Librarian Nancy Pearl, who has been a fan and follower of Mary Doria Russell since her debut title, interviews her as part of the Book Lust series airing on the Seattle channel.

They discuss her first novel, The Sparrow (RH/Ballantine; Brilliance Audio; OverDrive Sample), published nearly 25 years ago and still a favorite with book groups.

Russell originally planned The Sparrow as a short story, “It kind of got away from me,” she tells Nancy. Turned downed 31 times by 31 agents, Russell proved the doubters wrong and has gone on to write five more well received novels, including Doc (RH/Ballantine; OverDrive Sample) and A Thread of Grace.(RH/Ballantine; Books on Tape; OverDrive Sample).

Russell has an unusual creative process. She writes two books in the same general universe before she moves on to a different one. Her most recent is Epitaph (Harper/Ecco; OverDrive Sample; March, 2015), her second Western following Doc.

She is currently working on a book about unions and thinks the second book in that pair will be about Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa.

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