Ask J.A. Jance - Monday, March 18th! discussion

Welcome to the group! J.A. Jance will be answering questions on Monday, March 18th in this thread only. In the meantime if you have a question for J.A. Jance or just want to introduce yourself feel free to do so in this thread.

Which series is your next book? Love them all

My question has to with another book she has coming out later this year; the latest in the JP Beaumont series. Recently, I heard Judy speak about an experience she had that lent itself in part to the book. It was about a fellow she went to High School with named Doug Davis. The talk she gave was potent, to say the least. I have related the jist of it to a number of my friends, but since I don't follow her blog I was wondering if the story, in it's entirety, might be there or somewhere else? Thanks!

Do you plan on anymore "Crossover" books with J. P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady? I really enjoyed the book that featured both of them!

I have to admit I'm expecting Ali and JoAnna to get together sometime soon. It's not all that far from Bisbee to Sedona.

Ms. Jance: how do you feel about the electronic books? Especially when they are filled with editing errors? I have notice a lot of ebooks with errors that distract the reader from the story.

Ali Reynolds is my favorite of your characters. I too would love to see a cross-over with her and JoAnna. My question for you is this... how do you decide which series you're going to write for next? I'd think it would be too easy to simply rotate through them, so how do you choose?

Not related to your current book, however I have to say how much I enjoy all of them. Is there ever a chance that the JP Beaumont books will be turned into a movie? Whenever I read them I picture Harrison Ford!

Vickie wrote: "Do you plan on anymore "Crossover" books with J. P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady? I really enjoyed the book that featured both of them!"
I also wonder if there will be another crossover. I've read "Partner In Crime" three times. I usually don't read a book twice! Thanks!

Love that you are bringing Ali back and was so GLAD to see Joanna again...how about J.P.? Any plans for him to revisit us?

I have read several of the JP Beaumont books and love them.
The question I have is: You are one of the few authors I've read who has characters riding Goldwing motorcycles.
I am a member of GWRRA and have logged thousands of miles on Goldwings and we were the Florida District Couple of the Year in 2010.

I have a question...what is your connection to Goldwing motorcycles?

I live in Tucson, Arizona so I totally love the Joanna Brady series. Are you going to write another book about her? I so enjoy your description of places that I know about.
Thank You.

Cathy wrote: "I have to admit I'm expecting Ali and JoAnna to get together sometime soon. It's not all that far from Bisbee to Sedona."

Cathy, Sedona is quite away from Bisbee, maybe not as the crow flies, but with the Highways and Roads we have in Arizona, it would take quite a few hours to go from Sedona to Bisbee or visa versa.

Edna wrote: "Cathy wrote: "I have to admit I'm expecting Ali and JoAnna to get together sometime soon. It's not all that far from Bisbee to Sedona."

Cathy, Sedona is quite away from Bisbee, maybe not as the c..."

I am sorry but I used to live in Cochise County (where Bisbee is) and Sedona is about 4.5 to 5 hours away. I used to live in Sierra Vista, which is closer to Bisbee. LOL. My father was stationed at Fort Huachuca and I grew up in Cochise County and know the area very well. Now I have a question for Ms. Jance....if there could be a possibility of a cross over of all THREE (Beaumont, Brady, AND Reynolds) characters. That would be interesting and worth reading too :)

Reading your books has made me put Bisbee on my bucket list of places to visit. I am a history major and love when you put historical aspects in your stories. I can read your books over and over again. Several have already asked about a cross-over series with all three so my question is
"what authors inspired you to become a writer?"
Thank you in advance for your reply. Can't wait for new books in any of your series.

I have a whole shelf of your books and have met you many times here in the N.W. Any chance that you will use the golden's (Dogs)in a upcoming book.
Still love "Hour of the Hunter" best. Anymore coming in stand alones?

Hi, Jance ,where do you write all your books?And I have another question to ask why do you choose to write crime novels.

Those of you asking for an Ali crossover must have missed the part in one of the last two books where Ali (or someone else) was reading a book from one of the other series. I think this was Ms. Jance's way of saying there won't be any crossovers, that it is another universe. Maybe we could get confirmation on this? Please, Ms. Jance? :)

I am a big fan of yours. My most favorite of the books is Partner in Crime. I enjoyed the two series combined. What is your favorite? Can't wait to read your latest book.

Love your books -- all four series! I'm wondering who are your favorite authors and what's on your "soon to read" shelf? Thanks so much for your captivating storylines and marvelous characters -- and the recipes!

Love your books. Do you have any plans to start a new series? Also, do you have any favorite TV shows? And, what movies have you seen lately?

What is your view on the current gun debate?

Thanks!

Enjoyed hearing you in Tucson last weekend. How or have your writing habits changed over the years. What "hired help" has been most useful to you?
Thank you for considering my questions and for years of great reading!

Hi.

What genre(s) do you read when you are not writing?

Who are some of your favorite authors?

What author(s) influenced your writing style?

How do you remember what you wrote about what character in previous novels; or maybe I mean how do you keep from getting confused about, say, Ali's history?

Thanks

As a Phoenix native, I want to compliment J.A. on capturing the feel of the city and northern parts of the state. Reading Deadly Stakes was a real treasure as I envisioned Ali heading down Lincoln Drive. Do you spend time in a place you want to write about or write only about the places you already know?

Judith wrote: "As a Phoenix native, I want to compliment J.A. on capturing the feel of the city and northern parts of the state. Reading Deadly Stakes was a real treasure as I envisioned Ali heading down Lincoln ..."

Growing up in San Diego I had a fascination with Arizona. J.A.'s books remind me why.

I have read and enjoyed many of the J.P. Beaumont novels and was entertaining starting the Ali Reynolds series. Would you recommend in any of your series to start from book #1 so I can understand her nature and story lines? I almost feel like you know people like Beaumont to be able to bring such a character to life in your books. Great work.

Hello Ms. Jance. I'm a big fan. My question is who is Ollie Weeks based on?

I don't have a question, but wanted to say that I especially enjoy your J P Beaumont books. I have a sister who lives in Bellevue, and though she is not a reader, I think that she did read some that I sent to her. I have read the other series, but the Beaumont ones are my favorites. Marti Abell of Rome, PA

My husband and I began reading your J.P. Beaumont series in the early 90's. One of the greatest joys we share is your stories. We wish to thank you for that. We love reading your books and getting to know your characters. They have provided many hours of enjoyment and conversation through the last 25+ years.
Of course, J. P. Beaumont is our favorite however we also enjoy the Walker family and Brandon Walker very much. Do you have plans to write more of this family?

Edward wrote: "Which series is your next book? Love them all"My next book is Second Watch, Beaumont 21. It's J.P. Beaumont as we know him now, but it's also as he was in 1973 when he first got promoted to homicide, and we also see him earlier when he served with the military in Vietnam. In that book, you'll meet a school mate of mine from Bisbee, an outstanding young man named Doug Davis who died in Vietnam in 1966.

Romantic wrote: "My question has to with another book she has coming out later this year; the latest in the JP Beaumont series. Recently, I heard Judy speak about an experience she had that lent itself in part to t..."

Romantic wrote: "My question has to with another book she has coming out later this year; the latest in the JP Beaumont series. Recently, I heard Judy speak about an experience she had that lent itself in part to t..."

What I call the Second Watch backstory--the story of how that part of the book came into being--will be told in its entirety as an afterward in the book itself. A shorter version will appear in may in Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul.

I am answering the questions in the order I'm seeing them, so please bear with me.

Vickie wrote: "Do you plan on anymore "Crossover" books with J. P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady? I really enjoyed the book that featured both of them!"

I didn't plan the first "crossover" book until my editor asked if I would write one. It turns out that Joanna plays a small but important role in Second Watch. Not enough for it to be considered a "joint" book, but her part of the story is essential.

Cathy wrote: "I have to admit I'm expecting Ali and JoAnna to get together sometime soon. It's not all that far from Bisbee to Sedona."
Sedona and Bisbee may not be all that far apart in terms of distance but in the world of publishing, they could just as well be in different universes. Joanna belongs to one publisher, HarperCollins. From the second book on, Ali has been part of Simon and Schuster.

Carol wrote: "Thank you, J.A.J., for doing this online discussion group. My question has to do with something I've seen happen in more than just your series; that is the matter of background changes. I tend to..."

Second Watch will be Beaumont 21. Each book contains approximately 100,000 words, including the ones that got printed and the ones that got edited out. That is to say, 2.1 million words on J.P. Beaumont alone. My little gray cells only remember so much. In the course of thirty years of writing about J. P. I've had several changes of editors. And, to a lesser extent, I've had multiple editors for both Joanna and Ali. 1.5 Million words for Joanna. 800,000 so far for Ali. I think you can see why it might be impossible to keep all those details straight, including some item that a character says in the course of a bit of dialogue. I guess what I'm trying to say is, we're all human here, and mistakes happen even thought we do our best to prevent those errors.

Adrienne wrote: "Ms. Jance: how do you feel about the electronic books? Especially when they are filled with editing errors? I have notice a lot of ebooks with errors that distract the reader from the story."
For me, e-books have been a real boon because they make it so easy for a new reader to go to the beginning of any particular series and read the books in order. In the old days, the only way to find some of the older books was to track them down in used bookstores.

I'm not unaware of the editing challenges in e-books. In fact, one edition of Hour of the Hunter was so bad that my publisher pulled it to reissue. If you have any experience with Siri making changes in your text messages you'll see the source of some of the problem. Yesterday I tried to send a text about a man named Oleg. It came out All Legs Dancing. I think some of the e-book editing problems are actually some kind of failure in the character recognition software.

Lady wrote: "Ali Reynolds is my favorite of your characters. I too would love to see a cross-over with her and JoAnna. My question for you is this... how do you decide which series you're going to write for n..."

For the past eight years, I've been writing one Ali book a year for Simon and Schuster. The other three series belong to HarperCollins. When it's time to write the next book, my editor and I have a "Next Book" discussion. So Joanna will be the next HarperCollins book I write.

Jeri wrote: "Not related to your current book, however I have to say how much I enjoy all of them. Is there ever a chance that the JP Beaumont books will be turned into a movie? Whenever I read them I picture ..."

I have a Hollywood agent working on that right now, but I'm not holding my breath.

David wrote: "Vickie wrote: "Do you plan on anymore "Crossover" books with J. P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady? I really enjoyed the book that featured both of them!"
I also wonder if there will be another crossove..."

Fire and Ice was another crossover, Beau/Brady I hope you didn't miss that one.

And as I said above, Joanna will play a part in the Beaumont book coming on September 10, Second Watch.

Kate wrote: "Love that you are bringing Ali back and was so GLAD to see Joanna again...how about J.P.? Any plans for him to revisit us?"

I can't tell if everybody can see all the answers I'm writing, but yes. Beaumont WILL BE BACK!!! September 10. Second Watch.

Darla wrote: "I have read several of the JP Beaumont books and love them.
The question I have is: You are one of the few authors I've read who has characters riding Goldwing motorcycles.
I am a member of GWRRA ..."
The late Gary Flynn was the Public Information Officer for Seattle P.D. when I first started writing the Beaumont books. He was a huge help to me. He answered my many questions and referred me to other folks who also helped. He was a Goldwing kind of guy, and I put the Goldwing parts into the book as a tribute to Gary.

Edna wrote: "I live in Tucson, Arizona so I totally love the Joanna Brady series. Are you going to write another book about her? I so enjoy your description of places that I know about.
Thank You."
I'm sure I'll be writing another Joanna. In fact, I just sold one to the publisher LAST WEEK!! But since you live in Tucson, don't miss Left for Dead. That's an Ali book, but a lot of the action takes place in and around Tucson. Ditto for the four Walker Family books, starting with Hour of the Hunter. Those take place in and around Tucson and out on the Tohono O'odham reservation.

Edna wrote: "Cathy wrote: "I have to admit I'm expecting Ali and JoAnna to get together sometime soon. It's not all that far from Bisbee to Sedona."

Cathy, Sedona is quite away from Bisbee, maybe not as the c..."

Yes, Arizona geography isn't like Connecticut or Rhode Island. At seventy miles and hour, more or less, it's two hours from Bisbee to Tucson, another two hours from Tucson to Phoenix, and another two hours from Phoenix to Sedona. At that point, you're barely scratching the surface of "northern" Arizona.

Melannie wrote: "Edna wrote: "Cathy wrote: "I have to admit I'm expecting Ali and JoAnna to get together sometime soon. It's not all that far from Bisbee to Sedona."

Cathy, Sedona is quite away from Bisbee, maybe..."
As I answered above, there are publishers proprietary rules that keep that from happening.

Ann wrote: "Reading your books has made me put Bisbee on my bucket list of places to visit. I am a history major and love when you put historical aspects in your stories. I can read your books over and over ag..."

A word of warning. If you go to Bisbee and visit the museum, you may well meet up with a docent there, a lady by the name of Laverne Williams. Growing up in Bisbee, Laverne was my Sunday School teacher and the Junior Choir director. She was also my Brownie, Girl Scout and Senior Girl Scout leader. So she knows WAY more about J. A. Jance that most people want to know.

In Bisbee's Greenway School, my second grade teacher was a woman named Mrs. Spangler. Under the windows in her room were shelves loaded with books, and if you finished your work early (which I always did) you could go to the shelves and choose a book to read. It was among Mrs. Spangler's books that I discovered The Wizard of Oz. Not just the one book we all know about but the other books as well. Some kids reading those books see the Wizard hiding behind the green curtain. I saw Frank Baum hiding behind the words. And from the moment I realized that a person put those word on paper, that's what I wanted to be and do.

Elizabeth wrote: "I have a whole shelf of your books and have met you many times here in the N.W. Any chance that you will use the golden's (Dogs)in a upcoming book.
Still love "Hour of the Hunter" best. Anymore co..."
Both of our pairs of goldens, Nikki and Tess, named after Nicolai Tesla and Aggie and Daph, named after Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier are gone now. Thirteen or fourteen years are all you get, if you're lucky, before they cross the Rainbow Bridge. But the fictional Aggie and Daph have shown up in a couple of Ali books and who's to say they won't do so again?

Hour of the Hunter has always been my favorite, too. I'm assuming that you haven't missed the other three Walker books, Kiss of the Bees, Day of the Dead, and Queen of the Night. The other day, a book seller in Tucson referred to the Walkers as the "of the" books. It made me laugh.

Mary wrote: "Hi, Jance ,where do you write all your books?And I have another question to ask why do you choose to write crime novels."
I write my books where I'm answering these questions in a comfy easy chair in the family room of my home in Tucson with my laptop on my lap. In Seattle I have another comfy chair in a different family room.

I started out reading the Nancy Drew books. I've read mysteries all my life, and so it made sense that I would write what I liked to read. By the end of a mystery, you can usually count on the bad guy getting what he deserves--something that doesn't necessarily happen in real life or in literary fiction. Tony Hillerman told me once, "Literary fiction is where not much happens to people you don't like very much."

Kenny wrote: "Dear Ms. Jance,

Good evening. And thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to answer questions from your loyal readers. I love your J.P. Beaumont series. I've been reading that fantas..."