2 Page, Autographed Letter Signed, June 18, 1993 by Grafton, Sue

After receiving a thoughtful letter from a serious fan who questioned Sue Grafton, why the language of Kinsey Millhone who is earthy yet does not use normal profanity? She answers with appreciation for the feedback and in an aside jokes about the dictionary having all those letters (she was writing K at the time which she notes). She agrees though in her earlier works she had received outrage on what here she calls "the naughty language". She goes on to admit that when she cleaned up the language, it started to feel flat as she had gotten into "self-censorship". She found that "Kinsey was losing all her spunk and sassiness". The truth is she wrote "I don't find such language offensive in the least....I don't go out of my way to incorporate crude talk, but I do deal with crime and criminals and to me it doesn't seem out of place." She then says she will be sending some other items on occasion such as Christmas cards, etc. Finally, she notes she has to get back to work "I'm four chapters into "K" and my deadline is always looming." Nice bold signature of Sue Grafton. Included here is the original mailing envelope from her Santa Barbara home to the fan as well a copy of the fan's original letter. Of course, her remarkable alphabet series have Kinsey Millhone running along the paths in and around Santa Barbara which gives a vividness and color to her works.