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Chasing Women
Explores the myths about "a woman in a man's world" - the 1920s world of Madison Square Garden, boxing, mayhem and mafia. Teddy is a lone woman in this world. Jack and Teddy risk life, limb and their love as they strive for the front page, the sports page is no longer enough for Teddy.
- GenresHistorical FictionNovels
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1995
8 people are currently reading
328 people want to read
About the author
Ki Longfellow
20 books1,483 followersKi Longfellow, born on Staten Island, New York, to a French-Irish mother and an Iroquois father, grew up in Hawaii and Marin County, California, but ended up living in France and England for many years. She is the widow of a British national treasure, the complete artist Vivian Stanshall.
In England, she created and sailed the Thekla, a 180 foot Baltic Trader, to the port of Bristol where it became the Old Profanity Showboat. It remains there today as a Bristol landmark. On it, she and Vivian wrote and staged a unique musical for the sheer joy of it. "Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera," garnered a host of delighted, if slightly puzzled, national reviews.
Her first book, "China Blues," was the subject of a bidding war. "China Blues," and her second novel, "Chasing Women," introduced Longfellow to Hollywood... a long hard but ultimately fascinating trip. ("China Blues" was reissued by Eio Books in 2012.)
When Vivian died in 1995, Ki stopped writing, living on Standing Room Only Farm in Vermont. Time may not heal, but it tempers. Eventually Ki began writing again, but her subject became the moment at age 19 that informed her life... a direct experience with the Divine. She chose the figure of Mary Magdalene to tell that tale in her novel "The Secret Magdalene." Nancy Savoca, a brilliant independent film maker (winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize with her first film, "True Love") traveled all the way to Vermont to option the book as her next film.
Ki's second book on the Divine Feminine is "Flow Down Like Silver," a novel about the numinous and gifted Hypatia of Alexandria, a tragically ignored historical figure of towering intellect who searched through intellect for what the Magdalene knew in her heart.
In a huge departure from her all she'd written before, Longfellow found herself weaving a tale of supernatural horror called "Houdini Heart." This book was selected by the Horror Writers of America as one of a handful of books to be considered for their 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel.
In the Spring of 2013 the first three titles of her Sam Russo noir murder mystery series was published by Eio Books: "Shadow Roll," "Good Dog, Bad Dog," and "The Girl in the Next Room." There is a fourth title "Dead on the Rocks" available and there may be more. Or maybe not.
In December, 2013, she released a tale of one woman's attempt to survive lost in the Sonoran Desert: "Walks Away Woman."
She’s at work on the third and last book in her Divine Feminine series. Meant to be one thing, it's become quite another thing. Writers may think they know what they're going to write, but they can be very wrong. This book is "The White Bee".
In late January of 2018 she published the art book, biography, and memoir she'd promised Vivian Stanshall she would one day write for him: "The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art".
in the early months of 2018 three more of her books were optioned for Hollywood, one as a high end television mini-series and two as films.
She lives wherever she finds herself. Currently that’s between Somerset, England and Olympia, Washington.
In England, she created and sailed the Thekla, a 180 foot Baltic Trader, to the port of Bristol where it became the Old Profanity Showboat. It remains there today as a Bristol landmark. On it, she and Vivian wrote and staged a unique musical for the sheer joy of it. "Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera," garnered a host of delighted, if slightly puzzled, national reviews.
Her first book, "China Blues," was the subject of a bidding war. "China Blues," and her second novel, "Chasing Women," introduced Longfellow to Hollywood... a long hard but ultimately fascinating trip. ("China Blues" was reissued by Eio Books in 2012.)
When Vivian died in 1995, Ki stopped writing, living on Standing Room Only Farm in Vermont. Time may not heal, but it tempers. Eventually Ki began writing again, but her subject became the moment at age 19 that informed her life... a direct experience with the Divine. She chose the figure of Mary Magdalene to tell that tale in her novel "The Secret Magdalene." Nancy Savoca, a brilliant independent film maker (winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize with her first film, "True Love") traveled all the way to Vermont to option the book as her next film.
Ki's second book on the Divine Feminine is "Flow Down Like Silver," a novel about the numinous and gifted Hypatia of Alexandria, a tragically ignored historical figure of towering intellect who searched through intellect for what the Magdalene knew in her heart.
In a huge departure from her all she'd written before, Longfellow found herself weaving a tale of supernatural horror called "Houdini Heart." This book was selected by the Horror Writers of America as one of a handful of books to be considered for their 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel.
In the Spring of 2013 the first three titles of her Sam Russo noir murder mystery series was published by Eio Books: "Shadow Roll," "Good Dog, Bad Dog," and "The Girl in the Next Room." There is a fourth title "Dead on the Rocks" available and there may be more. Or maybe not.
In December, 2013, she released a tale of one woman's attempt to survive lost in the Sonoran Desert: "Walks Away Woman."
She’s at work on the third and last book in her Divine Feminine series. Meant to be one thing, it's become quite another thing. Writers may think they know what they're going to write, but they can be very wrong. This book is "The White Bee".
In late January of 2018 she published the art book, biography, and memoir she'd promised Vivian Stanshall she would one day write for him: "The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art".
in the early months of 2018 three more of her books were optioned for Hollywood, one as a high end television mini-series and two as films.
She lives wherever she finds herself. Currently that’s between Somerset, England and Olympia, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 8, 2015
This is as close as I've ever come to a Screwball Comedy not set up on a silver screen. It should be. It's a cracker.
October 3, 2015
What a movie this would make. A musical even. Love to sent it to music.
January 29, 2016
Exciting world of boxing in the 1920s with a great twist. The sports reporter in the midst of murder and the New York mobs is female. Kept me turning those pages.
March 17, 2016
A brisk clever read I wish I could find more of. Longfellow is a hell of a writer.
May 23, 2016
Right at the beginning of the 1929 crash, yet in sports all is doing well. But Tunney has retired leaving no World Champion in Boxing. Ever since Jack Johnson overstepped his "proper" place in a white world, no black man has been allowed to compete. Two reporters working for the same NYC newspaper, one a sport's reporter, one a prominent newshound, lovers and competitors - and the female is the sport's reporter - find themselves mixed up in the same story of the mob and murder and a young black fighter battling his way back into the game. Who will grab the scoop of the year and who is courting death? Snappy dialogue, very colorful characters (almost Runyonesque), and New York City at its best. A terrific read - and what a movie it would make. Full marks.
March 30, 2016
This book is by Ki Longfellow. I imagine somewhere along the line she began using her real name? Her preferred name? Whichever, it ought to be listed along with her other work. This is early Longfellow and a historical mystery although I'm not sure it classifies as a mystery. More it's a fast fun ride through New York City in 1929 and the world of newspapers, the mob, a clash of a romance, and a woman's place back then. Teddy O"Rourke is one hell of heroine.
June 8, 2017
Yet another slip into the marvelous mind of this writer. This time we're in New York City right after the 1929 Stock Market crash and smack in the middle of the world of big time big city newspapers. Teddy, our heroine, is a sport's writer - unheard in the day of all male sport's writers and virtually all-men athletes. This is one exciting gallop after a deranged killer, straight through NYC's mobs and nightclubs and Harlem and the chase for a story. Teddy O'Rourke is a joy. (I have to admit, I fell in love with the bad guy. Tom Channing is irresistible.)
April 16, 2018
An exciting chase through New York City in 1929. Mobsters, sports, big name newspapers (in fact a real newspaper, like they used to be, like The Front Page - or as moviegoers know it: His Gal Friday.. and I so wish they were still) and a terrific heroine! VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED.
July 7, 2018
A high speed gallop of a book, a mystery, danger all the way through, a news woman who works sports in 1929. If I were to really write the kind of reviews Longfellow's work deserves, I'd be here for days. She is one of my all time favorite writers.
July 6, 2017
Finished this last night. A rough and tumble newspaper story in 1920s New York City. Keeps a person awake.
May 12, 2018
A humdinger of a tale. Takes you right back to New York City, print newspapers, real gangsters, and characters so real they're right in your face. Loved it. Why not 5 stars? I'm thinking about that.
July 7, 2018
At least half of this author's books would make great movies. I like a lot of writers, love a few, but I can't think of another one who writes such visual books. Brilliant.
July 8, 2016
Fast paced, colorful, funny, exciting, nail biting trip through New York City back when the Great White Way was something, when the mobs had carved up the city into corrupt parcels, when newspapers were really newspapers as well as being a lot like "The Front Page," when a woman's place was in the home except for some women like Teddy O'Rourke, sports reporter and wit. I really did love this book. I love ALL of Ki Longfellow's books. There may be other writers out there as versatile, but I don't know who they are.
February 10, 2017
This is an early book by Ki Longfellow and it's a corker. Like her first book, China Blues, it's full of newspaper history only this time in New York City. Longfellow knows how to move a story along AND to paint all the scenes around it. Another high recommendation.
June 30, 2016
A romp of a book. Taking us back to New York City just after the 1929 crash into the world of big city newspapers, the mobs dividing the city into mob rule and two reporters, male and female, battling in print over scoops and headlines. Great writing and great fun.
February 5, 2017
This is an early book by Ki Longfellow. I guess she was still using her given name? I don't know. But it's really good. Full of color and action and New York City in 1929. Also one hell of a female lead. Loved it.
April 6, 2017
A whirlwind of a tale that surprised me with its twist. Love this writer's writing.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews