Laurie King speaks out

The veteran author of the Kate Martinelli and Mary Russell series is the latest to set up shop in the lit ‘sphere, and she gets the ball rolling very nicely with an illuminating post that answers one of my concerns from earlier in the week: when it came to the Best First Novel nominees, where were the girls? King’s in an excellent position to answer because she chaired the committee:

[A] year ago when I was putting together the committee, [I] took care to

balance it: two men, two women (plus me); thrillers and cozies; Left

Coast and Other. And when the ballot came down to it, that’s what we

said, too: Where are the girls?

The women [Sarah]  singles out did indeed write appealing books,

just not quite as appealing–TO THE FIVE OF US, let it be said–as the

books that ended up on the list. And although I admit that affirmative

action might work in academia, we couldn’t really feel justified in

giving extra points to the women just because they were women. So we

gulped, and voted, and that’s the list we came up with.

She then addresses the broader question of “where are the girls” as a whole, and invites readers to respond. Looks like King’s got the blogging knack already.