Festival of Books: Writing about America's criminal underbelly

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Lillian Larkins, 4, sits in her stroller and checks out a book at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Amelia Gray, left, Kelly Link, moderator Chris Daley, Aimee Bender and Jonathan Lethem during “The Art of the Short Story” conversation in Town & Gown.

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An overhead view of the USC central campus during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 19, 2015.

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Moderator Chris Daley holds up Aimee Bender’s book “The Color Master” during “The Art of the Short Story” conversation.

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Author Amelia Gray

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Adrian Echeverri, 7, of Pasadena reads “Batman” on the grass during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on April 19, 2015.

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Dancers from the Jung Im Lee Korean Dance Academy perform.

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The audience watches the Jung Im Lee Korean Dance Academy.

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People line up for the Book Soup booth.

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“Writing American Crime” conversation with moderator Tom Zoellner, left, Ruben Castaneda, Sam Quinones, Barry Siegel and Deanne Stillman.

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Moderator Tom Zoellner, left, during “Writing American Crime.”

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Deanne Stillman during the “Writing American Crime” conversation.

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Sam Quinones during the “Writing American Crime” conversation.

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Ruben Castaneda during “Writing American Crime.”

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People walk through the center of campus.

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The USC Trojan Marching Band performs.

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People browse books for sale at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on April 19. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Robin Coste Lewis, Jody David Armour, Terence Fitzgerald and Shana L. Redmond speak on the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Jody David Armour listens during the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel.

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Terence Fitzgerald listens during the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Shana L. Redmond speaks on the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel.

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The L.A. Times’ new speakers series debuts with Malcolm Gladwell with The Times’ Kenneth Turan in the Bovard Auditorium during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC.

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Malcolm Gladwell speaks in the Bovard Auditorium.

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Clara Heis, 10, carries the book “5,000 Awesome Facts about Everything” on her head at the festival, held at USC. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Leslie Criswell reads the book “Flash Points” on a lawn at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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People wearing face paint walk through the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Elijah Horn, 8, right, buys comics and the book “Attack on Titan” with his mom Neferteri Plessy at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Karolina Waclawiak, left, Geoff Nicholson, Porochista Khakpour and Mark Doten speak on the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Karolina Waclawiak smiles during the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

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Porochista Khakpour smiles during the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

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Geoff Nicholson speaks on the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

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Mark Doten speaks on the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

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Robbie Rogers, author of “Coming Out to Play,” is interviewed by Chris Erskine at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Robbie Rogers, author of “Coming Out to Play.”

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Claudia Rankine, author of “Citizen,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Brighde Mullins listens during a panel at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Author Jesse Klausmeier reads “Open This Little Book” to Rahne O’Leary, 7, Coral O’Leary, 3, and their dad Tom O’Leary during a book signing at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Yamila Kun, 3, and mother Ceci Bastida read together at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

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Chef Roy Choi speaks onstage with Josh Kun while discussing “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Food Pasts, Food Futures” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Roy Choi speaks on the panel “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Food Pasts, Food Futures” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Josh Kun speaks on the panel “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Food Pasts, Food Futures” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Jacqueline Woodson, author of “Brown Girl Dreaming,” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Jason Segel, left, author of “Nightmares!,” speaks with Joel Arquillos at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Audience members react as Jason Segel, author of “Nightmares!,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Jason Segel, author of “Nightmares!,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Author Joyce Carol Oates in conversation with Michael Silverblatt at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Joyce Carol Oates, author of “The Sacrifice,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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People browse books for sale at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Anne Lam, left, Jaslyne Tam, 9, and Langie Tsang, 8, take a picture with Ladybug Girl at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

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Kailah Rojas, 8, browses the selection of books at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

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Books are set out for the second day of the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

By Javier Panzar

April 20, 2015 3:17 PM PT

How the panelists on “Writing American Crime” found their sources became a fun topic Sunday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Ruben Castaneda said he smoked cracked cocaine while he was covering crime in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s before kicking the addiction.

For his book “S Street Rising: Crack, Murder, and Redemption in D.C.,” he revisited the block where he bought drugs and spoke with a pastor who was protected by a local drug dealer named Baldy.

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Sam Quinones had no trouble speaking with drug users for his book “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic.”

The Mexican drug traffickers in federal prison proved tougher nuts to crack. He wrote to dozens and ultimately convinced some to talk after he mentioned his last writings about Mexican singer Chalino Sanchez, who is idolized by drug traffickers.

The panel talked about the criminal underbelly of America and the intensive research needed to write about it with gusto and authority.

“You have to do far more immersion,” Quinones said when asked to compare writing a book to a newspaper article.

Deanne Stillman, who wrote “Desert Reckoning,” argued that writing with a sense of place is important in crime writing. For her, the desert is a key place to convey the sense of mystery and renewal. “It has whispered to everyone from Jesus Christ to Timothy McVeigh.”

Writing about crime and its many layers is especially interesting since courtroom justice essentially comes down to juries picking between competing narratives for which story they like best, said Barry Siegel, a 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist for “Manifest Injustice.”

“What goes on in a courtroom is not a pristine search for truth,” he said.

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