Janet Evanovich

 

It doesn't take much searching to figure out that Janet Evanovich's character Stephanie Plum is a lot like the author herself: witty, sassy, fun and outspoken. It will come as no surprise to those who are already Plum fans that Evanovich began her writing career as the author (under the pen name Steffie Hall) of a dozen romance novels. Stephanie's knack for landing in the middle of trouble and Evanovich's ability to build heat as well as suspense have made this a winning combination which have won the author many national mystery writing awards -- as well as a devoted audience. Janet Evanovich now lives in New Hampshire but, like Stephanie Plum, grew up in New Jersey. The earlier novels in her series featuring Stephanie Plum have each won major crime fiction awards: One for the Money was presented with the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Award and the Dylis Award, Two for the Dough won the CWA Last Laugh Award and Three to Get Deadly was awarded the CWA Silver Dagger for 1997.

 

How did you come up with such an interesting character in Stephanie Plum? How did the series begin?

Janet Evanovich: There is a lot of me in Stephanie Plum, but it's not autobiographical by any means. Stephanie has a lot of my history and many of my embarrassing moments.and usually she reacts to situations the way I would react. There is also a lot my daughter Alex in Stephanie. If Mickey Spillane wrote Archie and Veronica, Stephanie would be Betty. I got the idea for a bounty hunter while watching Midnight Run with Grodin and DeNiro. I created the Stephanie character from my experience as a romance writer, relying heavily on the Original Heroine of the Regency--and I gave her some of my history.

Did you take any special training to begin writing or did it come "naturally"?

Janet Evanovich: It came slowly and painfully, I had no background in writing and I was unpublished for 10 years. I just discovered that I loved it and my family kept me going. Finally I became more analytic and I realized that I enjoyed writing for other people rather than for myself, and this shifted the focus for me. I also did a lot of improv on stage this helped me with my dialogue.

Do you treat writing like a job, always sitting down for a set time everyday?

Janet Evanovich: Absolutely! I am at the computer by 7-7:30 I take a couple of hours out in the middle of the day for exercise and I go back to work in the afternoon. I probably put in about a 50-hour week evenings I answer fan mail and talk to my daughter about the web site.

 

Now that you have begun to write cliffhanger endings to your Stephanie Plum books, will you make any provisions for leaving an answer to her cliffhanger in the event that something would happen that would prevent the issuing of the next book? What's the secret in writing surprises?

Janet Evanovich: Hmmm. Interesting point. Maybe I should write the last page first and put it in a vault (like Uncle Scrooge!!) just in case I get hit by a bus. Well, in order to get the surprises, the research I do is mostly with the Trenton Police dept. I am friends with several of the cops and at least a couple of times in the course of writing the book, I go back to Trenton. When I started the series also hung out with some bounty hunters and that was a UNIQUE experience!

 

 

 

What made you choose the mystery genre (after the romance genre)?

Janet Evanovich: I realized I liked writing action. (Love blowing up cars!!).

 

How do you determine what to name your characters?

Janet Evanovich: I agonize over the names. The names very often give me the cue to the essence of the character. The name has to feel right. Sometimes Cheez Doodles and chocolate helps to find the right name.

 

Any chance there will be some movie adaptations in the future?

Janet Evanovich: TriStar bought "One for the Money" and they are in pre-production currently writing script. That's it for now!

 

 

 

Will you have something to do with the script?

Janet Evanovich: No, they paid me a TON of money and I sold them all my rights.

Many mystery authors have more then one series, do you have any plans on another heroine besides Stephanie?

Janet Evanovich: I'd love to do some single titles or possible a series in addition to the Plums but right now I'm in a time crunch.

 

Do you enjoy the notoriety that your Plum Novels have given you or would you rather not be famous?

Janet Evanovich: It all depends on my weight. Notoriety is fun when you can squeeze into a size 9.

 

 

 

Who was the greatest influence in your decision to become a writer, (perhaps a favorite teacher)?

Janet Evanovich: Definitely not a teacher. Maybe Woody Allen when he was doing his early films like Sleeper and he was doing it all... writing, acting, directing. I think when I write I'm probably Woody Allen.

 

What advice can you give aspiring writers?

Janet Evanovich: WRITE! The important thing is NOT to give up, and to make writing your responsibility. I belong to two writers groups that I think are VERY helpful. They are Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America. And when you write a book, you should always know exactly where it will be placed in the bookstore; you need to know your audience.

 

Who are your favorite authors?

Janet Evanovich: Bob Crais, Michael Connelly, Norah Roberts, Amanda Quick and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I find them fun and they happen to be friends of mine.

 

 

**Reprinted with permission from JanetEvanovich.com