It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Lanny Larcinese, author of Death in the Family

Author’s Bio: Lanny is a native mid-westerner transplanted to Philadelphia. A self-described city guy, he has lived for the past few decades near the University of Pennsylvania. He has been writing fiction for ten years and very active in the writing community. Four of his earlier short pieces were first-prize contest winners. He is also the author of the novels, I Detest All My Sins and Death in the Family. His most recent novel, Fire in the Belly, is currently being shopped and he is hard at work on another novel.  He also writes non-fiction in the form of memoir and articles published in various magazines. Drop in on his website for a good idea of what Lanny is about at http://lannylarcinese.com

Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write Death in the Family?

Lanny Larcinese: Family dynamics and its legacy on children fascinate me. Death in the Family began as a notion of a talented young man whose father is a low-level mob wannabe and mother, an ex-nun. The sub-text of the story is one of conflicted loyalties among family members (with Oedipal implications), their emotional costs, and influence on the child’s development and subsequent evolution. Those issues become played out under stress brought by mobsters, but also played well by the son. 

DL: How do you handle writers block?

LL: I am never blocked, per se; however, I do get stumped as to where to take the plot, i.e., painted myself into a corner regarding events or run out of conflict-steam. When that happens, I revisit my characters’ backstories. Inevitably, it results in new plot threads or areas of conflict. I get bollixed when I get too preoccupied with thinking like a writer instead of thinking like the character. 

DL: Describe your writing process?

LL: It always begins with a character who has a dilemma. The character specs as well as plot will be governed by the nature and scope of the dilemma. The dilemma will be most likely be multi-dimensional, involving personality construct, moral inclinations, environment, and fate. Once those features are scoped out and somewhat solidified in my mind, I bang out the first sentence and let the story unfold organically, but always the character’s dilemma(s) in mind as I write. As a so-called pantser, I also viciously edit as I go, no new writing until I have ironed out all the wrinkles in the earlier writing.

DL: What makes for a good story?

LL: Character, all day! The human condition. The Seven Deadly Sins. The struggle. Life is not for amateurs, and stories should reflect that. I don’t need to like the characters, or even understand them. All I need is that they’re in a pickle and the rest is a puzzle. 

DL: What were some of the challenges when writing Death in the Family?

LL: My challenge for this book was the same as my other books: How do I reconcile the book I want to write with the book the public wants to read? Is what I think as important and interesting the same as the public’s notions? How do I reconcile my own tolerance for grit and frankness and ambiguity with the public’s sensibilities? In my opinion, like a politician, my authorial expressions should lead—be a little in front of, as well as reflect—literary taste and aesthetics.         

DL: Is there any particular author or book that influenced you either growing up or as an adult?

LL: No single one, but like most authors, I was a well-read kid, including best sellers of the day as well as classical literature—Homer, Dante, Cervantes, the Russians, et al. In terms of direct influence on what and how I write, David Goodis, Gerorge V. Higgins, and Dennis Lehane are up there, as are Jeffrey Deaver, Richard Price, Peter Blauner, and locally, Dennis Tafoya. Each has influenced me in some way, ranging from deep access to character, to writing style, to story construction, etc. 

DL: What was the best writing advice you ever received?

LL: “Just write your damned book.” It’s easy, early in the game of writing fiction, to get snagged into all the conflicting conventional wisdom or meme-of-the-day dos and don’ts. You read all the well-regarded experts, listen to your peers, editors, and conference keynoters. They may or may not agree, or their experience is within narrow channels—all sorts of reasons to believe some, maybe much, of what they say has merit, but usually not all. In retrospect, I believe too much “how to” impairs as much as facilitates craft. Or as I like to think: When you’re on the wrong track, every station you go by is the wrong station.

DL: What new projects are you currently working on?

LL: I am currently shopping my completed novel, Fire in the Belly, a story that hews closely to the disastrous 1985 police bombing of a Philadelphia row house, resulting in the fire death of twelve people, including five children. It is the grim story of a weird, quasi-naturalist/anarchist cult, civic incompetence, and racist police force. I am also twenty thousand words into a more traditional private detective/kidnapping story called Under a Shroud. 

DL: Please share an excerpt from Death in the Family.

LL: Here you go: 

“This must be big, Donny,” Dad said. 

We cruised past Olney Avenue’s bus station, surrounded by check cashing stores, pawn shops, and Einstein Hospital—noted for its Penetration Emergency Surgery Unit—a perk for people who got stabbed or shot and arrived by bus like some did, bleeding all over molded plastic seats while AIDS-fearing passengers rushed to exit from the rear.                                

“It must be really important,” Dad went on. 

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” 

“Aw, cut it out. I been waitin’ a long time for this.” 

He sat straighter and gripped the wheel tighter. 

“This might be my shot.” 

He talked about South Philly like it was Mount Olympus, except inhabited by street-punk gods where eleven-year-old kids boosted cars and rolled drunks. Government? Forget about it. Any expression of it from the IRS to L&I, let alone cops, was anathema. Nobody but family was trusted. Its wannabes’ wet dream was genuflecting to the young Joojy Gaetano whose dues were petty lucre from candy store stickups and running numbers. 

But when their ship came in, work orders were simple: Do the necessary. 

Mother referred to Dad’s South Philly mores as his lacunas, a dressed-up word only the librarian she was would conjure. 

“What in the hell are those, like tics?” he had asked. 

“Gaps,” she said. 

DL: Where can readers learn more about you and your work?

LL: Thank you Deliah, for sharing your following with me. Readers can find me at:

• Website: http://lannylarcinese.com  
• Book buy link: Death in the Family: http://ow.ly/60lT30pXDD3
• Book buy link: I Detest All My Sins:  https://www.amazon.com/I-Detest-All-My-Sins/dp/1940758807
• OR FRIEND ME ON FACEBOOK! https://www.facebook.com/lanny.larcinese.7