Spokane is reading…Laurie King!
Or at least, they’re all hunkering down to read THE BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE. If you live in eastern Washington state, I hope you know this already, and will come to one of the two October 19 events, sponsored by one great library system and Auntie’s Books (and no, yours truly did not sit for the portrait on their logo.)
It’s been a great joy, and huge relief, this past week to immerse myself in TOUCHSTONE again. Monday I only managed a couple of hours, but the rest of the week I put in full days, and have now regained a sense of what the book is and where it needs to go. Portions of what I’ve been working on I haven’t read since I wrote it last May, which meant that I kept discovering plot twists and character complexities that I’d forgotten about. Of course, the problem is that when a person writes as I do, blindly, most of the work comes with reshaping the earlier portions of the book to fit with later revelations.
I have one bit left that I hope to tackle this morning, working in necessary information into existing scenes. It’s a tough balance, feeding the reader just enough information so the book’s tension makes sense, but not enough so s/he begins to flip pages. When I’ve got this section down, I’ll print it off and give it to my agent for her first read, and then begin to work my way down the list of “Changes†that I’ve noted all along.
It is, I fear, a very long list.
mousie says
October 14, 2006 at 3:06 pmNoo! I’m stuck two hours away in Ellensburg!
L. Crampton, LAc says
October 14, 2006 at 3:12 pmWrite ON, Laurie! Brava for your renewed freedom to concentrate and engage in shaping this new story.
magnolia_mer says
October 15, 2006 at 2:34 amThank goodness you’re not a stickler for outlining in meticulous detail before you write the first word. I realize that writing blindly is a challenge, but in the end I think it makes for a much better read. I can often tell the difference between an outlined manuscript and one that was grown ‘organically.’
Now here’s the part where I go all ‘fangirl’ on you: I’ve read all the Russell and Martinelli books and have started on the non-series novels. Of those, I’ve loved “Keeping Watch” the best. My dad is a Vietnam Vet and I passed it along to him. He said your descriptions of the war were “pretty damn close” to his own experience. Thank you for helping me understand what he went through, but couldn’t bring himself to talk about.
Anonymous says
October 16, 2006 at 6:36 pmLucky Spokane to be discovering Beekeeper for the fisrt time! I am sure they will be as insatiable as I was for the next adventure, but I had to wait a while for Monstrous–they get to gobble up the next ones as fast as they can read. THEN..the rereading–even better!
Roxanne says
October 18, 2006 at 12:45 pmOkay. So I checked out the logo for Auntie’s Books. Outside of the very slightest similarity about the hair bun, no way you could be mistaken as the inspiration for that portrait!
Auntie’s Books looks like a wonderful bookstore. I wish I wasn’t on the opposite coast.
I am glad you have been able to get back to writing. I hope it is an indication that things in your life have settled down and that Noel is doing well. Bouchercon undoubtedly helped, too. A nice getaway with faces you know and friends, not to mention gushing and appreciative fans to remind you of your valued talent and skill.
Hope all is well in the King household.