Laurie R. King

Greetings, fellow earthlings! I was wondering for a while if I existed still, because nothing happened when I tried to log onto my server’s web site to fetch email, and a plaintive request to look at the Laurie R King web site gave me similar results, or lack thereof. But Blogger seems to be working, so I shall talk to you, although I may not hear your responses until I get back to my own machine.

I arrived in New York Monday evening, and came to my favorite hotel, the Library, a block from the NY Public Library’s lions. Each room has an arrangement of books on a given Dewey decimal system number (remember those? If so, your hair is going grey). I am based on the Philosophy floor, and the collection of books on the shelves in my room is an odd assortment indeed, including the (misplaced) novel by Ian McEwan that I was talking about the other day on this blog, Saturday. (That’s the book, not the day I posted.)

Yesterday I had breakfast with my good friends Barbara Peters and her husband Rob Rosenwald, owners of the Poisoned Pen bookstore and press in Scottsdale and Phoenix. It’s always good to talk to them because not only do they know all the publishing world gossip, they have thoughtful judgments to make on books and writers. Lovely to have a long and sensible conversation about what I do for a living.

I then made the rounds of bookstores, although since the next hardback won’t be out for two months, there wasn’t much but paper for me to sign. But it’s always good to say hello to my friends at Mysterious Books (Otto Penzler assures me the Basketball collection I mentioned a few weeks ago will be out in the fall) and Murder Ink. Then to the hotel for a futile checking of email, and back into a yellow cab down to Greenwich Village to sign and greet at Partners in Crime. One of the people connected with the store, Maggie Griffin, used to work on my web site and now does my newsletter, and is one of crime’s Good People. We had a quick bite and then went down to the docks for the Mystery Writers of America cruise, sitting on the upper deck and keeping our glasses and chairs from flying off into the water while talking books with Maggie and Marcia Talley, who edited Naked Came the Phoenix a few years ago.

Back on dry land (and unexpectedly, New York was dry yesterday, although this morning the predicted rain has arrived) I cabbed it up to 81st in time for the annual party spilling out, down the steps and onto the street in front of the Black Orchid bookstore. As I expected, many friends were there, but since I’d had two brief nights I didn’t join a dinner party, just came back to the Library and ate at the superb Italian place downstairs, and went to bed early.

Today MWA is putting on their Edgars seminar, which I will attend in the afternoon. I have a lunch date with SJ Rozan, and hope to meet up with HRF Keating and his wife Sheila Mitchell, then another party at the NY Yacht Club, which is located about as far as you can get from the water on this island.

If this travelogue bores you, let me know on your responses, and I’ll curtail such drivel in the future. Hope you’re all having fun, and I’ll let you know the next stage probably tomorrow.