Janet Evanovich: The Woman Who Saves Me Fom Reality

As an avid reader, I would have to say that it is nearly impossible to pick a favorite novelist. However, when I sit and ponder the idea, I think of what parts of a book that I enjoy the most might be. For me those things are humor, excitement, mystery and action. Of course a little romance can spice things up, but it is not entirely necessary. (Yes, I really am a housewife. I promise.) I have found all of these things in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

Janet Evanovich is a second generation American who was born in South River, New Jersey. I will leave out the date. As I am also a woman, I do not care to have that fact blathered from here to everywhere, if I can help it. She describes herself as a child who was constantly in "la-la land." Personally, I can relate to that. I still live there, unless I have to be in reality.

After her high school graduation, Evanovich attended Douglass College to paint. As a painter, she never felt that it was quite right for her. She married her high school sweetheart while she was attending college. He was a doctoral candidate at Rutgers. After attaining her bachelor of arts, she had a series of what could be termed normal jobs, but became a stay-at-home mother with two children. Evanovich enjoyed this role, finding it to be richly creative, in the right hands, and I believe her hands would be.

When the children were in bed, she would write, and after many rejections letters, she took the box in which she was collecting them, burned the whole thing, signed with a temp agency and worked as a secretary. To her surprise, she received a letter about a manuscript about which she had forgotten and was pleased to accept an offer for a $2000 advance. From there, she became a full-time writer. She wrote romance novels for Bantam Loveswept for five years when she decided to move to the mystery genre.

After spending two years "retooling," or as some would call it, researching, she learned about the lives and careers of law enforcement people. This was how she created Stephanie Plum. Evanovich claims that Plum is not based on her, but she definitely "knows where she lives."

When she and her husband moved to New Hampshire, she realized there was more to writing than the work itself, so they formed a family business. It includes herself, her husband, her son and her daughter. Evanovich claims to be a "boring workaholic with no hobbies or special interests." Her drug of choice is Cheeze Doodles. Her inspirations are comics, and her love of adventure comes from Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. She only likes to watch happy movies. Also, when she grows up, she wants to be just like Grandma Mazur.

My mother received the first three Stephanie Plum novels as a gift from a coworker and close friend for Christmas, one year. I was told many times how much I needed to read them. At the time, I was a college student, single parent and a newly in love girlfriend. I did not have much time. Finally, during a school break, during which I had had my tonsils removed, I was able to read the first three Plum novels. I can tell you that it is very painful to laugh when you have just had surgery on your throat. Plus, I think Mike, who is now my husband, thought it was the liquid Demerol making me insane.

When a book has the ability to make me laugh with the first page, then interest me, then continue to do both until the end, I am hooked. There were so many scenes in One for the Money that made me bend over the book and laugh, no matter how much it hurt, that I could not put the book down until I had finished Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly. Then I passed it to a string of people who wait in line to read them after they come out.

Stephanie Plum starts as an unemployed woman who is behind on her rent, having her car repossessed, and having to mooch dinner and leftovers from her parents in a time where there were no jobs available of any kind in Trenton, New Jersey, even though there are only few things that she is unwilling to do, all of which are quite reasonable. Out of desperation, she tries being a bounty hunter, and the fun begins.

Evanovich starts with a cast of characters that are anywhere from normal (if there is such a thing), completely lovable, oddly lovable, scary as hell or plain weird. With each book, the cast either grows or changes. There are often reappearances of past characters. With every book, there is at least one, but most often several scenes that make me laugh loudly enough to make my children wonder if I am finally on my way to the funny farm. After all, to their minds, books cannot make a person laugh like that. Some of the train wreck action sequences are almost painful, but I still laugh like a loon.

There is always a bit of mystery in the Plum novels, too. The tension between Stephanie and Morelli and Ranger is always exciting. I love Bob the Dog. Lula and Connie are a comedy duo beaten by no other. Vinnie is the gross element. The bad guys are sometimes terrifying, and sometimes they are just weird or sad or both.

Her family is like so many families. There are elements in each member that can be found in the members of any family that I know, including my own. I have completely loved every one of the books, up to the recently finished Smoking Seventeen. I have no idea how a writer can keep a series running for this long and still keep it so funny while never having any book be quite the same.

I have also read some of her earlier works that have been republished. I love Elsie Hawkins. I know a lot of older ladies just like her, so it is a relief to feel as if I am not in some strange land of crazy women. Evanovich's work with Charlotte Hughes has been a lot of fun to read, as well. Plus, I really like Diesel. Any man who is as hot as Brad Pitt and smells like cinnamon? Yep. Sorry, Mike, but that is my kind of man.

How can anyone not love a writer who creates characters who have such interesting and crazy lives while still worrying about pimples, too much birthday cake, doughnut and junk food addictions, plus insane family members and friends? Every June, I look forward to the next Stephanie Plum novel, although I also look for the ones that come out around Christmas with the hopes that Diesel will make an appearance.

Although it is difficult to choose a favorite writer, I have to give Janet Evanovich an extremely high place on my list. Her female characters are normal human beings who get put in crazy situations. There are seriously sexy men involved, so there is my tension. The friends and family add intense comic relief. Evanovich's stories take me to "la-la land," and I need to go there a lot. With so many writers making their stories so reality-inspired and intense, I prefer to read something by a woman who knows that reality is scary enough. And I want to be like Grandma Mazur when I grow up, too. Or maybe Elsie Hawkins. Either one works for me.

Biographical information provided from the following links:

Janet Evanovich Home Page

Encyclopedia of World Biography '" Janet Evanovich

Wikipedia.org '" Janet Evanovich