Laurie R. King

Saturday morning (or afternoon, or evening depending on your zone) Miss Russell and I will have a Twitter conversation that you, her reading public, may listen in on.  You can look at her feed or mine–@mary_russell or @LaurieRKing–and we’ll be using the hashtag #RussellKingChat.

Some years ago, my friend and co-editor Les Klinger valiantly attempted to conduct a similar conversation with her, which ended up in the very first of our “inspired by Sherlock Holmes” anthologies, A Study in Sherlock.  Here is how that one went:

A STUDY IN SHERLOCK: AFTERWORD

Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger

The following is a transcript of a conversation conducted via Twitter between Leslie S. Klinger (whose Twitter address is @lklinger) and Mary Russell (@mary_russell) in the fall of 2011. Klinger is the editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. Russell is a theologian and investigator, who married Mr. Sherlock Holmes in 1921. Her memoirs appear as the “novels” of Laurie R. King–The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, et cetera.

(Les Klinger) @mary_russell Am editing w/LRKing “stories inspired by SH” & wd love an interview w/him or you. OK 4 LRK 2 giv me yr contact info?

(Mary Russell) @lklinger No, my literary agent Ms King does not have permission to give you my private contact information.

(LK) @mary_russell But wouldn’t u prefer to talk in private?

(MR) @lklinger “Private” conversations undergo changes in the mind of the interviewer. I prefer that such exchanges be on public record.

(LK) @mary_russell U want me 2 interview u on Twitter?

(MR) @lklinger I do not wish you to interview me at all, but clearly that is not an option.
(LK) @mary_russell We could call it a Twinterview.
(MR) @lklinger Mr Klinger, if you wish my participation, I must ask that you refrain from whimsy. And excessive abbreviations.
(LK) @mary_russell Sorry, Ms Russell. Okay, no whimsy, & I’ll keep the questions suitable for all eyes.
(MR) @lklinger I should hope so. And I prefer “Miss.” Now, may we proceed with this conversation? I have an experiment awaiting me.
(LK) @mary_russell First, how does Mr Holmes feel about having inspired the creativity of more than a century of crime writers?
(MR) @lklinger My husband does not care to discuss his feelings.
(LK) @mary_russell OK, how do YOU feel re his having inspired 100 yrs of crime writers? People other than (sorry must make this 2 Tweets)
(LK) @mary_russell—than Dr Watson were telling Holmes stories even as the originals were coming out. Why do u think they felt that urge?
(MR) @lklinger They admired Holmes. They wished to speculate about him. So they made up stories.
(LK) @mary_russell That’s it? Just a desire for more?
(MR) @lklinger Nicholas Meyer (your friend?) claimed that Dr Watson was such a great writer, others saw the stories as a challenge.
(LK) @mary_russell But NM was explaining why he wrote his books & doesn’t speak for others. I’m not even sure I believe his excuse.
(MR) @lklinger I said claimed. I met Meyer when he was young. I think he wrote them through frustration with a mere 60 published tales.
(LK) @mary_russell Does it bother u that writers make up fictions about your husband? Some of their stories are pretty outrageous.
(MR) @lklinger I was young when I realised that since Holmes was seen as fictional, by contagion I would be so viewed as well.
(MR) @lklinger Thus I have lived a long life with one foot in the real world and the other in the world of being perceived as a fiction.
(MR) @lklinger My own literary agent, Laurie King, claims that it is necessary to categorise my memoirs—mine!—as novels.
(MR) @lklinger And since I expect that you will now ask how that makes me “feel,” I will admit that the sensation of being fictional is—
(MR) @lklinger—is indeed peculiar. What our—Holmes’s and my—friend Neil Gaiman calls the sensation of being “the idea of a person.”
(LK) @mary_russell Neil is one of those contributing to this current volume—which we’re calling A Study in Sherlock.

(MR) @lklinger I grasp the reference to the initial Conan Doyle story, but this assumption of first-name familiarity jars, a bit.
(LK) @mary_russell Publishers, you know? This is the modern world. & you are after all American.
(MR) @lklinger Half American, and I retain very little of the accent, or attitudes.
(LK) @mary_russell Back 2 the questions. How did Dr Watson react? Some stories came out while his were still appearing in The Strand.
(MR) @lklinger Uncle John had many shouting matches down the telephone with Sir Arthur, demanding solicitors be hired. To no avail.
(LK) @mary_russell Well, we know what Shakespeare thought should be done with lawyers.
(MR) @lklinger That may be a bit drastic. Some of my best friends have lawyer relatives.
(LK) @mary_russell And, um, I’m a lawyer. At least during the day.
(MR) @lklinger I know you are a lawyer, Mr Klinger. That was my feeble attempt at humor. We are also very aware of your New Annotated
(MR) @lklinger—Annotated Sherlock Holmes. An excellent attempt at scholarship, which will do until Holmes’s own notes are published.
(LK) @mary_russell May I ask when that will be?
(MR) @lklinger No need to worry, Mr Klinger, it will be several more years.
(LK) @mary_russell Right. So Dr W was upset, but not Holmes?
(MR) @lklinger Holmes learned long ago to leave the shouting to Dr Watson. He finds it best to stay aloof of the literary world.
(LK) @mary_russell Some stories in this collection are less about Holmes than about people affected by Dr W’s stories. Do you approve?
(MR) @lklinger One might as well approve of breathing air, as of people falling under the spell of Sherlock Holmes, even secondhand.
(LK) @mary_russell So you do understand the appeal of the Sherlock Holmes stories over the ages?
(MR) @lklinger My dear young man, of course I understand their pull. I was captivated by the stories long before I met the man.

(LK) @mary_russell Speaking of captivation, may I ask about your relationship with Mr Holmes?

(MR) @lklinger No. Oh dear, Mr Klinger, ominous noises from the laboratory require my immediate attention. Good luck with your book.

(LK) @mary_russell Just another couple of questions, Miss Russell. May I ask, what is Mr Holmes doing these days?

(LK) @mary_russell Miss Russell?
(LK) @mary_russell Thank you, Miss Russell.