Episode 547: Catherine Grace Katz Needs a Portable Murder Wall and PB&J to Write

"I had a really interesting conversation with a publisher for my first book, and the publisher asked me, 'How are you going to get out of the story?' And I think that's the thing that people often go into it having a  great idea of two thirds of a really good story, how it goes up through the climactic action of your narrative. But then there can be this like long trail off where people can't bring themselves to wrap the story up, or not put as much thought into exactly how the story ends," says Catherine Grace Katz, author of Shadow Before the Flame.

It's Catherine Grace Katz (@catherinegracekatz on IG)! Who first appeared on the show back on Ep. 222 for her acclaimed book Daughters of Yalta and she's back in the saddle again for Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War. It's published by Viking.

Two things are ubiquitous about the Hindenburg: It blew up and the journalist painting the audio picture of the disaster said, "Oh, the humanity." Beyond that, what else is there? Turns out, um, quite a f------ lot, man. I didn't know there were survivors. I didn't know it was a passenger vessel. Shadow will sit right beside the great historical yarns spun by the likes of Laura Hillenbrand, Erik Larson, and Hampton Sides. I'm always amazed how writers make work of this nature suspenseful when you know the outcome. Like, you know the Hindenburg blows up. You know Trudy Ederle swims the English Channel. And yet, when it happens, you're rewarded more than you could have imagined.

What a fun time we had. Can't believe it's been six years since she was on the show. Oct. 2, 2020. Wild. Who'd have thought that she's such a fiery New York Yankees fan? Hmmm … In this episode we talk about:

* The origin story of this book

* The post-book funk

* Step 1 of writing this book proposal

* Getting out of the story

* World building

* Capturing the little nuggets

* How she's more rooted in feel

* The murder wall