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Ellroy sets his novels in 1950's LA, where he grew up. His series of novels, "LA Quartet," was a bestseller. His latest novel is called "Hollywood Nocturnes." When Ellroy was ten, his mother was murdered near their LA home. He wrote an article about returning to LA to go through the police files on his mother for this month's issue of GQ, where he is a contributing editor. He'll talk today about how his mother's murder led to his crime writing.

Kumin's latest collection of essays and stories on living on a New Hampshire farm is called "Women, Animals and Vegetables." She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1973, and is Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. She has published ten volumes of poetry, as well as collections of stories and essays.