Posts by Laurie King
Sherlock and the Voices
I like the program Sherlock. I tend not to read pastiches—stories about Sherlock Holmes written by someone other than Arthur Conan Doyle—for fear that some day I find myself writing that person’s character or scenes into my own Holmes. But with Sherlock, there’s little danger of incorporating its modern scenarios into the Russell stories. I…
Read MoreTakeback Tuesdays
Ever since November 8, 2016, Tuesdays have made me wince. Evil things seem to happen on Tuesdays. 9/11 was a Tuesday. The ’89 quake happened on a Tuesday. Tuesday is named after the god of war; in Japanese it’s associated with fire; the Greeks and Spanish regard it as unlucky; the Thais— Okay, I’m getting ridiculous.…
Read MoreWhat’s this stuff falling from the sky?
It is raining in California. Raining, pouring, pelting, pissing down in a way it hasn’t for years. Hillsides slump, culverts fountain, trees collapse. Feet mildew and children climb the walls. The cell phone has taken to blaring out really quite redundant flood warnings, to suggest to the oblivious or catatonic that the creeks may be rising. The last time…
Read MoreMoving forward
As I write this, there is a new Occupant in the White House—my White House, the one I inherited when I was born a citizen, the place that my family and my ancestors have looked to and protected since the day Thomas Jefferson moved in in 1801. This Occupant is moving in because of a…
Read MoreThe Triumph of the Maryorama!
It’s been almost eerie how the wider events of this past week have found echoes in my own working life. On the dark side of things, it’s brought me face to face with the final scenes I had written for next year’s Lockdown. Not that the book has anything to do with politics (thank goodness),…
Read MoreMaryorama winners!
The Maryorama is finished, polished, and will be up soonon YouTube. But in the meantime–our Maryorama contest has its winners! The Grand Prize Winner—with a complete set of Russells coming her way—is a lovely depiction of Justice Hall with the rays of the sun falling on it, a subtle digital image by: Katie Olson First…
Read MoreThe King’s Stilts
As a child, one of my favorite books was The King’s Stilts. Unlike Sam I Am or The Cat in the Hat, this may be a Seuss book you haven’t met (Indeed, Wikipedia says its initial sales were “a disappointment.” Perhaps in 1939, people did not welcome pointed lessons about the evil nibbling at their roots.) so…
Read MoreThat super moon
No matter what goes on here on the ground, looking up is always spectacular. Even without a super-moon.
Read MoreRecovery III: our roots
The last two blog posts I’ve talked about shock and its treatment. I’ve been incredibly moved by the comments you’ve posted. Has any other election ever brought a reaction like this? Sure I felt depressed when Bush was handed the election by the Supreme Court, and angry, but weeping? Terror? No. As Joyce, living overseas, says…
Read MoreRecovery II: new soil
Part of my recovery process the day after the election was pottering in the sun. I had several long-neglected pots of Christmas cactus, that had got badly choked with grass and oxalis. Some weeks ago (okay, months) I’d bought a long wooden planter intending to put them all in that. Also, of course, by now…
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