A Conversation with J. A. Jance

 

LOWE:  Hi, Judy.  You've had two series going for quite a while.  The detective Beaumont series and the Sheriff Brady series.  Obviously the first is more popular with men, and the second with women. Or am I wrong about that?

JANCE:  Actually, J. P Beaumont may be more popular with male truck drivers, but I find the people I talk to–men and women both–pretty much evenly divided when it comes to preferring Beaumont to Brady.  And, as long as they read them both, I don't care which one they like better.

LOWE:  Gary Challender at Books in Motion, a mutual friend of ours, tells me that truckers are huge fans of Beaumont.  Have you had any feedback from truckers or from people listening to the audiobook versions in their cars?

JANCE:  Yes, I have heard from truckers.  Actually, whenever there's a blizzard on the east coast, I receive fan mail written on Motel 6 stationery from all up and down the eastern seaboard.  And, from what I can tell, they like the reader, Gene Engene, almost as much as they like the books themselves.  As for me, I think Gene Engene is pretty slick, too.  When I heard him read the first few lines of Until Proven Guilty, I was covered with goosebumps because his voice was just so right.

LOWE:  I agree with that.  Now, let's say you have an audience of men who like Beaumont so much that they're going to try Sheriff Joanna Brady for the first time, or vise versa.  How do you get new readers up to speed on the characters in a series without boring readers already familiar with the characters?

JANCE:   When it comes time to start a new book in either series, my job turns into a kind of tight-rope walk.  Knowing that I'll be meeting some readers for the first time, I have to include enough of the background so new readers will feel as though they've had access to the information they need to understand the characters.  The problem is, if I give too much background, my long-time readers will be bored and new readers won't feel compelled to go back and read the other books.  I try to sprinkle the background into conversation and action rather than devoting a lot of expository writing to it.

LOWE:   Brady and Beaumont get together in Partner in Crime, and are almost romantic.  I was wondering if you did that to merge your readership.

JANCE:   My readers have been suggesting a joint book for years while I resisted the idea.  Then my editor suggested it was time to put them together, and so I did.  It's usually best for writers if they listen to their editor's suggestions!   But, you're right.  It did merge my readership, and people who had read one series and not the other are now reading both.  So it turns out my fans were right and so was my editor.  I was the one who was wrong.

LOWE:  I've heard that you like to surprise yourself in writing a mystery, and that you don't outline, and sometimes don't even know who the killer is until the end.  Does this make it more fun for you to write, or is there another reason?

JANCE:   Not knowing what's going to happen makes the process of writing a book more interesting to me.  If I knew everything that was going to happen in a given book, I don't think I'd find energy enough or sufficient curiosity to finish it.  And yes, you're right.  I do hate outlines.  I've hated them from the first time I met them in sixth grade geography.  I wonder if there's a nice handy Greek word for someone who suffers from a phobia of Roman Numerals.

LOWE:  How about  Togaphobia?  What do you think of the narrators of your audiobook versions, and do you ever listen to audiobooks yourself on the road?

JANCE:  I like my narrators.  As far as the listening public is concerned, the readers are the characters.  As for listening to audio books, in October of 2001, in the aftermath of September 11, my husband and I had to drive from Seattle to Nashville and back by way of Tucson, Arizona.  The news on the radio was still totally focused on the terrible happenings in New York.  Finally, about the time we reached Dallas on our trip out, we went into a bookstore and purchased the first unabridged Harry Potter books.  Harry and his friends were our constant companions from then on.  We'd be in restaurants talking about the latest Quidditch match while the whole rest of the world was talking about Osama and his pals.  We finished the last of the four books as we crossed back into Washington State on our way home.

LOWE:  You grew up in Bisbee, which I've been to several times, as it's not far from Tucson.  What do you most like about the place?  And are you now what we call a "snow bird?"  Or should I say "Snow Bird of Prey?"

JANCE:   Snow Bird of Prey? That's incredibly cute and I think I WILL be one of those. Where can I get a license plate surround like that?  I'll put one on the Arena Red Porsche Boxster as I charge around Tucson this winter because yes, I am now an official snowbird.  I like Bisbee because it's a place apart. It's not exactly the same place it was as I was growing up there in the fifties and sixties, but it's not all that different. The Mule Mountains kept it out of the mainstream then and they do the same thing today.

LOWE:  Unlike Tucson, and our growing traffic problem. Does the character Beaumont in Partner in Crime like Bisbee or not?

JANCE:  Beaumont is from Seattle. More than that, he's from the Denny Regrade, which means he's uncomfortable once he gets out of reach of The Bon. He's not familiar with the desert, so of course Arizona makes him uncomfortable. His first impression of Bisbee is that it's terribly brown.  My first impression of Seattle was that it was terribly green.  I think we're both right.

Barrett Whitener, Narrator

From the vault: Barrett Whitener is the award-winning narrator of "Catch Me If You Can," on audio from Blackstone.  The book was adapted into a Spielberg movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, and is a fascinating memoir about a con artist who poses as an airline pilot.  

JONATHAN LOWE:  What is your background, Barrett, and how did you get started narrating books?

BARRETT WHITENER:  My background is in film study and stage directing.  In my twenties, I thought I'd be the next great great film critic -- the new millennium's James Agee or Pauline Kael.  I got a master's in film from an English university, during which I discovered I didn't want a career in academia.  There followed six years working in public relations, during which I occasionally hired myself to voice some commercials I'd written.  (Shameless of me, but good experience.)  I pretty much forgot about doing voice-overs, and returned to graduate school for a master's in fine arts in directing.  Luckily, among the directing courses, I was required to study voice.  The other stroke of luck was that the directing course brought me to Washington, D.C. for an internship at the Shakespeare Theatre.  A narrator-actor came to look at a room for rent in the group house where I lived at the time.  When I inquired about narrating opportunities, he said, "Well, I work for the Library of Congress, and they're looking for people right now.  Would you like to audition?"  They hired me, and it was the best possible place to start.  I learned so much about researching pronunciations, voicing characters, and so on.  It was like getting my third graduate degree -- one I've actually used.

LOWE:  How many titles have you recorded since then?

WHITENER:  I'm pushing about two hundred titles by now.

LOWE:  That's a lot, especially with so many unabridged.  Were you always a voracious reader, and did your family encourage you to read aloud?

WHITENER:  From as early as I can remember, I loved to read.  Comic books, cereal boxes, "real" books, anything.  My parents were avid readers, so I guess it just never occurred to me not to.  I don't recall anyone in the home encouraging me to read aloud -- they didn't have to.  From age eight or nine, I would make up stories and read them into a tape recorder, complete with my own canned laughter due to the sitcom influence.  By ten or eleven, I was dragging friends into the act, making my own little juvenile versions of Nichols and May skits. . .who am I kidding? . . .more like Cheech and Chong skits!. . .and putting them on tape.  And a couple of my English teachers were big on oral interpretation, bless 'em.

LOWE:   Maybe this explains your range of titles, from the bizarre "Villa Incognito" by Tom Robbins for Random House to "Catch Me If You Can" by Frank Abagnale.  Who are your favorite authors, and which genres have you most enjoyed recording?

WHITENER:  For pleasure I read mostly nonfiction. . .histories, biographies, art and cultural criticism.  Right now I'm on a jag of writers who cover our current international conflicts in some way, like Bernard Lewis, Paul Berman, Karen Armstrong.  When I do read fiction, I most enjoy the witty stuff with an edge. . .Philip Roth, Tom Robbins, Allan Gurganus.  That's my favorite genre to record, too, and "A Confederacy of Dunces" is my favorite book to have done so far.  The comic imagination behind it just doesn't quit.

LOWE:  Abagnale's book has some funny moments too.  Did you see the movie based on it, and what did you think of the story--is it exaggerated, or mostly factual, do you think?

WHITENER:  I thought the movie of "Catch Me" was terrific.  Spielberg showed an appreciation for the reckless, irresponsible daredeviltry of what Frank Abagnale did. It felt almost like a big-budget "Austin Powers" movie, though with far more lounge-era, Rat Pack style.  The amazing thing is how few of Abagnale's exploits were invented for the movie.  If anything, Spielberg played them down.  The episode of the European tour with the stewardess trainees, for instance, is even more jaw-dropping when you read the whole tale.  What the movie invents is the backstory of his father, presumably in an attempt to make Frank more sympathetic.  The book, on the other hand, makes him seem closer to an American pirate.

LOWE:  I understand that it was easier to con people back then, but his followup book "The Art of the Steal" also shows that we're still vulnerable, doesn't it?

WHITENER:  Yes, he points out that in some ways, we're more vulnerable than ever.  While it's harder for a crook to kite checks now than it was when Frank did it, he says that the computer age has made more serious crimes -- such as identity theft -- much easier.  Since I recorded that one, it seems as though I see a story on another identity theft in the news every week.

LOWE:  What do you see as the most difficult thing about narrating a book?

WHITENER:  The biggest challenge for me in narrating is also what makes it fun.  Keeping the arc of the drama intact.  Maybe my directing training pays off a little here.  It's important to know not only who each character is, but also how each one contributes specifically to a novel's conflict and central idea.  That all sounds very drama-major, I know.  But I find that when I'm very clear on those questions, the process flows better.  It can also be a challenge working alone, which I do much of the time.  I'm pretty gregarious by nature, so on breaks I'll go fire off some email, or call my friends and bug them at their "normal" jobs.  Of course, they think I've got it made, and they're probably right.

LOWE:  Describe the process for you, if you will, from preparation to execution.

WHITENER:  For fiction, I read the entire book before recording.  Depending on the piece, maybe I'll do some additional research on the period or setting.  Always I take notes on the characters -- accents, vocal or other traits the author specifies, my "feel" for them, maybe people I've known or met who they remind me of.  This task is essential if you try to give each character as distinct a voice as you can.  It also helps you avoid the nightmare scenario that once happened to a narrator I know, who got to the last page of a novel he hadn't researched, and there the author wrote for the first time that the hero had a "strong Scottish accent."  The narrator had given him no such thing, and had to go back and re-record the whole book!  For nonfiction, I'll give the book at least a close skim before starting.  For both fiction and nonfiction, I make a list of all words, including names, for which I need to find the correct pronunciation, and find those before I record.  That way, the recording can flow in as uninterrupted a way as possible.

LOWE:  Do you use your own studio exclusively, or do you travel much to record?  I met some narrators at the Audie awards, and noticed that they seem to know each other, and do cross paths at these events, and possibly in the studios too.  Are you friends with many other narrators, and who do you admire?

WHITENER:  Over half of my recordings are done in my home studio, which I've finally outfitted with Pro Tools recently.  I'm a one-man band. In the past couple of years, I've begun to travel fairly often for work too, which is great.  Someone else punches the buttons and does the editing, and I just do my favorite part, the reading.  Plus, I get to socialize between takes.  The narrating community is still fairly small, though less so now than a few years ago, when, because of the Library of Congress, the majority of audiobook readers in the country lived in the D.C. area. Even so, I've met many of the narrators from around the country at various conferences and events.  One of the best is right in my backyard, Grover Gardner. He sets a high standard for the rest of us.  He's got the true narrating gene.  And to my ears, Kate Fleming (a.k.a. Anna Fields) is one of the most outstanding women in the field.

LOWE:  I agree on that.  Now, you've won a "Voice of the Century" award from Audiofile, and some Earphones awards.  What are you most proud of, and how has the press treated you?

WHITENER:  I've been extremely lucky in my press.  As the audiobook industry has grown in the past decade, the reviews have taken on more significance.  Luckily, the reviewers seem to be generally well-read and well-informed.  "Voice of the Century" is quite a label to have hung around your throat!  For all the reasons I mentioned before, I was also gratified that Booklist included "A Confederacy of Dunces" on their "year's best" list.  I hope that encouraged some people to read the book in whatever format.

LOWE:  What's next on the agenda for you to record?

WHITENER:  After finishing your novel, next up for me are Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Key" for Blackstone Audio -- another of his fun, shaggy-dog sci-fi yarns.  And for Books On Tape, "Triangle" by David von Drehle, a powerful account of the 1910 Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire in New York.  As projects go, they don't get much more varied than that.

LOWE:  Look forward to hearing those.  And, of course, the great thing about acting for a microphone is that, unlike Hollywood, they can't tell you that you're too old, meaning over 30!  So folks should be hearing from you for a long time to come.  Thanks, Barrett.

{Jonathan's suspense novel "Awakening Storm," from Blackstone Audio, is read by Barrett, and by Barry Abrams for Audible.)