Posts by Laurie King
A T-Shirt Promo
Once upon a time, children, publishers used to promote mid-list authors and build the careers of newbies. That’s right, my publisher took out a quarter-page congratulatory ad in the New York Times back when Grave Talent won Best First and Minette Walters won Best Edgar. My original publisher decided to pass on the paperbacks of…
Read MoreThe Business of Writing: Your Friend, The Agent
Part of the 30-year anniversary celebration of A Grave Talent. Like most first novelists, I had no clue about how to run my life as a business. In 1993, the only people who did self-publishing were the desperate souls who just HAD to have a volume to put in the hands of family and friends.…
Read MoreWhen Intellectuals Read Crime
Part of February’s month-long celebration of A Grave Talent. A writer tosses books out into the world without much clue about where they will wash up or whose hands they will end up in. Naturally, this is especially true with a first book. What, people who don’t know me will read it? Wow. With A…
Read MoreThe Fans
Part of the month-long celebration of A Grave Talent, the Edgar-winning first novel about SFPD Inspector Kate Martinelli that started my writing career. In addition to actual, print reviews, my first book brought letters from people from all over who liked A Grave Talent enough to go to the trouble of writing me about it,…
Read MoreA Writer to Watch!
Part of the month-long celebration of A Grave Talent, the Edgar-winning first novel about SFPD Inspector Kate Martinelli that started my writing career. One of the surprises I found as a new author was that people not only read the book, but talked about it as if it mattered. Take reviews: who knew they were…
Read MoreWriting Kate
(Celebrating the 30th anniversary of A Grave Talent, here’s part of a 2017 post on Kate Martinelli.) Grave Talent began with two ideas: What would Rembrandt look like if he were a woman? And, Can I write a novel in which the protagonist does nothing? The question of women in what are generally assumed to be…
Read MoreMom’s Christmas Cookies
If Dad produced odd German spicy treats every year (as my recent post talked about), my mother could be depended on for the kinds of cookies you could give to the postman without imagining his puzzled look. Mostly sweet, best eaten fresh, and decorative. Some were super-sweet, like her “Matrimonials.” She produced decorated butter cookies, of…
Read MoreDad the Baker
It’s no accident that the cold, dark time of year finds us thinking of warmth and family—either enjoying it, or missing it. And nothing represents family quite so much as holiday foods. Which generally means cooking. Growing up, my mother was the cook, but certain things my father claimed as his. Preparing Sunday brunch gave…
Read MoreBees Abroad
I had a perfectly charming Zoom meet on Friday with members of Bees Abroad, an organization in the UK that trains & supports African women & those with disabilities to become Beekeepers for Life. But these lovely people not only teach beekeeping skills, they also help people figure out how to sell honey and beeswax…
Read MoreStarting Anew
[Note, please, that in one week, Back to the Garden will be on the shelves–in the USA, at any rate. You can find a long excerpt here. ] I turn 70 this year. The world is literally burning around us, I’ve had some energy-draining health issues, and there are books more than one series that…
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