Beekeeper at the Libraries, #1!

Saturday sees the first in the Laurie Loves Libraries celebrations of the Beekeeper’s 30th birthday! This one’s a hybrid event, where I’ll be in my study talking with gathered patrons of the Williamsburg Library—and, with people online. I have to say, Williamsburg (headed up by the fabulous duo of Avery and Allison) really threw itself…

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Proof Positive

Because to the reader, a book goes from vague idea to hardback-in-hand, I’m doing a series of blog posts (no spoilers!) about the actual process for The Lantern’s Dance. (Though rest assured—it’s still pretty magical.) I’ve just finished the proof pages—those pages where the much-marked-up manuscript is formatted to look like the actual final hardback.…

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Post-Final Drafts

This is one of a series of blog posts (no spoilers!) about the actual process of writing a book from the idea to the hardback in hand. In this case, the group effort behind the magic.   I’ve talked about how The Lantern’s Dance began, and about the ongoing process of working with my editor,…

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The BUZZ has a question

My newsletter, The Buzz, just went out–and there’s a survey in it asking if you’d like to come to one of the FOUR Russell & Holmes events being held next year. We’re in the process of negotiating with the hotels, so we need to have a rough idea of numbers. In case you didn’t get…

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Not Just a Pretty Face: Cover Art

(Because what I do for a living often seems like magic—I come up with an idea and *POOF* the book’s in your hand—I thought I might do a series of blog posts (no spoilers!) about the actual process. (Though rest assured—it’s still pretty magical.) In the publishing world, cover art comes before the book is…

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Hitting “SEND”

I hit the SEND button–wahoo! First draft, hence short, untidy, and incomplete…but it’s sent, out into the editorial world. Now I wait, and see what she thinks. (*sound of chewing fingernails**) I think I’ll reward the newsletter subscribers with the first page this weekend. Or if not reward, at least give them something to talk…

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The Meet (his version and hers)

I was fifteen when I first met Sherlock Holmes, fifteen years old with my nose in a book as I walked the Sussex Downs, and nearly stepped on him. In my defence I must say it was an engrossing book, and it was very rare to come across another person in that particular part of…

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Russell’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…

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A 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:…

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A 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…

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