Making Troublemaker: An Interview with Alex Evanovich
Excitement has been building ever since Since Dark Horse Comics announced that New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich and daughter Alex Evanovich would write the original graphic novel Troublemaker. Set in the same world as the hit novels Metro Girl and Motor Mouth, Troublemaker will feature the further adventures of Barnaby and Hooker, gorgeously illustrated by Joëlle Jones.
We spoke to Alex Evanovich about writing Troublemaker, her lifelong love of comic books, and thoughts on mother-daughter collaboration.
BookShelf: Troublemaker continues the hit Alex Barnaby series in graphic-novel form. How did this project come about?
Alex Evanovich: Janet and I have always loved comic books. To this day we still have a subscription to Uncle Scrooge Adventures. When Dark Horse approached us with the offer to do a graphic novel based on the characters from Metro Girl and Motor Mouth, we couldn’t say no. Writing a comic book was sort of a lifelong dream come true for us.
BookShelf: What is your background in comics and graphic novels, and how do you apply that to Troublemaker?
Alex Evanovich: Many years ago I used to make a comic for the site called Batster. It was a takeoff on Batman, but with hamsters and beavers. It was just for fun. Other than being comic-book fanatics, Janet and I don’t have any background in comics and graphic novels. We really had to rely on the advice of our editor, Sierra Hahn.
BookShelf: What was your collaborative process for working on this book with Janet Evanovich and Joëlle Jones?
Alex Evanovich: I came up with the plot and outlined each book. I talked it over with Janet and then I started writing. Once I was done with the first book I gave the script to Janet. She offered advice, and suggested changes. I rewrote the script and handed it in to Dark Horse . . . who also had advice and suggested changes. Once the script was final, Dark Horse gave it to Joëlle and away she went. Her work has been amazing. I admit it’s hard at first to see drawings of the characters, but Joëlle’s work is so much fun that it only took a few pages until her drawings were Barnaby and Hooker. And her drawings of Beans, Hooker’s St. Bernard, are amazing!
BookShelf: Aside from your first name, do you share anything in common with main character Alex Barnaby?
Alex Evanovich: There are a few things we have in common. We’re both very good with mechanical things; when Janet wrote Metro Girl and Motor Mouth, I was blond; and we both love four-inch heels. I have a St. Bernard named Barnaby (Beans was the name of a beagle I had when I was little).
BookShelf: Troublemaker has great potential to expand reading horizons for both fans of the best-selling novels and graphic-novel enthusiasts who are entirely new to the series. Do you have any suggestions for how librarians can use this book to encourage new readers?
Alex Evanovich: I tried really hard to make the book appealing to both males and females. There is everything from swamp-boat and car chases to encounters with Sam Hooker’s mom. I also kept the language clean, so hopefully the tweens will discover it and enjoy it, as well as people in their nineties and everyone in between.
Thanks to the amazing work of Joëlle, it feels a lot like a movie . . . at least to me. The story really comes to life with the pictures. Troublemaker Book 1 is only one hundred pages. So if you’re at the library, why not pick it up and give it a try? Comics are fun, and variety is the spice of life!
BookShelf: Mother/daughter book clubs have been gaining in popularity recently. You may be inspiring a whole new trend: Mother/daughter graphic-novel-writing clubs! Any recommendations for how to get started?
Alex Evanovich: That would be fantastic! We’re all about family, and I would love to see more moms and dads teaming up with daughters and sons to write and/or draw graphic novels. It was an amazing experience for me and Janet, and the best part is that in the very end we have a book with our names, together, on the cover. It really is special.
BookShelf: Can we look forward to more graphic-novel projects from you in the future?
Alex Evanovich: I hope so!
