We were fortunate to have author Denise Hamilton at the San Clemente Library's book group meeting! Thank you Denise, your presentation and question/answer session was absolutely wonderful!
I selected this book for two reasons: I was intrigued by the short story format and loved the idea that all stories covered the Los Angeles area. The noir genre is known for complex pscyhological storylines- and it was interesting to see how the various authors achieved their stories within the confines of a short story format.
Denise Hamilton spoke about her own background- first as a Fulbright scholar working in former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War, and later as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Her own writing was inspired in part by the stories she covered while working for the LA Times. She said she found it frustrating as a reporter to put so much into writing a story, and then never find out what happens years later. Writing noir fiction recalled the research skills she used as a reporter while also celebrating her creative spirit.
Denise spoke about another book, "The Last Embrace". She said, "...one day while researching Hollywood's Golden Age, I ran across an L.A. Times story by Cecilia Rasmussen about Jean Spangler, a Hollywood starlet who vanished without a trace in October of 1949. Jean disappeared two years after the Black Dahlia murder after telling her mother that she was going out on a night shoot. When I examined the characters that swirled around her, I knew I had found the inspiration for my next novel Jean had a violent ex-husband fighting a custody battle for their only child. She'd partied in Palm Springs with two associates of LA gangster Mickey Cohen who also disappeared mysteriously that fall. Her purse eventually turned up in L.A.'s Griffith Park, bearing a cryptic note to a mysterious "Kirk" that suggested she might have been pregnant and was seeking an abortion. It soon emerged that Jean had just filmed a movie with Kirk Douglas. The handsome star said he only knew the actress casually, they hadn't been having an affair and he knew nothing about her death. After interviewing him, the police agreed."
Everyone enjoyed meeting Denise Hamilton and hearing her speaking about her writing, the challenges, and her inspiration. I know we were all eager to read "The Last Embrace."
