Instructors have always tried to sell me the old clap trap, "Write what you know." I've never believe this preposterous opine. And Janet Evanovich has redeemed my theory. She says, "If I wrote about what I knew best, my books would be about someone sitting in a room with a parrot squawking in the corner - typing away for hours on a computer. Boring!"

She says, however, that you have to research. To portray Stephanie Plum, her main character correctly, she studied bondsman and their agencies. She got to know cops, rode with them, even carried a loaded gun in her waistband to see how that would feel. Then she tailored the facts she learned to her characters.

I'm looking forward to character development - though instead of a real, cold steely gun, I will use a water pistol with cool water.