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Robert B. Parker and Sue Grafton: Author One-on-One
In this Amazon exclusive, we brought together blockbuster authors Robert B. Parker and Sue Grafton and asked them to interview each other.
Robert B. Parker’s wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye Spenser earned him a devoted following and wide critical acclaim. Before his death in January 2010, Parker also wrote the bestselling Jesse Stone novels and a new series of Westerns featuring two guns-for-hire, Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. Read on to see Robert B. Parker's questions for Sue Grafton, or turn the tables to see what Grafton asked Parker.
Parker: Tell me about you and Kinsey Millhone and the connection between you.Grafton: Kinsey Millhone is my alter ego, the woman I might have been had I not married young and had children. She's younger, thinner, and braver than I, but a good companion nonetheless. Since she can know only what I know, I've taken classes in criminal law and self-defense. I've studied police procedure, private eye procedure, toxicology, ballistics, and crime scene investigation. Beyond that, the prime agreement between us is that I don't tell her, she tells me. When readers ask what she’ll be doing after Z is for Zero, I assure them I haven't the faintest idea.
Parker: Describe your writing process (e.g., I get up in the morning, have a martini to get my heart going...).
Grafton: I take a 5.4-mile walk five days a week, so my writing schedule is often dictated by the weather. If it's too hot or too cold, I walk first thing in the morning, come home, shower, dress, and reach my desk at 9:45 or so. I work until lunch, when I take a short break, returning to my desk until mid-to-late afternoon. If I haven't done a morning walk, I walk when my work is done. Then I drink.
Parker: You've spent time in Hollywood. Tell me about that.
Grafton: I refer to that period of my life as "doing one to fifteen in Hollywood." I loved it at first, as dazzled as anyone who hasn't figured out yet how treacherous life there can be. As I've said on previous occasions, I learned two things about myself in Hollywood: one, I'm not a team player; and two, I'm not a good sport. The producers I met were well-educated and articulate, and usually offered me a cup of coffee before they set in to savaging my work. I got too old and cranky to put up with that, so I invented Kinsey Millhone as my way out. I liken it to digging my way out of prison with a teaspoon.
Parker: Do you read reviews? Pay attention to them? Find them helpful? Have an opinion on them?
Grafton: Where possible, I avoid reviews. The good ones only encourage swell-headedness and the bad ones hurt my feelings or infuriate me. In either case, by the time reviews appear, the book is written and out on the stands. What's a poor girl to do? There's no point in subjecting myself to the reactions of readers and reviewers, since their response is nothing I can control.
Parker: People sometimes ask me why I write what I write, and I answer, "Because that's what I know how to do." (Then they say, "Would you please stop?" but I'm sure they're just kidding.) Talk about why you write what you write.
Grafton: I write what I write because when I put in my application for a position at Sears, they never got back to me. I'm still hopeful, especially with the Christmas season coming up. Aside from that, I write what I write because when the work is going well, it makes me happier than just about anything except my kids and grandkids. When the work is not going well . . . which is maybe thirty-five percent of the time . . . I know it's my job to sit patiently and keep at it until I figure out what's wrong. In large part, writing is the only thing I know how to do.
Sue divides her time between Montecito, California and Louisville, Kentucky, where she was born and raised. She has three children and two grandchildren. Grafton has been married to Steve Humphrey for more than twenty years. She loves cats, gardens, and good cuisine.
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Book 21 in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series from the New York Times bestselling author, Sue Grafton.In 1960s Santa Teresa, California, a child is kidnapped and never returned.When the case is reopened after twenty years, a man - Michael Sutton - contacts private detective Kinsey Millhone for help. He claims to have recalled a strange and disturbing memory which just might provide the key to the mystery. He may have stumbled across the kidnappers burying Mary Claire Fitzhugh's body.But Michael's account is indistinct - he was only six years old at the time of the kidnapping; and even members of his family try to discredit his evidence. But Kinsey is certain there is something vital within Michael's recollections. And even when what is eventually unearthed isn't what anyone expected, she can't quite let go of the case.As Kinsey gradually brings to light the stories of the protagonists involved in the tragedy, from Country Club parents to their free-living, hippy children, the truth finally begins to emerge. And while stepping back into the past, Kinsey discovers more about her own history too. The alphabet mysteries continue with a reopened case for private investigator Kinsey Millhone. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781447212423
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 496. Seller Inventory # 38571123
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9781447212423
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 496 pages. 7.72x5.12x1.34 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __1447212428
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. The alphabet mysteries continue with a reopened case for private investigator Kinsey Millhone. Seller Inventory # B9781447212423
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9781447212423-GDR
Book Description Condition: New. 2012. New edition. Paperback. The twenty first novel in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series, now with a stunning new look Series: Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series. Num Pages: 496 pages. BIC Classification: FF. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 200 x 131 x 30. Weight in Grams: 336. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9781447212423
Book Description Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9781447212423_new
Book Description Condition: New. 2012. New edition. Paperback. The twenty first novel in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series, now with a stunning new look Series: Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series. Num Pages: 496 pages. BIC Classification: FF. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 200 x 131 x 30. Weight in Grams: 336. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9781447212423
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 18526545-n