 | | Author Donald Bain |
Joanna Campbell Slan: Your first Jessica Fletcher book came out two years before the series ended. What are the challenges of writing a book based on a TV program? Fans can get pretty snarky if an author messes with the perceived canon of an icon. Did that worry you? Did you ever have any problems with that? What advice might you share with someone who wanted to write about a pre-existing character?
DB: You're right, of course. Writing a media tie-in book poses certain problems, but none that can't be overcome. I owe it to fans of the "Murder, She Wrote" TV show to be faithful to the Jessica Fletcher character, as well as to other characters and to the tone of the series overall. Before I started writing the first novel 22 years ago I watched as many episodes of the show as possible, and didn't commence writing until I felt confident that I had all the nuances down pat. Even then I missed a few. For instance, I didn't pick up on the fact that Jessica doesn't drive a car, and had her behind the wheel in the first book, GIN & DAGGERS. And there have been other slips, although they've become fewer as I continued writing the series. (There are now 37 books and a new 3-book contract. Remarkably, every one of them is still in print).
My advice to writer who might end up basing a novel on a pre-existing character is to accept that there will be restrictions on what you can have that character do and say. Having been handed a wonderful character like Jessica Fletcher, who was created by others and given life by Angela Lansbury, is a gift for which I'm thankful. On the other hand, it is limiting to an extent because I can't deviate from that character's basic nature, philosophies, likes and dislikes. It's a trade-off that I'm perfectly happy with.
JCS: Under your direction, Jessica has gone to some pretty nifty places like Moscow and Manhattan. She's done some way cool things-and I know that you always do a site visit. Tell us a bit about how you do your research. Your wife Renée is involved. Tell us about how she helps you with your research, please. In SKATING ON THIN ICE, you shared the sort of insider info on skating, learning to skate, etc., that all authors dream of scoping out. Any tips on going beyond the superficial information?
DB: Renée and I are true collaborators on the series, and have been for the past dozen or so books. We research the books together, brainstorming where to set the next book, and arranging travel to those places, which includes appointments with local law enforcement officials, politicians, local characters whose lives might lend color to the story, and others who can provide an interesting slant. We travel with cameras, a tape recorder, and notebooks and try to nail down everything about the setting as much as possible. Our readers expect details to be accurate, and we strive to achieve that. Of course we also turn to the best travel books and the Internet as other sources of information.
To answer your final question about tips on going beyond superficial information, I suggest that when researching factual material for a novel, you seek the answers in the children's section of the library. Too much information bogs down a good story. What's contained in children's books on any subject gives the writer just about the right amount of background to weave into the story.
For more of this interview go to: http://JoannaSlan.blogspot.com.
**
Donald Bain is the author/ghost author of more than 100 books. His newest book in the Murder She Wrote (Jessica Fletcher) Series will be THE FINE ART OF MURDER, October 2011. Learn more about Donald at www.DonaldBain.com.
Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of the Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series. Her most recent release is MAKE, TAKE, MURDER. Joanna's newest series-The Jane Eyre Chronicles-will come out in July, 2012, and feature Jane Eyre as an amateur sleuth. Visit her at www.JoannaSlan.com.
Don Bain: Mentor, Colleague, Friend
By Tony Tedeschi
If your first meeting with Donald Bain has been preceded by your researching a bit of his biography, it would be understandable if you might feel somewhat intimidated by someone who has published so many books, at such a level of consistent quality, for so long. A seriously elevated ego would have to be the result. Wrong. To those of us who not only enjoy the pleasure of calling Don a friend, but also a respected professional colleague, he is appreciated as the person least affected by his success. And there is certainly not a lot of that going around these days.
When I first met Don Bain, he was already a successful author, having even cracked The New York Times Best Sellers List. I was an aspiring writer, with a day job in public relations for a major airline, which had hired Don to help prepare press materials for a major marketing rollout for its hotel subsidiary. (He had been at the airline previously and had a reputation for his marketing skills.) We worked together on the project and, in the process, began a lifelong friendship. At the same time, he mentored me as a writer, providing insights into how to improve my craft, how to make my work more attuned to media markets, how to approach agents, editors, etc.
As I developed as a writer, he and I collaborated on numerous projects over the years. Despite the fact that he had first mentored me, he never treated me as anything less than a colleague. That I eventually got to brainstorm plots and characters with a master, for the projects we worked on together, was particularly fulfilling. That he sometimes asked my advice on some plot twists for some of his novels I felt recognized how I had advanced as a writer. I will always look upon the work we did together with a great deal of pride and a sense of accomplishment.
An indefatigable worker at his craft, there seems no end to his sense of wonder as to how the next plot, the next cast of characters will evolve, and down what paths they will lead his devoted readers. For the past number of years, only Don, with the help of his talented wife, Renee, could continue to find more challenges for that master distaff sleuth Jessica Fletcher, after she had seemingly exhausted all possibilities around Cabot Cove during the long-running, ragingly successful TV series, "Murder, She Wrote," starring the equally indefatigable Angela Lansbury.
If Don's books are a body of work that defines the conflicts between the good guys and the bad guys, then it is virtually impossible to ignore the analogy that your organization honors not only a great writer, but also one of the real-life good guys. It is a pleasure to call Don Bain my friend. It is an honor to participate in anything that recognizes his work.
Tony Tedeschi is an author, journalist and founding editor of naturaltraveler.com. Now in semi-retirement, he writes a weekly music column for AOL's patch.com site in his hometown of Glen Cove, New York and hosts the weekly open mic there.
|
le bit of extra relaxation.
