Interviews
On Wednesday, July 28th, barnesandnoble.com welcomed J. A. Jance to discuss OUTLAW MOUNTAIN.
Moderator: Welcome, J. A. Jance. We are looking forward to discussing your latest Joanna Brady mystery: OUTLAW MOUNTAIN. How are you doing today?
J. A. Jance: I'm doing all right, except every time I send an answer my computer tells me something is wrong with the page. I hope we don't crash and burn.
Liz from New York: For those of us who haven't read OUTLAW MOUNTAIN, could you give us an idea what it is about? What is Joanna Brady up to?
J. A. Jance: Joanna is duking it out on several different fronts. First, an elderly lady from Tombstone has been murdered, supposedly by a bunch of teenagers who have driven her vehicle into Mexico to sell it. Also, some land developers are up to no good, and so are the people who have set out to stop them, with Joanna and her department caught in the crossfire.
Rebecca Long from Springfield, OH: Hi, Judy. Keep writing great Joanna Brady mysteries. I think they keep getting better and better. I was thinking, what is it about Arizona, besides growing up there, that fascinated you enough to set your Joanna Brady mysteries there? Thanks for chatting tonight!
J. A. Jance: Living in Seattle, it's easy to think longingly about Arizona, especially in January, February, and March. This way, if I can't be there physically, I can send my mind for a sun break whenever I write a book that's set there.
Terry Wilson from San Jose: I love your books and your use of the local landmarks in Arizona. Have you been to the new Karchner Caverns outside of Tucson, and will you use them in one of your next books?
J. A. Jance: I haven't been in Karchner Caverns, but I've been in several other Arizona limestone caves. I make use of one in my next book, KISS OF THE BEES -- a psychological thriller which isn't a Joanna book and isn't a Beaumont, either. It's due out in January of 2000.
David from Australia: What are your main literary influences, and is there any chance you'll visit your Australian fans?
J. A. Jance: My husband is lobbying hard for a trip down under, but there's nothing definite on the calendar right now. My major literary influences come from the fact that I love storytelling, and that's what murder mysteries are. I cut my teeth on John D. McDonald and Mickey Spillane.
Janet from North Carolina: I don't have a question for you -- only praise for your books. When I finished the first Joanna Brady book a couple of months ago, I bought all the others in the series and read them one right after the other. I really enjoyed them. I am looking forward to the latest, and also hope to start on your J. P. Beaumont series! Thanks for hours of great reading!
J. A. Jance: You're more than welcome. If you're going to read the Beau books, you might try reading them in order. They're all in print and listed in chronological order in the front of OUTLAW MOUNTAIN.
MaryAnne from Baltimore: You know all about the West. Did you grow up there? Where do you live now?
J. A. Jance: I grew up in Arizona, went to college there (at the University of Arizona), taught in Tucson and out on the Tohono O'Othham west of there for several years, and then sold life insurance in Bisbee, Tucson, and Phoenix. Now I live in Seattle, so you can see I'm as biregional as my characters.
Marilyn from Xanadu in NC: Would you share parts of your physical writing process? Do you use the computer to compose, edit, and research; how much time do you spend writing each day; how do you avoid interruptions?
J. A. Jance: I work on a laptop computer in my living room. How much time I spend writing each day depends on how close the deadline is looming for the next book. And I don't avoid interruptions. I have a husband, five kids, three grandkids, and three dogs. Interruptions are a way of life.
Lissa Stephens from Seattle: How do you get your inspiration for your different characters, J. P. and Joanna?
J. A. Jance: They seem like real people to me. And since I only have one book in the creative process at any given time, there's no danger of getting them mixed up in my head. Besides, they're very different from one another.
Arlene from Knoxville: I just bought your book but haven't read it yet. I know that someone gets killed by a cholla cactus. What is that?
J. A. Jance: There are several different kinds of cholla. If you look at cholla from a distance, it seems to glow with a kind of golden fuzz, but up close and personal, that fuzz is actually inch- to inch-and-a-half-long spines that seem to reach out to grab any piece of bare skin or clothing. And the trunks are fragile and easily broken -- far more easily broken than the spines are to pull out.
Marilyn from Trinity, NC: As the author of two mystery series, one about a male character (J. P. Beaumont) and one about a female character (Joanna Brady), what differences, if any, do you encounter in the composition process? Is the Brady series easier to write since the protagonist is female? Do you enjoy doing one more than the other? I love both, by the way.
J. A. Jance: The composition process is no different at all. I start with a title, find out who's dead, and then spend the rest of the book finding out who killed that person and why. I don't prefer one character to the other -- I like them both.
Dawn from Geneva, NY: Hi! I simply adore your books and was wondering, where do you get the ideas for your plots from?
J. A. Jance: I think them up. I try not to write books that reflect something that's happened in real life, because I know that real crime affects real people. One Joanna book, DEAD TO RIGHTS, grew out of losing a friend in a drunken driving incident. It did my heart good to see to it that the drunk driver doesn't make it to the end of the second chapter.
Fred Hamilton from Tacoma, WA: Greetings, fellow Washingtonian. Will you be doing any book signings in Seattle for OUTLAW MOUNTAIN? Visiting Tacoma by any chance? Thank you.
J. A. Jance: Right now the only Tacoma area event that I know of is the Lakewood Library author event in September. Call the Pearce County Library for information. I don't have access to my calendar right now, but I think it's sometime in September.
Jason Roth from Billings, MT: Ms. Jance, what went into your decision to use your initials as opposed to your first name? Thank you and have a good night.
J. A. Jance: That decision was made by the marketing department at Avon Books in 1984, when they decided that men wouldn't read a police procedural written by someone named Judith Ann. It's turned out to be a great deal, though. There are so few letters in J. A. Jance that my name can be in really big print on the outside of the books. And it doesn't take long to sign autographs, either.
Rob from Seattle: I love your books. In writing your books, do you ever use real people in your stories? In one of your books you described a hostess in a Bellevue restaurant that fits this woman to a tee. Also, in writing your books, how much research goes into learning new technologies that police departments use?
J. A. Jance: Betty Em happens to be a good friend of mine. So, yes, you've discovered my secret. Sometimes real people do make it into my books. In many instances, they've made donations to various charities for the privileged.
Pat from Washington State: I have read every one of your books, and I have enjoyed them all. Do you have the whole plot of the book laid out before you start writing it?
J. A. Jance: No. See answer above. I start with a title, find out who's dead, and then spend the rest of the book figuring out who did it. I hated outlining when I met it in Mrs. Watkins's 6th grade geography class in Bisbee, Arizona, and nothing that's happened to me since has changed my mind.
Jan Peachey from Vancouver, WA: I grew up in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Will you be doing more settings in that part of Cochise County?
J. A. Jance: Beats me. I have to write the next Beaumont book before I can look at Joanna again. If you've read OUTLAW MOUNTAIN, however, you'll know that Sierra Vista is prominently featured.
Moderator: We'd love to get some recommendations from you -- have you read any good books lately?
J. A. Jance: Yes, I just finished reading Lindsey Davis's ONE VIRGIN TOO MANY. Her detective is a private informer who works for Caesar in ancient Rome. Lots of fun.
Susan from Tulsa, OK: So, what do you think about Jennifer Ann? Do you foresee her following in her mother's footsteps? Could Jennifer Ann (whose initials match your own, I might add) be the subject of your next series?
J. A. Jance: I didn't even notice that Jenny's initials match mine. Thanks for telling me. Maybe she will end up following Joanna. Then, maybe she'll decided to be a writer -- like Butch.
Sue Schott from Little Falls, NJ: How much of yourself do you put into Joanna Brady? Are you as tough as she is?
J. A. Jance: I had to be tough. My second husband, the nice man, says just say "Yes" and let it go at that. My first husband, the rat, died of chronic alcoholism at age 42, a year and a half after I divorced him. I was left a single parent with two little kids. It was hard going.
Val Francona from Norristown, PA: Did you always want to be a writer, Ms. Jance? If so, can you put into words your feelings when you first saw a copy of your finished novel? I work for a small weekly here in the Philadelphia area, and when I published my first article and saw it on the newsstand, I was flabbergasted. I can only imagine what you must have felt seeing your novel on a bookshelf.
J. A. Jance: I wanted to be a writer from the time I was in 2nd grade. And no, there's nothing quite like seeing your first book with a cover and pages and everything. I was taking my Girl Scout troop on a Cookie Reward trip to Victoria, British Columbia, and the book was in the mailroom as we left for the ferry. I read the book on the boat. It was glorious.
Alma from Oxford, Mississippi: Does your husband help you with your books?
J. A. Jance: My husband does help with the books, tracking down research materials and printing the manuscript when I finish. I'm a liberal arts major, after all, and the inner workings of computers and the creation of master documents continue to elude me. He also pays the bills and does most of the cooking. I'll say he helps.
Moderator: What was the worst job you ever had, and why was it so bad? Is there anything else you could see yourself doing if you weren't a writer?
J. A. Jance: I spent one dismal summer working at a drive-in movie theater in Bisbee, and was fired when I insisted on waiting on the kids who were standing with their noses pressed to the counter as opposed to the grownups standing behind them. And no, I can't see myself doing anything other than being a writer. This feels like what I was meant to do all my life.
Parker from Chatham, MA: Is there any chance that any of your books will be made into a movie? Whom would you cast as Joanna Brady?
J. A. Jance: I'm from the John Le Carré school of moviemaking. He says watching your novel get made into a movie is a lot like watching your prizewinning team of oxen get turned into bouillon cubes. Don't hold your breath about a movie, and I don't have any idea whom I'd cast.
llama1300 from aol.com: Have you ever suffered from writer's block, like Butch? Do you have a secret formula for beating it?
J. A. Jance: My worst case of writer's block came when I was writing my psychological thriller, HOUR OF THE HUNTER. It was so bad that I read my University of Arizona alumni magazine from cover to cover. There was an article about the creative writing program there which refused to let me in 1964 because, as the professor told me, I was a girl. I called to see if, after all these years and since I had so many books under my belt, they'd like me to come be writer-in-residence. Only to be told this time, "We don't do anything with genre fiction." It was a miracle. I was cured of writer's block on the spot, and Andrew Carlisle, a former professor of creative writing from the University of Arizona, showed up as a character in HOUR OF THE HUNTER -- as the crazed killer.
Robert from Arlington, VA: What do you read when you're not writing? Who are your favorite writers?
J. A. Jance: I read mysteries because I have always loved mysteries. Lindsey Davis, Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly are some of my current favorites.
Margaret Werner from Washington, D.C.: Ms. Jance, are you a fan of mystery conventions? I'm a huge mystery fan and I live near D.C., which hosts yearly, I believe, one of the nation's biggest conventions, but I'm not sure what they have to offer a fan. Any thoughts?
J. A. Jance: Mystery conventions offer fans the ability to meet and mingle with their favorite authors and also the ability to have books signed. There are panels that allow them to hear their favorites talk as well. Conventions are fun.
Kennetha and Liz from Seattle: We love all your books. You're one of our favorite authors. Are there more Beaumont books in the works?
J. A. Jance: I just started writing Beaumont 15. The poor baby doesn't have a name yet. The publisher and I are negotiating.
David from Oakland, CA: My wife and I both love your books. I am reading the J. P. Beaumont books right now and wonder if you will ever have the Space Needle as a prominent backdrop in one of your books.
J. A. Jance: It could happen. One of the characters in the new book lives in that neighborhood. So far the only place the Space Needle has shown up is, I believe, in INJUSTICE FOR ALL.
Jan from Vancouver, WA: I have read all the Joanna books and I am impressed by the way the characters evolve in each book. Do you keep notes to remind yourself what has happened to the main characters over time?
J. A. Jance: I remember what goes on from book to book. What I do keep notes of is hair color, weapons, cars, et cetera. The little details that need to be consistent.
Moderator: Thank you for answering our various and sundry questions, J. A. Jance. You have many Brady and Beaumont fans out there! Do you have any final comments for the audience this evening?
J. A. Jance: It's been fun. I'm sorry there were the technical questions at the beginning. Those did slow me down. I enjoyed having a chance to interact with my fans (sort of like being at a mystery convention) and to see that I have readers from all over the country.
