In suspense with Georgia's Iris Johansen

Suspense novelist Iris Johansen, who exudes femininity and poise, says she’s a “pretty boring person.” Yet she churns out pages strewn with dead bodies, steamy romances and fiendish villains.

So where do these characters come from?

“Are you saying I’m twisted?” she asked wryly.

Twisted, perhaps. Prolific, definitely.

Asked to tally up the number of books she’s published, she shrugged and said, “Don’t know.”

By her Web site’s tally, it’s 81, with three new titles this year alone. Johansen has a home in Kennesaw but writes from her other house in Cartersville, with nine dogs by her side. When she’s in writing mode, not even they can slow her down. She writes as fast as she can to keep up with a cadre of hungry readers.

“I can’t wait to find out what’s going to happen next in her novels,” said Bethy Waka of Tucker, who started a Facebook group with six of her friends in 2006 to chat and share news about her favorite author. Since then, more than 600 fans have dropped in.

“I love it when people tell me they read my book in two days,” Johansen said. “It means they were there with me, that my characters took them over. That’s the best compliment in the entire world.”

Her latest novel, “Chasing the Night” (St. Martin’s Press, $27.99), was released in October. It’s part of Johansen’s popular Eve Duncan series following the forensic sculptor through nail-biting escapades with her lover Joe Quinn and a few new characters readers may see more of in upcoming novels, like CIA operative Catherine Ling.

“I’d had an idea of her character for a long time and this was the perfect time to do it,” Johansen said. “She will continue because I like her.”

Indeed, Johansen has personal relationships with all her characters. Sometimes, they jump into her mind on a lark, like Eve did. “I was watching the Discovery Channel, and it was first time I’d heard of forensic sculpting. I thought, this is really fascinating. Then I thought, what if. ... And Eve Duncan was born.”

Johansen reveals bits and pieces of Eve’s story in each installment. In Waka’s Facebook group, hot topics include whether Eve and Joe will ever get married, who killed Eve’s daughter Bonnie, and which actors should play them in a movie. Johansen said Eve’s been optioned by Lifetime, but so far no plans are in motion for a film.

Johansen’s super fans get pretty fired up about what happens to the characters. Perhaps to the point of obsession?

“Oh yes, definitely,” Johansen said. “Everyone is always asking, is she ever going to find Bonnie? Sometimes they get absolutely teed off about it!

“In ‘Stalemate,’ Joe and Eve were having problems. She met this other man. She wasn’t unfaithful, but she was attracted to him. I heard about that.”

Fans will be relieved to hear that Johansen is working on a trilogy for 2011 that “will answer a lot of questions.” The first, “Eve,” will be published in April, followed by “Quinn” in July, then “Bonnie” in October.

“Iris always writes with emotion,” said Jennifer Enderlin, associate publisher at St. Martin’s Press. “But this trilogy she has coming up is the culmination of 10 years of emotion, so it’s particularly exciting.”

In the early 1980s, Johansen started writing "category" or series romances, scribbling feverishly on giant yellow legal pads in the car while her two kids were finishing their after-school activities.

After some success in category romance, Johansen quit her job with Eastern Airlines and started writing full-time to support her family. But she got bored with the take-me-away romance formula.

“I truly am a romantic,” she said. “And there’s nothing that pleases people more than a good category romance writer, but I outgrew it because the stories weren’t big enough for me.”

Her first turn toward suspense was 1996’s “The Ugly Duckling.” She writes one book a year with her son, Roy, and said she may one day be interested in attempting sci-fi.

Since 1994, Johansen has had 45 books on the New York Times Best Sellers List. Not a bad track record for someone who claims to write by the seat of her pants.