Q&A with Kim Wright, author of Last Ride to Graceland

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Welcome to Kim Wright who has graciously agreed to participate in our reading of her book, Last Ride to Graceland. We will be setting up the actual discussion boards in the next week or so although the official discussion doesn't begin until September.

Kim, I'd like to start off the questions by asking you what inspired this story?

[Jane]

Kim , how daunting a prospect was it to include a personality of such legendary proportions as Elvis and how did you go about researching him ?

[Kim]

Hi Jane:

Thanks for the question. Obviously when you take on a character as big as Elvis it's a challenge, not to mention that millions of people adore him and are VERY particular about how he's portrayed. Then you have to add in that there are plenty of people still alive who remember the day he died, some of whom were actually at Graceland when it happened.
In a case like this - where a writer is working with recent "history - you just have to do as much research as you can, pick the details you'll emphasize, and keep reminding the reader (and yourself!) that this is a work of fiction. Not meant to be a documentary, but rather to take certain details drawn from real life as inspiration.
For example - I read somewhere that Elvis always stressed that his unique sound when he first started out at Sun Records in the 1950s was a result of combining gospel and blues. He wanted to give a nod to both sides of his musical roots, so he always made it a point to have both black and white back up singers on stage with him. That fact was the inspiration for Marilee, one of my favorite characters in the book. She's a strong black woman who rules the bevy of black up singers and who takes one of my narrators, Honey, under her wing when Honey arrives at Graceland only 19, a preacher's daughter from South Carolina, and totally out of her depth. I'm not sure I would have come up with Marilee without the research.

[Kim]

Tom wrote: "Welcome to Kim Wright who has graciously agreed to participate in our reading of her book, Last Ride to Graceland. We will be setting up the actual discussion boards in the next wee..."


Hey Tom. I got the idea for LAST RIDE TO GRACELAND one Sunday morning when I was lying in bed perusing my home newspaper, the Charlotte Observer. And they had an article with that title, Last Ride to Graceland, about how the Presley estate had finally decided to restore the car Elvis drove on the last day of his life - a picture of him leaving the gates in this big black Stutz Blackhawk is the last known photo take of him. So they were taking the car via flatbed to the Nascar Museum in Charlotte to be buffed up before it was added to the display in the Graceland garage.
One line in the article got my imagination going. The guy who cut off the bubble wrap and opened the car, which had been left untouched for 37 years, said it was like "opening a time capsule." Evidently it still smelled like Elvis's cologne, it had a napkin in the cup holder with a few drops of blood on it, there was a styrofoam cup with the imprints of a woman's lipstick, etc. Just enough of clues about that last drive to give me a jumping off point for the novel!

[Jane]

Hi Kim

I will try not to bombard you with too many questions before September but I liked the way you used setting in your novel example ,the way you linked Cher s song with Fairhope , how did you choose the different places ? What made you choose them ?

[Kim]

Jane wrote: "Hi Kim

I will try not to bombard you with too many questions before September but I liked the way you used setting in your novel example ,the way you linked Cher s song with Fairhope , how did you..."

I wanted to have five sections to correspond with the five states - Beaufort SC, Macon GA, Fairhope AL, Tupelo MS, and Memphis TN. I chose Beaufort because I have property there and know the area....Macon because they have Elvis milkshakes at a restaurant I'd visited....Tupelo because Elvis was born there and Memphis because Elvis died there. Fairhope, I'll admit, I just chose because I'd always heard it was lovely and wanted to visit! It really is pretty and collectively the five cities end up showing different aspects of the deep south so you have the sense Cory really is traveling through a wide expanse of landscape.

[Jane]

Thank you for the insight and all these settings work so well . I have to admit Fairhope got me intrigued and I wish I had not just whizzed past it !

[Kim]

It's beautiful!

[Brina]

Kim I just finished the Macon section. I love how Cory latches on to Lucy the dog.

[Kim]

Lucy is my favorite character! He's based on my cousin's boon hound.

[Brina]

That is so cute. I love how you add intrigue in what should be an easy reading summer roadtrip book. So Phillip can't be the father then who is??? Fairhope here I come!!!

[Kim]

Ha! Be sure to drop
Into Page and Palette. It's one of the most important bookstores in the south!

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

My copy arrived yesterday and its up next on my tbr list. I must say that the pink cover is likely to get me kicked out of the He-man Women Haters Club.

[Kim]

You can't judge a book...you know the rest! I agree, it's way too pink but nobody asks the writers what they think about things like that.

[Brina]

I finished. I really enjoyed my journey to Graceland. Thanks, Kim.

[Kim]

Brina wrote: "I finished. I really enjoyed my journey to Graceland. Thanks, Kim."

Glad you liked it!!

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Nobody gets your opinion on the cover art? That seems unfair. It's your book, after all.

[Kim]

No it's pretty rare for writers to even be consulted. Some publishers are better about it than others - but in lots of cases, like mine, you're pretty much just shown the mock up and told "This is it."

[Kim]

I read elsewhere in this group a challenge to define southern fiction. I get asked this A LOT when I'm speaking at conferences and festivals. What makes a book "southern"? Is it just a matter of setting or are there certain themes that are especially pertinent to southern literature?

Since the question arises so frequently, I've given it some thought. And I've decided that "southern" isn't just about setting or themes. You could say southern writers raise issues about family, or faith, or race, or nostalgia but all writers deal with these themes.

To me, what makes a book southern is the voice. Those of us who were born and raised south of the Mason Dixon line tend to have a rambling, conversational style to our writing. It's the result of coming out of an oral storytelling tradition. In the old south it might be grandpa in the rocker on the porch spinning ghost stories for the kids. In the new south it might be one woman sitting across from another in a cafe, drinking wine, when one of them says "You wouldn't believe what happened to me last night."

So for me, being a southern writer isn't so much about my topic or setting, but more about the way I tell the story. Getting inside a character's head, finding his or her voice, seeing the story unfold from a very particular point of view and then almost whispering it into the ear of the reader. "I wouldn't let just anyone know this...but you? Sure, pull up a chair and let me tell you what really happened."

[Brina]

Kim thank you for that ah ha moment. I always wonder why I a Jewish girl from Chicago feels an affinity toward southern lit and African American folktales. Bingo-- the oral story telling. There is so much of that in the Jewish tradition as well that I came natural to the southern story telling:)

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Kim wrote: "I read elsewhere in this group a challenge to define southern fiction. I get asked this A LOT when I'm speaking at conferences and festivals. What makes a book "southern"? Is it just a matter of se..."

Thanks for this very astute observation. I just finished rereading (well, listening to, this time) Rick Bragg's My Southern Journey and he said much the same, albeit in a 'rambling, conversational style'. The story-telling style is very much a part of it.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

You hit the nail on the head, Kim. I just finished Graceland, and part of what I liked was the rambling style, the way we got little pieces of the story from different viewpoints and different times, and, in the end, knowing most of the story, but not all. I really liked that you didn't wrap up every loose end, but left a few things for the readers to decide for themselves.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

And on that same note, is there any chance of a sequel to this one? There's certainly plenty of material. David Beth and Phillip Cory are both really interesting characters, and I think Marilee deserves her own story too.

[Brina]

Also curious to see what happens to Cory in Memphis-- relationship with Dirk, potential hit song. Also liked Bradley's character and would love to find out more about his and Laura's relationship.

[Kim]

Brina wrote: "Kim thank you for that ah ha moment. I always wonder why I a Jewish girl from Chicago feels an affinity toward southern lit and African American folktales. Bingo-- the oral story telling. There is ..."

I think that is exactly it - there is such a strong oral storytelling tradition in the Jewish culture as well and it becomes the voice on the page as much as the literal speaking voice.

[Kim]

Diane wrote: "And on that same note, is there any chance of a sequel to this one? There's certainly plenty of material. David Beth and Phillip Cory are both really interesting characters, and I think Marilee des..."

I must admit I had never thought about a sequel until several people in the group brought it up. But I can certainly see Cory finally getting her break and some of the other characters coming along into the book too. Marilee is one of my favorites as a writer. She could definitely carry her own book!

[Jane]

Marilee is a strong character and you feel you want to know more about her , more depth than the others

[Jane]

Or maybe mystery rather

[Kim]

There is the question of how the last 37 years have passed for her.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

And maybe we could get her rib rub recipe!

[Brina]

A sequel with flash backs, love it.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Dumb Yankee question: How do you pronounce Beaufort Does it rhyme with snow fort or you bird?

[Jane]

This is about plot and I am not sure it is a question but i noticed that Cory seemed to have a lot of luck bumping in to the right people to help her along the way but then this was explained later on and changed how I had interpreted the characters reactions to her

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Tom, there are 2 Beauforts, one on the NC coast, and the one in the story on the SC coast. They are pronounced differently.

Beaufort, SC - Bufert
Beaufort, NC - Bofort

Both accent the first syllable, long u sound, long o sound. No, I have no idea why, but it makes it easy to tell them apart.

[Beverly]

I am originally from North Carolina. There is a Beaufort, SC and a Beaufort, NC They are pronounced differently. Here is link for the pronunciations :
Pronunciation

[Beverly]

Diane, you beat me to it did not notice you had already sent this info. I was so absorbed into how to set up a link! As long as I lived in NC (42 years) I still have to think before pronouncing them.
I should be finishing this today.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

They are a lot alike in many ways: Picturesque, small towns that started out as fishing villages. Both wonderful places to visit.

[Jane]

Diane wrote: "They are a lot alike in many ways: Picturesque, small towns that started out as fishing villages. Both wonderful places to visit." Yes they re both beautiful places

[Kim]

Tom wrote: "Dumb Yankee question: How do you pronounce Beaufort Does it rime with snow fort or you bird?"

I see the ladies have already set you straight! It's a little confusing, even to those of us born in the Carolinas.

[Jane]

Kim wrote: "Jane wrote: "This is about plot and I am not sure it is a question but i noticed that Cory seemed to have a lot of luck bumping in to the right people to help her along the way but then this was ex...",

Kim , thank you I thought that her parents had set it up ,especially Honey before she died

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Beverly wrote: "Diane, you beat me to it did not notice you had already sent this info. I was so absorbed into how to set up a link! As long as I lived in NC (42 years) I still have to think before pronouncing them."

I like using mnemonic devices. North Carolina is north of South Carolina and therefore you should be better able to build a snow fort in Beaufort, NC.

[Kim]

Hi guys, since it is now officially September I'd like to pose a question to those of you who are reading Last Ride to Graceland.

Splitting a novel between two co-protagonists is always a bit risky, especially when they're mother and daughter. Did you have a greater loyalty for Cory or for Honey? Does your opinion of each woman change as you continue to read?

[Brina]

A greater loyalty to Corey because she wants to find about her parents and we opened the book with her. Also I loved the road trip.

[Kim]

I was at a book club last night and I've always assumed most readers would identify more with Cory. Honey, after all, opens the book by kind of using her longtime sweetheart, which can be a pretty harsh way to introduce a character. But the ladies in this book club were more #TeamHoney.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Kim wrote: "Hi Jane: Yes, this was a rather tricky part of the plot for me to work out as the writer. Cory Beth had to run into certain people along the way - I gave it sort of a Wizard of Oz set up with her meeting three people in three towns, all of whom played pivotal roles in her mother's life. (Phillip, Marilee, David)."

Although this may sooth my concerns about some possible anomalies in the story I think that was a little more than I needed to know at this point in the story.

[Kim]

Oh m, does that move into spoiler category? I'm sorry - I'll try to take it down.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Kim wrote: "Oh m, does that move into spoiler category? I'm sorry - I'll try to take it down."

Do you know how to add spoiler brackets?

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I identified more with Honey, because Cory was such a contrarian, as my grandmother would have called her. However, I had a hard time with 19 year old Honey, and more mature Honey; they seemed to be two separate people. Of course, motherhood definitely changes one.

[Kim]

Tom wrote: "Kim wrote: "Oh m, does that move into spoiler category? I'm sorry - I'll try to take it down."

Do you know how to add spoiler brackets?"

No, but it sounds like something I should learn. How do you mark a spoiler?

[Kim]

Diane wrote: "I identified more with Honey, because Cory was such a contrarian, as my grandmother would have called her. However, I had a hard time with 19 year old Honey, and more mature Honey; they seemed to b..."

It does change people but I also think that Honey knew if she returned to that world she would be returning to a very narrow kind of preacher's-daughter image of herself. In the first section where the jar of tupelo honey flies out of her jacket, hits the ground, and breaks I saw that as a sign that the old Honey was going to have to go away if she was going to successfully return to Beaufort and be Bradley's wife and Cory's mother.