Authors Interviewing Characters: Lori Roy
THE FINAL EPISODE
When a true crime series chronicles the tragic childhood summer that changed her life forever, a young woman must grapple with the truth about her father…and herself.
Jennifer Jones and her best friends spend every summer at Big Cypress Swamp, and this summer, Jennifer will finally turn eleven. She hopes to gain the “second sight” foretold by family legend and fulfill her destiny. Instead, the swamp serves up dangers greater than the gators lurking on Halfway Creek. Little Francie Farrow vanishes―and Jennifer’s father goes to prison.
Twenty years later, Jennifer has almost shed the label of Paul Jones’s daughter when her past comes barreling back. Inspired by True Events, a TV series that solves the unsolvable, is recreating that fateful summer. As the series plays out, Jennifer wonders: Did the show finally find Francie Farrow? And is Jennifer’s father truly guilty?
Someone else wants answers even more than Jennifer does, and they won’t let her forget it.
As the series nears its finale and the long-awaited truth, Jennifer must come to terms with who her family is…and what that makes her.
INT. JENNY JONES KITCHEN – DAY
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER #1 and JENNY JONES sit across from each other at a small kitchen table. The dated kitchen is tidy and well-loved.
Through sliding glass doors, we see HALFWAY CREEK, a slow-moving body of inky black water.
Beyond the creek stands the BIG CYPRESS SWAMP, dense with cypress trees and oaks dripping SPANISH MOSS.
AP #1 fumbles with her phone, starts a recorder app and rests the phone on the table.
AP #1
(speaking into phone)
Interview with Jennifer Jones regarding the upcoming release of the final episode of the series Inspired by True Events.
AP #1 slides the phone closer to Jenny and looks to her for the okay.
AP #1 (CONT’D)
Good morning, Jenny. Is it okay if I call you Jenny? Or do you prefer Jennifer?
Jenny shrugs, indifferent.
AP #1 (CONT’D)
All right, then. Jenny it is. I’d like to first thank you for speaking with us in advance of The Final Episode. Got to say, I’m a little star struck.
JENNY
(not amused)
I’m only interested in putting a cap on all the speculation. For my grandmother’s sake.
AP #1
(buttons up her approach)
Understood. We’ll keep this brief. I’d like to start with your take on the case of Francie Farrow.
JENNY
(robotic and rehearsed)
The summer I turned eleven, a girl named Francie Farrow, a girl I didn’t know, had never met, disappeared. My father went to prison, though not because of Francie. Twenty years later, the case remains unsolved.
AP #1 sits silently, waiting for Jenny to say more. Jenny gives a blank stare, making it clear she isn’t going to.
AP #1
And now that story, your story and Francie’s, are the subject of the series Inspired by True Events. Can I ask if you’ve been watching the show these past weeks?
JENNY
I’ve tried. Some parts, some episodes are easier to stomach than others.
AP#1
Which gives rise to a question I’m sure many have…what’s it like to have your life the subject of the country’s number one streaming show?
JENNY
It’s intrusive.
Another awkward silence. AP #1 shifts uncomfortably and glances at a notepad for guidance.
AP #1
And…
JENNY
It feels…it makes me dizzy. Like I’m back there, at the swamp, before it all happened and I’m excited to be on summer break with my daddy. Other times, I feel I’m watching a sad story about the end of things.
AP #1
Does that mean the series has accurately captured you and all the others featured on the show?
JENNY
Again, parts yes. Parts no. I’m not sure it’s possible for an actor or a writer to truly capture a real person.
(pauses, considering)
Too much of a real person doesn’t make sense, right? TV, it needs people to make sense so the story makes sense. But real life isn’t a story.
AP #1 sits quietly, staring.
JENNY (CONT’D)
I’m sorry. Are you one of the writers. Did I just offend you?
AP #1 shakes it off.
AP #1
Not at all. No, I wasn’t a writer on the show. Just thinking about what you said.
(off Jenny’s nod)
What about the facts as they’ve been handled in the show?
JENNY
Seems the show drew a lot from my dad’s trial and the police reports, so I guess the show is as accurate as the trial was, as the police reports were. At least, so far.
(a long pause and then adds)
And I’d like to keep Francie Farrow’s story at the forefront. Not mine. Whatever The Final Episode reveals, I hope it brings closure to her family.
AP #1
(sneaks up on the next topic)
Now that you’ve brought up Francie and your father…you’re aware, I’m sure, that most people believe your father took Francie Farrow, likely killed her.
JENNY
I’m aware. But going back to police reports and court records, there is no proof of that.
AP #1
Proof or not, he’s been in prison for twenty years.
JENNY
For reasons unrelated to Francie’s disappearance.
AP #1
But for a crime not all that different, wouldn’t you agree?
Another question that is met with silence. AP #1 leans back and crosses her arms.
AP #1 (CONT’D)
(all business now)
Inspired By True Events is known for solving the unsolvable. Our final episode is famous for upending all expectations, setting the innocent free, putting the guilty in jail.
(Pauses for response. Gets none)
Plenty of people are speculating that the show’s final episode will provide proof that’ll keep your father in prison for the rest of his life.
JENNY
I realize that.
AP #1
No response? You don’t care to share how you feel about that? How you feel about your father?
JENNY
Speculation doesn’t matter to me.
AP #1
Isn’t speculation what you’re trying to put a cap on?
JENNY
In hopes that people will stop harassing my family, yes. But speculation is still nothing more than someone’s opinion.
(debates continuing)
People can think whatever they want. Doesn’t make them right, no matter how many think the same way. If there is proof that my father hurt Francie Farrow, then I believe he should pay for that crime. Period.
AP #1
Can we talk for a minute about your father? Have you kept in touch with him? Asked him if he took Francie?
JENNY
Said all I’m going to say about my father.
AP #1
Nothing more to say about Francie either? I know you don’t care about the opinions of people, but many – a majority in fact – think you’ve known all along what happened to her and that you’ve covered it up. Presumably, to protect your father. Does that bother you?
JENNY
Of course, it bothers me, but that won’t stop people. I don’t know what happened to Francie Farrow. There’s not one bit of evidence to suggest otherwise. Never has been, but people will go on thinking whatever suits them.
Jenny stands, signaling the interview is over.
JENNY (CONT’D)
And whatever The Final Episode reveals, I’m ready to face the truth. No matter what it is. And since you’re so interested in MOST PEOPLE, I’m not sure most people could say that. The lie is so much easier to believe. That’s why people cling to it. The truth, it takes courage.
Exiting the kitchen, Jenny turns back as AP #1 scrambles to gather her belongings.
JENNY
That said, people can hate me or blame me all they want, but I’ll ask that they please leave my grandmother alone. Her son’s been in prison for twenty years. She doesn’t need anymore sadness in her life.
BUY HERE
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Lori Roy is the author of six novels of suspense. Her latest, THE FINAL EPISODE is out now. BENT ROAD, was awarded the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Novel by an American Author. She went on to receive the 2016 Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Novel, making Lori the first woman to receive an Edgar Award for both Best First Novel and Best Novel, and she is the third person to have done so.
Lori’s critically acclaimed work has been named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, twice named a New York Times Notable Crime Book, featured in People Magazine as Book of the Week and excerpted in Oprah Magazine. Her work has been widely reviewed and has been included on numerous Best Of lists and summer reading lists.
Lori lives with her family in west-central Florida.
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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