The 'Stephanie Plums' are very much Jersey books. So you can't get away from attitude and objectionable language.

I take in a lot of stuff from real life, movies, television, news and it all gets mixed in my head and somehow turns into a story idea.

I think that some books are more successful than others to certain readers. People who read my books for the humor, they're going to love one book. People who read my books for the mystery, they might not like that book quite as much.

You can get through very serious and sometimes horrible and sometimes embarrassing and very awkward situations with humor. It gives us a way out.

We don't appreciate the value of humor sometimes.

'Plum's are probably the funniest, but all the books have their own degree of humor. But if you're hooked into 'Ranger,' you're reading it for the romance.