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Laurie R. King

Award-winning, bestselling, thought-provoking mysteries

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Mystery Week events!

October 18, 2018 by Laurie King 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. 

Filed Under: Blog, Events, libraries

The Boys & Girls of the Banned

September 25, 2018 by Laurie King 6 Comments

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.

Filed Under: Book talk, libraries

Happy (?) Banned Books Week

September 24, 2018 by Laurie King 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?

Filed Under: Blog, book tour, libraries

Building a book

July 15, 2017 by Laurie King 7 Comments

I’m giving a talk this Thursday, based on the Santa Cruz library’s summer theme of Reading by Design.  Join me, and bring all your friends!

 

Filed Under: Events, libraries, Lockdown, The Murder of Mary Russell

Writing by design

July 7, 2017 by Laurie King 3 Comments

The summer theme at the Santa Cruz public library this summer is Reading by Design.

Come join us at the downtown branch on July 20, 6:30-8:00 PM, as I talk about the design of a mystery from idea to final publication: how does research work in, how much do I know about a story before I write it, and what does a writer do when outlining isn’t their native language?  

I’ll mostly be talking about The Murder of Mary Russell, but also this year’s Lockdown and…maybe… next year’s Island of the Mad.

Filed Under: Blog, Events, libraries, writing

Takeback Tuesday: the innocent

June 27, 2017 by Laurie King 1 Comment

Most of us, deep down, trust the system.  Intellectually, we may be aware that mistakes happen, that innocents get screwed, but when it comes right down to it?   Yeah, most of us have faith that the truth will out.

A while ago my friend Les Klinger asked me to join a project he and Laura Caldwell (fellow lawyer and bestselling writer) were heading up about the Innocence Project, which helps out men and women who have been convicted, then exonerated of terrible crimes.  I imagine my first response was the same as that of the other 14 bestselling authors who joined up, each one assigned one portion of one person’s story: “Um, I’d want to be really sure that these aren’t people who only got off because of a technicality…”

Nope.  These are men and women who trusted the system, and paid for it with a huge part of their lives.  Twenty years, twenty-eight years.  These are, let me say again, people who did nothing—except trust.

The guy they matched me up with was convicted of raping a child, and spent 28 nightmarish years in prison.  The portion of his experience they wanted me to do was the trial itself.  (SJ Rozan, for example, wrote about the unexpected knock on the door and the arrest of a young woman law student; Sara Paretsky wrote the next slice of the experience, the interrogation—basically the torture—of a young man the police just knew had done it. Though he hadn’t.)

I said I would, if I could read the trial transcript.  This took some digging, since the trial was three decades ago, but they found it, and I read it, and I was astonished at how much could be read between the stark lines of the stenographer’s print: the subtle interplay between the attorneys, the things the defense attorney completely missed, the way the prosecutor the jury with no interruption from the judge.

The absurd conclusions of the crime lab.  The manipulation of witnesses.  

In the end, 24 year-old Ray Towler was convicted of being a black man who trusted a jury not to convict an innocent man.

Every story in The Anatomy of Innocence is a variation on that theme.  And yet, the thing that truly astonishes me, to this day?  Ray isn’t bitter.  None of the people whose stories appear in the book are bitter.  Twenty nine years of living in a box, and out he walks into a world of cell phones. 

Today for Takeback Tuesday I’m urging you to read this book.  If you’re in the Bay Area, come to the San Francisco Public Library tomorrow night and listen to us talk about the book and the problems, along with another exonoree from Northern California. If you’re not local, watch for the YouTube appearance of the panel from the SFPL.  

The panel consists of editors Leslie S. Klinger and Laura Caldwell, Linda Starr, director of the Northern California Innocence Project, Maurice Caldwell, exonoree, and Laurie R. King, contributor to the book. Details and RSVP here. 

You can also order a book from the event’s co-sponsor, Book Passage, here. Or get a copy from your local Indie bookseller here, from Amazon here, or from Barnes & Noble here.

Filed Under: Anatomy of Innocence, Events, libraries

Giveback Tuesday: Library week LOCKDOWN giveaway!

April 11, 2017 by Laurie King 6 Comments

Want a copy of Lockdown?  Ooh, yes, look at these, you know you do…

Okay: we all know that libraries—and librarians—rock, right?

And we all know that, as my dedication to The Moor put it, librarians…

“…spend their lives in battle against the forces of darkness.”

Now more than ever. But no matter our niche on the political spectrum, I’m sure we can all support the Good Thing that is our local library:

Libraries of all types are part of a delicate ecosystem that supports the transformation of communities and lives through education and lifelong learning. From the cradle to the grave, libraries provide invaluable resources that serve as a lifeline for billions of users for access to technology, early and digital literacy instruction, job-seeking resources, social services and small business tools.

(the ALA site)

To mark National Library Week, 2017, I’m giving away four Advance Readers’ Editions of the upcoming novel Lockdown to people who email their local representative this week, expressing their support of libraries. You can do this one of two ways:

  1. Either send the ALA your story about libraries, here, or
  2. Email your representative, from US President to state congressperson (you can locate their address here.) In either case, what you have to do then is
  3. Put my address on the cc line—[email protected]—and I’ll enter you in the giveaway.  The drawing for the AREs is on Monday.

Lockdown doesn’t publish for another two months, on June 13, so here’s your chance to be ahead of pretty much everyone except the author.

(The ALA’s page of further suggestions for petitions to sign and actions to take is here.)

Happy National Libraries Week!

Filed Under: libraries, Lockdown, Takeback Tuesday

TBT: Them radical librarians

February 22, 2017 by Laurie King 10 Comments

I spent my childhood in libraries. Their stacks, their people, were my sanctuaries, the safe and nurturing places where my real community lived (rather than these changing cities where my family seemed to continually be moving). So it makes sense to me that libraries are now declaring themselves as sanctuary spaces—although with political overtones that return us to the radical face of librarians.

The Santa Cruz Public Library.

We now have Twitter feeds such as @LibrariesResist or last Friday’s #DayofFacts—and the delightfully named evocation of my Sixties youth, the Radical Librarian Collective.

Librarians all over have declared themselves in alliance with their diverse population rather than submit to the paranoia of executive orders.

Remember the Patriot Act? The thing rushed through on the heels of 9/11 giving the government rights to poke their nose into our digital, personal, and private lives? Remember how librarians reacted? As the ALA said:

“Libraries are key sources of information on all kinds of subjects and from all perspectives for their communities. Reading has always been one of our greatest freedoms. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth.

“Libraries provide a place to exercise intellectual freedom: a free and open exchange of knowledge and information where individuals may exercise freedom of inquiry as well as a right to privacy in regards to information they seek. Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association. In a library, the subject of users’ interests should not be examined or scrutinized by others.”

Sound familiar? Then as now, we find librarians on the front lines—politely; firmly—in pushing back against ignorance and paranoia. The ALA now writes:

“We are shocked and dismayed by recent executive orders and other actions by the new administration, which stand in stark contrast to the core values of the American Library Association (ALA). Our core values include access to information; confidentiality/ privacy; democracy; equity, diversity and inclusion; intellectual freedom; and social responsibility.

“As our strategic plan states, ‘ALA recognizes the critical need for access to library and information resources, services, and technologies by all people, especially those who may experience language or literacy-related barriers; economic distress; cultural or social isolation; physical or attitudinal barriers; racism; discrimination on the basis of appearance, ethnicity, immigrant status, housing status, religious background, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression; or barriers to equal education, employment and housing.”

“We encourage our members to continue to speak out and show their support for and work on behalf of our core values, in their communities as well as with their local, state and national elected and appointed officials. Additionally, ALA has tools and resources online to help you advocate for our core values:

  • Advocacy
  • Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services
  • Government Relations
  • Information and Technology Policy
  • Intellectual Freedom
  • Libraries Respond

“ALA is committed to using its national platform for speaking up and speaking out for its members and constituents in these chaotic, unprecedented and challenging times. We appreciate the library community’s continued support.”

For ideas of how libraries are stretching out their arms, take a look at the Bookriot round-up, and the PBS article on resistance. (“Libraries are not neutral. We stand up for human rights.”)

Libraries are the place to go for entertainment and enlightenment, facts and opinions, to learn a language or get a tax form, to hold meetings about anything from writing to genealogy.

So today’s Takeback Tuesday message is the: The ALA have got our backs.  You can join them, here.

Filed Under: Blog, libraries, Takeback Tuesday

The Writer/Library Admiration Socie

August 11, 2016 by Laurie King Leave a Comment

MWA header night

MWA NorCal joins forces with the Oakland library this Saturday for:

Loving the Library

If you’re a regular reader of Mutterings, you know that I love libraries. This Saturday, I get to interview Emily Weak, the adult services librarian at the Rockridge branch, about how writers and libraries make for a mutual admiration society. I’ll be asking things like, how can we authors best work with libraries? What resources do libraries have for us? And what do librarians need from us? How can a writer both use libraries, and help them?

Please come join us, this Mystery Writers of America/NorCal event is open to all.

 August 13, 11:30-12:30

Oakland Public Library—Rockridge Branch

5366 College Avenue

Oakland, CA

Filed Under: Events, libraries, Research

Library Love, from Laurie

April 15, 2015 by Laurie King 2 Comments

I’ve written a love letter, for National Library Week, here.

Libraries are my home and my joy. Libraries were where I lived, when I was a kid. (We moved. A lot.) Now, libraries make my work possible, since I write historical novels and do a ton of research.

Filed Under: libraries

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