(CNN) -- It has been 20 years since best-selling crime writer Patricia Cornwell began work on her first novel in the series chronicling the cases of forensic analyst Dr. Kay Scarpetta.



Now, both have found celebrity. Cornwell's latest novel, "The Scarpetta Factor," places her enduring heroine in a role the author knows all too well, a pop culture celebrity sought-after for her expertise. In an interview with CNN.com, Cornwell discussed the challenges of staying fresh, the need for happy endings and the merits of the History Channel and the movie "White Chicks."



CNN: The title of your new book, "The Scarpetta Factor," has many meanings. Can you tell me about some of them?



Cornwell: On the one hand, it's a very direct reference to the fact she's the chief forensic analyst for CNN in this book. But while she's doing the on-air spots, they decide they want her to have her own show and that's what they call it, "The Scarpetta Factor," which is a reference to a cliché that's beginning to float around, that there's one element that she can add that will solve the case like she's Sherlock Holmes.



This becomes very upsetting to her, first of all, because it's a cliché and the scientist in her doesn't think she has a special factor, she's a scientist. It begins to pose problems for her because even some colleagues and friends start to wonder if she's begun to believe her own legend and make mistakes.



With her years of experience and high level of visibility and exceptional grasp of the criminal world, she would be asked to be on major shows. When someone like Michael Jackson dies or Caylee Anthony disappears, that's the obvious thing that would happen. People would say, I wonder what Scarpetta has to say. I'm trying to put her in the world we live in.



CNN: Why did you choose CNN?



Cornwell: It would make perfect sense that she would sit on the set with Anderson Cooper or Wolf Blizter and be asked relevant questions from a hard news angle. It's one [network] she would go on and there's lots she wouldn't go on.



CNN: How have things changed since you published your first novel?



Cornwell: When I was shopping my first book around, it was rejected by the major publishing houses and that was because a lot of people didn't think morgues and labs were interesting, and that's a huge statement about how things have changed. I remember one time, I called my literary agent at that time, and I said I was in a toxicology lab, and she said, I hate talking to you because you're always in these awful places. Forensic science was not viewed as cool, as it is today.



CNN: Are there any on-air personalities we might recognize in "The Scarpetta Factor?"



Cornwell: When she is up at CNN for a scene when she's on a fictitious show, she walks past posters of Nancy Grace and Lou Dobbs and Wolf Blitzer because she's up on that floor, so I do make real references to people, but the characters, the producers, none are real and they're not based on anybody I met or know.



CNN: How much of yourself do you see in Kay Scarpetta? Over the years, have you grown into her or has she grown into you?



Cornwell: Only insofar as we have the same values and sensibilities and perhaps the same approach to solving cases. I'm imposing the way my mind works in terms of connecting the dots, but beyond that, there are huge differences between us.



She's a standalone character. I would feel very self-conscious and bored if she was a projection of me. I have certain things in common with all my characters. Like Marino, I can be a slob and sometimes say stupid things and rush to judgment.



CNN: You're known for doing a lot of research on the ground to give your
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