New Eve Duncan Novel
Written by Mary Welch Friday, November 19 2010
Snapshot: Iris Johansen
Iris Johansen is The New York Times bestselling author of Eight Days to Live, Shadow Zone, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Silent Thunder (with Roy Johansen), Pandora’s Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On the Run, Countdown, Firestorm, Fatal Tide, Dead Aim, and No One to Trust.
Her just-published novel Chasing the Night is the 11th in her Eve Duncan series.
Johansen began writing after her children were grown. She started with romance novels then switched genres in 1996, turning to crime fiction.
She lives near Atlanta, and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.
Womenetics: How do you get your ideas?
Iris Johansen: From everywhere. For instance, I got the idea for Eve Duncan's forensic series from a TV documentary on forensic sculpting.
Womenetics: What is a forensic sculptor?
Johansen: A scientist-artist who reconstructs the face from a skull and produces a likeness.
Womenetics: Did you always want to be a writer?
Johansen: From the time I was a child and discovered the magic of reading.
Womenetics: What advice do you give new writers?
Johansen: Write what you love, not what is popular. It is the only way you will write anything that will make you happy and will ring true. Finish what you write. You can always edit, but you can't edit what isn't there. Read. It will teach you more than any critic group or writing course.
Womenetics: How did you get your first book published?
Johansen: I sent my first book to a publisher without an agent. I was lucky. These days it is much harder to get your manuscript even looked at by either an agent or publisher.
Womenetics: What is the worst part of being a writer?
Johansen: The moments when you're not certain if the words reflect the idea. Sometimes the lines are blurred.
Womenetics: Do you worry that not enough people read any more?
Johansen: Yes, if an author is established it is not as troubling as for new writers. But I think of all the fresh talent who might be fantastic if they could get their foot in the door in a dwindling market. And I think of all the people who have to rely on videos instead of their imaginations to color a story as I did as a child.
Womenetics: Have you ever had your books turned into a movie or television show?
Johansen: Not yet. I have had many optioned but no green light.
Womenetics: Do you write thinking about a potential screenplay and movie?
Johansen: No, I'm very visual, but I write what the story dictates.
Womenetics: Tell us about your writing routine?
Johansen: After breakfast I'm at the computer by 8. I continue working until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Later I may do editing of the day's work.
Womenetics: Tell us about your new book.
Johansen: Chasing the Night is what I consider to be an "old school" Eve thriller, without an emphasis on the paranormal elements that have characterized her most recent adventures. I thought it would be fun to craft a mystery that would delve into Eve's abilities as a forensic sculptor, even as we discover new facets of her personal and emotional life.
In Chasing the Night, Eve comes to the aid of CIA agent Catherine Ling, whose 2-year-old son was abducted nine years earlier. Despite all odds, Catherine believes that her son is alive out there somewhere, and she wants Eve's help to find him. Eve knows that the case is likely to stir memories of her own abducted and murdered daughter, but she forges ahead, employing the techniques of age progression to create a likeness of Catherine's son as he would appear in the present day. Before long, Eve and Catherine must band together to confront a terrifying enemy -- and a secret more horrific than either of them could have ever imagined.
I had a terrific time writing this story, and I hope you'll have every bit as much fun reading it. I think it's surprising, suspenseful, and packed with intriguing details about Eve's fascinating profession.
Mary Welch is a freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dawson Times, Plan Your Meeting magazine, and Atlanta Business magazine. Previously, she held many positions with Leader Publishing, including editor-in-chief of Atlanta Woman, editor of Business to Business magazine, and editor of Catalyst magazine. As editor of Business to Business, she assigned, edited, and conceptualized a series that was awarded Silver in the 2005 GAMMA Awards for Best Series. Welch was a reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle for eight years and freelanced for publications including Glamour, Advertising Age, South, Georgia Trend, and Oz. From 2000 to 2003, she served as vice president of media relations for Bank of America, during which time she authored Forever Green: A History and Hope of the American Forest with Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell.
