Laurie R. King

Award-winning, bestselling, thought-provoking mysteries

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Dulce et Decorum

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100 years ago, the Great War was in its dying week.  Wilfred Owen was killed on the 4thof November.

All the commanders-in-chief agreed the war was over–but on the ground, the struggle went on, and on.

I wrote a novel, Justice Hall, about a young officer, and included sections of his war-time journal:

Justice Hall, by Laurie R. King

Chapter 26

From the War journal of Lt. Gabriel Hughenfort

30 October

Word today that they’ll move up our ship date to France, that it might be before Christmas even. The men are keen but I can see why the higher ranks worry. Without a really solid training, most of these boys won’t have a chance. And I say boys because most of them are ’way younger than me. A couple of them can’t be sixteen, no matter what they told the recruiting officer. Of course, there’s the old duffers too, conscripts forty and more. How are they expected to carry a full pack through the mud and still be fit to shoot? Children and old men. They’ll be issuing rifles to women before much longer.

Christmas Day

            Behind the lines, but not far. We can smell it now, and my men are acting the way I feel, like a horse at the scent of smoke, jumpy and white-eyed. Lots of jokes, most of them dirty. They’re shelling up the line, our guns or theirs, making the earth quiver like a fractious horse. A few days here, then up to the Front. I pray God I not disgrace my family.

 

The Boys & Girls of the Banned

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As I said yesterday, I’m honored to be a sort of banned author myself, having been told in the early days of my career that certain bookstores in Salt Lake City (oh, those Mormons again!) were selling A Grave Talentunder the counter, since it was about a lesbian detective. (Or maybe it was because I had adopted that wicked Sherlock Holmes…)

At any rate, Banned Books Week (September 23-29) is when the American Library Association talks about how “Banning Books Silences Stories.”  I found it interesting to review the books banned and challenged over the past few years—there’s a full list here.  Some of the titles are obvious lightning-rods, popping up in various protests year after year, while others are puzzling.

It was hard to choose one favorite banned book for my local library’s video. What about Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, which was accused of being pornographic?  Or Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, ripped from the shelves for its “profanity, poor grammar and sentence structure”? Perhaps one of the Tintin comics whose racist stereotypes made library readers uncomfortable?  Or maybe The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, challenged in Florida and Tennessee for its profanity and atheism?

But in the end, there was really no choice in the matter.  I had to go for the document that lay beneath Mark Haddon’s story, a novel that pre-dated all the others on the banned lists by decades.

In 2011, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet was removed from a 6thgrade reading list because of its slanted depiction of Mormons. Which, well, fair enough. If I were a Mormon, I’d be a bit hot under the collar, too.

But look at some of the others—more important, look at how the library or school in question actually dealt with the challenge, and tell me you don’t think that Banned Book Week is a shining example of the democratic process in action.  For example:

Eggers, Dave: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius 

Retained in the adult nonfiction collection at the Toronto Public Library in Ontario, Canada, despite complaints about the novel’s profanity, poor grammar and sentence structure. The memoir chronicles the author’s stewardship of younger brother Christopher “Toph” Eggers, following the cancer-related deaths of his parents. The book was listed on The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year; in 2000, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction; and chosen as the twelfth best book of the decade by The Times.

Haddon, Mark: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Banned from the ninth-grade honors-level English reading list in the Wilson County, Tenn., schools (2014) due to offensive language. The book was removed from libraries and the possession of students soon after. The decision was later rescinded on the advice of the school board attorney due to possible conflict with a board policy. The award-winning book is about a 15-year-old autistic child who investigates the death of a neighbor’s dog. And, in 2015 it was pulled as a summer reading assignment in the Leon County, Fla. schools because of the book’s content and language. Moved from required reading to optional reading at Lincoln High School in Talahassee Fla after receiving about a dozen complaints through telephone calls and emails about the book’s profanity and atheism.

Hergé [Georges Remi]: Tintin in America

Pulled by the Winnipeg, Canada Public library (2015) pending review due to stereotypical and racist depictions of indigenous peoples. The library eventually returned the book to general circulation, but in the adult collection, where it will be available to adult readers who want to see it for themselves or “carry on discussions with their children or others.”

Tintin in the Congo

A Belgian court (2012) rejected a five-year-old bid by a Congolese student to have
the 1946 edition of Hergé’s book banned because of its racist depictions. “It is clear that neither the story, nor the fact that it has been put on sale, has a goal to … create an intimidating, hostile, degrading or humiliating environment,” the court said in its judgment. The student, who launched the campaign in 2007 to ban the book, plans to appeal.

Card, Orson Scott: Ender’s Game

A teacher at Schofield Middle School in Aiken, S.C. (2012) will not face criminal charges for reading to his students from the science-fiction book. In addition to
the Card novel—which has won several science-fiction awards and is listed on numerous children’s literature review websites as appropriate for readers twelve and older — the teacher read excerpts from an Agatha Christie novel and a young adult novel set in the Old West, officials said. The incident came to light after the materials were characterized by one student and one parent as pornographic, according to a press release issued by the school district.

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: A Study in Scarlet

Removed from the Albermarle County, Va. school sixth-grade required reading list (2011) because the book casts Mormonism in a negative light. The complaint cited

the novel’s reference to Mormons as “murderous” and “intolerant,” as reason
to remove the work. The complaint also alleged that the work unfairly characterized Mormons as murderous kidnappers. The classic novel was the first to present the character of the brilliant sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Dr. Watson. Doyle wrote the novel in three weeks;it was published in 1886.

Sex, of various sorts: For some reason, 2009-2010 was a very randy year, seeing challenges to Alex Comfort’s classic Joy of Sex(originally published in 1972, but updated in 2008); Emily Dubberley’s rather depressingly determined Sex for Busy People: The Art of the Quickie for Lovers on the Go; Kat Harding’s Lesbian Kama Sutra;Eric Marlowe Garrison on Mastering Multiple Position Sex (published by the nicely named Quiver Press); and Charles Silverstein & Felice Picano on The Joy of Gay Sex.  Here are the arguments, and decisions:

Comfort, Alex: Joy of Sex.

Restricted minors’ access in the Topeka and Shawnee County, Kans. Public Library (2009) because the organization Kansans for Common Sense contended that the material is “harmful to minors under state law.” Later the board voted 6–3 in favor of adopting a staff recommendation to keep the books where they are currently located on the shelves in the library’s Health Information Neighborhood section.

Dubberley, Emily: Sex for Busy People: The Art ofthe Quickie for Lovers on the Go.

Restricted minors’ access in the Topeka and Shawnee County, Kans. Public Library (2009) because the organization Kansans for Common Sense contended that the material is “harmful to minors under state law.” Later the board voted 6–3 in favor of adopting a staff recommendation to keep the books where they are currently located on the shelves in the library’s Health Information Neighborhood section.

Harding, Kat: Lesbian Kama Sutra.

Restricted minors’ access in the Topeka and Shawnee County, Kans. Public Library (2009) because the organization Kansans for Common Sense contended that the material is “harmful to minors under state law.” Later the board voted 6–3 in favor of adopting a staff recommendation to keep the books where they are currently located on the shelves in the library’s Health Information Neighborhood section.

Garrison, Eric Marlowe: Mastering Multiple Position Sex.

Challenged, but retained at the Pataskala, Ohio Public Library (2009). The library determined to implement a new juvenile library card.  A parent or guardian will be able to sign off on the card, thereby restricting his or her child’s borrowing rights to juvenile materials.

Silverstein, Charles, and Felice Picano: The Joy of Gay Sex.

Challenged in the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena, Mont. (2008) due to objections over its content. The book has been in the library’s collection since 1993. The library director accepted the recommendation of the library’s collection review committee that the book be retained in the collection. Restricted minors’ access in the Topeka and Shawnee County, Kans. Public Library (2009) because the organization Kansans for Common Sense contended that the material is “harmful to minors under state law.” Later the board voted 6–3 in favor of adopting a staff recommendation to keep the books where they are currently located on the shelves in the library’s Health Information Neighborhood section.

Reader guide for ISLAND?

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Now, most of you won’t have even glimpsed an ARC of Island of the Mad yet.

But Random House would like to do a discussion guide at publication, and since some of you will have scored an early read, I thought you might help me crowd-source the guide.

So: as you read, did anything in particular catch your eye that you wonder about, that you’d like to talk about, that left you curious for more…?

(And maybe avoid any actual plot spoilers in your suggestions, both for Mutterings readers and because we wouldn’t use those, anyway.)

Thank you!

 

 

 

Setting as Character

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I’ll be doing a workshop on Setting for the good folk at Litquake next Saturday (assuming my voice returns–I have to say, conferences like Left Coast are just super for sharing: favorite writers; plot ideas; viruses…) so I’ve been mulling over the settings I use in my books. I haven’t used New York (yet…) even though I’ve been there a bunch–

 

but I no sooner set foot in Fez than I knew this was a place for a story:

And I have to wonder, how would a character’s story change if it took place in a London mews

or in the southern reaches of London

or even the warm, crowded, watery city of Venice?

So I’m asking, what setting in my books resonates with you? Russell’s Japan, or Kate Martinelli’s visit to the central valley? Harris Stuyvesant’s Paris, the Fool’s Berkeley, or…? What place/character interaction most appealed to you?

(Oh, and if you’re interested in the Litquake workshop, there may be one or two places left, here.)

Takeback Tuesday: taking back justice

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Today is pub day for a book I’ve been involved with for the past year or more:

Anatomy of Innocence is the brainchild of Laura Caldwell and Leslie S.Klinger, both lawyers, both friends of mine. Laura is the director and founder of the Life After Innocence clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, which works with wrongfully convicted individuals or other innocent persons to help them re-enter society and reclaim their lives. Life After Innocence was inspired by one of her clients, a 19-year-old man, who sat in a Cook County holding cell for nearly six years without a trial before Laura and a renowned criminal defense attorney won his release.

Anatomy of Innocence has fifteen top writers, each of whom tells one portion of the story that every one of these falsely convicted people went through.

But the real beauty of the book is how the stubborn belief of individuals—attorneys, family, and the convicted persons themselves—can win out despite the massive authority of the judicial system.

Something to keep in mind, as we look at ways to take back our Tuesdays.

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I will be part of an event in San Francisco in June, talking about the project with Les and Laura. There are also events in New York, Madison, Chicago, LA, and Denver, with more to come—see the events page, here.

In the meantime, you can read about the writers and exonerees of Anatomy of Innocence, and see the stellar reviews and articles from the Bar Association to Newsweek’s Six Best Books of the Week and the NYT article excerpting the book’s Arthur Miller essay. Laura and Les have a podcast going live tomorrow, here. And finally, yes, you can order a copy from Audible, Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or IndieBound.

Race, gender, and responsibility: the face of Billy Mudd

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There’s been a lot of talk recently about race and diversity in fiction and movies—a controversy over casting a black Hermione, the question of Shadow’s race in American Gods,MV5BMTQ4NjcwMTcyOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTA3MjM4OQ@@._V1_UX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_

the troubling lack of actors of color in the nominations its for this year’s Oscars (#OscarSoWhite). And this month, the VBC have been talking (among other things) about the race of Billy Mudd in The Murder of Mary Russell.

In the Conan Doyle stories, most of the characters have no specific ethnic identity. Since Conan Doyle was British, and wrote for a British (and American) audience in Victorian times, it’s fair to say that he, his publishers, and his audience generally assumed that the characters were white/British, except when the story required a wicked Lascar, a mixed-race child (“The Yellow Face”), or the occasional stereotyped villain from America.

The problem is, Britain hasn’t been a completely white nation for a very long time.

I admit that as a writer, I tend not to think about what racial component goes into many of the people on my pages. In fact, although Mary Russell, Kate Martinelli, and some of the others have a certain amount of physical description, when it comes to the characters who are not given any clear indicators, I don’t think it matters much if the reader visualizes that person as Nordic, Nigerian, Filipino, or whatever that reader sees in the mirror each morning.

Sometimes race does matter in a story. If that’s the case, as a reader I expect to be told, either explicitly or by knowing that the character’s name is Chu, Singh, or Katanapoulis. If the author intends a Chu of Nigerian heritage or a Jim Jones who is female, that needs to be made clear fairly early on. (Although it’s part of the charm of Hilary Tamar that we don’t know which gender s/he occupies—and remember when the part of Lawrence Block’s burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr—a Jewish man’s name if ever there was one—was played not by Bruce Willis, but by Whoopi Goldberg?) Neil Gaiman’s Shadow Moon (American Gods) is consistently described as mixed race, with light grey eyes and a swarthy tone to his skin, and his mother having had sickle-cell disease would suggest African-American rather than Romany, Mediterranean, Native American, or any of the other shades of brown.

(Aside: That doesn’t mean there isn’t some justification for the confusion when Ricky Whittle was cast in the part. When Shadow spends the winter in a small town in the northeastern US, I don’t remember any particular mention being made of his standing out to any degree, which [particularly when I first read it, fifteen years ago] I’d have expected. Not in a city, maybe, or in the South, but in a small northern town? No doubt that lack of any passing comment on the part of the town sheriff, or a shopkeeper, or Shadow himself, rather… er, colored my perception of just how dark his shade of skin would be.)

If the author has provided no hints, often the case with minor characters, I’m like most readers in that I assign the character my own skin by default: white.

But about Billy Mudd. Writing a series as I do, I’m forever discovering things about my established characters. Who knew Mrs Hudson was Clarissa? I sure didn’t, until I wrote The Murder of Mary Russell. And did I know Billy was black, or at any rate, mixed race?   Had no idea. And although that’s something Conan Doyle might have mentioned in his stories—might have—nothing in the Holmes canon says he’s blonde or freckled. So when I came across the following descriptive sign in the Museum of London—
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—I realized that this was where Billy came from. (Sorry it’s blurry, it describes the image as: “An African crossing sweeper, St Martin’s Lane, c1830. In the 1780s there were about 5,000 people of African origin living in London….” Click on it to see it larger.)

Does it matter, that Billy’s skin has more melanin than mine? No—and yet it does. Just as it doesn’t matter that a number of characters I’ve written are gay and lesbian, and yet at the same time, yes, it does. (And again, if the character’s orientation doesn’t come up in the course of the story, I figure that some ten percent of the reading public is gay, so probably ten percent of the characters are, too. Have fun choosing which ones!) Just like, who cares if a white actor plays a role that, in the book, is unspecified? But when all those unspecified roles are filled with white faces, it very much does matter.

We’re a world of many peoples, all kinds of colors and shapes. Sometimes we writers need to remember that, and celebrate the variety.

Against violence

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I’m involved with a fundraiser and program to help stop violence against women.

First, there’s a Russell Basket.uguxltcadxbmpwejuzxe

This includes a signed hardback of The Murder of Mary Russell, a copy of Dreaming Spies, and one of the gorgeous big Dreaming Haiku posters, all in a handsome Random House book bag.  They’re requesting a $75 donation, and it’s not a raffle or drawing, it’s first come first gone, and there are only ten: for details, go here.

Second, I’ll be doing a Google Hangout on Sunday night.event_theme

That’s right, you can watch and chat while I visit you in the comfort of your own home (no, you don’t need to tidy up first, or even get out of your pyjamas.)  There’s various instructions, but if I can handle it, I’m sure you can.  That’s Sunday night, 8:30 Eastern Time, and we can all sit around with our Easter baskets and compare who got the best chocolate eggs.  For details, click here.

Jane Steele: Reader, I murdered him.

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We loves us some Lyndsay Faye here on Mutterings. Her Timothy Wilde trilogy has been one of my favorite worlds to explore in recent years, while the author herself has become one of my favorite people.

Lyndsay now has a new world, publishing next April: a deliciously wicked tale that starts as a riff on Jane Eyre and ends up redefining Victorian England as a whole. And since Lyndsay knows how much I love her books, she sent me two copies of the book, so I could share one.  Lyndsay describes Jane Steele as Jane Eyre meets Darkly Dreaming Dexter. 

photo 2

Jane Steele: “Reader, I murdered him.”

Would you like a copy? Post a comment here before Monday midnight, and I’ll draw a winner.

Fools of all stripes

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Fools have always been a big part of my life. [Polite pause for a series of rude and knowing remarks.]  I did my BA thesis on fools,41cyuuH7EcL._SX384_BO1,204,203,200_

and I’ve worked fools into a couple of novels (To Play the Fool introduces inspector Kate Martinelli to a Holy Fool among the homeless population of San Francisco,th

and in Dreaming Spies we meet an acrobat who speaks truth to princes) but I’ve never gone so far as Alan Gordon. I adore his series of historical novels where fools are not only spies (as entertainers, fools and minstrels are in a position to overhear words from the powerful) but the force behind international relations. Fabulous novels, beautifully researched, filled with wit, adventure, and characters you’d want to invite for dinner. The first, Thirteenth Night, takes characters from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and runs with them–long and hard.

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“Twelfth Night is for revelry, Thirteenth Night is for revelations.”  Thirteenth Night is this month’s Book Club focus. Grab it, read it, join us, here.