In 1984, he started writing while working full-time. He got
up at 5 a.m. each day so he could spend a few hours writing
before going to the office. His first book, A Time to Kill (1989),
did not sell well, but success soon followed. The Firm (1991) was
a number one best-seller, and the movie rights were sold for
$600,000. Grisham gave up his law practice immediately and
concentrated on writing. He has written one novel a year since
then; many are best-sellers, and he was named the best-selling
novelist of the 1990s.