also want to acknowledge all those who work so very hard on my behalf, especially: Katherine Monaghan, Lauretta Charlton, Anna deVries, Anna Simpson, Claudia Ballard, Jessica Almon, Tracy Fisher, and Michelle Feehan.
If there are errors in this book, they are my fault. If I have forgotten to thank someone, I apologize.
A CONVERSATION WITH KATHY REICHS
Kathy Reichs talks about her cases, the inspiration for
Q: Is
A: Strange things arrive at my lab. I’ve been asked to examine shrunken heads to determine their authenticity. Often they’re actually the skulls of birds or dogs.
Sometimes human skulls do show up. Some are painted or decorated. Some show carbonization from candle flames. Some are covered with melted wax, blood, and/or bird feathers.
These skulls turn out to be ritual objects. They’ve graced altars or been used in spells or religious ceremonies. I’ve worked on a number of these cases and, each time, the situation got me thinking about fringe religions, belief systems that mystify or alienate the larger population.
Q: How did you go about researching
A: About twenty years ago, at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, I heard a paper delivered by a pathologist who worked at the Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office in Miami, Florida. His research focused on a fringe religion known as Santeria.
Santeria is a syncretic religion resulting from the blending of African religious practices with Catholicism. The movement emerged during the period when slaves were brought to North America and forbidden the right to follow their ancestral beliefs. As a means of survival, the traditional African deities came to be disguised as Catholic saints. I remembered the paper and tracked it down. Then I became curious about other so-called fringe religions. A McGill University colleague had told me about a graduate student who worked as a cook at a Wiccan summer camp. Initially through her I began to research Wiccan practice and philosophy.
So the research went from lab to colleagues to literature to practitioners. During that progression I met many fascinating individuals and learned a great deal about religions that hadn’t been on my radar.
Q: How did you choose to write about police officers losing their lives in the line of duty?
A: Sadly, this part of the novel was inspired by events in my hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. On April 1, 2007, Police Officer Sean Clark and Police Officer Jeff Shelton responded to a disturbance call in an East Charlotte housing complex. They had resolved the disturbance and were leaving when they engaged in conversation with a man uninvolved in the incident. As they turned to walk away, the man pulled out a gun and shot both officers in the back.
This incident had a huge impact on our community. I was in the early stages of writing
Q: How do you manage to balance your life as a bestselling writer with the demands of your forensic work and now with your work on the Fox series
A: It takes a good calendar. If I didn’t put everything onto my computer and BlackBerry, I think I’d probably be AWOL for half of the things I’m supposed to do.
It also takes discipline. I work a three-point triangle: Charlotte, North Carolina, where I live and do most writing; Montreal, Quebec, where I do casework for the Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de medicine legale (I’m also on the Canadian National Police Services Advisory Board); Los Angeles, California, where
Any time I’m not traveling – for book promotion or public speaking, for casework or testimony, for TV production – I write all day. I try to begin by eight in the morning and stay with it until five in the afternoon, or longer. If I’ve got free time, I write.
Q: How has it felt to see your principal character realized in the television series
A: The only way I can sum up working on the television series
I met with Barry Josephson and Hart Hanson, now two of our three executive producers, before any deal was made. Barry and Hart assured me they would keep Tempe a realistic age and keep the science honest. They convinced me that they genuinely desired my input.
I work on each episode, primarily assisting staff writers. They develop each script as an original story. They come to me with questions concerning the science and I offer suggestions. I read each script when it is finished and send my comments to the other producers and the writers.
Periodically I do go to L.A. and hang around the set with Emily Deschanel, who plays Tempe, and with the producers, the writers, the props people.
I think of
I’m thrilled with the acting on the show. Emily Deschanel does a fantastic job as the younger version of Temperance Brennan. And David Boreanaz is, well? What need one say? Michaela, Tamara, Eric, and TJ are terrific. In sum, I think the show has turned out splendidly. And grows better each season.
Q: Which is your favorite of all the Temperance Brennan books? Which did you most enjoy writing?
A: One of my favorites will always be
I enjoyed researching
Another of my favorites is
Though the novel spins off into completely different territory, PMI came to be the central question in
Q: How far do you identify personally with Tempe?
A: When I started these books I had