Kathleen Gerard author of In Transit stopped by to talk to us about her inspriration for her book.
Take it away Kathleen,
Ordinary People Who Carry a Badge
I’ve always loved cop shows on TV and police procedural novels. Therefore, it’s not surprising that my novel, IN TRANSIT, would center on the world and lifestyles of police officers. I am intrigued with people who choose law enforcement for their careers. Yet before one of my closest friends (whom I’ve known since high school) set out and became a New York City Transit Police Officer, I had this notion that NYPD cops lived in a state of high-drama and excitement by fighting “the bad guys.” Whenever I tried to get my friend to talk about life on the force (I was always goading her for details and dirt), she was very tight-lipped and downplayed the importance and perils of her job. She was more willing to share the laughs she’d had with coworkers and the pranks they’d pulled, rather than what it was really like to fight crime in The Big Apple.
That’s when I came to realize that police work is often over-dramatized and sensationalized in books and on TV. The reality is that those who carry the badge, day-in and day-out, are just ordinary people who have passions, hopes, fears, flaws and insecurities like everyone else. Statistics show that, over the course of entire careers, the majority of police officers in this country never draw their weapons or have an inciting incident. That’s why personal dynamics and the psychology of those who wear the NYPD uniform became as intriguing to me as the details surrounding police work. And that’s why I wanted to creatively explore the “ordinary” aspects of those who carry the badge when I wrote IN TRANSIT – the story of a 20-something “Jersey Girl” who becomes a woman-in-jeopardy once assigned to the NYPD Transit Squad.
Have you ever had your preconceptions shattered? Have you ever thought something or someone was one way, but he/she or it turned out to be completely different than the way you had imagined? Which was better – your notion of the truth or the truth itself? Please share your stories with us.
To learn more about Kathleen Gerard and IN TRANSIT–and to read more details about the story behind the story–visit http://intransit-thenovel.blogspot.com
Can a rookie cop survive the men who cross her path in the NYPD?
When a psychic in a shopping mall tells Rita Del Vecchio that she is “destined for greatness,” and she will “marry a man in uniform,” the restless, wet-behind-the-ears, 22 year-old decides to finally take control of her life. Rita sets out on a quest to become a New York City Police Officer. But can a spry, feisty, single woman thrive in the gritty world of New York’s Finest?
Leaving behind the suburbs of New Jersey and a job as an under-tipped waitress, Rita Del Vecchio hangs up her apron and ballet slippers for a bullet-proof vest. But will she wear it? And if she does, will it protect her on the mean streets of Manhattan? Can it also protect her from Cupid’s arrows if they should land amiss?
Rita is assigned to the New York City Transit Police Squad and gets more than she bargained for. Riding the Lexington Avenue Subway Line, Rita winds up meeting not one man in uniform, but many. Whom will she love?
IN TRANSIT combines romance and suspense. This woman-in-jeopardy story delves into the ordinary lives of NYPD career cops and how their fates are determined by people who hold secrets as dark and as labyrinth-like as the New York City Subway System
