Janet Evanovich is an American writer. Her career began with writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall before she started her immensely popular Stephanie Plum series.
Janet was born on April 22, 1943, in South River, New Jersey. She attended South River High School and became the first in her family to attend college when she pursued an art degree at Douglass Residential College.
When she got married and had children, she decided to be an at-home mom and began writing novels in her thirties. For ten years, she tried to break into the business and turned to writing romance novels after someone suggested she give it a try. She wrote two manuscripts, but after they were rejected, she stopped writing until several months later, when she received an offer to buy her second romance script.
Hero at Large was published in 1987, and for the next five years, she focused on writing romances. Janet became known for her comedic touch, and after writing twelve romances, she took a year and a half off to come up with a plan for what she wanted to write next. The result was Stephanie Plum. She has said the character was partly inspired by the movie Midnight Run, which had a bounty hunter as a main character.
Her first Stephanie Plum book, One for the Money, was critically acclaimed and a financial success even before its publication. Shortly before the book was released, Janet sold the movie rights for $1 million. By the sixth book in the Plum series, Janet was topping the New York Times Best Seller list. Over seventeen of the Plum novels have since debuted as #1 bestsellers. Janet has sold over two hundred million books worldwide and her novels have been translated into over 40 languages.
Janet has written several other series in addition to Stephanie Plum, including her most recent Gabriela Rose Recovery Agent series. She has also collaborated with several authors and co-written many novels, most notably her Fox and O’Hare series.
She credits her persistence, work discipline, and loyal readership as reasons for her success, saying, “I wake up every day and write, and I write for my readers. I am grateful for how my books have connected with such a large audience around the world.” She added, “Dumb stubbornness and dogged determination also have something to do with my success.”