Laurie R. King

Award-winning, bestselling, thought-provoking mysteries

LAURIE'S NEWSLETTER

Heaven is dry stockings

by 1 Comment

Commemorating the end of the Great War, 100 years ago this weekend.

From Justice Hall

The War journal of Lt. Gabriel Hughenfort

28 January

Never have I imagined cold such as this. Even the frost-rimed dugout the officers share seems an oasis of warmth. Heaven is dry stockings, even if they are caked with dirt. Paradise would be a bed with clean sheets—but that is more than my mind can grasp. The earth no longer holds such things; all the world is half-frozen slime and ear-shattering noise.

A shell hit the neighbouring section of trench today; I went to help a wounded soldier to his feet only to discover he had no legs below the thigh. I shall never lose the sensation of lifting up a legless man. Thank God he was already dead.

And my first thought after the original shock was, I wonder if his feet are dry now. And then I started to laugh. I managed to reach the privacy of the dugout before my nerves gave way and the laughter turned to tears. The first time in days my nerves have gone like that, and not yet in front of the men. The mind toughens slowly.

4 February

Jerry’s shelling kept us pinned in our mud-holes four days after we were supposed to go back.

There was finally a lull, and we could shift the wounded and trade places with the poor bas souls coming up to take our places. Baths and louse- free shirts and beds that don’t jump and twitch under us, hot food and a chance for the ears to cease their endless ringing. But we’ve pulled a short one this time for some reason—we’re headed back into it in three more days. Just in time for the lice to find us again.

Why don’t lice get trench foot, or freeze to death? God’s mysteries.

Haunted Poveglia

by Leave a Comment

In the spirit of the season, a sample from Island of the Mad, when Russell & Holmes set out for a haunted island of the Venice lagoon, Poveglia.

Before leaving the hotel, Holmes and I had studied the general maps and my slightly more detailed sketch of this tripartite island. The boat-house, on the southern of the two dividing canals, faced the abandoned military hexagon, but was close to the area where I had seen signs of work—just the area where we now saw lights from behind a shuttered window.

But I kept us moving, as slowly as the big motor would permit, until we had circled around to the northern end again. “The eastern side?” I suggested, and felt more than saw his assenting nod. We doused our running lights, and by the thin glow of the moon steered towards the opening of the upper canal. I shut off the motor and reached for a paddle. When we were close enough, Holmes scrambled to shore with the tie-rope, fastening us to a convenient tree.

We led the way down the narrow stone path along the edge of the island, which was light enough to show in the night, but a dozen steps down it I slowed, then stopped altogether.

“Holmes, I smell something very dead. Do we want to risk walking through it?”

Mystery Week events!

by 1 Comment

It’s MYSTERY WEEK

…for Mystery Writers of America, NorCal.

And as it happens, I’ve been roped into three of the events:

Saturday 20, 6:30: San Francisco

I‘ll be moderatingNoir at the Bar for Litquake/SF at what looks like an amazing venue: Amnesia beer hall, at 853 Valencia. Come and raise a glass (they also have wine and ciders…) with us!

Sunday 21, 2:00, at the Belmont Library (1110 Alameda de las Pulgas) in conversation with Ellen Kirschman.

Thursday 25, 6:30 at my local Santa Cruz Library (224 Church Street) as we investigate The Case of the Mystery Panel.

These are more events are the hard work of MWA NorCal, which also has events in Sacramento, Fremont, and San Lorenzo: details here. 

Happy (?) Banned Books Week

by 4 Comments

Happy (yes!) Banned Books Week (and the Future of Democracy)

September 23-29 is Banned Books Week from the American Library Association, with this year’s theme of “Banning Books Silences Stories.”

My local library, in Santa Cruz, asked me to contribute to their video collection of local readers talking about a favorite banned book. And I said sure, both because: libraries, but also because I was myself banned, a little, sort of. As I explain here:

Now, as a good Leftie Liberal, I tend to have a knee-jerk reaction against banning any book.  Free speech is free speech, no matter how painful and occasionally distasteful. However, a survey of the arguments against various books—and particularly, HOW that argument is addressed and dealt with—makes food for thought when it comes to continuing lessons in practical democracy.

In an age when racist blather is shouted from the highest offices of the land, do I really wantmy kid to be handed the wince-evoking racism of Tintin’sNative Americans and Conglese people—with no suggestion that those attitudes may be offensive?

Similarly, isn’t it hazardous to hand the gullible a copy of Mein Kampfor The Protocols of the Elders of Zionwithout explanation?  But if so, does that mean the library (or internet) shouldn’t have those books at all?  Isn’t it possible to attach a sort of trigger warning to a book that offends, to encourage the reader to reflect on why that book is troubling, and to encourage that reader to investigate more deeply?  Isn’t it the job of a library or school to educate us—children or adults—about the wider world?

More thoughts on this tomorrow—but in the meantime, look at the listsand tell me: what’s YOUR favorite banned book?

The Writer on the Road

by 12 Comments

My grandfather (here) was famous for his ability to pack. His parcels for mailing were works of art: methodical, compact, secure.  It’s a knack I inherited, and used to impress my husband when I could take his suitcase apart and re-pack it with half as much again inside.

When I was in high school, back in the Jurassic age, I adored The Complete Walker by Colin Fletcher.  I pored over it as previous generations had done with the Sears catalogue.

It wasn’t the poetic descriptions of the purity he felt on distant hikes, or his practical tips on conditioning; it was the fantasy of self-possession, coupled with his minute fascination with the Stuff.  Particularly his near-religious dedication to paring down every possible gram of excess load.

I’m now channeling my inner Colin Fletcher, as I stage my possessions for five weeks in Europe, mulling over the paring-grams process.  My customary burden when I’m on the road doesn’t vary a whole lot whether I’m gone for a weekend or a month: a carry-on rollie suitcase, and a generous, light-weight backpack that slips over its handle.

 

 

 

 

This means few luxurious extras, and many things with multiple functions. A tiny Nook reader instead of actual books. A decorative light-weight woolen shawl for either dress-up or warmth.  A rain jacket that looks like a normal coat. Trousers and shirts that all go together. Fast-dry clothing for rapid repeats—and yes, by the time I get home, I’ll be so sick of every single thing, they’ll go into the back of the closet for months.

Not everything is multi-purpose, such as the business jacket I probably won’t wear other than meetings. But the thing I deeply resent is shoes. I can’t do with less than three pair: comfy black Merrell clogs for travel (and yes, those clogs are as formal as I get: when it comes to a night out or a business meeting, I’m an artist, dammit Jim, not an actor.) (where was I?) (oh right—), some sandals I can walk in all day—and a pair of proper walking shoes.  With laces.  And (following a trip to rainy, be-tiled Lisbon) slip-resistant soles.  Lord, I hate those. Why did I have to be saddled with size 10.5 feet? The accursed shoes take up half the suitcase, even when I stuff their insides with socks and such.

So what do you do for travel? Anyone out there found the ideal answer to the nomadic life?

And my greatest conundrum at the moment: Why doesn’t Nalgene make their excellent containers in 3-ounce sizes?

Lockdown & New Guinea

by 4 Comments

One of the earliest sections written in what eventually became Lockdown was a story set in Papua New Guinea. I spent some months there in late 1970s, on my honeymoon (because yes, what else do academics do for a honeymoon than go visit a Stone Age community?) which makes for one of those illustrations that a writer never knows what odd elements of her past will find their way into a book.

For example, the sing-sing

and the pig kill to celebrate a bride price ceremony

and the salt ponds, where logs are soaked in a saline pond in order to harvest the salty ash, and where a waitpela comes to grief in the story.

As proof of my travel, here I am in a motorized dugout canoe on the Sepik River

and admiring a Bird of Paradise in a sanctuary:

I had a Pidgin teacher named Yasmin—that’s my husband in a shirt my mother made him, a rainbow embroidered across the back.

Later, that same cottage, with a rainbow of its own.

And although this isn’t an Air Niugini flight, it is very like the tiny airplane Linda met when she flew up into there mission in the highlands.

Yep: a person never knows what from her past will come back when a story begins.

Which, come to think of it, is pretty much what Lockdown is all about.

***

You can get Lockdown in paper now from your local Independent bookshop; Barnes & Noble; or Amazon.

 

Island wiki-vid

by 3 Comments

Island of the Mad is joined by a number of other great historical mysteries in this new video production by the “video wiki” group ezvid.

(Click here.)

Other than a minor date problem, what do you think of their images?

Island of the Mad launches!

by 4 Comments

Today is MAD!

Island of the Mad launches today, so shove your way through the doors of your local Indie, or get on the horn to The Great Brazilian River or your favorite online retailer, and snag a copy (I’ve put the links below.)

We had a fabulous pre-launch launch in Scottsdale, with Charleston lessons…

and dancing in the aisles…

…followed by a cocktail party for a smaller group…

Then the next day we had a brunch of friends who are also Friends of Russell!

All of which was tremendous fun.  But that’s not all–because tonight is our Official Launch in Santa Cruz, with Venetian masks and Twenties beads, tid-bit nibbling and cocktail sipping—that’s right, today we’re off to Island of the Mad in earnest.

There’ll even be a singalong of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes”—or rather, an abused version of it, perpetrated by yours truly.

You can also check out the pictures on Instagram and Pinterest, Facebook posts, my blog—and now enjoy the book trailer on my LRK YouTube channel!

I hope you enjoy Island of the Mad…open it TODAY!

Get a copy from:

Poisoned Pen Books  (signed)

Bookshop Santa Cruz  (signed–or inscribed)

Barnes & Noble

Your local Indie

Amazon/Kindle

Barnes & Noble/Nook.

UK edition—fromAllison & Busby orHeffer’s.

Or the audio here.

Me and BCon

by 4 Comments

The gathering of the Tribes of Mystery takes place in Toronto this year, from October 12-15. BoucherCon is the granddaddy of mystery conferences, with nearly four full days of multiple events simultaneously.

If you’re looking for one Laurie King, you’ll find her at these panels:

Thursday 2:30-3:30, Anatomy of Innocence (Grand Centre)

Friday 5-6, interviewing American GoH Megan Abbott (Grand Centre)

And at other times, you’ll trip across her in the book-room, or the bar, or the coffee shop, or looking longingly at the crisp autumnal day out the windows.

You’ll have fun, you’ll make new friends, you’ll find a dozen new writers to love, and you’ll learn lots. Check out the BoucherCon site, here.  See you next month in Toronto!