Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

Boots!

Where would we be without boos?

Where would we be without good?

No, into the bird.

It's a rhetorical question, sir.

But where would we be without books?

From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Michael Silverblatt. This is Bookworm, and today my guest is the marvelous Emma Donahue.

Her newest book is called Akin, A-K-I-N, and you probably know her novel, The Room,

or the film that was based on it. I believe you wrote the script of that film, yes?

Yeah, yeah.

Hasn't got awards. Which my friends all find far more glamorous

than all my book world activities.

Well, you know, it's the world we're living in.

But I only realized that when doing my first film

after 20 years of books,

I had thought my friends were quite impressed by the books,

but no, it's the red carpet factor they want to hear about.

Does it make you think when you're writing a book about whether it can be a film?

No, I shove that thought far, far away.

Because if I want to be writing a film, why on earth am I approaching it indirectly via a book?

That would be perverse and slow.

...