The Spellman Files Lisa Lutz

The Spellman Files: Lisa Lutz

Lisa Lutz is the author of the bestselling Spellman trilogy: The Spellman Files, Curse of the Spellmans and Revenge of the Spellmans.

Isabel 'Izzy' Spellman is a female Private Investigator at Spellman Inc- and she is a favourite in The Spellman trilogy. Izzy is a hilarious character who races from jail to boredom and investigating. Izzy is always on the case even during court-ordered therapy! Think laugh out loud humour as Izzy follows a wife after requests from a suspicious husband... nothing is sweet when Izzy is on the case.

The Spellman Files is currently in development to be filmed in 2009 with Paramount Pictures.

Lisa Lutz: is the author of the bestselling Spellman trilogy: The Spellman Files, Curse of the Spellmans and Revenge of the Spellmans. Curse of the Spellmans was nominated for Best Novel at the 2008 Edgar Awards and the series has now been sold in 22 countries.

Although she attended UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, the Univeristy of Leeds and San Francisco State University, she still does not have a bachelor's degree. Lisa spent most of the 1990s hopping through a string of low-paying old jobs, while writing and rewriting the screenplay Plan B, a mob comedy. After the film was made in 2000, she vowed she would never writer another screenplay.

The Spellman Trilogy:
Simon and Schuster
Author: Lisa Lutz

The Spellman Files
ISBN: 978141652640
Price: $22.99

Revenge of the Spellmans
ISBN: 9781921470134
Price: $32.99
www.girl.com.au/revenge-of-the-spellmans.htm

Curse of the Spellmans
ISBN: 9781921470028
Price: $29.95
www.girl.com.au/curse-of-the-spellmans.htm

Interview with Lisa Lutz

Tell me about the Spellman series?

Lisa Lutz: The Spellman Files, Curse of the Spellmans and the newly released Revenge of the Spellmans are all comedic novels about a family of private investigators. The mysteries ultimately revolve more around human behavior and family dynamics than heinous crimes.


Where did the idea for the The Spellman Files come from?

Lisa Lutz: I worked for a family-run P.I. firm in the Bay Area many years ago. It was a warm, welcoming office that also had its share of the paranoia that seems to come with the job. When you boil it down, the job of a private investigator is to find dirt on another person. That's a very hard thing to just leave at the office.


How does it feel to have your book made into a movie?

Lisa Lutz: Since it still hasn't gone into production, I can't say for sure. If it does happen, I think it will feel great. For a novelist, the best part of a film adaptation is that it brings many more people to the book.


Will the other books in the series become movies, or play a part in the first movie?

Lisa Lutz: Right now we're just hoping The Spellman Files gets made. Anything beyond that would be icing.


What do you expect from the movie?

Lisa Lutz: Having read the screenplay, I'm prepared for it to be very different from the book. This doesn't bother me in any way. There are practical and creative reasons for the differences. The book will always exist as I wrote it.


Do you have anyone in mind to play Izzy?

Lisa Lutz: Isabel has always been someone in my head, not an actress. So I never really had anyone in mind. I know that the studio does, and since they might be close to casting, I think it would be best if I kept quiet on this front.


Are you working on the next book in the Spellman Files series?

Lisa Lutz: I just turned in the fourth installment of the Spellman series, The Spellmans Strike Again. After that, I'm taking a break and working on a few other projects.


How did you ensure your books were funny, seriously funny?

Lisa Lutz: Thank you! I don't think you can ever "ensure" funny, but for me, the humor is the most important part. I am a slave to the joke. You just have to go for it every chance you get. If it works, it stays in the book. If it doesn't, you cut it. Even then, some people won't get the joke. Humor, like truth, is so subjective.