March the first

Okay, questions anyone?

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16 Comments

  1. Anonymous on March 2, 2007 at 3:52 pm

    Dear Mrs. King, I absolutely love your Mary Russell books. My question is, How do you pick the places for your books? In The Moor it’s Dartmoor, in The Game it’s India, etc. I love the settings and how Russell usually has to learn a new language. Can’t wait for #9, and thank you for your time!

  2. Aaron Paul Lazar on March 2, 2007 at 5:36 pm

    Please clarify for the newbie: may we ask writing/agent/publishing/craft questions here, or are these intended to pertain only to the wonderful books you’ve written? Thanks in advance for your response. ;o)

  3. wendy on March 2, 2007 at 6:07 pm

    It was wonderful meeting you when you came to Madison last fall! I adore the Kate Martinelli and Mary Russell books, but I am also enamored with Anne Waverly– do you think you’ll ever write another book with her as the character? thanks!!

  4. Carlina on March 2, 2007 at 7:00 pm

    Greetings and I hope the family is well. Thanks again for taking the time for us! I had more of a curiosity really. Karim Bey…that man…yes..I am curious is there any relationship between him and the Kerim Bey in the Bond flick From Russia with Love (perhaps an inspiration)? On that note, will we ever know exactly how deeply Holmes’s experience with Bey scarred or affected him? Will you ever explore that aspect of Holmes’s psyche (which is no doubt complex and possibly messy as it is?

    Thanks again,
    Carlina formerly Maria (who forgot to add this and had to delete her previous post)

  5. Anonymous on March 2, 2007 at 7:07 pm

    Although an avid Russell fan, I wonder how much obligation you feel towards your readers to produce another in the Russell series. How do you balance telling your story vs satisfying the demands of your readers (ie: holmes and russell’s personal relationship)
    Do you get pressure from your publishers to keep a series going?
    Thanks! Gin

  6. WDI on March 2, 2007 at 7:48 pm

    Given that we may have to wait quite a while for the other parts of the “Califia” trilogy, could you bend far enough to just let me know — does Dian reunite with her dog?

    (Not very deep, but meaningful nonetheless!)

  7. Gail on March 2, 2007 at 10:10 pm

    Thank you for wonderfully written books! One of the best parts of the Russell books is how you keep to Russell’s perspective while still telling us things about Russell and Holmes that either she isn’t consciously aware of, isn’t admitting to herself, or isn’t interested in sharing. Do you think about what each are thinking or feeling or how she looks and then figure out how to express that through Russell’s pen or do you just write from Russell’s view and then make sure the whole thing hangs together?
    Thanks, Gail

  8. Emily on March 2, 2007 at 10:13 pm

    As a fan of both the original Holmes canon and the Russell books, and as a Mormon, I was wondering– in the course of Holmes and Russell’s trip across the US, do they happen to come to Salt Lake City? Any mention of the atrocious way the Mormons were villified in A Study in Scarlet? Doyle sensationalizing again? Or was it poor Uncle John? I would find that highly amusing.

  9. Anonymous on March 2, 2007 at 10:53 pm

    I wonder if Mary Russell’s book on Wisdom will ever surface (hint, hint)?

  10. Mousie on March 3, 2007 at 3:59 am

    You wrote about the feminine aspects of God in Monsterous Regiment. Do you have any suggested reading about that idea?
    Thank you!

  11. AJ on March 3, 2007 at 3:31 pm

    Is there anything you think you could not write about? A vaguely written question–let me clarify: One of the things I love most about writing is the chance it gives me to learn about anything in the world, as long as I decide a character needs to know about it. I have written about a stage manager, a painter, a vet, a businessman, an attorney, a chef, an engineer, a photographer, etc. And in each case, it works for me because I can imagine doing all of these things. I could make a business deal, even if I lost my shirt in it. I can paint a picture, even if it looks like a five year old did it. But for years now, I have wanted to write a book about a composer and have hesitated, because I cannot, even using the best of my imagination, figure out how one comes up with so much as a tune much less a symphony. So, to go back to my original question, is there anything that you just can’t get your mind around to write about?

  12. Anonymous on March 4, 2007 at 12:55 pm

    You have submitted short stories to various anthologies over the years. Are we ever going to see a Laurie R. King “Collected Stories” volume?

    Shari

  13. WDI on March 4, 2007 at 4:26 pm

    AJ’s question made me think of one I’ve wondered about for a while. Given the kinds of books you write, you must, perforce, sometimes present people committing heinous acts. Are there acts so atrocious, or ways of being that are so abhorrent to you personally (even though they may be legal, non-fattening, and moral to some) that you cannot write about them?

    I ask in part because, as a reader, I do allow my mind to go to some uncomfortable places. But there are some places I can’t go — some are too horrific; others just offend my sensibilities.

  14. Sara on March 4, 2007 at 8:50 pm

    Masterpiece Theatre recently aired Philip Pullman’s “The Ruby in the Smoke,” whose main character, Sally Lockhart, is startlingly Russellian in her description: orphaned, unconventional partnerships and acquaintances, possessing a working knowledge of Hindustani, utter disregard for social standards of the day, and deadly aim with a pistol. Have there been other instances with characters whose traits so closely resemble those of your creation? And if so, does it bother you?

  15. Anonymous on March 4, 2007 at 10:23 pm

    A very humble question. What book are we talking about for the book club? you did say it was going to be on April 1 right? Sorry if this isn’t the time or place for this question. It’s just that I would like to be ready. ;=)
    Kitty

  16. Liz on March 5, 2007 at 1:21 am

    @ Sara:

    With regards to The Ruby in the Smoke and the Russell novels, I feel compelled to point out that the Sally Lockhart novels were published between 1985 and 1994. Seems a bit unfair to Pullman to suggest that he was cribbing ideas from LRK.

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