letters to the alphabet.
T HE V ITALS
Birthday: April 24, 1940
Born and raised: Louisville, Kentucky
Current home: Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky
Love life: Married 33 years to science lecturer Dr. Steven F. Humphrey
Family life: Three adult children, four granddaughters (including one named Kinsey)
Schooling: Graduated from the University of Louisville, 1961, with a BA in English literature
Day job?: No
Honors and awards (partial listing): Three Anthony Awards, three Shamus Awards, the Smith-Breckenridge Distinguished Woman of Achievement Award, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, the Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Crime Writers’ Association, a Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America
Notable notes:
• Sue Grafton is the daughter of detective novelist C. W. Grafton.
• Grafton cites Ross Macdonald as her strongest literary influence. She set her “alphabet series” in the fictional town of Santa Teresa, California, which Macdonald had created as a stand-in for Santa Barbara.
• It wasn’t until
G Is for Gumshoe
that Grafton earned enough money as a writer to quit her day job.
• Grafton has refused to sell film rights to her books and has threatened to haunt her children if they do so after her death.
Website: www.suegrafton.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/sue-grafton/112566022091435?ref=ts
T HE C OLLECTED W ORKS
Novels
Keziah Dane
, 1967
The Lolly-Madonna War
, 1969
A Is for Alibi
, 1982
B Is for Burglar
, 1985
C Is for Corpse
, 1986
D Is for Deadbeat
, 1987
E Is for Evidence
, 1988
F Is for Fugitive
, 1989
G Is for Gumshoe
, 1990
H Is for Homicide
, 1991
I Is for Innocent
, 1992
J Is for Judgment
, 1993
K Is for Killer
, 1994
L Is for Lawless
, 1995
M Is for Malice
, 1996
N Is for Noose
, 1998
O Is for Outlaw
, 1999
P Is for Peril
, 2001
Q Is for Quarry
, 2002
R Is for Ricochet
, 2004
S Is for Silence
, 2005
T Is for Trespass
, 2007
U Is for Undertow
, 2009
V Is for Vengeance
, 2011
Fiction Collections
Kinsey and Me
, short stories, 1992
The Lying Game
, short stories, 2003
Sue Grafton
Why I write
I write because in 1962 I put in my application for a job working in the children’s department at Sears, and they never called me back.
Seriously: I write because it’s all I know how to do. Writing is my anchor and my purpose. My life is informed by writing, whether the work is going well or I’m stuck in the hell of writer’s block, which I’m happy to report only occurs about once a day.
My best time as a writer is any day, or any moment, when the work’s going well and I’m completely absorbed in the task at hand. The hardest time is when it’s not, and I’m not. The latter tend to outnumber the former. But I’m a persistent little cuss. And I soldier on.
I’m a persistent writer. And also a terrified one.
Most days when I sit down at my computer, I’m scared half out of my mind. I’m always convinced that my last book was my last book, that my career is at an end, that I’ll never be able to pull off another novel, that my success was a fleeting illusion, and my hopes for the future are already dead. Dang! All this drama and it’s not even nine a.m.
Writer’s block is a subject I’ve given a lot of thought to, since I come up against it so often. I used to try to power through, overriding the block by sheer force of will. Now I look at it differently. I see writer’s block as a message from Shadow, informing me that I’m off track. The “block” is the by-product of a faulty choice I’ve made. My job is to back up and see if I can pinpoint the fork in the road where I headed in the wrong direction. Sometimes I’ve misunderstood a character or his or her motivation. Sometimes I’ve laid out events in a sequence that muddies the story line. Usually I don’t have to retrace my steps more than a chapter or two, and the error is easily corrected.
I write largely by trial and error,
T HE V ITALS
Birthday: April 24, 1940
Born and raised: Louisville, Kentucky
Current home: Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky
Love life: Married 33 years to science lecturer Dr. Steven F. Humphrey
Family life: Three adult children, four granddaughters (including one named Kinsey)
Schooling: Graduated from the University of Louisville, 1961, with a BA in English literature
Day job?: No
Honors and awards (partial listing): Three Anthony Awards, three Shamus Awards, the Smith-Breckenridge Distinguished Woman of Achievement Award, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, the Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Crime Writers’ Association, a Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America
Notable notes:
• Sue Grafton is the daughter of detective novelist C. W. Grafton.
• Grafton cites Ross Macdonald as her strongest literary influence. She set her “alphabet series” in the fictional town of Santa Teresa, California, which Macdonald had created as a stand-in for Santa Barbara.
• It wasn’t until
G Is for Gumshoe
that Grafton earned enough money as a writer to quit her day job.
• Grafton has refused to sell film rights to her books and has threatened to haunt her children if they do so after her death.
Website: www.suegrafton.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/sue-grafton/112566022091435?ref=ts
T HE C OLLECTED W ORKS
Novels
Keziah Dane
, 1967
The Lolly-Madonna War
, 1969
A Is for Alibi
, 1982
B Is for Burglar
, 1985
C Is for Corpse
, 1986
D Is for Deadbeat
, 1987
E Is for Evidence
, 1988
F Is for Fugitive
, 1989
G Is for Gumshoe
, 1990
H Is for Homicide
, 1991
I Is for Innocent
, 1992
J Is for Judgment
, 1993
K Is for Killer
, 1994
L Is for Lawless
, 1995
M Is for Malice
, 1996
N Is for Noose
, 1998
O Is for Outlaw
, 1999
P Is for Peril
, 2001
Q Is for Quarry
, 2002
R Is for Ricochet
, 2004
S Is for Silence
, 2005
T Is for Trespass
, 2007
U Is for Undertow
, 2009
V Is for Vengeance
, 2011
Fiction Collections
Kinsey and Me
, short stories, 1992
The Lying Game
, short stories, 2003
Sue Grafton
Why I write
I write because in 1962 I put in my application for a job working in the children’s department at Sears, and they never called me back.
Seriously: I write because it’s all I know how to do. Writing is my anchor and my purpose. My life is informed by writing, whether the work is going well or I’m stuck in the hell of writer’s block, which I’m happy to report only occurs about once a day.
My best time as a writer is any day, or any moment, when the work’s going well and I’m completely absorbed in the task at hand. The hardest time is when it’s not, and I’m not. The latter tend to outnumber the former. But I’m a persistent little cuss. And I soldier on.
I’m a persistent writer. And also a terrified one.
Most days when I sit down at my computer, I’m scared half out of my mind. I’m always convinced that my last book was my last book, that my career is at an end, that I’ll never be able to pull off another novel, that my success was a fleeting illusion, and my hopes for the future are already dead. Dang! All this drama and it’s not even nine a.m.
Writer’s block is a subject I’ve given a lot of thought to, since I come up against it so often. I used to try to power through, overriding the block by sheer force of will. Now I look at it differently. I see writer’s block as a message from Shadow, informing me that I’m off track. The “block” is the by-product of a faulty choice I’ve made. My job is to back up and see if I can pinpoint the fork in the road where I headed in the wrong direction. Sometimes I’ve misunderstood a character or his or her motivation. Sometimes I’ve laid out events in a sequence that muddies the story line. Usually I don’t have to retrace my steps more than a chapter or two, and the error is easily corrected.
I write largely by trial and error,
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