Interviews
On Friday, August 7th, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Ridley Pearson to discuss THE PIED PIPER.
Moderator: Welcome, Ridley Pearson! Thank you for taking the time to join us online this evening. How are you doing tonight?
Ridley Pearson: I am doing great. I am in New Orleans on a book tour and it is hot here!
Jamie from Bryn Mawr, PA: Do you see a lot of yourself in Lou?
Ridley Pearson: I think the answer is yes and no. The yes is certainly in Boldt's appreciation of jazz and music and his love of his family. The no, is in that I am not a cop, though I do so much research sometimes I wonder about that...
Matt Stone from Bellingham, WA: Were there many or any external influences involved in the story of THE PIED PIPER? Any particular news stories set you off?
Ridley Pearson: Yes, I discovered on the Internet a legal filing in the case of an illegal adoption, and the case so intrigued me that it eventually led me to research that led to the writing of THE PIED PIPER. Some of that research was conducted down here in New Orleans and some, using the Lexus/Nexus legal search service -- but all combined to suggest that the kidnapping of infants for resale in an illegal adoption market is an ongoing climb in the United States.
Lenea736@aol.com from Plano, TX: Do you ever do any Patricia Cornwell-like research with the police department? What type of reaction -- if any -- have you gotten from Seattle's Police Department? Do you know a lot of cops?
Ridley Pearson: Cornwell does Pearsonesque research! After all, I got here first! LOL. Yes, I do an inordinate amount of what I call hands-on/expert research. I have resources inside the Seattle Police Department with whom I have worked for over 10 years including a sergeant in homicide whom I didn't meet until a few years ago. And when I opened the door and saw him standing there, I found myself face to face with Lou Boldt! I could not believe it.
Berry from Williamsburg: How did you get started in your writing career? What were you doing before? Did you ever think you would get that first book published?
Ridley Pearson: Prior to writing I spent 11 years on the road as a folk rock musician. About halfway through those 11 years, I began writing scripts and teleplays in hopes of starting a writing career, and although I was starting a writing career, I wasn't starting a paid writing career. As it turned out, it would be eight and a half years of writing for the love of it before anything sold. I didn't focus as much on when my first piece would sell as I did on how to write better. Simply because it gets so frustrating not to sell, but as the writing improved, there was more and more interest and finally after nine scripts and two novels -- both of which went through over six drafts -- I was published! For more info check out www.ridleypearson.com.
Mick22 from AOL: Being an expert in forensic evidence, I want to know what you think about the manner that the evidence was handled in the O. J. case? Any thoughts?
Ridley Pearson: I have lots of thoughts on the O. J. case, but they are probably better saved for another time. Primarily, the scene was not handled well from the beginning, and in any investigation that will later rely on evidence, if it gets off to a sloppy start, the investigators end up with their hands tied.
Michael from MMuntz@yahoo.com: If you had your life lying in the hands of either Lou or Daphne, who would you choose? Why?
Ridley Pearson: Great question! I think if my life was in physical peril, I would want it in the hands of both -- if I was kidnapped or someone was threatening me. If I was just going to throw my life into the hands of someone, as a red-blooded male, who wouldn't pick Daphne?
Rudolph from Keene, New Hampshire: Did you base Crowley off of anybody in particular or is he more of a composite character of evil?
Ridley Pearson: Yeah, the latter. I have a lot of fun with the villainous characters in the books. I do quite a bit of advanced research with forensic psychiatrists. I present the deeds that these people do, and the psychiatrist then tells me who this person is and where he or she came from.
Pac87@aol.com from XX: Do you do a lot of research for this book? Did your research take you down to New Orleans? What was that like?
Ridley Pearson: Yes, I did a lot of research for the book, and it did take me down to New Orleans. It was a fascinating week or so that I spent down here, and it included a visit to a private boys home. It was an old brownstone edifice [of] a building that I end up describing in THE PIED PIPER, and my experience with the director was very much the same as Boldt's is in the novel. What I got out of that was that New Orleans had been through a corruption case where legitimate birth certificates were being sold out the back door of the Bureau of Vital Statistics for the purpose of illegal adoption. When I came upon that, I knew I had a book!
Matt Smith from Tates Creek, KY: You would think Lou would be a pretty jaded individual with all he has been through. Do you think you would have the thick skin necessary to ever be a cop? Also, what is your opinion of the current Seattle Police Department? What about New Orleans? Have things drastically improved in New Orleans since the embarrassment they had a couple of years ago with the cops killing cops and corruption? What in your opinion is the key to having an effective police department? The mayor? Like Rudy Giuliani up there in NYC?
Ridley Pearson: I agree that Lou with all he has been through might be pretty tough-skinned by now. But from some of the cops I have modeled him after, he still has retained a humanism and a sensitivity towards life just as they have. It is amazing to see these guys separate work from everyday life. How they do it, I am not sure; it seems to be a combination of morbid humor and an understanding of their own limitations. It would be interesting for me to be a cop for a month or two, and I have been tested on several occasions by some tough cops who wanted to shake me up, and I can tell you they shook me up.
Wes from Metaire, LA: I have read many of your past novels, but have not started your latest. Are there any plans to make a movie out of any of your books? What about this one? I loved CHAIN OF EVIDENCE -- what actor do you see as the Dart?
Ridley Pearson: Yes! Although the various novels have been under option off and on for over a decade -- some of them several times in a row -- we've never gotten the film out of any of them. My feeling is things are just about to change (take that with a grain of salt!). The latest project we are attempting to put together is BEYOND RECOGNITION, which is just out in paperback. Academy Award-winner Richard Dreyfuss called me about three weeks ago, and I went down to Los Angeles, and I had meetings with him about bringing it to [the] screen with Richard as Lou Boldt.
ALecount@aol.com from AOL: Your latest surely portrays the press in an interesting manner. What do you think of the press here in 1998? Worse than it has ever been?
Ridley Pearson: I think the press in this country is historically different than it has ever been, and much of that comes from the shifting technologies and the media it is represented in. It is funny that you should bring this up because in my next novel that I am currently finishing up, I delve deeply into the role of press in the society -- the manipulation in fact and the effects on all of us. Keep an eye out for the next book in August of '99.
Mike from MMuntz@yahoo.com: Hello Ridley! Is your next book going to be another Lou/Daphne book? Or are you planning on writing about some new characters?
Ridley Pearson: The book that follows PIED PIPER is a Lou Boldt/Daphne novel and is nearly complete. As to the novel after that? I have it outlined and I am not sure if it is a Lou book or not.
Scott from San Francisco, CA: What do you think is an example of a movie that has carried over well from the written page to the screen? Any plans yourself?
Ridley Pearson: I wish I could remember the name of the script writer, but I can't. The adaptation of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was incredibly true to the novel. One of the best movies that I have seen this summer and again an adaptation which was true to the novel is OUT OF SIGHT based off of an Elmore Leonard novel. What is interesting about "Out of Sight" is that the director chose to tell the story in a nonlinear fashion which makes it quite compelling.
Megan from Virginia: Does the small plastic flute have a personal significance to you?
Ridley Pearson: Well, I remember them as a kid -- they were metal -- but the significance of course is the flute's relationship to the story of THE PIED PIPER. It is interesting to note that the childhood fable that we all remember of children dancing behind the Pied Piper is a long way from the true story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin. In reality the Pied Piper was hired to rid the city of its rats. It is said that he did so, and then the city refused to pay him for doing his job. The frightening part of the real fable of the Pied Piper is that, determined to pay back the city for the wrong they had done to him, over the next eight to twelve months he led 80 children into the woods around Hamlin and killed them. The Pied Piper of Hamlin is in fact one of the earliest-recorded serial killers. (So next time pay that bill you owe!)
Matt S. from NYC: What is your opinion of the other contemporary authors in your genre? Are you happy with the thriller genre in general?
Ridley Pearson: Great question! For some reason, the espionage era lent itself well to thrillers, and some of the craft has been lost. In terms of police/crime fiction/suspense, there are some really good writers out there: Michael Connelly, Thomas Harris, and others -- and there are some also pretty lame ones. The nice and encouraging part of it all is that there still seems to be a large appetite for not only legal thrillers but cop thrillers as well.
Cindy from Detroit: What do you think of the way our nation's police departments handle crime-solving today? After all of your research for your books, do you see ways that crimes could be solved faster?
Ridley Pearson: Terrific question! I think that many police department are already in the process of a two-fold plan to improve policing, especially at the detective level. First off, many, many urban police departments are quietly adding requirements of college educations for their upper ranks. At the same time -- and in part because of cases like O. J. -- we are finally seeing money poured into the lab-side and the forensics side. There is so much available science to help track and apprehend criminals that has for years been out of reach because of budgets. The more of this lab side technology that comes online the more serious crimes we'll see solved. At the same time it takes well-educated, thoughtful, experienced law enforcement officers to correctly use, and know when not to use, that technology. As an aside I think we will see a controversy in the next year or two about the declining crime stats in our urban centers and nationally. Stay tuned!
SL from KC: I understand there was an auction for the cameo roles in THE PIED PIPER. Can you fill us in?
Ridley Pearson: One of the benefits that came as a result of some of these novels being bestsellers is that people became interested in seeing their name in print in a Ridley Pearson novel. That turned out to be something I could then turn into a bonus for charity. So on a few occasions, I have allowed a character name to be auctioned off for a good cause. In THE PIED PIPER, readers might recognize Sherrie Deach and Kay Kalidja. We have raised over $20,000 to date.
Fan from Pacific Northwest: It appears to me that Daphne and Lou are the perfect couple. A bit like Mulder and Scully?
Ridley Pearson: I know what you mean, and I think they know what you mean, but Boldt's married and happily so, and he has pushed that out of his mind over the last couple of years.
Lyons Woodhouse from Richmond, VA: Why do you think people are so drawn to reading suspense/crime novels? Is it our need to be shocked or scared?
Ridley Pearson: I think that there is a little bit of criminal in all of us as well as (hopefully) quite a bit of cop. We know it is not a black-and-white world, and yet in certain terms society demands that of certain behavior. The suspense thriller lets us ride the chills and thrills.
Chad Rapson from Richmond, VA: After writing so many different Lou and Daphne novels, do you feel a certain connection to these characters?
Ridley Pearson: Absolutely! I think I keep coming back to them because although the crimes wrap up in the novels, the character issues don't. There is quite a bit of me in Daphne, and Daphne in me, and likewise for Boldt. And I know that I will continue to write novels based around other characters, perhaps even serious characters started in other books, but Lou and Daphne remain dear to my heart, and I don't see them fading away any time soon.
Niki from Niki_palek@yahoo.com: Do you think police corruption is a serious and real problem that our forces face every day?
Ridley Pearson: This is a question that often comes up when I have discussions with public defenders who take the position that a good number of cops are constantly on the take in either minor or major ways. They emphasize that this occurs especially at the street level, whether it is a cop taking a free cheeseburger or $2000 a week in a protection scam. It is an incredibly disturbing issue for me because I see law enforcement [as] much more noble than that. I acknowledge that there are bad seeds in every company, every police and law enforcement agency, probably any large organization you can name. I bring them -- that is corrupt individuals -- into the novels as a way of turning up the conflict for the lead characters and to try to represent those bad people on the good side [who] do exist. Similarly, I try to show that on the bad side, there are often "good" motivations if not incorrectly carried out. Seattle is such a great place physically for such novels because it is so often gray there, and the true lines in all of these issues weave through the gray and rarely connect black and white.
Moderator: Thank you Ridley Pearson. It was a pleasure having you online tonight. Do you have any closing comments for the online audience?
Ridley Pearson: Thanks to everyone for being here. Keep reading. Please come visit www.ridleypearson.com. It is my new web site and I am adding to it constantly. It has email links to me, and I always love to hear from readers. Thanks for supporting the books and giving me the life of a writer. I will continue to work to earn and maintain your trust. Goodnight to all.
