Alice
asked
Kim Michele Richardson:
How did you learn how to write such pitch-perfect dialogue? I feel like I'm in Kentucky in 1936. The descriptions and plot are also incredible. By the way, this is the best book I've read in a very long time. (I want to stop people on the street and tell them they have to read this book.)
Kim Michele Richardson
Thank you, Alice, I'm so happy to hear this. Sometimes it can be tricky. I’m a Kentuckian, so I know that in different regions of my home state there will be different beats and song in the native language. I’m also able to live in that landscape and spend time with native Appalachians who have taught me the lyrics and language of their people and ancestors.
Also, I hear different dialect and speech patterns every day, and in all my travels in Kentucky and beyond. But at some point I do try to keep in mind that the rest of the world doesn’t. Example: I have a nephew whose words I can barely understand because he comes from a different pocket of Kentucky. Still, there’s a balance, and you can’t strip the music, the lyrics that honestly reflect the people, so I go in with this mindset. = )
Also, I hear different dialect and speech patterns every day, and in all my travels in Kentucky and beyond. But at some point I do try to keep in mind that the rest of the world doesn’t. Example: I have a nephew whose words I can barely understand because he comes from a different pocket of Kentucky. Still, there’s a balance, and you can’t strip the music, the lyrics that honestly reflect the people, so I go in with this mindset. = )
More Answered Questions
Teresa
asked
Kim Michele Richardson:
Loved your book, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, my husband's family is from that region in Kentucky. I noticed that you wrote La Ragazza Blu, is this the same story in Italian? I'm first generation Italian and wonder what your connection is to Italian. Thank you
Debby
asked
Kim Michele Richardson:
I just finished "Book Woman" and absolutely loved it. I am not from Kentucky and had never heard of the blue-skinned people nor would have imagined that they would have been treated in the way they were. Is there a series in the works, perhaps? Well done and thank you!
Chiara
asked
Kim Michele Richardson:
Hi Kim, I love your books, especially the Book Woman series. I have been learning about Stagecoach Mary, Mary Fields (c. 1832 – December 5, 1914), who was an American mail carrier, the first Black woman to be employed as a star route postwoman in the United States. She was born into slavery. She could be a great subject for one of your next novels! I thought of you when I saw there aren't any current books about her?
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