While you’re more than likely aware that Kathy Reichs’ books and real-life work as a forensic anthropologist are the basis for the hit FOX series BONES, here are five things you might not know about her.
Yes, it may surprise fans to learn that BONES might have been a very different show had things gone a little differently career wise for celebrated author Kathy Reichs. “Archeology and working with ancient skeletons was something I was very happily doing when police started bringing me cases and I found the coroner work, the medical examiner work, very compelling,” explained Reichs on a recent conference call promoting tonight’s episode of BONES in which she wrote. “Archaeology is fascinating but if you’re wrong, you’re not going to send anybody to jail. I really liked the relevance of it [Medical examiner work], that you could actually impact someone’s life. I retrained, became Board certified, and I’ve been in the forensic anthropology field ever since.”
Despite penning a slew of NY Times best-selling novels based on her personal experiences both in and out of the crime lab, Reichs is quick to point out that herself and the character that fans see on TV are not one in the same. Unlike Temperance Brennan, who is far more tied to the Jeffersonian, Reichs’ professional career has spanned the globe, taking her to such far off places as Rwanda to testify at the UN Tribunal on Genocide, Guatemala where she helped identify individuals from mass graves, and Korea/ Southeast Asia in order to assist in identifying war dead from World War II. And while Reichs does admit to having a similar sense of humor, one that she believes was an important component in creating the show, “I think we’re different as far as her social awkwardness and her inability to form close relationships.”
Unlike television, where Brennan, Booth and the entire Jeffersonian team seem to do a remarkable job of solving most cases within the hour, real-life forensic science isn’t nearly that easy. Aside from her work at Ground Zero in New York city which she calls some of the most physically and psychologically demanding of her career Reichs says the cases that stick in her mind more than others are the ones that have yet to be solved. “For example, I’ve got a little child’s skeleton in my lab up in Montreal that I’ve had since 1989 that’s never been ID’d.”
But, before you get too excited, FOX is not giving Sweets and Daisy their own spin-off! Rather, Reichs is attempting to tap into the younger generation’s enthusiasm for the printed word (thank-you-very-much Harry Potter, and to a lesser extent Twilight) by entering the young adult marketplace. “The first series is called “Virals” will be out in November, and it is going to follow 14-year-old Tori Brennan and her friends. Tori is the great niece of Temperance’s brother,” explained the author. “They do simple forensic science and there’s also an element of grounded fantasy. They’re definitely not vampires but they have some special abilities.”
And since an interview with anyone BONES related wouldn’t be be complete without asking where the interviewee stands on the relationship between Booth and Brennan, Reichs had this to say about the couple. “Once you do the deed, you’re done. If we look at other shows like X-FILES or MOONLIGHTING, to me that speaks the beginning of the end. So, I think it’s much better and they play so well at the chemistry. Just from the very beginning from the day that Emily auditioned, the chemistry between them has been so good that I think it’s better to just keep that simmering.” 
