Interview with Bones' Kathy Reichs about Forensic Anthropology, Temperance Brennan, Spider Bones, and Virals

Author and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs is a triple threat, managing to juggle a career in science in two different countries, writing a bestselling mystery series, and acting as a producer and now screenwriter for Bones, the television show inspired by her books. She recently spoke to the media about “The Witch In The Wardrobe,” the Bones episode she penned. Bones fans can read her comments about the show. During the interview, Reichs also spoke about her forensic career and a couple of her upcoming projects. For those fans interested in what books are up next for the busy author, Reichs dropped some interesting hints, both about Brennan and about a new character younger fans of her series may enjoy.

One of the questions the author was asked concerned how she got involved in the field of forensic anthropology. She answered, "Oh, pure accident actually. I was kind of dragged into it. I trained to do archeology – and kind of the thing that’s back story for Tempe on the series – but I trained to do archeology and work with ancient skeletons. I was very happily doing that when police started bringing me cases, and once I started doing the coroner work – the medical examiner work – I found that very compelling. I liked the idea of the relevance of it – that you could actually impact someone’s life, which is not necessary true – archeology is fascinating but if you’re wrong, you’re not going to send anybody to jail or you’re not doing to misidentify a missing person. So, I really liked that and I retrained. I became Board certified, and I’ve been in the forensic anthropology field ever since."

Reichs said she’s astounded at how many emails she receives from people interested in going into her field. Asked if she had any advice for them, she responded, “My advice would be to study the hard science not just take some course in general forensic science. If you want to be an anthropologist, you need to study physical anthropology specialized in bones. If you want to be a forensic chemist, get a degree in chemistry. Do you want to do DNA work? Get a degree in microbiology. And do well. Study hard and go to graduate school.”

Article Author: Gerry Weaver

Gerry loves film, books, a few television shows (House, True Blood and Supernatural come to mind), and writing about them.

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