Interview with Jeffery Deaver 
by Jon Jordan
Jeffery's Web Site

Jon:  In the books with Lincoln Rhyme the dynamic between him and Amelia really makes the books work great. When you first wrote about these two, did you plan on writing more than one book with them?

Jeffery:  No, I never did. Frankly I never thought that a book featuring Rhyme would be as popular as it was. The issue wasn't that he was a quadriplegic. I thought that there wouldn't be a continuing market for the technical forensics-oriented type of police work that he's involved in. But his popularity has soared around the world.

Jon:  I’ve heard that a television show may be in the works. Is this true?

Jeffery:  I was involved in the Murder in Small Town X show for Fox and have been talking to other networks about a purely fictional crime-based show.

Jon:  Your books all have a wonderful thrill ride quality to them. Is it hard to keep up that kind of pace book after book? Or even within a single book?

Jeffery:  Thanks for the comment. I try hard to keep up the roller-coaster element. And, yes, I have to say it's challenging. But it's part of the job and we authors just have to roll up our sleeves and give our readers what they want.

Jon:  With the amount of detail in your books I would imagine that you really do your homework. Do you like researching for the books?

Jeffery:  Oh, research is great fun. It's one of the best parts of writing fiction--to be able to learn something new with every book. Readers too (speaking from personal experience), enjoy learning facts that they haven't been exposed to in novels--provided, however, that they move the story along. You can't let the research pull your story down through digression.

Jon:  Have you thought about bring back Rune from Manhattan is My Beat, Hard News and Death Of A Blue Movie Star?

Jeffery:  I love Rune, as do many readers. For your readers not familiar with her, she's a waif-like, bundle of feisty energy living in Manhattan--a young amateur detective sort. But there's a lightness about her--and about the situations she gets involved in--that's very different from stories in my current books. I enjoy the bigger, faster paced stories I'm writing now, and my readers seem to as well.

Jon:  Any chance of Voodoo being reprinted?

Jeffery:  Hmmm. Let me think. No. Never. Not a terrible book, by any means, but an occult book, and that's a genre I'm not comfortable writing in.

Jon:  Hollywood seems to have a reputation for really mangling books when turning them into films. But your books have been portrayed very nicely. Is there a trick to it, or did you get lucky? And what’s it like seeing your characters come to life on the screen?

Jeffery:  I have been lucky, having had two books turned into films (Dead Silence (my book was A Maiden's Grave) and The Bone Collector), and I was pleased with the results in both cases. I have to say it was largely luck; I had no involvement in the actual production of the films. Making movies is a very arduous process--I have great respect for everyone involved in the industry--and one that I wouldn't have the patience for.

Jon:  You also write quite a few short stories. What do you like about writing them?

Jeffery:  I love short stories. Since I love twists and turns and surprises in my novels, of course, I do the same in my short stories. Nothing is quite what it seems to be. The best part of short stories, though, is that since we have no emotional investment in any of the characters (because of the brevity of the story) I can do terrible things to the good guys and make the bad guys successful in all their evil doings. Great fun.

Jon:  As your work gains in popularity, people seem to compare work to yours. I would also imagine that you get asked to read a lot more books so you can blurb them. Are there downsides to being a successful writer?

Jeffery:  My goal has always been to be a working, professional novelist, nothing more than that. Success to me is being able to make a living by telling stories. I don't think it gets any better than that. I just wish there were more hours in the day--to write as much as I'd like and still do the public appearances and blurbing and author touring around the world that I'd like to do to meet fans and my publishers and editors.

About downsides, there are some people--critics and readers--who feel a need to take potshots at the books. You'd be surprised at some of the criticisms I've read. On the one hand, we authors invite that by putting our words out for millions of people to peruse and we have to remain thick skinned. On the
other hand, come on, folks, it's only a suspense novel . . . .

Jon:  And what would be the up sides to being a best seller?

Jeffery:  You become a best seller by--hold on--selling more books, rather than fewer books. This means that you must be doing something that appeals to a large number of readers. As a result, your editors and publishers tend to listen to you and respect your opinion about editorial changes and publishing strategies.

Jon:  When my mother heard I was going to interview you she asked me to ask a question. Where do some of the darker ideas for the books come from, and do they linger after you finish writing them?

Jeffery:  I'm very calculating. The darker ideas are solely products of an imagination that's always looking for ideas to thrill a large audience with a commercial thriller. I myself have no emotional involvement in the sick-and-twisted ideas I come up with. (It takes a lot to scare me!) After the book is over (actually before the book is over) I'm already thinking about new ways to give my readers the next roller coaster ride.

Jon:  What kind of control do you have on the finished product? Do you decide on art and titles?

Jeffery:  At this stage, I have pretty good control over the finished product--but largely because I know what my readers want. If I were to write a romance novel and try to shove it down the throat of my publisher, I'd hope they'd come after me with big sticks and force me to go back to what I do best. I write my own titles, though I've certainly had initial ideas rejected. I consult on art but that's ultimately the publisher's call.

Jon:  What kind of Movies do you enjoy watching?

Jeffery:  Any kind of movie, as long as it's got some substance to it. Recent favorites: Saving Private Ryan, Chocolate, Amelie, Spy Game.

Jon:  Who are some of your favorite authors?

Jeffery:  John LeCarre, Thomas Harris, James Patterson, Ian Rankin, P.D. James, John Gilstrap, Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell), and literary writers like Saul Bellow, John Updike, John Cheever. Oh, yeah, that guy from England--Bill Shakespeare--he's okay too.

Jon:  One of your bios mentioned that you used to be a folksinger. Do you still play?

Jeffery:  No. Did that for a few years. Loved it. But it was time to move on.

Jon:  Between writing and the stuff with Hollywood, you must be awfully busy. What do you do to relax?

Jeffery:  Mostly I entertain. Wine and cooking for friends, traveling. Living alone and working alone, it's important to have human contact, so I have a very busy social life.

Jon:  Readers being the way they are, I would imagine you get asked for certain things from the books. things like “ Will Lincoln and Amelia get married?” . Do you let these type of things influence your writing ?

Jeffery:  Well, let me say this: I always listen to readers. Their interest and desires for the books are very important. On, the other hand, just because a passenger says he'd like the pilot of an airliner to fly at three hundred feet off the ground, so he can wave to his friends, the pilot knows better than to do so. I'm the pilot of my books and I think I know how best to handle the story for the reader's optimum enjoyment.

Jon:  Setting plays a big part in your work. How important is the right location?

Jeffery:  Important to some extent. But my books are first about plot. Setting enhances the story but it doesn't become a point of the book itself. Essentially the setting must be in harmony with the story.

Jon:  Walter Mosley has written some Sci Fi books. Have you ever thought about writing outside the mystery/thriller genre?

No, I'm happy writing what I'm writing.

Jon:  If you hadn’t made it as a writer, what do you think you would be doing instead?

Jeffery:  Hmmm, hard to answer that. I've always had in mind being a writer. I guess my answer is I'd still be trying.

Jon:  If you were able to talk to a young Jeffery Deaver, what advice would you pass along? And would he have listened?

Jeffery:  1. Stay focused on your goal of being a writer.

2. No way in hell.

Jon:  Do you work according to a schedule, or do you write in spurts as it comes to you?

Jeffery:  I don't have a schedule as such but I work 8 to 10 hours a day. In this business, if you want to be a working writer, you can't wait for inspiration. You have to out and trap it.

Jon:  What is the one thing that is always in your refrigerator?

Jeffery:  An empty jar of blackberry jam that I've been meaning to throw out for six years.