Bag of Mail

Twenty Years Since A Time To Kill


Hard to believe it has been that long. Pretty entertaining article at USA Today (of all places) about the twenty-year anniversary. Lots of talk about Square Books, one of the best independent stores in the country. I'll be doing a signing for On Rocky Top there the weekend of the Ole Miss-Tennessee game.

John Grisham's legal pad was blank and his knees like putty as he approached the judge's bench. Just a few months out of law school in the early 1980s, he had made every rookie mistake imaginable in his first murder trial and now had to give closing arguments.

The judge put his hand over the microphone and asked Grisham whether he needed to vomit.

"I left for the restroom, and I did what I had to do. And I came back and I apologized to the jury for just being there, for even going to law school," Grisham says with the humor that comes from hindsight.


Grisham also bought a thousand copies of his first book and sold them himself on a Mississippi library circuit. Writing books is tough, but I think the process of selling books gets overlooked. It's tougher, much tougher. You head out on the road (if you're lucky), and never know who is going to show up (if anyone is going to show up) for your signings. Honestly, it's pretty humbling. The above link is a pretty good story about that.

By the way, for some reason, I'm no longer allowed to post images on blogger. This is probably good timing to also announce that I'm headed for Washington, D.C. tomorrow for the next ten days, the calm before the book release storm.

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Posted by Clay Travis at 4:19 PM

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