Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. You know, literary snobs feel some sort of way about prolific authors such as John Grisholm, you know, guys who just pump him out at a steady clip. But say what you will, the man writes and writes and writes. His latest, The Widow, is another look at the legal system. Up ahead, he tells

NPR Sasha Pfeiffer about his writing process, which involves a regular routine of locking

himself away from the internet, if for a short period of time. John Grisham is one of the country's

most successful and prolific authors.

Since his first novel came out in 1989, he's averaged about a book a year, more than 50 so far.

And now he's out with another one. It's about his favorite topic, lawyers.

Specifically, lawyers acting badly. It's called The Widow, and its main character is a small town lawyer worn out by the low-level cases he's been doing for almost two decades, like foreclosures and slip and falls.

But then an elderly woman comes to his office and needs his help.

I spoke with John Grisham recently, and he picked up the plot.

It's a very routine legal matter. He's going to get paid $250 for a simple will. He likes

these cases because they're simple, easy, and kind of pays some of the overhead. He's not accustomed

to having clients with a lot of money. He's never done a will for a wealthy client.

And suddenly he realizes this client is really, really wealthy.

And she has no family.

She has no children.

She has no friends.

She's kind of lonely.

And no one knows she has this money.

That's the original story.

That's what he thinks.

And so it starts creating some ideas in his mind about what he might,

how he might sort of ingratiate himself to her and get more involved in her affairs

...