Episode 124 with Robin Peguero, Exciting New Voice, Legal Insider, and Crafter of the Exciting and Evocative Thriller, With Prejudice

Episode 124 Notes and Links to Robin Peguero’s Work 

 

    On Episode 124 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Robin Peguero, and the two discuss, among other topics, Robin’s early writing and reading influences, Pete and Robin’s shared love for, and awe of, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Robin’s experience in government and law that have influenced his worldviews and writing, and the background, real-life parallels, and themes featured in Robin’s With Prejudice. 

    An Afro-Latino and the son of immigrants, Robin Peguero graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He has written for the Miami Herald, the Harvard Crimson, and the Harvard Law Review, and he served as a press spokesman in the U.S. House and as a speechwriter in the U.S. Senate before becoming a lawyer. He is currently a U.S. House investigative counsel working on domestic terrorism.

Buy With Prejudice by Robin Peguero

 

Shelf Awareness: Interview with Robin Peguero

 

The Big Thrill: “Up Close: Robin Peguero”

 

 

 

At about 1:30, Robin describes the festivities for the first week of publication, describes the feeling as “surreal,” and talks about his 

 

At about 3:00, Robin gives background on his childhood relationship with language and literature and growing up in Hialeah, outside of Miami

 

At about 5:35-a Natalie Lima shout out!

 

At about 6:10, Robin details his early reading favorites and the background for his early writing, in “creating a world and making it how [you] want it to exist”

 

At about 7:45, Robin responds to Pete’s wondering about moments of discovery and influence on his road to writing, including how Garcia Marquez and Faulkner’s work influenced and inspired, and Robin’s time on the school newspaper

 

At about 11:50, Pete and Robin commiserate on the difficulty of The Sound and the Fury

 

At about 12:20, Robin details his love of Marquez’s work, including his blockbuster and iconic novels 

 

At about 13:15, Robin describes some early birthday parties that were perfect for a literary teenage crowd, and his friend as his “first beta reader”

 

At about 14:50, Robin talks about early jobs in government, and how his experience with the “slow-moving” government entities affected his worldview and his move to law 

 

At about 17:10, Robin details his experience with the defense and prosecution sides of the criminal justice, all the while writing on the side

 

At about 18:20, Robin traces the journey of the book from origin to publication 

 

At about 19:35-21:32, Robin summarizes the book with an “elevator pitch” and emphasizes the importance of the jury in the legal system

 

At about 21:35-25:03, Robin discusses the significance of the book’s title

 

At about 25:20, Robin responds to Pete’s questions about his views of the criminal justice 

 

At about 26:25, Robin details a finding about the death penalty that comes from less of a value of Black lives

 

At about 29:40, Pete highlights strengths of book and outlines some main characters and their views of the pragmatic issues of jury selection

 

At about 30:50, Robin discusses the intriguing and powerful character of Sandy as an archetype of the legal profession, and how 

 

At about 34:15, Robin and Pete discuss the relationship between opposing lawyers, collegiality (or lack thereof) among the competing lawyers, and Robin’s experience with these issues

 

At about 37:35, Robin responds to Pete’s compliments about his seamless dialogue and balance of legal jargon and common speech to capture a wide audience 

 

At about 40:35, Robin compares the legal system as represented in TV and movies to the real legal system, with Defending Jacob as one that he references as sufficiently realistic

 

At about 42:30, Robin discusses the mechanics of the backstories and past/present tense as used in his book

 

At about 44:40, Pete lays out the backstories of several important characters, and emphasizes the understated character of Gabriel Soto, the case’s defendant 

 

At about 46:15, Robin discusses the unfortunate way in which the defendant and victim sometimes become “wallpaper” and responds to Pete’s wondering about victim Melina Mora and double standards regarding women as victims

 

At about 52:00, Pete homes in on important flashback scenes, particularly regarding Melina Mora

 

At about 53:10, the two highlight effusive blurbs from Scott Turow and Harlan Coben and Robin talks about genre and how the book will be classified/marketed

 

At about 54:10, Pete asks about future projects for Robin

 

At about 56:20, Pete highlights a realistic and intriguing character from the book

 

At about 57:45, Robin highlights social media and contact info, and shouts out Books and Books as one of many great places to buy his book

    You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode. 

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The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

    Please tune in for Episode 125 with Jamil Jan Kochai, the author of 99 Nights in Logar (Viking, 2019), a finalist for the Pen/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. He was born in an Afghan refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, but he originally hails from Logar, Afghanistan. His short stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Ploughshares, and The O. Henry Prize Stories 2018. Currently, he is a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. 

    The episode will air on May 31.