Alice

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. = )

More Answered Questions

Albert Culbreath

Albert Culbreath asked Kim Michele Richardson:

Loved GodPretty in the Tobacco Field. Curious about your use of Paris green insecticide. I do not recall the connection between Paris green and artists pigments being mentioned. Also the association of "Paris" with art, and the euphemism the girls used of "go to Paris", made me wonder how planned THIS use of Paris green by an artist was, or did it just happen? Thank you!

Chiara

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?

Gena Arnold

Gena Arnold asked Kim Michele Richardson:

I just finished "Book Woman" last night. I am also a Kentuckian and I loved and appreciate the truth of which you wrote of the hill people. I simply loved the book. I was just wondering if you are as curious about what happens next with Cussy Mary and Honey as I am? I sure hope so.

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Kim Michele Richardson

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