Q&A with best-selling author James Patterson

You no longer need a PC to dive into games based on James Patterson’s best-selling Women’s Murder Club fiction. The latest in the series, THQ’s Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion, has just debuted for the Nintendo DS/DSi.

In James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion, a new Nintendo DS/DSi title, players use the stylus pen to examine areas for clues, interrogate witnesses and engage in “hidden-object” puzzlers and other mini-games — all to unravel a murder.

Sync spoke with James Patterson, the world-famous author with more New York Times #1 best sellers than anyone else in history.

Sync: What is it about your Women’s Murder Club fiction that translates well to video games?

James Patterson: Well, I love to play to a big audience. I like to put out stories I think a lot of people will like. In this instance, what I particularly liked was the notion of broadening to a video game audience. But [games] started out as — and are still dominated by — a very powerful niche of a lot of guys [laughs], and I think these Women’s Murder Club games lets women in as well.

Sync: What makes it appealing to women?

JP: It’s not a shoot ‘em up – you’re not going to get to kill a lot of people in this game. Instead, it’s a mystery to be solved. There’s more to the story than in many games, and more player involvement in unravelling it, plus there are the games within the games, which are more puzzle-based. This approach, catering to a heavy female audience, has been quite successful, but I also think the games are appealing to men, too. The notion of solving a mystery or playing mini-games along the way is attractive to both [genders].

Sync: So, why Women’s Murder Club instead of your other fiction?

JP: I think one of the pieces which really relates to this is there are four main characters and you get to choose to solve this thing from their points of view. That’s part of it. You can be Cindy, Lindsay, Claire and even some involvement from Yuki. Also, there’s a lot of suspense, it’s about murders that need to be solved.

Sync: How involved were you in the making of this game?

JP: I was quite involved at the beginning – and then a little less once it was on its way and I felt we understood each other. I wanted there to be some resemblance about how Lindsay, Claire, Cindy and Yuki act [in the novels]. My general notion about what I do in whatever genre is that we try to hook people into the story fairly early and try to hold them with a fair number of surprises and delights, and that’s generally speaking what we’re trying to do with a game, as well. You want to grab people with the story and keep them there; when I’m writing a book I like to act as if there’s another person across from me and I don’t want them to get up until it’s finished.

Sync: How easy or difficult is it to relinquish control of a character you’ve given birth to?

JP: To me, it’s ok. But I remember talking to a college student this summer and she told me “Oh, I could never give up my characters and blah, blah, blah” and I sort of said “Get over yourself!” [laughs]. To me, it’s fine that it changes – I think that’s kind of cool. The books are the books. Nobody gets to change the books. And as the stories get into different game genres so it should change a bit. This is a new story, though, and not based on the books.

Sync: Given this is a new story, what will fans of the books get out of them?

JP: I think people will get a kick out of a new story but with familiar characters. Sure, some games are based on a book but we wanted to try something different here. Lindsay is Lindsay, there’s a real feeling for the way she’s in the books, and Claire is really as she is in the books, but trying to grab people with an overall idea and then keep surprising them along the way is pretty much what I try to do with the books, so there’s a nice crossover between those who play the game will like the books and vice-versa.

Sync: Would you consider writing a book based on a game instead of the other way around?

JP: I haven’t thought of doing that, but I’m not opposed to it. It’s possible, sure. But a story in a book is about 400 pages and you can put a whole lot of story in there, sometimes following three crimes — I don’t think we’re quite there with games yet.

Sync: What do you think a fan of your books would be most surprised at after playing this new Women’s Murder Club game?

JP: Well, I think there are a lot of different experiences here. As you say, you get to become Lindsay and make choices. You are a character in the story and really affect it. There are short bursts of story, that is, and all the puzzles, too, which will appeal to some people too and maybe for others not so much.

Sync: Do you think these types of puzzle- and story-oriented “casual games” are therapeutic, a way to blow off steam after a bad day?

JP: I think a lot of diversions do that. They can break you out of the pattern you’re in, be it a pattern of stress, disappointment or unhappiness. A friend of mine took up kayaking in rough water because he said when he was kayaking he wasn’t thinking about work – in fact, if you didn’t concentrate on what you were doing you can be in trouble. Games can also fill that space, yes.

Sync: What can an author learn from an interactive storytelling medium like video games?

JP: I’m sure there are things I can learn from games but I haven’t really thought about it much, to be honest. I’m very audience-oriented anyway, so I’m always thinking about who I’m talking to, how to craft the story to keep it interesting, and so that’s a big part of games, too. I never really thought about breaking the story with sidelined puzzles and that kind of thing, not sure if that would work in books, but I’ve thought about the reader taking different paths, and so on. I need to think about this a little more.

Sync: Do you play video games?

JP: Not really, no, but I have an 11 year-old who plays a lot. But I’ve certainly sat down and paid some attention. One time we brought in three or four guys and went through about a dozen games in a few hours and I talked to them about what they were getting out of it, what it did for them, so I can learn a bit.

Sync: Finally, what’s next?

JP: Women’s Murder Club games are doing well so I think we’ll continue doing those. I have a number of young adult stories, Maximum Ride is one, which is about to get green-lit with Sony Pictures, so we might see a game based on that. There’s also Daniel X, and we have a game coming on that, but can’t say too much. We get a lot of offers, but I just want to make sure I believe in the games we’re putting together.

Sync: Thank you, James, it’s been a pleasure.

JP: Likewise, thank you.

Filed Under: For Women > Games > Gaming > Handhelds > Mobility > Portable Devices
Tags: author, club, ds, dsi, fiction, game, interview, james, murder, nintendo, patterson, q&a, video, Women