Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Lies You Never Told ME
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Austin
STATE: TX
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2018013831
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2018013831
HEADING: Donaldson, Jennifer (Young adult author)
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040 __ |a DLC |b eng |e rda |c DLC
100 1_ |a Donaldson, Jennifer |c (Young adult author)
500 1_ |a Graham, Jennifer |q (Jennifer Dawn)
670 __ |a Lies you never told me, 2018: |b ECIP t.p. (Jennifer Donaldson)
670 __ |a Email to pub. 03-09-18 |b (per pub. no birth date or full name available; Jennifer Donaldson is a pseud. of Jennifer Graham, co-author of The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line and Mr. Kiss and Tell)
953 __ |a xk09
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Graduated from Reed College; University of Texas at Austin, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including Seattle Review and Zahir.
SIDELIGHTS
Jennifer Graham is perhaps best known as the coauthor of two novels that continue the adventures of television—and, as of 2014, film–legend Veronica Mars. The first volume, which she wrote with series creator Rob Thomas, is The Thousand Dollar Tan Line. The novel, said Signature website interviewer Galen Adair, “picks up where the film left off. Here, the core mystery concerns a co-ed who goes missing during spring break.” “The novel features Veronica back in Neptune,” said Meredith Border on the Lit Reactor website, “working as a private investigator after the events of the just-released film, a project funded in part by the franchise’s rabid fans in an historic Kickstarter campaign. The Thousand Dollar Tan Line was followed up in January 2015 with Graham and Thomas’ … Mr. Kiss and Tell, with the second sequel taking place nine months after the film. Thomas has said that the novels are canon for the franchise…. And they feel like canon.”
Graham was not involved in the original television show at all, but she had seen the program in video. “Like a lot of people, I didn’t catch it when it first aired,” Graham told Adair “But I picked up the first season on a whim at the library six or seven years ago. Back then DVDs only circulated for a week at a time so I didn’t think I’d finish before it had to go back — but no worries. I watched the whole thing in about three days.” The author found that presenting Veronica’s story in the form of a novel enhanced the character played by Kristin Bell on the screen. In the novels, Graham continued in a conversation with Alex Nagorski on the PopBytes website, “we get a little more of Veronica’s mindset, which was both exciting and terrifying for me. On the one hand, we have this amazing opportunity to bear witness to more of her thoughts and memories and get closer to her personal experience. On the other hand, the act of imagining the interior world of such an iconic character is a little intimidating, especially when that character is as complex as Veronica…. I didn’t want to show her mooning around or being self-pitying, but I also didn’t want her to come across as a robot.”
The Thousand Dollar Tan Line and Mr. Kiss and Tell
Critics in general enjoyed the first volume of Veronica Mars’ further adventures. As The Thousand Dollar Tan Line opens, “Veronica has settled back in Neptune and made peace with her vocation of following her father’s footsteps, while Keith [her father] is still not at ease with it,” wrote a Dead End Follies website reviewer. “Anyway, Veronica is visited by Petra Landros, ex-supermodel and owner of the Neptune Grand Hotel, who wants her to supplement the sheriff’s investigation on a young girl’s disappearance. It’s spring break and any criminal activity … [isn’t] good for business.” “On every page save the scene-setting prologue, it is undeniably Veronica’s story: nothing shown from any other point of view, but all the supporting players are given their moment and the voices of the regulars are perfect,” declared Michael Flett on the Geek Chocolate website. “The slower unfolding of a book allows the reader perhaps too much time to join the dots, but even when the inevitable rug-pull comes it’s not quite as expected.”
In Mr. Kiss and Tell, Veronica takes up a claim filed against a local Neptune hotel by a guest who accuses a hotel employee of assault. By the time Veronica takes the case, however, the employee has been deported. “This is an overall solid and fun crime novel, a mystery that’s twisty enough to keep it interesting without going too far into the realm of unbelievable,” assessed a contributor to the Persephone website. “It’s a welcome addition to the Veronica Mars storyline, and hopefully indicative of more books to come.” “This reads exactly like one of your favourite episodes of the show,” enthused a contributor to the Couple of Pages website, “and it is great that we get the chance to see the story continue.”
Lies You Never Told Me
Lies You Never Told Me, which Graham published under the pseudonym Jennifer Donaldson, is a story of two high school students dealing with different kinds of exploitation. Gabe lives in Austin, Texas, where he wants to break off his relationship with cheerleader girlfriend Sasha and begin a new one with Catherine, who helped him after he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. At the same time Elyse, from Portland, Oregon, finds herself more and more attracted to the drama teacher who cast her as the lead in Romeo and Juliet, passing over her more-experienced best friend Brynn.
“Moments of melodrama are ultimately assuaged by sympathetic, well-rounded characters in this taut, intense thriller,” assessed a Publishers Weekly reviewer. “The parallels between Gabe’s and Elyse’s differently abusive relationships are effectively poignant,” declared Sarah Hunter in Booklist, “and might spark conversation.” “High school-age female soap opera fans will love the story and the characters, however,” added Lucy Schall in Voice of Youth Advocates, “and get hooked.” “This conversation-starting page-turner,” concluded a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “is a Fatal Attraction meets Big Little Lies cautionary tale for teens about dangerous relationships.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 15, 2018, Sarah Hunter, review of Lies You Never Told Me, p. 50.
Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2018, review of Lies You Never Told Me.
Publishers Weekly, March 19, 2018, review of Lies You Never Told Me, p. 78.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2018, Lucy Schall, review of Lies You Never Told Me, p. 56.
ONLINE
Couple of Pages, https://coupleofpages.com/ (April 20, 2015), Jon Page, review of Mr. Kiss and Tell.
Dead End Follies, http://www.deadendfollies.com/ (August 28, 2014), review of The Thousand Dollar Tan Line.
Geek Chocolate, http://geekchocolate.co.uk/ (April 11, 2014), Michael Flett, review of The Thousand Dollar Tan Line.
Lit Reactor, https://litreactor.com/ (February 12, 2018), Meredith Borders, “‘Veronica Mars’ Should Continue… in Book Form.”
Persephone, http://persephonemagazine.com/ (January 1, 2015), review of Mr. Kiss and Tell.
PopBytes, http://popbytes.com/ (August 1, 2018), Alex Nagorski, “Chatting Veronica Mars’ New Book Series with Coauthor Jennifer Graham.”
Signature, http://www.signature-reads.com/ (March 25, 2014), Galen Adair, “Taking on Veronica Mars: A Q&A with Cowriter Jennifer Graham.”
Print Marked Items
Donaldson, Jennifer. Lies You Never Told Me
Lucy Schall
Voice of Youth Advocates.
41.1 (Apr. 2018): p56+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 4P * S * NA
Donaldson, Jennifer. Lies You Never Told Me. Razorbill/Penguin Random House, May 2018. 336p. $18.99. 978-1-59514-852-0.
Teenagers Gabe and Elyse seek loving relationships with dangerous partners. Gabes desire to be part of the in-crowd traps him with rich, highprofile,
narcissistic cheerleader Sasha. Battered and abused Elyse, who receives no support from her opioid-addicted mother, is seduced by her
high school drama teacher. He persuades her to run away with him and live off the grid. Gabes affections shift to the mysterious Catherine, and
his break-up makes him the target of bizarre Sasha attacks. Elyse risks her life to leave the life of lies she has chosen. A plot twist brings Gabe
and Elyse together, saves them, and punishes the wrong doers.
Although each story contains action and suspense delivered in short chapters, readers must work through many pages to get to the neatly wrapped
conclusion. The fact that Gabe is suspected by the police of creating the chaotic results of Sasha's planned attacks--especially after she completes
a Catherine-type make-over--requires extreme suspension of belief. The predatory drama teacher's employment, evidently without a security
check, and Elyses willingness to leave her mother, who is in the middle of rehab, seem questionable. High school-age female soap opera fans will
love the story and the characters, however, and get hooked on the combination of a manic cheerleader, an opioid abuser, and a sexual predator and
all the dysfunction that surrounds them. --Lucy Schall.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Schall, Lucy. "Donaldson, Jennifer. Lies You Never Told Me." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2018, p. 56+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536746141/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cdff35b1. Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536746141
Lies You Never Told Me
Sarah Hunter
Booklist.
114.16 (Apr. 15, 2018): p50.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Lies You Never Told Me.
By Jennifer Donaldson.
May 2018. 336p. Razorbill, $18.99 (9781595148520). Gr. 9-12.
When Gabe befriends Catherine, the quiet tomboy new to his Austin high school, he unknowingly sets off a chain of alarming events. First, he
gets threatening Snapchats. Then, his ex-girlfriend, Sasha, absconds with his little sister--though she tearfully claims that it was all a
misunderstanding. When Gabe and Catherine start dating, Sasha's schemes become more and more damaging. Catherine gets increasingly cagey,
but it seems to be about something other than Gabe's unhinged ex. Meanwhile, alternating chapters tell the story of Elyse, a put-upon Portland
teen who's slowly but surely being groomed by her drama teacher, who's twice her age. Readers savvy to the plentiful red flags in the teacher's
behavior will squirm, particularly when he alienates her from her friends. The parallels between Gabe's and Elyse's differently abusive
relationships are effectively poignant and might spark conversation about what constitutes healthy relationships, and the mostly well-rounded
characters keep the high-stakes drama grounded. Some might guess how the two stories are related early on, but the cinematic pacing and twisty
plot will keep readers flipping the pages.--Sarah Hunter
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Hunter, Sarah. "Lies You Never Told Me." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2018, p. 50. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A537268166/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4355087b. Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A537268166
Donaldson, Jennifer: LIES YOU NEVER TOLD ME
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Donaldson, Jennifer LIES YOU NEVER TOLD ME Razorbill/Penguin (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 5, 29 ISBN: 978-1-59514-852-0
Two teens must survive edgy, toxic romances in this dark YA thriller.
In Austin, Texas, keen skateboarder Gabe Jimenez's desire to break up with his popular--and incredibly controlling and jealous--girlfriend, Sasha,
intensifies after a hit-and-run accident leaves him semiconscious in the arms of a mysterious girl. Across the country in Portland, Oregon, Elyse
McCormick can't believe the handsome new drama teacher Mr. Hunter has cast her--and not her more experienced best friend Brynn--as Juliet in
the school's upcoming Shakespeare production. Gabe's and Elyse's storylines seem unconnected until it's clear they're both in obsessive, and in
Elyse's case, illegal, relationships. Gabe befriends quiet, shy Catherine, the girl who comforted him after he was hit by a car, but she's
understandably frightened to date him when he's got a queen-bee ex prone to creepy, stalker-ish behavior. Elyse, whose home life is troubled,
predictably goes from idolizing Mr. Hunter to falling desperately for him. The characters are fairly diverse: Gabe is Mexican-American with a
little sister who has Down syndrome, Brynn is Filipina-American, while Elyse, Sasha, and Catherine are white. Eagle-eyed readers may figure out
one of the big twists, but this well-paced thriller is difficult to put down.
This conversation-starting page-turner is a Fatal Attraction meets Big Little Lies cautionary tale for teens about dangerous relationships.
(resources) (Fiction.14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Donaldson, Jennifer: LIES YOU NEVER TOLD ME." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A528959914/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6291c1fa. Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A528959914
Lies You Never Told Me
Publishers Weekly.
265.12 (Mar. 19, 2018): p78+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Lies You Never Told Me
Jennifer Donaldson. Razorbill, $18.99 (336p)
ISBN 978-1-595-14852-0
Gabe Jimenez's life turns upside down when he's a victim of a hit-and-run and ends up in the arms of a mysterious girl, whom he believes is his
savior. Things intensify after he runs into the girl again at the mall and learns that her name is Catherine and that she is a new student at his
school. Thousands of miles away in Oregon, Elyse is thrilled to be picked as the lead in the school production of Romeo and Juliet. Her home life
with her opioid-addicted mother is less than perfect, and she welcomes the attentions of her drama teacher, Mr. Hunter, who begins to groom her
for a boundary-crossing relationship. Meanwhile, Gabe's relationship with his girlfriend, Sasha, turns sour as her jealousy of Catherine leads her
to behave in more erratic and dangerous ways. Debut author Donaldson weaves together two seemingly unconnected stories that eventually
merge in a way that only the most attentive readers will predict. Moments of melodrama are ultimately assuaged by sympathetic, well-rounded
characters in this taut, intense thriller that could serve as a cautionary tale for obsessive teen relationships. Ages 14-up. Agent: Lanie Davis, Alloy
Entertainment. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Lies You Never Told Me." Publishers Weekly, 19 Mar. 2018, p. 78+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A531977431/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f48d1879. Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A531977431
Taking on Veronica Mars: A Q&A with Co-Writer Jennifer Graham
By GALEN ADAIR
March 25, 2014
Jennifer Graham/Photo © Vintage Books
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Veronica Mars returned to our screens and lives earlier this month with the release of the spin-off film, "Veronica Mars." This week, the sassy sleuth takes a literary turn in the original mystery, Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, which picks up where the film left off. Here, the core mystery concerns a co-ed who goes missing during spring break. Mars creator Rob Thomas co-wrote the novel with Jennifer Graham, whose short stories have appeared in The Seattle Review and Zahir. Graham graduated from Reed College and received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. Signature was able to swing a few questions her way in time for the book's release.
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Signature: Were you a fan prior to being brought on?
Jennifer Graham: Absolutely! Like a lot of people, I didn't catch it when it first aired. But I picked up the first season on a whim at the library six or seven years ago. Back then DVDs only circulated for a week at a time so I didn't think I'd finish before it had to go back -- but no worries. I watched the whole thing in about three days.
SIG: What was the collaboration process with Rob Thomas like?
JG: It's been great. Like most fiction writers, I spend most of my time alone in a room thinking about feelings. When we "broke" the plot for The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, it was much more like a TV writers' room. Rob had the seeds of an idea, and we worked together to develop it. That was new for me, but it was fun -- you learn really quickly to be brave, to stay open, and to check your ego at the door.
Once we had the major plot points hashed out, I went back home and the "alone in a room" portion of my career started again. Rob had designed a really clever puzzle of a plot; my job was to get it built, adding interesting details, emotional beats, and character touches. Once I'd done that, Rob stepped in again to make sure the whole thing was in line with his vision.
SIG: How is it evolving something like a television series or film into literature?
JG: On screen, we mostly see Veronica's feelings from the outside, through Kristen Bell's incredible acting skills. Translating that to a more internal set of cues was actually a little intimidating at first. Veronica's such an iconic character, and she's been important to a lot of people. This was a chance to see her from a different angle, and I really wanted to do her justice. I wanted to make sure we got a glimpse at what her brain looks like while she's piecing things together, and I wanted to make sure that prickly, smart, complicated woman we've been waiting for for seven years was fully realized on the page.
I definitely aimed to maintain the tone of that pitch-perfect, hard-boiled voice-over in the process. That's my favorite part of the noir/hard-boiled pastiche. Anything you can imagine Bogey saying out of the corner of his mouth makes me happy.
SIG: Was it intimidating to join the creative team of such a beloved character?
JG: Of course! I mean, Rob was super easy to work with, and he put me at ease pretty quickly. The intimidating part is that so many people have such a very personal attachment to Veronica and company. There's a ton of smart, engaged, talented fans out there who've put a lot of thought into this world. I don't want to let them down!
SIG: As a bonus Portland-y question: You've attended college in two of the funkiest cities in the US. As a Portlander myself, I constantly overhear people saying things like "I'm sick of this weather, I'm going to move to Austin." Which city has more to offer? What do you miss about Portland and what do you not miss?
JG: This is funny, because one of the things I miss most about Portland is the weather. The cold gloomy rain and the resulting gigantic trees and year-round green is much more my speed than the heat and sun in Austin. Every time it rains in Austin I get excited and all the Texans boo me.
Both places have been really good to me -- they're both full of creative, smart people. They both embrace a sense of playfulness and fun in daily life. I definitely miss the landscape of the Pacific Northwest, and Portland has parks on virtually every corner and the best public library system in the country. Austin has swimming holes, breakfast tacos, and a great music scene -- so I'm not sure who's actually coming out ahead at this point.
I think both places are currently struggling to decide what kind of city they want to be. Between sprawl and gentrification and a sort of hip santization, there are parts of both towns that look more like Neptune than any of us should be comfortable with. Don't get me wrong; I love both Austin and Portland from the bottom of my heart. But I do think people in both places need to work hard to build communities that are fair and inclusive, even as the towns inevitably grow and change.
'Veronica Mars' Should Continue…In Book Form
COLUMN BY MEREDITH BORDERS FEBRUARY 12, 2018 6 COMMENTS
Last month, Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell and creator Rob Thomas did their semi-annual rounds, reaffirming their sustained interest in creating more stories about the former teen detective.
'We thought we were incredibly close not too long ago and a couple of business things got in the way, that neither Kristen nor I could control,' Thomas said about reviving the property. 'So we're biding our time, but we have an idea for what we want to do and we're eager to do.'
Fans rejoiced at the not-quite-news, rooting for a miniseries, another feature film or even a new season of the brilliant but short-lived show. And while there’s really no scenario in which I’d turn up my nose at the chance to see Bell reprise the pint-sized PI on the big screen or small, I’m here to stump for the little guy in the Veronica Mars Returns Sweepstakes: the books.
On March 25, 2014, Thomas teamed up with author Jennifer Graham to deliver Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line for Random House’s Vintage Books. The novel features Veronica back in Neptune, working as a private investigator after the events of the just-released film, a project funded in part by the franchise’s rabid fans in an historic Kickstarter campaign. The Thousand Dollar Tan Line was followed up in January 2015 with Graham and Thomas’ Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell, with the second sequel taking place nine months after the film.
Thomas has said that the novels are canon for the franchise:
It would be my hope that, if we got to do any more movies, either these books could be turned into movies, or that the events in these books are reflected in whatever future projects we do.
And they feel like canon. The best thing I can say about the Veronica Mars novels is that they feel like a really great, marginally extended episode of Veronica Mars. Actually, that’s not true. The best thing I can say about the Veronica Mars books is that they’re solid entries in the celebrated genre of detective fiction… that also happen to feel like a great episode of Veronica Mars. The mysteries are punchy and well-paced, each peppered with maddeningly compelling red herrings before landing on two quite satisfying conclusions.
There’s a real sense of place in the books, a Neptune even more tangible than the one we once saw onscreen. The Thousand Dollar Tan Line opens with a description that would sell me on any mystery – deeply steeped in noir traditions, colorful and sardonic and filled with dread.
The buses began to roll into Neptune, California, late Friday afternoon and didn’t slow up until Monday. They arrived dusty, windshields speckled with dead insects and fractures from stray flying stones, the chaos of the interstate. They pulled in along the boardwalk, trembling with pent-up noise, shivering like dogs waiting for a command.
And the dialogue is perfect. Of course, dialogue has always been Thomas’ cup of tea, with some of the best TV one-liners appearing on Veronica Mars, Party Down and even his more commercially palatable and therefore somewhat less thrilling iZombie. We can hear these characters speak their lines as surely as if the actors themselves were reading them to us – which in the case of Bell is true, as she does a charming job performing the audiobook version of Tan Line and even gives a go at capturing the verbal tics of actors like Enrico Colantoni, Daran Norris and Tina Majorino.
Here’s a snippet from Mr. Kiss and Tell that demonstrates both the book’s strong handle on Marsian prose and its tongue-in-cheek nods to its own gumshoe heritage.
She clicked through different windows, marking the woman’s path. The camera in the elevator gave a closer and sharper view of her features than those in the lobby. ‘Oh, you kid! Opal blue eyes, heart-shaped face, bee-stung lips – insert 1930s Variety prose here.’
But here’s the rub, the area in which most Marshmallows (the cutesy self-given fan title inspired by a line in the series’ pilot) will likely disagree with me: both The Thousand Dollar Tan Line and Mr. Kiss and Tell are a bit too preoccupied with fan service for my liking. It’s the same reason I don’t necessarily need further adventures of Veronica onscreen, as they will undoubtedly include scenes of tortured romance between Veronica and her on-again/off-again soulmate Logan (Jason Dohring).
Give me mystery. Give me noir. Give me wisecracking from a perky private dick and her team of sidekicks (namely Wallace, Mac, Cliff and Keith). Keep the long-lost love and the ceaseless references back to episodes we’ve all watched a hundred times.
Veronica Mars has the potential to be a hell of a detective series operating in the same sphere as the best of Hard Case Crime: pulpy, gritty and slim. Its best chance at storytelling success is to leave behind the albatross of exacting fandom and move forward with a progression of slick, readable one-off mysteries featuring a snarky, genius detective and her pals. Fans will never let the show (or movie, or miniseries) off so easy, but they seem to have left the books alone, for better or worse. While the books deserve more attention than they've received, at least that fan neglect has given them the freedom to be what the show could have been from the beginning: more about the mystery, less about the history.
Image of Veronica Mars: An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
Veronica Mars: An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
Author: Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham
Price: $10.21
Publisher: Vintage (2014)
Binding: Paperback, 336 pages
Image of Veronica Mars (2): An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: Mr. Kiss and Tell
Veronica Mars (2): An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: Mr. Kiss and Tell
Author: Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham
Price: $12.59
Publisher: Vintage (2015)
Binding: Paperback, 336 pages
Meredith Borders
Column by Meredith Borders
Meredith is a writer, editor and brewpub owner living in Houston, Texas. Her four most commonly used words are, "The book was better."
Dead End Follies
Book Review : Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham - Veronica Mars : The Thousand Dollar Tan Line (2014)
Aug 28
Book Review : Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham - Veronica Mars : The Thousand Dollar Tan Line (2014)
Book Reviews
Order THE THOUSAND DOLLAR TAN LINE here
I got intensely into Veronica Mars a couple years back. It's a young adult detective series with a female protagonist that channels the genres' classics, like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. It also has a fun California vibe. The show was short-lived (three seasons) and fans, such as myself, have been howling for more content ever since. There was a movie financed over Kickstarter three years ago, which was all right. It was like a hundred minutes-long episodes. The real potential of Veronica Mars' second life lied in the licensed novel that were published around the same time, though. Well, I've read both of them during my vacation and today, we'll discuss the first one: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line.
And I have a lot to say.
The Thousand Dollar Tan Line picks up soon after the events of the movie. Veronica has settled back in Neptune and made peace with her vocation of following her father's footsteps, while Keith is still not at ease with it. Anyway, Veronica is visited by Petra Landros, ex-supermodel and owner of the Neptune Grand Hotel, who wants her to supplement the sheriff's investigation on a young girl's disappearance. It's Spring Break and any criminal activity that go beyond drunken brawls and small-time drug busts aren't good for business. A straightforward case by any means. Expect that by the time Veronica begins her investigation, ANOTHER girl freakin' disappears. Both vanished in a mansion owned by heirs to a Cartel family. It looks like a bad one.
Licensed novels can be tricky. In this case, the material (and perhaps the idea for the novel?) belongs to Veronica Mars' creator and showrunner Rob Thomas, but they were written by Jennifer Graham. So, there was some red tape along the way. The characters we all know and love aren't...doing much of anything in The Thousand Dollar Tan Line. They sure aren't involved in the case in any way: Logan is stationed in Iraq, Keith is still crippled from the accident that occurred in the movie, Weevil's in jail, Wallace is just, kind of there? Anyway, you get my point. Only Mac is actively involved in the narrative and her role is accessory at best. I have no problem with the actualy story told in The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, but it becomes a run-of-the-mill mystery since no one from the show is involved.
I mean, the mystery is definitely "Neptun-ian," two young girls disappearing during a shallow and expensive celebration of youthfulness. The new sheriff Lamb is also present in all his venal glory. There clearly was an effort made in that sense, but what made Veronica Mars such a powerful and original show was the incestuous nature of Neptune. Everybody was involved in each other's private bullshit. It was like high school, except city-wide. The social claustrophobia is not present in The Thousand Dollar Tan Line. It's a story about a professional cracking a tricky investigation with the help of her convenient computer wiz friend and that's about it. There is a plot twist I'm not going to spoil here, but it did little to make up for the impersonal nature of The Thousand Dollar Tan Line.
So, who are the Veronica Mars novels targeted at? The obvious answers to that question is: die-hard fans of the show, but The Thousand Dollar Tan Line feels way too safe and non-committal to be satisfying. It's a technically sound novel that doesn't have much of a soul. I'm sure it's not Jennifer Graham's fault. She does her best with the cards she was dealt and shows she can write a solid mystery anyway. It's obvious that a condition for this novel be written was that no significant character development could happen. That's how it ended up being a middle-of-the-road, pleasant but forgettable novel. For licensed novels to be great and relevant to their creative universe, they need to come at the very end like the Star Wars novels originally did. It's not the case here. Does Rob Thomas have any idea of reviving the series? I guess we'll see.
Benoit Lelievre
Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham, Veronica Mars, detective novels
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CHATTING VERONICA MARS’ NEW BOOK SERIES WITH CO-AUTHOR JENNIFER GRAHAM
Veronica Mars
It’s no secret that Veronica Mars has an insanely dedicated following.
After the beloved mystery TV series ended in 2007, it found new life this year in the form of a Kickstarter-funded feature film. Released earlier this month, the Veronica Mars movie was written and directed by show creator Rob Thomas (who also co-created another cult favorite series, Party Down). In the film, Veronica (played again by Kristen Bell) returns to her hometown of Neptune, California, years after the show’s conclusion to investigate a murder that her former flame, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), is accused of.
But while fans (or “Marshmallows”) eagerly wait to see if Veronica Mars will be getting the sequel treatment, they can already find out what happens next to the beloved private investigator. Picking up almost three months after the events of the movie, Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line (Amazon) is the first installment in an all-new original mystery book series. Co-written by Thomas and author Jennifer Graham, the novel (published on March 25 by Vintage) finds Veronica back in Neptune, this time trying to solve a missing person’s case. And when a second girl with unexpected ties to Veronica’s past goes missing too, it’s up to Veronica to uncover the truth surrounding one of her most personal cases yet.
Taking a break from writing the second novel in the series, Graham chatted with me about transferring Veronica Mars to a new medium, how she and Thomas worked together, what Marshmallows can look forward to in the book, and more.
Author Jennifer Graham
ALEX NAGORSKI: From a storytelling perspective, what are the advantages of telling Veronica Mars stories on the page versus TV or film?
JENNIFER GRAHAM: One of the things that fiction can do that TV or film can’t is to give the reader access to a character’s internal life. Obviously, Veronica in both the movie and the show has that hardboiled voice-over, so to some degree we get to hear what she’s thinking, and Kristen Bell conveys a lot of nuance in her performances. But in a book we get a little more of Veronica’s mindset, which was both exciting and terrifying for me. On the one hand, we have this amazing opportunity to bear witness to more of her thoughts and memories and get closer to her personal experience. On the other hand, the act of imagining the interior world of such an iconic character is a little intimidating, especially when that character is as complex as Veronica. Veronica’s a bad-ass, but she’s not a cartoon bad-ass; there are ways she’s vulnerable or even insecure. I didn’t want to show her mooning around or being self-pitying, but I also didn’t want her to come across as a robot. I tried really hard to capture that balance.
Does this book work as a jumping on point for the Veronica Mars universe? Or do readers need to have seen the show and movie to understand what’s going on?
We tried to make it accessible to both veteran Marshmallows and people who aren’t fans yet. I think anyone with an interest in PI fiction could pick it up and be quite entertained, whether or not they’ve seen the show/movie. I did drop in a few in-jokes and call-backs–as a fan myself, they were a lot of fun to write–but I don’t think they’re distracting or confusing. And Rob’s characters are so damn good, I think new readers will be more than willing to jump in.
Were you a fan of the series before working with Rob on this novel? If so, what’s your favorite episode?
I totally was! I’m not sure what my favorite episode is, but I have a half-dozen favorite moments–Lilly’s tribute video, which always makes me tear up; the plot twist at the end of “You Think You Know Somebody;” the “locked room” mysteries of “An Echolls Family Christmas” and “Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough.” I’m a big structure junkie, and so my favorite moments of Veronica tend to show the tightness and control of the narrative while also giving space for the emotional through-lines of the series.
Can you walk me through you and Rob’s creative process as co-writers? Did you alternate writing chapters/scenes, or did you have to figure out a system of how to write together at the same time?
We “broke” the plot of the book writers’ room style–Rob had the seed of an idea, and we sat down to hash out the main twists and turns of the plot together. When we had the basic structure nailed down, I went home and wrote like the wind. I had an outline to work from, but Rob really encouraged me to take some ownership of the project as well, which was so generous of him and so fun for me. I had plenty of space to flex my creative muscles and contribute to Veronica’s world. Then when I’d finished my draft, Rob got involved again in the revisions, to make sure the whole thing was in line with his vision.
The Thousand Dollar Tan Line is described as “the first book in a thrilling new mystery series.” How many books are planned? And have you already started working on the sequel?
I am feverishly working on book two as we speak! So far that’s all that’s set in stone. Everything after this next one depends on how the books are received.
The book picks up right after the events of the historic Veronica Mars feature film, which was released earlier this month. Will the characters in the book be familiar to fans of the show and movie, or are you introducing a whole new roster of characters?
Most of the characters are from the show and movie. I think Veronica Mars fans are really invested in the supporting cast, more so than in a lot of comparable franchises. Part of the draw of the series is Veronica’s relationship with the various members of her support network, and I wanted to make sure that relationship played a role in the book. As a fan myself, I would have been disappointed not to get to write anything about Keith or Weevil or Wallace. There are definitely a few new faces too, though–it’s a brand new case, and Veronica’s been away from Neptune for a long time.
What are some of your personal favorite mystery novels? And are there any particular authors who inspired you while writing this book?
My favorite crime writer is probably Ed Brubaker. He and Sean Philips put out a comic called Criminal that I re-read half a dozen times while working on Veronica. It’s not a mystery per se, but it is pure pulpy noir in the very best sense–full of antiheroes, bad decisions, lost causes, tortured pasts, haunting secrets, and grit, grit, grit. Anyone who’s into Veronica‘s darker genre nods should absolutely check it out.
I also re-read a lot of classic hardboiled and noir material while I was working on the book–Raymond Chandler, Patricia Highsmith, Dashiell Hammett, Chester Himes, Micky Spillane. I wanted to make sure the cynical, hard-edged element of those writers took up some residence in my prose. And I’m a Gillian Flynn fan, too. Her first two books especially engage with trauma in a way I think is relevant to working with Veronica, whose trauma has historically been a part of her drive.
If you were a private investigator, what’s the first mystery you’d try to solve?
This question runs the risk of exposing me as a total ghoul, because I am a little bit obsessed with famous unsolved murders. Zodiac, the Boy in the Box, the Black Dahlia, the Axeman of New Orleans, the Cleveland Torso murders. The obvious Whitechapel legacy. But morbid curiosity aside, I’d like to believe I’d also put my skills towards exposing corruption and inequality. Neptune is a convenient microcosm, but there are a lot of Sheriff Lambs in the world.
Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line
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ALEX NAGORSKI
Alex has been writing for PopBytes since 2011. As the Theater Editor, he primarily focuses on all aspects of Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional Theater, and beyond. After growing up in Poland, Germany, and Russia, Alex spent several years living in New York before moving full-time to the Berkshires in Massachusetts. To read more from Alex, check out his blog, Headphone Infatuation, and follow him on Twitter @AlexNagorski.
MARCH 31, 2014
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Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham’s VERONICA MARS: Mr. Kiss and Tell
Posted on April 20, 2015 by Jon Page
9781760112370The 2nd installment in the Veronica Mars novels continues the story post-movie.
Veronica is hired by The Neptune Grand to look into the case of a guest who has been brutally assaulted while staying at the hotel. The victim has accused a member of staff of the assault except the staff member has been deported while the victim was recovering. The victim is now claiming damages against the hotel and the hotel’s insurance company has hired Veronica to look into the case. When she discovers who the victim is the case gets very personal for Veronica Mars.
Again this reads exactly like one of your favourite episodes of the show and it is great that we get the chance to see the story continue. Just like the TV show there are a number of subplots weaved through the story that tie up a couple of loose ends from the movie. Weevil, Logan and Leo all feature prominently as well as our favourite lawyer Cliff McCormack and the new Sheriff Lamb has a fight on his hands as he stands for re-election. The main story throws up some very good twists and like the TV show doesn’t shy away from confronting the issues it raises.
My only gripe is with the publisher classification of the novel as Young Adult. For starters the book is based on characters from ten years ago so fans are going to be ten years older than the original demographic as are the characters. Veronica Mars is not a teen detective anymore, she’s a detective. Grown up and bona fide. Secondly the storyline (SPOILER ALERT) deals with rape and prostitution. Not your general YA fare. I’m not saying don’t give it to teens but I think classifying it as Young Adult gives the wrong impression to the audience and it alienates original Veronica Mars fans who might not find the book in the YA section.
Otherwise if you are a Ronnie Mars fan, you gotta read this!
ISBN: 9781760112370
ISBN-10: 1760112372
Classification: Crime & mystery fiction (Children’s / Teenage)
Format: Paperback (198mm x 128mm x mm)
Pages: 336
Imprint: Allen & Unwin Children’s Books
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publish Date: 1-Feb-2015
Country of Publication: Australia
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VERONICA MARS – THE THOUSAND DOLLAR TAN LINE – ROB THOMAS AND JENNIFER GRAHAM
Michael Flett | April 11, 2014 | Books | No Comments
2014pt2_vm bookHaving broken Kickstarter records with the fan-funded motion picture continuation of his cancelled television show, it was clear creator Rob Thomas wasn’t going to stop there, so his announcement that the next story would take Veronica Mars into the natural home of the private detectives who inspired her was no surprise. Written by Jennifer Graham from an outline Thomas had originally intended to form the basis for the movie had the production been realised sooner after the final episode, she has captured the feel of the show and the characters.
Set only weeks after the events of the film it is the season of spring breakers, that most affluent of subspecies of American college students who when mid-term strikes aren’t obligated to work or study but instead to party, to wreak havoc on whichever beach town they descend upon like locusts. Their appetites for alcohol only limited by the depth of their parents’ pockets, when a group of girls realise one of their number has not returned after a night of revelry and does not return their calls, they try to raise the alarm.
With the Neptune police disinterested in the case without specific evidence a crime has been committed, Neptune’s Chamber of Commerce hire Mars Investigations to probe further and locate missing Hayley Dewalt before her disappearance affects tourist revenues. With her father still on a leave of absence as he recuperates from an accident, Veronica takes the case, starting in the last place Hayley was seen, the nightly party scene.
Neptune has always been a town where the sparks are generated by the friction between the haves and have-nots, and inside the exclusive mansion where “every room burned with light and luxury,” teenage girls parading themselves in bikinis for the howling crowds hoping to win the cash of the titular prize, the rich still control those who wish to enter their orbit, but finding the beach house is owned by a family connected to a Mexican drug cartel, Veronica realises she could be in out of her depth.
2014pt2_vm book 2As the first ever Veronica Mars novel published, the pressure is on, but that’s where the tiny blonde one has always thrived, and with a subplot more closely tied with Veronica’s past it is clear that this story would not have worked so successfully in a standalone film as the script eventually developed. As a result the first chapters overemphasise a backstory familiar to the target audience yet which could be picked up by newcomers from the narrative without spoonfeeding, but fortunately when the investigation begins Veronica displays her customary shine, the clues falling into place as she deftly asks the right questions.
With every page headed by the legend THOMAS AND GRAHAM as though the book was a terse brief from a law firm, the style is basic teen thriller with no flourishes and playing no narrative games, in many ways reflecting the no-nonsense directness of Veronica herself, but that is beside the point which is the story, and here the game is very much afoot.
Declared a part of the show canon, the official “what Veronica did next,” without a clear avenue of continuation for the show beyond these novels should this first release be successful lays open the fate of the characters. With no safety net of a continuing show, there is a genuine sense of danger in the realisation that Veronica could be seriously hurt as Keith was in the film.
On every page save the scene-setting prologue, it is undeniably Veronica’s story, nothing shown from any other point of view, but all the supporting players are given their moment and the voices of the regulars are perfect, Wallace clutching his extra-large pizza box as he declares “men gotta eat.” The limited roster of characters means the possibilities of guilt are limited and the slower unfolding of a book allows the reader perhaps too much time to join the dots, but even when the inevitable rug-pull comes it’s not quite as expected whose hands are on the cash.
Veronica Mars – The Thousand Dollar Tan Line is available now
The Veronica Mars movie is reviewed here
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Book Review: “Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell” by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Our favorite young detective lives on in print once more.
Let’s get this out there right away: if you haven’t seen the TV series and movie, and read the first book in the Veronica Mars book series, you probably won’t get everything in this story. The second installment picks up after last year’s The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, and frequently references past cases and plots. But the show, movie, and first book are all excellent, so you should watch and read them anyway.
Cover art of "Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell"
Veronica is still living in Neptune, where she returned to work as a private investigator, having passed up a lucrative law career to do so, though she is no longer living with her father, Keith. She’s got her own place, where her rich-asshole-turned-Navy-guy boyfriend Logan Echolls stays when he isn’t overseas.
Mr. Kiss and Tell opens with a prologue, where local antiques/junk dealer, Frank Koslowski, is out on his usual route, scouting for abandoned gems. While investigating a potential find, he stumbles across a young woman, apparently left for dead in a field. She’s very much alive, though, and is the catalyst for the rest of the novel.
In the first main chapter, we tie up a loose end from the Veronica Mars movie, when her friend Eli “Weevil” Navarro was shot and accused of trying to rob the wealthy Celeste Kane at gunpoint, an accusation for which he is now on trial. It launches right into the haves-vs-have-nots theme that has been a constant thread throughout the existence of this universe. Neptune, CA, with its two polar opposite communities — the extremely wealthy “09ers” and the working class or poor everyone else — at constant odds.
Post-trial, Veronica and her gang, including Keith and computer whiz Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie, are at the Mars Investigations office, when the new case du jour is presented. A man representing the insurance company employed by local swanky-ass hotel the Neptune Grand hires Veronica to investigate a claim against the hotel. Remember the young woman in the field from the prologue? She is suing, claiming that she was assaulted in the hotel and has named one of their employees as her assailant.
Of course, Veronica being Veronica, she isn’t going to be satisfied to simply help the insurance adjuster avoid liability. She takes the case hoping that she’ll be able to use the assignment to catch the rapist in question, whether it’s the accused hotel employee or someone else. Of course, I’m not going to tell you how this goes; you’ll just have to read the book. But suffice to say, the story delves into some interesting topics — police corruption, college sports, rape culture — and does it with Ms. Mars’ typical brainy charisma.
The writing can be a bit uneven at times — the setting descriptions of the opening pages read a bit like a pulpy detective novel of yore, where you keep expecting someone to be described as a “dame” with “legs that won’t quit,” but that rhythm is quickly lost in favor of more typically-paced plot exposition. Still, the novel is overall engaging and delightful. You can’t help but read each line in the voices each character had on television — Kristen Bell’s chirpy snark, Enrico Colantoni’s deadpan, Jason Dohring’s smug charm — which is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s nice to have a visual reference for the characters and settings, but on the other, it makes you yearn to see the story in presented in front of you as a TV episode or movie.
This is an overall solid and fun crime novel, a mystery that’s twisty enough to keep it interesting without going too far into the realm of unbelievable. It’s a welcome addition to the Veronica Mars storyline, and hopefully indicative of more books to come.
Mr. Kill and Tell will be out January 20 via Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
4.5/5 stars
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley. This review is my own uninfluenced opinion.