Mike Reid of Southern Maryland News published an interview with Laura Manning on July 1, 2025 in the Literary Lights Section of Southern Maryland News
Author Laura Manning recently published her newest book “Chesapeake Crime Club: A Minxy Banks Mystery” under the pen name CeCe Lamont through Bay Town Press. Manning, who lives in Silver Spring, has owned a beach cottage in North Beach for the past 20 years where she and her husband enjoy kayaking, golf, and time with their family.
She is a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst who is also known for writing the hard-hitting Hyperion series thrillers under her own name.
The 322-page book is available at Fenwick St. Books in Leonardtown, and Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
How long have you been writing, and how did you get started?
I’ve been writing since my late twenties. I took a fiction writing class from a Hollywood screen writer when I lived in California. After that, a friend and I wrote a thriller together while our babies napped. Diapers, murder, and mayhem! Our kids seem undamaged from the experience.
What inspires you to write?
My career provided great material that begged to be written. As a Sea Grant Liaison, I tended nets on trawlers and spent time on oil platforms. As a CIA Weapons of Mass Discussion Analyst, I unmasked bad people building horrible weapons. Then as a DHS all threats and hazards planner, I planned how to prevent or respond to unconscionably bad days. Now I teach a Georgetown University class on science and technology policy. Sharing reality as I know it is rewarding. Making sure the good guys, although badly bruised, always win is almost a public service.
Do you consider writing to be a career?
No, writing is my passion. I’m not opposed to making money from it however.
What kind of writing process do you use?
I’m a hybrid plotter and pantser. I know the protagonist, antagonist, the threat, and outcome before I start. Then I go freeform. I write scenes that take the story in different ways than I could have imagined.
How did you publish your book?
I’m an indie writer publishing through BayTown Press in North Beach. Traditional publishing is extremely slow and doesn’t take a lot of risks with what they publish.
Who are some of your favorite authors and why?
I admire Michael Connelly for his characters, Daniel Silva for characters and fantastic plots, and Richard Osman for his celebration of mystery, empathy, and fun. I also love indie authors Bonnie Suchman (Stumbling Stones) and Michael Kelley (The Lost Theory trilogy, Dead or Alive) for their powerful story telling.
What are you working on now?
An international thriller set in the Pacific Ocean and Puerta Villarto, Mexico. The US, China, Mexico and France will compete for harvesting deep seabed nodules that contain rare earth minerals needed for a clean energy transition. The Hyperion Network, a private intelligence agency, intervenes to stop the bloodshed and prevent international provocations. I write the Hyperion series as Laura Manning, and the Chesapeake Crime Club series as CeCe Lamont so readers with different expectations find the right books.
An excerpt from the book
I said, “Raising dandelions isn’t a crime.”
“It’s not the dandelions. It’s what they represented. Years of antagonism with Jenn Albrecht, well documented with police and Town Hall visits. You planted pots of weeds upwind of her yard to torment her.”
Celia was right. When I was new in town and fresh from condo living, I didn’t think much about yard maintenance. I was born and raised in Manhattan, for heaven’s sake. When I ignored Jenn’s reprimands about unmown grass, she complained to Town Hall. An official wearing a West Beach branded polo motored over in his golf cart and threatened substantial fines. In addition, he recited the rules about trash cans. Someone had complained that mine went to the street too early, were taken in too late, and didn’t have properly fitted lids.
That was a transformational moment for me. I became a revenge gardener.
I hired Eli, who’d been mowing lawns since the Clintons were in the White House. Then I raised any and every plant that would annoy Jenn Albrecht. Generations of women in my Wall Street monied family turned over in their graves thinking about their progeny gleefully digging in the dirt with her own hands.
Trying to hide the smirk, I said, “It was just a friendly little gardening war. I wanted to kill her roses, not her.”