Posted in: Books, Pop Culture, TV | Tagged: Reacher
Reacher author Lee Child confirmed that Andrew Child will author the Jack Reacher books moving forward and explained why it made sense.
Article Summary
- Lee Child confirms Andrew Child now writes the Jack Reacher novels, officially taking over Reacher’s literary future.
- Andrew Child’s latest Reacher novel, Chain Reaction, marks the franchise’s new era as the book series moves forward.
- Lee Child says the Reacher books are written without outlines, which is why he doesn’t read Andrew’s manuscript early.
- Handing Reacher to Andrew Child felt natural to Lee Child, who wants Jack Reacher to live on for readers.
When we last checked in on bestselling author Lee Child, things were looking pretty good in Jack Reacher’s universe. On the live-action adaptation side, Alan Ritchson and Maria Stenfronted to huge series successes. On the literary side, his brother, Andrew Child, released the latest adventure, Chain Reaction. With the franchise riding high, Lee Child confirmed in a recent interview that Andrew Child has taken over as author of the novels. With a new dynamic in place, the bestselling author discussed why the transition needed to happen – and how he doesn’t get a look at the manuscript until Andrew Child delivers it to the publisher.
“He’s very secret, and I think that’s fair enough. When I was doing it, I hated showing anybody anything, and I generally wouldn’t, because the style that I had and that Andrew’s continued is completely improvised. There’s no plan, there’s no long-term view. You can’t say, ‘This is what it’s going to be.’ We don’t know. It’ll be what it is, and until it’s finished, I don’t really know what it is or what it’s about. I don’t like to show anybody, and he’s the same. So I just get it when the publisher gets it, and I read it out of interest,” Lee Child shared during a recent interview with Collider. As the bestselling author sees it, handing the keys to Andrew was a no-brainer because Lee Child wants to see his character live on.
“People think that’s weird, that I’ve given away this character, but the entire point of writing is to give away the character. You want the reader, first of all, to own it, and for the character to live as a reality in the reader’s mind. That’s the whole point,” Lee Child explained. “You want to give it away, and then you give it away to movies or television or whatever. It’s no different giving it away to a different author. Same thing exactly, because there’s a lot of fan fiction around. People writing Reacher-style fan fiction, and that’s fine too. Let them have it. Let them enjoy it.”
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