Interview: Linda Fairstein, author of 'Devil's Bridge'

Linda Fairstein joins us to chat about her new Alex Cooper book (No. 17!), Devil's Bridge; what it was like to finally get heroine Alex and hero Mike together romantically; how it felt to write from Mike's POV; and what readers can expect to see from her next.

Joyce: Welcome to HEA, Linda! After 16 books and 10 years, Alex and Mike are finally a couple at the start of Devil's Bridge. How did that come about?

Linda: When I first dreamed up my two protagonists, Manhattan prosecutor Alex Cooper and NYPD homicide detective Mike Chapman, they were meant to be professional partners in crime-solving and friends who covered each other's backs in extremely trying situations. Sure, they are both young and single, thrown together 24/7, and Mike's great sense of humor often takes jabs at Coop's lifestyle, so I counted on some of the sexual tension between them to develop from the beginning. But I never plotted out a romantic entanglement, fearful that it would cramp their ability to work on major cases together … potentially giving Mike a reason to blur lines when collecting evidence for Coop. It fascinates me that loyal fans and readers saw the inevitably of this relationship long before I had thought it out and given them love lives of their own. I don't think I've ever done a signing or book talk without at least one audience member asking me when Alex and Mike we're going to get together. That signaled two things to me. First, that the beauty of writing series fiction is that many readers do grow attached to characters who become their friends and to whom they return each time a new book appears. Second, it became clear to me that Alex and Mike had to sort out their emotional conflicts and try to give this romance a real shot. The last book in the series … Terminal City … made them each wake up to the reality of their deep love for each other, and in Devil's Bridge, they finally begin the caper as a couple.

Joyce: How did you feel as the author when they finally got together?

Linda: It delights me that Alex and Mike are together now, both professionally and personally. It's a huge understatement to say that they have lived in my mind's eye for two decades now, so I know them really well. It's been a struggle for me, I say with a big smile on my face, to try to resolve the tension between them. I want Alex to have a more steady personal life and relieve some of the stress of her really tough job, and Mike is way too smart to deny the strength of his emotional pull to her. We authors are also keenly aware of the need to keep evolving our characters when we write series fiction, and to keep readers interested in coming back. So I'm very happy for now, but constantly thinking ahead.

Joyce: This isn't the last book featuring them, is it? (Please say no.)

Linda: NO! A very emphatic NO! Alex and Mike will be back, as I'm well into their next adventure. As lots of my readers know, when it comes to Alex's professional life in the courtroom, she is my fictional alter ego. I take a lot of liberties on the personal side, from her age and dress size to her glamorous personal life. But my closeness of spirit to Coop makes it awfully hard to think of knocking her off or shutting her up in a desk drawer.

Joyce: This is the first Alex Cooper book that gives us Mike's POV, isn't it? How was writing that for you?

Linda: Writing a book from Mike Chapman's point of view has been a dream of mine for many years now. At book signings, I'm usually asked if there is anything besides this series I would like to write. For as long as I can remember, I've talked about writing Mike's voice. My wonderful editor, Ben Sevier, took me to lunch last year when he heard me say it again, and asked me why I didn't do it. He most generously gave me the green light. I love Mike. He's the best and brightest, like a composite, of many of the NYPD detectives who taught me everything I learned about investigating cases as a prosecutor. Writing Mike's dialogue is more fun than any other aspect of the book — I just channel all the guys I worked with and call up the way they think and speak. I also enjoyed showing the reader all the reasons Mike likes Alex so much, and how her disappearance affected him. I'd love to do another book from his POV, if the readers respond to this one.

Joyce: You've said that Kevin Bacon would make a fabulous Mike Chapman. Who would you cast as Alex?

Linda: These characters have been around for 17 novels, so I've given a lot of thought about who might play them as actors. And those names change from year to year, as the actors sort of age out of the roles! Readers e-mail suggestions all the time, and they cover an enormous range of talent, so I'm pretty wide open to many. How about Jennifer Lawrence as Alex and Bradley Cooper as Mike? I love their on-screen dynamic.

Joyce: When you first started this series, did you foresee it hitting book 17?

Linda: I had longed to write crime fiction for years. After the publication of my non-fiction book in 1993, my great friend and literary agent Esther Newberg urged me to try my hand at a novel. She actually sold the first book the very next year with only 90 pages written — and there was a bidding war among three publishers to whom she submitted it. One of the three editors asked whether Esther thought I could do two books. Because I have always loved series characters, my instant reply was, "Two? Tell her I think I can write 10!" So here I am at number 17, going full-speed ahead into number 18, and I pinch myself every time I think of that first question about writing two.

Joyce: Would you like to share a touching thing that's happened in your interaction with readers?

Linda: I think, with all these books under my belt, the most touching thing I've encountered in both public appearances and in "fan" mail, is how devoted so many readers become to the characters into whom I've tried to breathe life. People show up to discuss not only the two lead characters, but also Detective Mercer Wallace and District Attorney Paul Battaglia. They care about what Alex and Mike believe in, what food they eat and cocktails they drink, how they interact with friends and family, whether they're in danger or not, and certainly about what's happening to them next. At the beginning of my career, I once laughed and remarked to a group that they didn't need to worry because "it's only fiction." My late husband, my best fan and critic, had been sitting with the crowd and set about chastising me. Don't ever let anyone hear you say that, he said. He made me understand how special it is to be able to give pleasure to readers by bringing characters to life, just as the literary giants I have been so devoted to … from Conan Doyle and Christie to Connelly and Grafton and Silva … have given that gift to me.

Joyce: What can readers except to see from you next?

Linda: The summer of 2016 will have Alex and Mike back (assuming they survive in Devil's Bridge!) in a book with the working title Killer Look. The other project I have started is just now my "breaking news" story. I've always wanted to do a series for middle-school readers that features a modern-day version of a 12-year-old sleuth in the style of Nancy Drew, whose investigations certainly sparked my interest in writing about crime-solving from the time I was a kid. So I'm in the middle of writing the first adventure of Devlin Quick, a very sharp, curious kid — a New Yorker — whose mother is the first woman police commissioner in that city (a job I wanted in the '80s!), with access to all sorts of forensic problem-solving. Stay tuned, and I hope you'll look for Dev and her friends.

Joyce: Is there anything you'd like to add?

Linda: I'm not quite sure whether it's a matter of life imitating art or vice versa, but there's a curious symmetry in my real life and Coop's changed status. Just as I was crafting this dramatic turn of events in her love life – last September – I eloped with my very best friend of 45 years, to whom Devil's Bridge is dedicated. Mike (just a coincidence in naming!) and I met the very first day of law school at the University of Virginia, and turned that longtime friendship into a romance in 2013. Maybe that fact was working its way through my subconscious as I penned the intimacy between Alex and Mike. Either way, I'm over the moon about both romances. Isn't that what "happily ever after" is all about?

Joyce: Thanks, Linda! Good luck with Devil's Bridge and congrats on your new marriage!!

Readers can find out more about Linda and her books at www.lindafairstein.com.

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HEA curator and contributor Joyce Lamb is a Paste BN best-selling author of romantic suspense and three-time RITA finalist and has been a professional journalist for 25 years. You can reach her at jlamb@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter (@JoyceLamb). You can also follow HEA on Twitter (@HEAusatoday).