Write On

Hip, sexy, endearing for their faults and admired for their adventurous spirits, Stephanie Plum and Alex Barnaby have legions of fans. Plum, an unlikely bounty hunter, and Barnaby, an unemployed claims adjuster and former grease monkey, have their differences. What they have in common is their creator: best-selling novelist and part-time Naples resident Janet Evanovich.

With 12 romance novels to her credit, Evanovich hit popular success in mysteries with Stephanie Plum, the heroine of a dozen novels so far, and recently introduced Alex Barnaby in the new Metro Girl series. She and husband, Peter, have been spending more time at their Naples home and less in Boston and New Hampshire, but finding time for the beach is tough. In addition to the re-release of her romances, she's working on her first nonfiction book (on writing) and has book tours this summer (for Twelve Sharp, her new Plum installment) and fall (for her new Barnaby book, Motor Mouth).

Evanovich, 63, has spawned a growing business, with a staff that includes her former-math-professor husband, son Peter and daughter Alex. Between novels and book tours on a sunny winter day, she took a lunch break with us at the Port Royal Club.

Q: Why Naples?

A: I love South Beach and I love the Keys, but I couldn't live [there]; the Keys are too small and South Beach is too much. I was talking at this bail bonds conference in Tampa, and we just decided we would dribble down the coast and see if there was anything we liked. As soon we got to Naples, that was it. The weather's fantastic, the people don't all wear black. It's colorful, it's happy.

Q: In Metro Girl, Miami is much more exciting than Naples. How come?

A: The book is set in Miami. My Stephanie Plum series is set in New Jersey, and Jersey is like a person, a very dynamic character. I wanted Miami to be that dynamic character, and Naples was a minor character.

Q: Any writers in your background?

A: Nothing. My mom and dad had high school educations; they came from [Danish] immigrant parents. My dad worked in a factory for most of his life, and after my sister and I were out of the house, he started going to college. When I went to college, I majored in fine arts. It wasn't until I was [in my early 30s], I realized that I was always telling myself stories, and it wasn't actually the drawing that was important, it was the story I was telling. [As a child], my imagination was always at the forefront, so I was just always a little odd. I'd constantly talk to myself. I'd be some intergalactic princess, and some kid would be snickering behind me.

Q: Your whole family works for you?

A: Alex does the Web site [www.evanovich.com], the newsletter, she tours with me, she does a certain amount of publicity, and she edits the books. Everybody in my family is the first editor. [Son] Peter does everything financial. Alex is very, very much like me, although she's smarter and braver and more with-the-program than I am.

Q: You've made similar comments about your characters.

A: Stephanie Plum has my background, but a lot of who she is in the present is really Alex. [Alex] edits my books to keep them in the right generation. So Alex and I listen to Metallica together, and I get on the back of her Ducati, and we go to bars, and I'm there with my little notebook writing down pickup lines.

Q: What do you do for fun in Naples?

A: I can work all morning, go to the club's gym, work all afternoon, and then go out with my husband and have a nice romantic dinner. One of the things I love about Naples is, maybe because it's a vacation destination, you can walk down the street, and there are all these couples holding hands.