We had the good fortune of connecting with Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lucy, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York with my family at a young age. As an immigrant kid, I believed in the American Dream, I wanted to be an author or a film director. At the time, I had no role models who looked like me but to the believer in me, it seemed like an attenable goal. My parents worked hard to provide for us and were always our biggest supporters. I have a sister who is a working actor and another who is a model. I am grateful that my parents encouraged the pursuit of our creativity. I do the same for my kids, I have more means than my parents ever did so my house is full of books, art supplies and musical instruments. My work touches on the themes of race, gender and socioeconomic status. I’m not in your face about it but it’s definitely in the subtext of my writing.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am super proud to have my work appear alongside a rock star line up of BIPOC writers in the upcoming HarperVia anthology Somewhere We Are Human edited by Reyna Grande and Sonia Guiñansaca. My work is also forthcoming in the Made In LA Volume 4 anthology. It was my first time submitting to them and I was elated to be accepted and in such great company. Some of my favorite writers have been featured in one of their anthologies. By the end of this year, my work will be published in five anthologies. As a writer, you get more rejections than acceptances but the more you submit your work, the more rejections and also the more times your work will be published. I have spurts where I submit a lot and then I go through dry spells. I am focusing on finishing my memoir and participating in workshops. It’s not easy for me, I have a full-time job, I’m a mom of two young kids, I want to hang out with my husband, work out, write and sleep. It’s hard to get all those things done every day so I do what I can and I’ll probably be 100 when my memoir, Late Bloomer is published. It’s not about how quick I get to the finish line, it really is about the paths I take to get there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I love raising my family in a city that feels like a small town. I’m always up for playing tourist and am lucky to have access to so many cultural and artistic institutions less than an hour away.

I live in Wrigley, in Long Beach, CA. a diverse neighborhood comprised of working families and creatives, it reminds me so much of Washington Heights in uptown Manhattan which is where I grew up. My favorite place in the neighborhood is the Long Beach Beer Lab. They have the best challah bread I’ve ever tasted and really good pizza. My favorite coffee house closed during the pandemic and a new one opened up about a month ago in the same spot. I’m excited about Wrigley Coffee; their dirty chai fuels my Saturday morning errand runs.

One of the first places I take out of town guests to is the Aquarium of the Pacific. It’s such a fun, interactive experience for both kids and adults. I love petting the stingrays, my kids would probably say feeding the lorikeets in the Lorikeet Forest is their favorite exhibit. After the aquarium, we like walking the waterfront and grabbing a bite at Parker’s Lighthouse.

We love the two-mile hike in El Dorado Park and learning about the birds of California at the El Dorado Nature Center. My kids are at the age where they are comfortable hiking two miles, we are going to work our way to a five-mile hike in the Santa Monica Mountains. My favorite hikes are about 25 miles north of Long Beach in Pacific Palisades.

If you’re visiting Southern California, you need to go to Disneyland, it’s a rite of passage out here. My favorite things are the Dole Whip floats, It’s a Small World and the Pinocchio rides, oh and the churros!

Our saving grace during the pandemic was the South Coast Botanical Gardens in Palos Verdes, when all the parks shut down, they remained open. It was such a relief to let the kids run and play in the safety of a beautiful garden setting.

I usually tell my guests to plan their visit around a concert at The Hollywood Bowl, most shows offer shuttle service from the Lakewood Mall so no need to sit in traffic. I am so looking forward to going back this summer. My wedding anniversary is July 3rd and the Fourth of July spectacular has been one of our favorite ways to commemorate our anniversary.

We love taking our kids to museums and we are so lucky to have The Museum of Latin American History in our backyard. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the Science Center are also family favorites. I really appreciated LACMA’s virtual programing during the pandemic, we made a lot of fun, messy art following the Andell Family Sundays @ Home series on their YouTube channel.

Lola’s Mexican Cuisine is one of my favorite restaurants, they have two locations in Long Beach, their guava margarita and Baja mango ceviche make me feel like I’m in the Caribbean. I also love Hungry Angelina, a plant-based restaurant on PCH & 2nd, my goal is to pair every dish with their cocktail menu. Two other places that I feel set Long Beach apart from the rest are Bake-n-Broil and Long Beach Creamery. Bake-n-Broil is delicious American Cuisine, they have the best tasting pies anywhere. They are famous for their Lemon Lush pie but my favorite, hands down is the apple streusel. The best ice cream in the world, (yes, I said that) can be found at Long Beach creamery. The owner is my neighbor and she started selling it out of her garage, then moved to a farm stand and did pop ups around the city before opening her first store on Long Beach Blvd. They craft the most eclectic flavors, use local ingredients and partner up with local businesses to create flavors like Black Ring Coffee. The Burnt Caramel and Long Beach Crack are my go-to.

I have so much more to say about all things Long Beach, I’m inspired to write a travel piece about it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

As a writer with a full-time job and small children, I tend to write alone because I’m doing it either late at night or early in the morning. I want to dedicate my shout out to my writing community and the organizations that have made me an active literary citizen. I am the Chapters Liaison for Women Who Submit, an organization that encourages women and nonbinary writers to submit their work for publication. I support the Chapters Director with orienting new members. I also lead the Long Beach chapter of the organization, we have been meeting virtually during the pandemic. When we met in person, our kids were always welcome, I can’t stress enough how important community support for our women and nonbinary writers is, especially those of us raising small humans. I also hold a leadership role with the Long Beach Literary Arts Center. I joined them in early 2018, Rachael Rifkin and Desiree Kannel started the organization and used to host the Long Beach Chapter of WWS. I don’t remember when I took over the chapter, we’ve been collaborating for a long time and we will be restructuring our events to move from online to hybrid now that things are opening up again. I am grateful to these organizations for gifting me community and to the women and nonbinary writers who hold space for me and each other.

Website: https://www.lucyrodriguezhanley.com/

Twitter: @lucyrodriguez

Other: https://lucyrodriguezhanley.wordpress.com/ I haven’t publicized my blog, so here it goes. A lot of what I write on here is what I use for inspiration to inform my writing, I consider these basic drafts to be used later.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.