The complex tango between fact and fiction was central to the power of the seminal television show “The Wire,” which used the former as the building material and the latter as connective tissue in its storytelling.

The plotlines and the characters all had that ring of truth and followed the contours of real events and real people, perhaps none more so than the indelible character of Snoop, played by Felicia Pearson.

She was among a handful on the show who were not previously professional actors. The show’s creators, David Simon and Ed Burns, took chances casting some Baltimore citizens with real backstories to give the show authenticity.

This week, The New York Times reported that Pearson and Burns are shopping a limited-series television show titled “A.K.A. Snoop,” a screenplay adaptation of Pearson’s 2007 book “Grace After Midnight: A Memoir,” co-written with David Ritz and published by Grand Central Publishing. The book recounts Pearson’s upbringing and troubled experiences as a youth in East Baltimore.

The description of the book on Goodreads and Amazon reads: “Snoop was born a three-pound cross-eyed crack baby in East Baltimore. Those streets are among the toughest in the world, but Snoop was tougher. The runt of the ghetto showed an early aptitude for drug slinging and violence and thrived as a baby gangsta until she landed in Jessup state penitentiary after killing a woman in self-defense.”

The Times reported that Pearson approached Burns during the pandemic about adapting her book. The two had kept in touch after the end of “The Wire” in 2008, and Burns was immediately receptive to collaborating on a screenplay, according to The Times.

Should “A.K.A. Snoop” make it to television, the show would be the most directly related descendant of “The Wire,” which despite its success did not produce any direct spinoffs.

Simon left discussion of the project to Burns and Pearson, who could not be reached, but expressed his enthusiasm for the possible show.

“I am of course rooting for Ed and Felicia,” he said. “It’s a great story.”

The 2022 HBO show, “We Own This City,” was reminiscent of “The Wire” universe, but was adapted from a nonfiction book of the same name written by former Baltimore Sun and current Baltimore Banner reporter Justin Fenton. The events of “We Own This City” took place well after “The Wire” ended.

“The Wire” was preceded by “The Corner,” a 2000 HBO sseries based on a 1997 book of the same name, co-written by Simon and Burns. The two went on to collaborate on other shows, but none explicitly about Baltimore or any of the characters from “The Wire.”