On April 17, 2008, Alexander McCall Smith visited Politics and Prose to discuss his latest book, The Miracle at Speedy Motors, the ninth installment of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. Actually, he didn't discuss the book, but instead talked about the writing process.
Having read all of his books, I had formed an impression of the author as a rumpled, gentle man with a warm spirit. Instead, I found a man who was sharply dressed in a brown, pin striped suit that seemed to be from the 1920s, but might have been current in his native Scotland. And rather than being gentle, he displayed a razor sharp wit. He laughed as he constantly ridiculed and poked fun at one person or another, completely at odds with his gentle books. He told stories about readers who contacted him to correct something he had written, or to suggest to him that his story was incorrect and should be changed in some way. He gave advice about cutting of a "know it all"; he said one should always quote Proust, not because he admired Proust, but because the other person would have nothing left to say to top that.
He talked about the writing process for him. He said that he writes for several hours in the early morning, and then puts his work aside for the remainder of the day. He said that he types his books, rather than dictating them, and he described the subconscious process of writing. He said that somehow when he tried to tell a story orally, he failed completely. His stories seemed to come to him only when he typed them. He said that when he wrote the books in this series, almost no editing was needed at all. He typed the finished product. He said that he never had a story in mind when he began writing, but just let it come to him as he worked.
He said that when he wrote his first book, he had not intended to write a story about a woman detective, but about Botswana. However, as he began to type, the story of Mma Precious Ramotswe began to take shape. He said that after the success of the first book, he developed a disease that he called "serial novelist", in which a writer becomes addicted to writing books about the same character or theme. He has also written two other series, and he said that his favorite book is The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs because it is so impossibly ridiculous. His choice of that book matched his personality, which was also filled with ridicule and laughter.
He said that a movie has been made of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, and that it will be released in September 2008. He said that he had seen the film, and he loved it. He was pleased to report that the characters and the story were true to the books. He also said that a BBC/HBO series of 13 one-hour episodes has already been made, and will be shown in the Fall.
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