Answers with Laura Joh Rowland

Answer 1

You graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Microbiology and a Masters in Public Health. Why did you pursue a career as an author instead?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a scientist or an artist. Science was the practical choice that led to a career of secure, well-paying jobs. But I always had an itch to do something creative. Writing novels scratches the itch.

Answer 2

Many authors who write a successful novel struggle with repeating the same degree of success with the sequel. How did you manage to maintain such a high standard with 18 books?

The standard of my writing is the one aspect of my career that I have control over. It's my top priority, and I work very hard at it. If a book I'm writing feels too easy, then I look for places where I haven't developed the characters or their conflicts enough or I'm repeating things I've done in previous books. Each book has been harder to write than its predecessors, and I think it's because I'm setting the bar higher for myself. (I'd hate to think it's because I'm getting stupider!) As far as success goes, some books have done better financially than others. I don't always know why.

Answer 3

Can we expect a Sano Ichiro movie franchise in the future?

Three movie production companies are currently interested in the Sano series. I'm just hoping one of them comes through with a deal.

Answer 4

Now that the Sano Ichiro series has concluded, what's next for your career?

New directions! I love Victorian England, and I'm writing a historical thriller about a woman photographer-sleuth. Her first case: Jack the Ripper.

Answer 5

What can Sano Ichiro fans expect from the grand finale of the series, The Iris Fan?

Without leaking any spoilers, I can say that everybody gets his or her just desserts, and some people don't make it out of the book alive.

Answer 6

You've been writing the Sano Ichiro series fairly steadily for about twenty years; have some books been harder to write than others?

21 years. Shinju (#1) was published in 1994. Yes, some books have been harder to write than others. Bundori (#2) was probably the hardest. That's where I had to turn a one-off into a series by building a cast of continuing characters and creating plotlines that would continue through future books.

Answer 7

If you had to pick one book as your favorite, which one would it be and why?

The Concubine's Tattoo (#4). It's about love, sex, marriage, and murder, some of my favorite topics.

Answer 8

When you wrote the first book, Shinju, did you think you'd be writing 17 more?

No. While I was writing Shinju, I was a novice author, learning how to juggle characters, plot, setting, action, and dialogue, and I wasn't sure I could finish the book! Fortunately, I knew enough to keep Sano, my detective, alive at the end of the book, so that if I had an opportunity to turn it into a series, I could.

Answer 9

Throughout the series, you've managed to successfully integrate events that happened in the real world with a great degree of precision. Do you have to do a lot of historical research before writing?

I did a huge quantity of research before I wrote the first book. That's because I had to build the whole world of Edo-period Japan. For subsequent books, there's been less research and it was focused on particular aspects of Japanese history and culture, such as religion, Martial Arts, and natural disasters.

Answer 10

Interestingly enough, your books aren't published in Japan. Can you tell us why?

The Japanese publishers that my first book was submitted to said they don't like books about Japan written by Americans because Americans make too many mistakes. There's probably some truth to that. English-language editions of my books have been distributed in Japan.