Janet Evanovich has been writing and sharing character Stephanie Plum’s life since the first book of the series, One for the Money, was published in 1994. Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter, who continues to find ways to make life interesting as well as extremely dangerous. Evanovich’s 18^th book of the series was released in 2011, while the next in the series holds an anticipated release date of November 20, 2012. Here are 18 components to the series that are reason enough to spend time catching up with the series in time for the 19^th book, entitled Notorious Nineteen.

1. Small town life: The novels show the humor in the small town lifestyle, gossip, the history of the town and everyone in it, and of course, the stories everyone wants to leave behind when they move away from home as an adult.
2. Female bounty hunters: Stephanie Plum is not the only female who tries to become a bounty hunter, making great competition and challenges.
3. Romance: Throughout the series, the reader will have a difficult time choosing between the two men Stephanie Plum has in her life. Their storyline is always interesting and even causes many cliffhangers.
4. Timing: Plum does not have any previous experience as a bounty hunter when she takes the job; she was just desperate. Timing is not always on her side, yet somehow, in the end, the timing works out, usually in a humorous manner.
5. Family ties: It is very neat to have a storyline that involves the main character’s family in a positive light. Although there may be drama going on in Plum’s family, whether it is her sister, parents, or grandma, at the end of the week, they always find time to eat together.
6. Comfort zone: Plum is a very strong woman, yet still struggles with stepping outside of her comfort zone. The readers are able to relate and cheer for her to push her boundaries.
7. Unfortunate connections: In relation to the small town situation, unfortunate connections tend to show up more times than not. No matter how unfortunate, there is always a good twist to it, past or present.
8. Jobs we hate: Especially in today’s economy, most can relate to having jobs that they do not enjoy and hope are temporary.
9. Finding your place in society: Plum has to work at getting respect from the people around her due to her job and people questioning her role in a supposed man’s job.
10. Bad Days: We all have bad days, and Evanovich makes sure to include those throughout the books as well. However, she is able to shine light on them.
11. Friendship: Stephanie Plum is independent, yet would not survive anything she encounters without her friends.
12. Loyalty: Throughout the turmoil, Plum can always count on her friends.
13. Special effects: The movie based on Evanovich’s first book, One for the Money, shows how intense some of the scenes can be. There is always something blowing up or burning down.
14. Girl insight: Although the story is from a female’s perspective, everyone can enjoy the plot.
15. Funny Criminals: Being a bounty hunter sounds interesting enough, but once you start to read and see the type of people Stephanie Plum is supposed to find and capture, it gets even better.
16. New Jersey: Stephanie Plum’s job takes place in New Jersey, which includes characters that fit the stereotype of New Jersey perfectly.
17. Ratings: Evanovich is a #1 best-selling author, with multiple series to her name. This series has been successful for over a decade.
18. Movie releases: If you have not seen the movie that came out in January 2012, it is a must-see. Katherine Heigl took the role of Stephanie Plum.

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Next to the main characters in the new movie adaptation of Janet Evanovich ‘One For The Money’, an exciting range of supporting cast will spark up the screen for theater-goers this spring.

When Katherine Heigl’s character Stephanie Plum realizes she needs formal training in order to succeed at her new job – and hopefully survive it – Stephanie enlists Ranger, a bounty hunter who specializes in fugitive apprehension, bodyguarding and other semi-legal business ventures, to show her the ropes.

As played by actor Daniel Sunjata, Ranger is cool, confident and knowing, and his scenes with the bumbling Stephanie teasingly suggest that opposites really do attract. “Stephanie and Ranger have a mentor-student relationship with sexual tension as the undertone,” says Sunjata. “I found his character to be interesting and appealing. It’s a color that I haven’t had the opportunity to show so far in my career.”

Of all the people in her brash dysfunctional family, Stephanie Plum relates to her Grandma Mazur the most. As played by screen legend Debbie Reynolds, Grandma Mazur is a plucky, opinionated woman who’s resolutely unwilling to grow old. “Stephanie and Grandma Mazur are actually kindred spirits,” explains Evanovich.

“They’re like the two bad apples on the family tree, in a good way. Grandma Mazur’s a woman of a certain age who doesn’t see any limitations to her life. She’s up for extreme bowling. She’ll do nude karaoke. You name it, Grandma Mazur’s there.”

“Grandma Mazur is a real character,” admits Debbie Reynolds with a laugh. “The part reminded me of my girlfriend Thelma Ritter years ago when all she did was wonderful character parts, and I never really had the opportunity to play those roles. So when this was offered to me, I said, ‘Well, I’d like to do that.’”

“As a person she’s fantastically funny and sharp-witted and raunchy, and she brought all of that to the part,” says Heigl of Reynolds.  “I love her. And I love how she brought Grandma Mazur to life.”

As Stephanie’s mother, Mrs. Plum, New York actress Debra Monk appreciated portraying a real working class family onscreen. “I think everybody can relate to this family,” offers Monk. “In today’s world where people need jobs and are being let go and there’s no money, it really speaks to what’s happening today. It speaks to all working class families.”

Having grown up in a blue-collar neighborhood, actor Louis Mustillo immediately understood the part of Mr. Plum. “I see Mr. Plum as a really well-liked guy,” he says. “He says what he has to say at home and his mother-in-law is there all the time who’s quite a lot to handle. So he’s a saint, really. He’s the type of guy who you could call at four o’clock in the morning and he’d come and help you fix your flat tire.”

Apart from her family, Stephanie Plum encounters a colorful range of characters in her transition from lingerie salesperson to recovery agent. As she explores the seedy side of Trenton, Stephanie meets Lula, a prostitute played by Sherri Shepherd, who offers her information about the Morelli case. “It was kismet,” says Shepherd of winning the part of Lula. A longtime fan of Evanovich’s book, Shepherd had fantasized about playing Lula before she ever heard of a film adaptation.

“I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, if it ever becomes a movie I really want to play this woman. She’s evolved and sassy and she’s fun.’” Shepherd got her wish, and she’s thrilled to have a hand in bringing Stephanie Plum’s world to life. “Stephanie Plum is a woman who goes after what she wants even when the chips are down,” she says. “She fights, and she’s a strong woman. I think we need to see more women like that.”

As Stephanie investigates the darker underbelly of Trenton, she crosses paths with volatile men like Benito Ramirez, a boxer with a violent temper played by Gavin Keith Umeh, and Benito’s manager, Jimmy Alpha, played by John Leguizamo. “I’m the boss,” says Leguizamo. “I’m the alpha male in the movie. I’m a boxing manager and I’ve got my fighters that I promote and I’m trying to just make an honest living like a regular guy.”

Observes producer Tom Rosenberg, “John had different approaches to each take, he ad-libbed new lines that were really very good.  He gave us a lot of options to work with. He’s a very creative actor who actually makes his role better.”

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Katherine Heigl brings Stephanie Plum – the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling eighteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s ‘One For The Money’.

“Stephanie Plum is a woman who moves through the drama of her life with all the grace of an ‘I Love Lucy’ episode,” laughs best-selling author Janet Evanovich. “She destroys every car she owns. Her hair frizzes up in Jersey humidity. She can’t cook. She’s not going to stop a speeding train like Superman or catch a bullet in her teeth. But she’s the woman we all want to be.”

Since her first appearance in the 1994 bestseller, One For The Money, Evanovich’s beloved New Jersey girl-turned-bond recovery agent has solved crimes and nabbed felons over the course of eighteen global bestsellers, the latest of which, Explosive Eighteen, hit bookshelves this November.

As a recovery agent, Stephanie’s record is stellar; but she’s won the hearts of readers everywhere more for her genial humanity than her investigative prowess. “She’s heroic in small ways,” offers Evanovich. “She puts one foot in front of the other and at the end of the day, she’s proud of what she’s accomplished.”

Back in 1994, Evanovich could never have anticipated that Stephanie Plum would garner her a worldwide following and firmly establish her as a leading writer of crime fiction. Neither could she have believed that after seventeen years of interest from Hollywood, she would actually be watching film and television star Katherine Heigl bring Stephanie Plum to life.

“Seeing One For The Money made into a movie after all these years is…it’s terrifying,” admits the author. “It’s also exciting, it’s wonderful; it’s amazing. I absolutely love the movie. ”

Known for her charismatic work on television’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and the $200 million dollar box office hit ‘The Ugly Truth’, ’27 Dresses’ ($160M worldwide) and ‘Knocked Up’ ($219M worldwide), Katherine Heigl eagerly embraced the opportunity to create Stephanie Plum onscreen.

“For me, it’s always been about the story and it’s always been about whether or not I liked the character, and that limits me,” admits the star. “But Stephanie Plum is so much fun and has so much life in her. I fell in love with her.”

Not only did Heigl have to transform herself into someone radically different, she also had the opinions of millions of fans with which to contend. “Katie has a heavy burden because of the fan base,” says producer Tom Rosenberg. “Everyone has their idea of what Stephanie Plum should be. Katie had to make it her own while still delivering what the fans expected. There really aren’t too many people who could pull that off.”

“This project has been my little mountain to climb this year,” says Heigl. “It’s been really, really satisfying on a million levels to get to be a part of it and to make the trek up the mountain and get to see the view.”

Having seen Heigl’s performance in the film, Evanovich can’t imagine another actress in the role. “Katherine Heigl is so talented,” she enthuses. “She’s bold, she’s brave. She’s afraid. She’s vulnerable. She’s sexy. She has this wide range of emotions in this movie and she just nails them all. She walks like Plum. She talks like Plum. She absolutely is Stephanie.”

With Heigl in place, the production focused all of its efforts on doing justice to the source material, which meant finding the ideal supporting cast and creating just the right look for the film. As Gary Lucchesi explains, “We made a conscious effort to be loyal to the books’ following. We paid very, very strict attention to every detail.”

“I think it’s really, really important to get everything right,” adds Heigl, who is also an executive producer on the film. “You really don’t want to alienate the fans. They’re the people who have made this franchise. They’re the people who have given Stephanie and these characters a life after the first book.”

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