Character interviews: Veronica Gutierrez interviews Yolanda Avila from AS YOU LOOK

Veronica Gutierrez interviews Yolanda Avila from AS YOU LOOK

Debut author Veronica Gutierrez introduces us to Yolanda Avila, a Los Angeles private investigator struggling with the intersection of grief, guilt, and latent psychic tendencies following the death of her mother. Her struggle peaks when she must solve her godson’s kidnapping and find her wife’s stalker, or risk losing yet another loved one.

VG: People must ask you this a lot, but did you always want to be a private investigator?

YA: Oh, no. I wanted to be a cop. I was a cop, but that didn’t work out so well for me.

VG: Why not?

YA: It’s a long story, but, basically, I found out the thin blue line was not only thin, but frayed, at the LAPD. You can’t stay when retaliation for doing the right thing ends up endangering your life. I don’t really like to talk about it.

VG: Well, I heard that you reported officers for overly aggressive policing and they retaliated by harassing you, and when you reported the retaliation things got worse and you got shot while calling for backup. Calls that were ignored.

YA: Something like that. Like I said, I don’t like to talk about it.

VG: Okay, we’ll move on then. I understand you grew up in Boyle Heights, a primarily Latino neighborhood that doesn’t often make the Hollywood version of Los Angeles. What was it like growing up there?

YA: It was great. We probably had more than our share of big city crime, but it was like growing up in a small town. We knew all of our neighbors and lots of homes had multi-generational families that kept the history of the place alive. And not just Latinos. We had neighbors who were Russian Jews, and an elderly Japanese couple lived up the block, but, yes, it was mostly Latino. Still is.

VG: Was yours a multi-generational family home?

YA: No, but my Nina, my godmother, was, and still is, a very important part of my life. She’s become more so since my mom passed away.

VG: Isn’t your godmother some kind of psychic healer?

YA: A curandera, yes, more of a homeopath, really. Her herbal medicines will cure anything. (Smiling)

VG: You obviously have great affection for her, but isn’t your wife a doctor? How does your godmother’s “healing” work go over at home?

YA: Oh, Sydney loves it. She’s pretty open to Nina’s, um, spiritualism. (Squirming a bit.)

VG: And how about you? Do you dabble in it too?

YA: No.

VG: That’s it? Your brother mentioned something about developing psychic gifts after your mom passed.

YA: Ha. (Nervous laughter) He’s developing something, alright. A quirky obsession maybe, but no gifts that I can see.

VG: And how about you?

YA: (Looking away.) Nope.

VG: Hmm, I thought you and your brother were starting to get messages of some kind.

YA: Let’s talk about something else. Okay?

VG: Okay. How about your work as a private investigator? What kind of sleuthing do you do?

YA: That I can talk about. I started out doing mostly insurance fraud cases. You know, disclosing false claims by people who faked injuries. A lot of them were easy to root out. You can’t claim to be nearly bedridden when you’re caught jogging around your own neighborhood.

VG: Are people that obvious?

YA: Only the easy cases. Some are more devious, but that’s where I come in. It takes some research and lots of surveillance, but eventually, they make mistakes. Of course, there are also legitimate claims that are not difficult to verify, usually through hospital visits and medications, but I can’t get into how I get that information.

VG: Okay. But now you also deal with more difficult cases after a couple of high-profile matters. Can you tell me about those?

YA: I’m not really at liberty to discuss them due to an upcoming trial, but yes, the news coverage related to my nephew’s kidnapping certainly didn’t hurt. I can’t talk about that either, but I’m busier now.

VG: You opened an office in the historic Bradbury Building, I understand. What’s that like?

YA: (Eyes brightening) It’s like a dream come true! More than that, because I couldn’t have dreamt it. It’s a beautiful historic building right across from the Central Market downtown—a  good, central location. And it certainly beats meeting clients at coffee shops. 

VG: I understand that the building has a paranormal past. Something a about a séance convincing the architect to design it.

YA: (Squirming again.) I’ve heard something, but don’t know much about it other than it has a unique inside-out design with wrought iron balconies and a lovely atrium among its many  architectural features.

VG: Is it haunted?

YA: (Laughing.) Not that I’m aware.

VG: So, what kind of cases are you working on now?

YA: Well, without going into any detail, I get lots of referrals about cases that the police have not made much progress on, some cold cases too, and, increasingly, calls from people who believe they’ve been wrongfully charged.

VG: Are they? Wrongfully charged, I mean.

YA: Not always, but sometimes. Sometimes it’s just the family’s wishful thinking. (Shrugs.)

VG: Well, can we expect more news coverage on any of your new cases?

YA: I hope not. At least not until they’re over.

VG: Well, good luck with them. Thank you.

—

Verónica Gutiérrez is a former community organizer, civil rights attorney, municipal employee, non-profit leader, and corporate executive.  She draws from years of experience in those worlds for her writing.  Verónica was born and raised in Boyle Heights, the Los Angeles neighborhood that her protagonist, Yolanda Avila, P.I., calls home.  Verónica and her wife Laura split their time between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Both are home bar enthusiasts and avid travelers.

AS YOU LOOK

Yolanda Ávila, a former LAPD cop-turned private investigator, blames herself for her mother’s death in a road rage accident. It was her fault. The perpetrator was a suspect she’d pursued in an unrelated case, someone she should’ve caught by tracking down a license plate number. Any good detective would’ve done that. But she got cocky, thought she’d catch him by following clues from a stupid dream instead. The only salve against the guilt eating at her now is Yolanda’s vow to reject that juju crap.

But when her godson Joey is kidnapped, his parents are suspected of murder, and a stalker threatens her wife Sydney to warn Yolanda off the case, she must deal with more than just the facts. She must confront the juju to overcome her guilt and deal with pent-up grief—or risk losing yet another loved one.

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing