This week I’ve…
This week I:
– Sent Dreaming Spies in to my editor, waited a day, and received back word that she adores it, that it’s the most perfect thing I’ve ever written, and that perhaps more to the point, she’s going to send me a check. 
– Finished my parts of The Mary Russell Companion, coming to your friendly e-reader this Thursday. I’m very happy with how it turned out, and hope you enjoy the heck out of it. The Annotated Beekeeper’s Apprentice? (A large chunk of it, anyway, with Mr Annotation, Les Klinger) A floor plan of the Russell-Holmes house in Sussex? Recipes from Mrs Hudson? And even a small and discreet chapter on Mary Russell’s love life? You know you want this book. Can’t pre-order, sorry, but I’ll remind you on Thursday.
– Gave away two boxes of books to libraries in Pacific Palisades, CA and Linebaugh, TN. Book clubs there will be happy. (Do I have your fave library? See here.)
– Did the inevitable flurry of cleaning and organizing that comes once a book is done. I can now see the floor of the office.
– Started to pack for New York. Yes kids, Laurie is off to New York, for the first Edgars dinner in three years. Having only missed one other in all the years from 1994 to 2011, I failed to get there in 2012 because I was in Japan, then 2013 because I was Guest of Honor at Malice Domestic. Lovely reasons, I agree, but I’ve missed the fun.
– Started to pack for England. Family weddings are a time to catch up on pretty much every corner of that side of the family, and fortunately this one will give plenty of time to do so. And of course, I’m working in some research, in Oxford and Sussex.
– Written this blog post. So now I’m done, and I think I’ll go and set a load of laundry to tumbling, so I’m not traveling with grubby clothes.
– And if you’re in San Francisco, come and join the fun tomorrow night, at the SBD spelling bee. I’m usually eliminated in the first round.
Laurie,
Oh, your lucky editor – now my mouth is watering and it can’t be good for my keyboard! I’m sure this book is going to be a tour de force. And of course, finger poised over the keys to buy the Companion.
Hope you have a wonderful time at the Edgar’s and of course, in England (slight pea-green with envy tinge to the latter wish…)…
And thanks as always for the many hours of reading joy you’ve given us!
The Companion will be available to us in the UK on Thursday too, I hope?
I am currently re-reading “Justice Hall” for at least the tenth time 🙂
Yes, the Companion should be world wide. Fingers crossed…
I am SO looking forward to “Dreaming Spires”! In Autumn 2013 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had two operatlons , then began chemotherapy just before Christmas. Chemo was not the best experience of my life but Mary Russell really helped me. I read a mixture of actual books (my Christmas present from my lovely sister, including a first edition) and all the rest on my kindle, as they are not always easy to find in the UK. Anyway, I could get them instantly from my armchair! I love being treated as an intelligent reader. I love learning new history. I love the wit and the humour and the clever plots. Mary Russell distracted me when I felt really nauseous and ill and moved my head to a different place. I will always be grateful. I am currently having radiotherapy ( not as horrible) without Mary Russell’s company. Never mind, by the time I read “Dreaming Spires” I will be as fit as a fiddle -and have hair! Thank you, Mary. Thank you, Laurie. PS My love of reading was nurtured by weekly trips to our local Public Library every Saturday morning with my Daddy. A treat on many levels and for which I am eternally grateful.
Oh, Martina–all my good thoughts with you!
Martina,
It has to mean a lot to an author to hear a story like yours! I know that Mary Russell has helped many of us through difficult times, whatever they happened to be. As a fellow fan, I wish you all the best for the rest of your treatment, and many happy and healthy years to come. I will think of you when I pick up “Dreaming Spies”!
Martina, you nailed it: I love being treated as an intelligent reader, too. Sending you a good thought for your complete recovery!
Dear Ms. King,
My best friend introduced me to your work. She is now fighting leukemia, and stays isolated to prevent opportunistic infections. She lives through her Kindle, so expect two more Mary Russell Companion sales come Thursday.
My 13 year old daughter and I are working our way through the Mary Russell series and can’t get enough! We’ve been listening to the audio versions, which are completely fantastic.
I listened to the first two and was just starting on the third when I mentioned that to my daughter that she might enjoy them, too. She rolled her eyes like any 13 year old and set out to prove me wrong. Now I can’t download them fast enough for her.
Thank you so much for writing a quality series, engaging enough to capture the imagination of both a 43 year old stay at home mom and her just turned teen daughter. 🙂
Michelle, just wanted to say that I love the audio books of the Russell series and have listened to them over and over. I usually try to start with BEEK and go all the way through to the latest published book, so that I am all primed when the new one comes out. And every time I listen to the books, I hear or notice something I missed before, or can appreciate in a different way. Jenny Sterlin is fantastic – in fact when I read the books now, it’s her voice I hear for Holmes! (And everyone else, of course…)
Michelle, I started reading the series to my daughter when she was about 13. It’s now traditional: I’ve read them all to her since then. I don’t know what we’re going to to when ‘Dreaming Spies’ comes out; she’s now in college, too far away to read to! She still loves the books as much as I do; ‘The Beekeeper’s Apprentice’ is one of her comfort books. (Mine, too.)
Such Fun! I’m looking forward to reading (devouring! gulping!) these two new offerings.
Martina, all the best to you and I agree so much with your comments. Thanks for sharing your world.
Congrats, LRK! As always, you are the best.
Go, Laurie! So glad to hear of your recent accomplishments and plans!
Looking forward to reading the new works.
Just returned from a post-doc residency in a hospital in Shanghai, China, full of new info and ideas; only sad part of journey was not making it to a bookstore while there, and having torrential rains nix my one ‘shopping’ day. Have fun in NY (and no torrential rains), then UK.
Ooh! Another Russell book. I own the first three in my possession in the new cover versions (the block colour on the outside and picture in the middle) and after I have read those I plan to continue my purchase of the series.
Hopefully this one will come out in the same cover series. (I’m one of those people who likes books to match on my shelf because I’m lame.)
I am re-reading the Language of Bees and the God of the Hive because they are so good and amongst my favorites. I stand in awe of the character of Robert Goodman and the interlude in the idyllic forest. I also thoroughly enjoy the encounter with the book binder – in a fact there are many scenes that I linger over just to enjoy the moment. One of the ways I judge a book, besides whether I would like to be involved int the adventure, is to savor those moments when the characters take time out to eat and you have many incidents where food and drink are important – repasts, quick meals, picnics, honey wine, fine brandy – restorative moments. So Well Done. I look forward to your next book.
Enjoy your time in Britain! I was lucky enough to have been in correspondence with librarians at Oxford, and when we visited in 2005, I got a tour of the libraries, including all the mysterious underpinnings! Maybe you’ll be able to do likewise.
I think that Mary Russell, especially in Beekeeper’s Apprentice, would be very much to the taste of an intelligent young lady.
I will have trouble waiting until Thursday.
For Martina: good wishes for a speedy recovery!
Laurie: well done, you!
I have The Companion in my little hand and it looks FABulous. As we say to Tinkerbelle, I believe! and the Game is afoot.