MONDAY MUSINGS—LAUGHTER AND HARD TIMES

Laughter isn't just the best medicine -- it's life's saving grace.

Interview With Janet Evanovich

I asked a question, not long ago, on authors you would like to see on Over Coffee. One request was Janet Evanovich, author of the Stephanie Plum series. I’m happy to say, despite her very busy schedule, she made time to chat a bit and answer some questions for me.

Janet has written sixteen numbered and four between the numbers books in the Stephanie Plum series, which have consistently, topped the New York Times Bestsellers list. Although we didn’t discuss this, it is well known her contract with St. Martin’s press is up for renewal. Many have heard the news that Janet’s son Peter is negotiating the sale of her next four books, for $50 million—quite a chunk of change. It will be interesting to see if Janet stays with St. Martin’s where she reigns as one of their top authors, or finds another publishing home.


I know many of you love her Stephanie plum books and have favorite characters in those books. I’m sure many are also excited to see the casting of One For The Money, Janet’s first Stephanie Plum book. My understanding is that Katherine Heigl has accepted the role as Stephanie and Sherri Shepherd has been cast as Lula (I LOVE Sherri!). Shooting begins next week in Pittsburgh, PA, according to Variety .

Janet says she “sold the movie rights to One For the Money in 1993, and has no involvement or influence in the making of the movie...casting, directing, the script, editing, etc.”

I have to say I read my first Janet Evanovich when she wrote under the name of Steffie Hall, Hero At Large and Wife For Hire. I enjoyed her Bantam Loveswept Novels. Janet made me laugh with her humorous take on love and I loved her heroes—like Ivan, for instance.

• You did such a great job with romance why did you change genres?

I wrote series romance for five years, mostly for Bantam Loveswept. It was a rewarding experience, but after twelve romance novels I ran out of sexual positions and decided to move into the mystery/suspense genre.

• Then you created Stephanie Plum?

I spent two years retooling—drinking beer with law enforcement types, learning to shoot, practicing cussing. At the end of those years I created Stephanie Plum. I wouldn't go so far as to say Stephanie is an autobiographical character, but I will admit to knowing where she lives.

Janet, like many successful, productive authors, puts in eight hours a day writing, researching, dealing with her career, and is a dedicated writer. Plus she takes time to answer pesky questions from people like me.

• But when asked what her workday is really like, she answers with her trademark sense of humor:

I drag myself out of bed around six, shove myself into the clothes lying on the floor and plod down the road after the dog. I eat a boring breakfast of skim milk, orange juice and healthy cereal because when I wake up I always think I'm Christie Brinkley and it seems like something Christie would do.

Then I shuffle into the office I share with a really rude parrot. The dog follows after me and flops onto his bed to take a nap. (Next time around I want to be my dog.) I stare at the computer screen for about four hours, sometimes actually typing some sentences. I chew gum and drink green tea to keep myself from falling out of my chair in a catatonic stupor.

At noon I'm suddenly filled with energy and rush to the refrigerator, hoping a pineapple upside-down cake with lots of whipped cream has mysteriously appeared. Finding none, I make a tuna or peanut butter and olive sandwich. I go back to my office… I stare at the computer screen some more. When nothing appears on the screen I drive down to the local store and buy a bag of Cheez Doodles.

I eat the Cheez Doodles and manage to actually write several pages. When I'm done with the Doodles and pages I wander out of my office looking for someone to whine at because I just made myself fat. (I'm only Christie Brinkley in the morning. In the afternoon I'm Roseanne.) I alternate typing and whining for the rest of the afternoon until about five when I emerge from my office, once again hoping for the pineapple cake.

In case you didn't know, Cheez Doodles are her not so secret vice. :-) 

• I know you're publishing three books this year. That's a lot of work, both in terms of writing and promotion. Do you work on them sequentially or simultaneously?

I only ever write one book at a time.

• What's easiest (or hardest) for you-dialogue, plot, character, or something else?

Plot and transition are probably the hardest. I know the characters so well that dialogue is a bit easier.

• You have a long running series, how do you keep it fresh this far into a series?

Hard work, birthday cake, and wine.

• In a series, there's not much of a character arc for the main character, otherwise the series would be over. Yet there seems to be some subtle changes in Stephanie. Do you have a long term "series arc" in mind for her? Are there major changes in store for Stephanie in the next book?

I suppose there are always subtle changes from time to time, but until the final book I really don't envision much in the way of changes for Stephanie. She'll always get into hot water and not be terribly good at her job.

• Is Joe and Stephanie ever going to have a fight bad enough that she has a real fling with Ranger?

Ah, million dollar question. I'll never tell.

• Is there a real Joe Morelli and Ranger?
• I wish!

• How did you come up with the idea for the Hobbits in Sizzling Sixteen?

Hobbits and Mooner seemed as natural together as breathing.

• What's coming out next for you? Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

Troublemaker, a graphic novel based on the characters from Metro Girl and Motor Mouth, that I wrote with my daughter, Alex, is coming out on July 20.

After that the first book in the new Diesel series, Wicked Appetite, comes out on September 14, 2010.

Then part two of Troublemaker will be in stores in November.



A very busy year for you. I’m looking forward to Wicked Appetite. Again, thank you for taking the time out your busy schedule to visit with us a bit.

• Readers: What’s your favorite character in Janet’s Stephanie Plum series and why? Which is your favorite of Janet’s books?

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Sizzling Sixteen

Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a “lucky” bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn’t specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck....

BAD LUCK:


Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.



GOOD LUCK:


Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.



BAD LUCK:


Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie’s messing up local stoner Walter “Moon Man” Dunphy's vibe and making Stephanie question genetics.



GOOD LUCK:


Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, a plan that makes Mooner’s Hobbit-Con look sane, and Uncle Pip’s mysterious bottle, they just might raise enough money to save Vinnie and the business from ruin.



BAD LUCK:


Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a Turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.



GOOD LUCK:


The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky---the only question is . . . with whom?

Excerpt

Purchase:  Available in Hardcover Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble   

JANET EVANOVICH is the #1 bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum novels, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author. She lives in New Hampshire and Florida along with her St. Bernard granddog Barnaby.

Writing Laughter for Hard Times

Laughter isn't just the best medicine -- it's life's saving grace.

Laughter is the ultimate stress buster during hard times. When times are rough, people need something to de-stress their life and lighten the load—even if it’s only for a short time. I think this is why during the 1930’s, during the Great Depression and as Europe was gearing up for WWII, some of the greatest comedy teams were born: Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, and Laurel and Hardy. Abbot and Costello were popular on radio. Remember, during this time period, radio shows were the main form of entertainment. The movies of the time featured a variety of comedies, from silly slapstick to romantic comedies.

The styles were different but they achieved their purpose. Making people laugh and forget for a time their troubles. The subject/premise of comedies were either light and fluffy or dealt with darker issues with an overlay of comedy. Parroting life, you could say. What made them work? A reasonable, though many times an improbable, premise. Good dialog, fast paced, proper build up of tension, and comedic timing.

For example, Laurel and Hardy’s Sons of the Desert (actually most of their movies) was a balance of laugh-out-loud dialogue, plus fast-paced slapstick. Every frame of the script and dialog built up to and led into the next, and comedic timing. This was the pattern taken up by Jackie Gleason and Art Carney and later Sienfeld used the same sort of humor. Monk and Psych, seen on TV today, borrow from this general style. It works.

Romantic comedies like Bringing up Baby, with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn were popular. The premise was improbable but it worked. Main characters were well drawn, a straight-laced paleontologist trying to raise money for a museum and an impulsive and beautiful heiress, and their adventures. This was pure madcap comedy. I think an improbable premise works well for comedy. What made the comedy work are good dialog, fast pacing, and impeccable comedic timing.

The Thin Man is a classic and based on a novel by Dashiell Hammet. This was really a dark tale of solving multiple murders. Yet the movie makes you laugh. The dialog is sharp and clever, a combination of dry wit and unexpected silliness. It’s fast paced and never allows your attention to wander. The main characters are well developed; glamorous, stylish, intelligent, and they have tremendous fun as they work together to tracked down the murderer. From this style of light and dark, humor and danger, sprang many movies, TV shows, and books…Magnum, P.I., Remington Steel, and Burn Notice. Even Robert B Parker’s Spencer books are a blue-collar take on the Thin Man.

In the past eight years we’ve seen a lot of tragedy and hard times and they haven’t ended. Like in the 1930’s and 1940’s, people are facing attacks on the American people, subsequent wars, and economic hard times. People are looking for laughter and diversion. For example, just recently, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, starring Kevin James was #1 at the box office. So, its no surprise that updated versions of old styled comedies are again popular. Movies like The Mummy trilogy and the Rush Hour trilogy also balance fast paced dialog, laugh out loud humor, and the physical fight scenes—today’s form of slapstick. The Meet the Parents movie has well placed comic moments, but within the gags and the shock humor is a nice little romance story.

Romantic comedies like What Women Want and Two Weeks Notice are throwbacks to the screwball comedies of the 1930's and 1940's with witty repartee between characters, a rather improbable premise, well-paced comedic timing, and some gags/physical humor.

Many of these comedies were scripts; a few were based on novels. Setting up a premise, crafting your scenes, and writing dialog for a thriller or suspense are different than writing dialog for comedy. The same holds true if you write Romance—romantic suspense as opposed to romantic comedy. A different mind-set is required.

There is a market for laughter and well-developed comedy in today's hard times. Romantic comedies are popular and authors like Janet Evanovich and Toni Blake have successfully filled that need.

To be successful in writing comedy one must first have a solid premise. As we've seen, it doesn't have to be particularly realistic, in fact being slightly improbable works well. Well developed characters and from the examples we've looked at here, having a straight man and the comic, are necessary elements in writing a good comedy. Tightly written scenes that build one on the other pull your reader forward. Sharp, fast paced dialog. Use of gags or physical slapstick and this can be fight scenes or situations. One of the most important aspects of writing good comedy is having impeccable comedic timing.

What do you think is the secret to writing comedy? How do you set up your scenes? Do you feel a story can have a blend of both serious aspects and comedy, and be successful? What authors have you read that seem to do comedy well? And why?