Janet Evanovich Biography
"You can take the girl out of Jersey, but you can't take Jersey out of the girl." So states popular mystery novelist Janet Evanovich in the biographical sketch found at evanovich.com. Thank goodness for Jersey Girls! Because it's precisely that Jersey girl quality transferred to her protagonist and, alter-ego, Stephanie Plum that gives her mystery novels their unique flavor.
After graduating from South River High School, and spending four years at Douglas College, "honing my ability to wear torn Levis," Janet decided to apply her "slightly looney imagination" to writing stories. As is often the case (remember, A is for Alibi was Sue Grafton's eighth novel), she wasn't immediately successful. Finally, discouraged by accumulated rejections, she entered the workforce as a secretarial temp. Four months later she received a call from an editor who informed her that he had accepted her last submission, a romance, for which she was paid a whopping $2,000.
Inspired by her success, she turned to romance writing full-time but after 12 novels in that genre she found she had nothing more to say. "...I ran out of sexual positions." She decided to move on. During the next two years she "retooled," watching a lot of TV and reading, especially Robert B. Parker. "He's such an incredible technician. He makes reading easy." Eventually, she came up with a unique formula for her Stephanie Plum mysteries, one that incorporated her romance writing skills into the mystery genre.
How much of Janet Evanovich goes into Stephanie Plum? "I wouldn't go so far as to say Stephanie is an autobiographical character," Evanovich writes, "but I will admit to knowing where she lives."
Janet Evanovich has received the Crime Writers Association's John Creasy Memorial, Last Laugh, and Silver Dagger awards, the Left Coast Crime's Lefty award, and the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association's Dilys award. Her popular Stephanie Plum character brought her a huge following. Her novels have been #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Publishers Weekly, and Entertainment Weekly book lists. She now lives outside of Hanover, New Hampshire where she adores the New England lifestyle, but, in true Jersey-girl fashion, bemoans the lack of a nearby Macy's.
Janet Evanovich is the creator of the Stephanie Plum mysteries and the Full series. Among the titles in her Plum Series are One for the Money, Two for Dough, Three to Get Deadly, Four to Score, High Five, Hot Six, Seven Up, Hard Eight, To the Nines, Ten Big Ones, Eleven on Top, Twelve Sharp, Plum Lovin', Lean Mean Thirteen, Plum Lucky, Fearless Fourteen, Finger Lickin' Fifteen, and Plum Spooky; and, in her Full series, Full Bloom, Full Blast, Full Speed, Full Tilt and Full House. She has also created the Metro Girl series and her Pre-Plum Loveswept Romances.
© Copyright 2003- by Ace Toscano. All rights reserved.
