolescent, and she talks about what she was used to missing
At about 12:15, Steph talks about Maurene Goo and her standout work that makes Steph wish she had been able to read such work when she was a kid
At about 13:15, Pete asks Steph about inspiring writers and “ ‘Eureka’ moments in her writing career path, including examples of what to and what not to do
At about 16:50, Pete wonders how law school and her high-level Stanford and Ivy League education informed her later writing
At about 19:55, Steph talks about any connections between her and a protagonist of Your House Will Pay
At about 21:00, Steph talks about her prolific Yelp reviews and the Yelp-ing lifestyle
At about 22:00, Steph recounts an incredible anecdote that coincides with the early days of the legendary Kogi food truck
At about 24:00, Steph talks about her early work with Yelp and how it connected to other work and life events
At about 26:30, Pete asks for a few LA taco recs-Steph mentions Tacos 1986, Guisado’s, and Mexicali, among so many others
At about 28:20, Steph talks about her days working with the legendary writer, the late Jonathan Gold
At about 33:00, Steph and Pete discuss Jonathan Gold’s sense of generosity and how she was a scout with young standouts like Javier Cabral
At about 35:50, Pete asks Steph if there is ever a need or a benefit to “ripping” a book or restaurant in a review if the quality is low
At about 38:50, Steph discusses tropes and themes from her noir writing, as well as the seeds for her Juniper Song trilogy
At about 42:40, Pete wonders about the balance between realism and “escape” in Steph’s writing, in her mysteries and in Your House Will Pay
At about 44:20, Pete and Steph discuss her masterful usage of Los Angeles as almost a character in its own right in her writing
At about 46:50, Pete recounts his visceral experience at reading the marvelous and profound Your House Will Pay
At about 47:30, Steph’s son joins the chat!
At about 47:45, Pete and Steph discuss two marvelous works that have informed their reading and knowledge of the events regarding the 1992 Rebellion and Latasha Harlins’ murder, Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, and Brenda Stevenson’s The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins
At about 48:10, Steph discusses the seeds for Your House Will Pay
At about 49:50, Steph explains why and when she uses “Uprising”/ “Riot”/ “Rebellion” with regard to the events of 1992 after Rodney King’s police beating and in the book
At about 51:35, Pete inquires into the background on the book’s title and the use of “house”; she references a 1985 rap song that gave her the title-Toddy Tee’s “Batterram”
At about 52:30, Steph explains how Your House Will Pay, being her fourth book, plays with and avoids the “white gaze”
At about 54:30, Pete wonders about Steph’s writing process regarding the book’s flashbacks and nonlinear narrative
At about 57:00, Pete and Steph discuss the memorable main characters of the book and their significance, including LaTasha Harlins and the infamous Soon Ja Du
At about 59:45, Pete’s compliments about Steph’s book bring up a discussion of how topical the so-called “history” of the ‘92 Uprising and Lastasha Harlins are-”how cyclical violence is”
At about 1:01:40, Pete wonders about any evolution of the characters of the book, especially Grace and Shawn
At about 1:03:45, Pete and Steph discuss salient and profound themes from the book and Pete wonders about some positive feedback that stands out for Steph
At about 1:07:35, Steph discusses upcoming projects and works-in-progress, including some screenwriting (!)
You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.
This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.
The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.
Please tune in for the next episode, a conversation with Sara Borjas. SARA BORJAS is a Xicanx pocha, is from the Americas before it was stolen and its people were colonized, and is a Fresno poet. Her debut collection of poetry, Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff was published by Noemi Press in 2019 and won a 2020 American Book Award. Sara was named one of Poets & Writers 2019 Debut Poets, is a 2017 CantoMundo Fellow, and the recipient of the 2014 Blue Mesa Poetry Prize. She teaches innovative undergraduates at UC Riverside, believes that all Black lives matter and will resist white supremacy until Black liberation is realized, lives in Los Angeles, and stays rooted in Fresno. The episode with Sara Borjas will air on December 7.
Episode 117 with Nadia Owusu, Introspective and Precise Writer and Chronicler of Trauma and Joy, Writ Large, and Author of the Award-Winning Memoir, Aftershocks
Episode 116 with Noel Casler, Standout Artist, Creative, Podcaster, and Standup Comedian with 25 Years of Experience in TV and Production, Including The Celebrity Apprentice
Episode 115 with Jennifer Fliss, Flash Fiction Star and Master of Signifying So Much by Writing So Little
Episode 114 with Reyna Grande: Brilliant and Award-Winning Memoirist, Novelist, and Author of 2022’s Triumph, A Ballad of Love and Glory
Episode 113 with Nicole Santa Cruz, Multitalented Journalist, Former Chronicler of The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, and Reporter Covering Issues of Inequality for ProPublica
Episode 112 with James Tate Hill, Editor at Monkeybicycle , Columnist for LitHub, and Reflective and Acclaimed Writer of Blind Man’s Bluff: A Memoir
Episode 111 with Taylor Byas, Master Tactician of Profound and Affecting Words, PhD Student, Editor at The Rumpus, and Powerful Poet of the Critically- and Reader-Acclaimed Bloodwarm
Episode 110 with Bryce Hedstrom, El Padrino of Comprehensible Input in the Foreign Language Classroom, Master Teacher and Teacher Trainer, Author of Multiple Books, and Bold Advocate for Reading
Episode 109 with Ben Guest, Educator, Builder of Great Relationships through Education and Basketball, and Author of Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey
Episode 108 with Navdeep Dhillon Singh, Writer of Stirring, Profound, and Clever Work and Author of the Standout and Unforgettable Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions
Episode 107 with Dr. Benjamin Gilmer, Tireless and Compassionate Advocate for Carceral and Mental Health Reform and Author of The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice
Episode 106 with Daniel Olivas, Lawyer, Wordsmith, Playwright, Aesthete, and Author of 2022’s Unique and Riveting How to Date a Flying Mexican Story Collection
Episode 105 with Nikesha Elise Williams, host of Black and Published Podcast, prolific and versatile writer of Beyond Bourbon Street and More, and Master Storyteller in Different Media.
Episode 104 with Matt Bell, Author of The New York Times Notable Book, Appleseed, and Uber-Talented Craftsman, Worldbuilder, Chronicler of Society’s Mores, and Writing Teacher
Episode 103 with Tracey Thompson, Short-Story Reader Extraordinaire, Shirley Jackson Fan, and Publisher of the ”California Reading” Project
Episode 102 with Tice Cin, Interdisciplinary Artist, Aesthete, Wordsmith, and Author of Keeping the House-Called” a cult classic in the making” by The Guardian
Episode 101 with Mia St. John, 5-time World Boxing Champion, Founder of El Saber Es Poder Foundation, Advocate for Mental Health Awareness, and Author of the Memoir, Fighting for My Life
Episode 100 with Susan Muaddi Darraj: Versatile Writer of Moving and Well-Researched Works for All Ages and ”Portraits of Flawed, Ordinary Humans with Whom the reader Can Feel Joy, Pain and Empathy”
Episode 99 with Sara Borjas, Profound Thinker, Script-Flipper, Proud Pochx, and Author of the Breathtaking Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff
Episode 98 with Greg Bishop, Disciplined and Voracious Reader, Profound and Thoughtful Writer, and Storyteller with Sports Illustrated, Showtime All-Access, and More
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
The War of the Worlds
A Tale of Two Cities
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends