Posts by Laurie King
The Senses and Riviera Gold
A recent discussion about my next contract (and how long it would be before I could jaunt off to Paris, sigh…) had me reflecting on how dependent I am on the use of the senses to provide what writers call the “telling detail.” I have a scene in Castle Shade (no, I’m not going to give…
Read MoreThe inspirations of travel
I recently had The Conversation with my editor. You know, the one about, What comes next? And the answer was tough because, well, my last trip to Europe gave me two books and a short story, but for the next one, I’ll need to travel again and…. So anyway, we’re working around the possibilities, but…
Read MoreThe 2021 Noel Q. King Lecture: Voices of God, Voices of Madness with Tanya Marie Luhrmann Thursday, February 18, 2021, 5 p.m. (A Virtual Event) The Noel King memorial lecture, which started as a way to keep a religious studies presence on the UC Santa Cruz campus, this year welcomes a more individual approach…
Read MoreThe making of HRF Keating
What makes a writer? How do skill, circumstances, and determination come together in a lifetime of shaping stories? I’ve met a lot of fine writers, during my 27 years as a published author. One I am most grateful to have called a friend was H. R. F. Keating. I met Harry and his wife Sheila…
Read MoreNew book, new category
Last week, just a few days later than I’d promised my editor, I finished my first draft of Russell & Holmes #17, Castle Shade. Every book has measures of its progress: the proposal, the first draft, cover art—and when I have the cover and a buy-link, I can open up a web page. But one…
Read MoreRussell’s life onscreen
The other day, a charming appointment popped up on my e-calendar: This was to remind me of a video conference with the English team working to bring Russell to the screen. And despite smoke in the air, the occasional rolling blackout, and the inevitable problems of getting Microsoft to talk to Apple, we managed to…
Read MoreA RussellKing Twitter chat
Miss Mary Russell and I (her editor, of course) had a conversation on Twitter over the weekend, which a mutual friend kindly transcribed and rearranged so it goes from start to finish, rather than having to scroll down to the bottom for the start (as happens when you follow the conversation hashtag, #RussellKingChat ): MRH:…
Read MoreA Russell-King Twitter conversation
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…
Read MoreFired up, thanks.
You may have heard that we have a fire going on here in Santa Cruz. Fires are, unfortunately, not unusual in California—generally in October, when the dry season is dragging on. But fires are now an annual, close, pressing presence, all over the state. For a quarter of the year, every year, our lives have…
Read MoreThe Feisty Old Ladies
(This blog post was originally written for my friends at Jungle Red. They were interested in how, in Riviera Gold, housekeeper Mrs. Hudson is living amidst the millionaires and retired party girls in 1920s Monte Carlo.) I once knew a pair of aged anthropologists, man and wife, known for their detailed and subtle reports…
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