Writers

A few nights ago, I spent a couple of hours on the Kacey Kowars Show web page, listening to audio clips of interviews with writers. This is one of the few places that I've come across, which offers audio interview clips for free, some of them as long as half hour in length, both in an audio stream, or downloadable with a right click. The sound quality is quite good when you consider that the interviews were apparently done over the phone. It's mainly bestsellers and commercial authors, but people like Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and of course, James Lee Burke, are among my favorites, so it was interesting to hear to them talk about their books, their careers, and about writing in general.

One of the things that struck me while listening to these interviews was the common feeling of basic insecurity that many writers experience about their work; at least until the finished piece has been accepted. When talking about his book L.A. Requiem, which is one of my favorites, Robert Crais indicated that he was certain it would be a failure because stylistically it was a dramatic departure from his previous books. He believed the critics would eviscerate him for it, and that his fans would desert him. Fortunately, he was wrong.

Likewise, James Lee Burke talked about going through a period of more than a decade where he was unable to get his books published, yet continued to write diligently even though he was convinced that much of it would result in abject failure. In 1986, after 111 rejections, Burke's book, The Lost Get-Back Boogie was published by the Louisiana State University Press to critical acclaim, and eventually nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. The rest, as they say, is history. I was surprised to discover that Burke's voice sounds nothing like the voice I hear when reading his wonderful Dave Robicheaux novels. The voice I hear sounds more like Civil War historian Shelby Foote, a lazy baritone, heavy on the Southern drawl. James Lee Burke, with his gentle tone and good natured chuckle, reminds me of my dentist, a man who has the ability to make root canal sound like a nice experience.

Some of the others interviewed on The Kacey Kowars Show are T. Jefferson Parker, Alice Hoffman, George Pelicanos, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Laurie R. King, Nelson Demille, and many others. Maybe some of your favorites are there too.

(PS - Poll Results! As you can see from the results of my scientific poll to the right, women are FAR bigger liars than men (26 say women, 2 say men). Somehow, I had a feeling it would turn out that way, LOL!) :)