On Firm Ground

JOHN GRISHAM FOLLOWS UP ON HIS FIRST BLOCKBUSTER

By CJ Lotz

For years around our house,” John Grisham says, “we would measure time by BF and AF—before The Firm and after The Firm.” In BF times, Grisham, then a young Mississippi lawyer, would kiss his wife, Renee, goodbye, unlock his office at 5:00 a.m., and write before work. His first novel, A Time to Kill, landed softly, but his second, 1991’s The Firm, became an instant bestseller and a major film starring Tom Cruise. After The Firm times: “I start every year on January 1 writing the next legal thriller, with a self-imposed six-month deadline,” he says. “Around April 1, my publisher asks for the estimated word count because they have to order paper.” It has taken plenty of pulp to print the more than three hundred million volumes Grisham has…

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Garden & Gun (Digital) - 1 Issue, October/November 2023

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