Alison Sweeney just picked up her first official writing credit. The longtime Hallmark star and former host of The Biggest Loser was handed the pen for the newest Hannah Swensen Mystery, and she delivered a really good entry into the Murder, She Baked canon. But how did that happen? How did she go from lead actress to screenwriter? I asked her during a recent interview ahead of the release of One Bad Apple.
Sweeney told me it was an “organic” process. As a producer, she’s apparently the one that goes through author Joanne Fluke’s novels to figure out a good mystery and some plot development they want to pull. This time around, she created a detailed outline for how she thought the story should play out, and her producing partner Craig Baumgarten suggested she just write it herself. At first she was apprehensive, but after getting positive support from Hallmark, she decided to try it. Here’s her explanation of the process…
Prior movies have featured shared writing credits between Fluke, who handles all the novels, and a rotating cast of writers who have adapted her source material. The adaptations are a little trickier than you’d imagine because they’re not always adapting everything from one specific book and because the franchise, historically, has done a good job trying to forward both the standalone mystery and character growth for Hannah and the other leads. There’s often times a lesser stakes side mystery, as well. Sweeney told me that’s something she picked up from Agatha Christie, as she’s a big fan of the books, and she was able to incorporate that into One Bad Apple.
Once she committed to writing, Sweeney said the process happened very quickly. She really enjoyed sitting down and writing it, but when she finished, however, she realized she needed to send it to others to read. That part wasn’t nearly as fun. Here’s what she said…
The great news here is One Bad Apple is a top tier Hannah Swensen Mystery. It has all the elements you’d look for from the franchise. There’s a very solid central mystery involving a fun character. There’s a bunch of delightful baking tie-ins, a really enjoyable side plot involving Hannah’s mother Delores, an all-new leading man and great banter with her sisters.
You can catch One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery when it premieres on Hallmark on April 5th.