{"id":11838,"date":"2010-07-21T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T10:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=11838"},"modified":"2013-10-02T08:55:58","modified_gmt":"2013-10-02T12:55:58","slug":"author-tess-gerritsen-on-the-new-tnt-series-rizzoli-isles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=11838","title":{"rendered":"Author Tess Gerritsen on the new TNT Series Rizzoli & Isles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Quick. What is Rizzoli & Isles?<\/p>\n

A: A law firm<\/p>\n

B: An accounting firm<\/p>\n

C: A new cable TV series<\/p>\n

D: A large book store chain<\/p>\n

If you answered \u201cC,\u201d then you are correct, sir (or madam).<\/p>\n

In the debuting TNT show Rizzoli & Isles, Angie Harmon<\/a> co-stars as Jane Rizzoli, a sassy homicide detective who teams with stylish medical examiner Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander<\/a>) to solve crimes in the Boston area.\u00a0 Rizzoli uses her instincts to track down the perpetrators while Isles depends on forensics and science. Together these new BFFs attempt to uncover crimes committed by unsavory crooks and even serial killers.<\/p>\n

Rizzoli & Isles is the creation of former internist Tess Gerritsen, 57, who decided to give up her practice and write books full-time. The change of professional scenery certainly suited her well, as Rizzoli & Isles is based on a best-selling series of mysteries featuring the two female characters.<\/p>\n

Gerritsen, a Chinese-American who lives in Maine and is the mother of two children, took a big chance giving up medicine for writing. But there were others who came before her who had been successful doing the same thing, so she figured it was worth a try.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always loved the work of Michael Crichton (The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park) because he always chose scientific subjects and it was obvious he loved science,\u201d says Gerritsen. \u201cBut I\u2019m also fond of the work of Robin Cook (Coma) and Michael Palmer (Extreme Measures), who people don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerritsen didn\u2019t always write crime stories. She began her career submitting short stories to regional magazines, and then graduated to penning romantic thrillers for Harlequin. She shifted to medical suspensers in 1996 with Harvest, and later moved into crime tales. Rizzoli and Isles were introduced in 2001\u2019s The Surgeon, and the characters have been regularly appearing in Gerritsen\u2019s best-selling stories ever since.<\/p>\n

Gerritsen says she writes her novels using the \u201cpunch in the gut technique.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea has to wham me so I can\u2019t let go,\u201d she says during a stop in Philadelphia. \u201cI don\u2019t plot anything out. Everything is directed by what the characters do. It\u2019s a disorganized writing process. It usually takes me a year to write a book. I try to write four pages after my morning coffee. What helps is that my office overlooks the ocean and I have a great view.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her Rizzoli & Isles books take place primarily in the Boston area, Gerritsen\u2019s other suspensers are often set in other parts of the country. \u201cMy most recent book is Ice Cold, and it takes place in Wyoming. I\u2019ve been to Wyoming before, but I like to visit places. I spent two weeks with NASA for my book Gravity. I try to get the texture of the place. I watched a mummy get scanned for a book (The Keepsake). I do this to satisfy my own curiosity. I\u2019m interested in forensics pathology. I attend conferences on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was accepted into a pathology residency. I decided I\u2019d rather be working with living people. My personality is closer to Isles in the show, in one way, because I\u2019m pretty comfortable in a morgue.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Rizzoli & Isles pilot episode, the detective and coroner team to investigate a group of serial killings that resemble those of an earlier murderer called the Surgeon who was jailed years ago. The Surgeon escapes from prison and attempts to continue his reign of terror, which includes making Rizzoli one of his victims.<\/p>\n

The pilot of the show is based on Gerittsen\u2019s aforementioned 2001 book The Surgeon, which introduced the characters. \u00a0The premise bears some resemblance to another popular serial killer opus called The Silence of the Lambs. Gerritsen recognizes the similarities, too, but explains \u201cI wrote The Surgeon before I read any Thomas Harris.\u201d<\/p>\n

And like Harris\u2019 Hannibal Lecter books, Gerritsen\u2019s story\u2014even the gorier ones\u2014have a huge female fan base.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on tour with the NASA book, and a woman told me she wanted to me to write about serial killers and twisted sex. Then she told me she taught third grade. Women like these sorts of books because in serial killer books, they are the victim. Women identify with the victim. The same is true with their TV shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Gerritsen\u2019s books have never shied away from gory details, one wonders if they have gotten even grittier in recent years with the popularity of such TV shows as CSI and Bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of CSI, people demand more realism,\u201d she says. \u201cThey want to know inside stories. My books were more about cops and robbers at first\u2014when I started, it was tough to get autopsy scenes in books. Now, people want them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerritsen calls Jane Rizzoli \u201ca brash and aggressive and outspoken homicide cop, who is not always well liked,\u201d while the more introverted Maura Isles she likens to Mr. Spock. \u201cMy women aren\u2019t backbiting, they work cooperatively,\u201d she states. \u201cJane is close to women police officers I interviewed. All are pretty tough girls. I know that she\u2019s really me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quick. What is Rizzoli & Isles? A: A law firm B: An accounting firm C: A new cable TV series D: A large book store chain If you answered \u201cC,\u201d then you are correct, sir (or madam). In the debuting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":11854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1670,1510],"coauthors":[1707],"class_list":["post-11838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-staff-notes","tag-movie-interviews","tag-tv-shows"],"yoast_head":"\nAuthor Tess Gerritsen on the new TNT Series Rizzoli & Isles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Author Tess Gerritsen talks about the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles she created. 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