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Category: Writing and Poetry
 Jayne, here, to introduce CATHIE LINZ. She is not only a good friend of mine, she is the absolute mistress of romantic comedy. Her stories are filled with clever charactes, sparkling romance and the importance of family. Her new book, SMART GIRLS THINK TWICE, is in stores now. Don't miss it!---------------------------------------------------
Thank you, Jayne, for inviting me here to Running with Quills to talk about my new book SMART GIRLS THINK TWICE, in stores now. Good news - I just got two wonderful reviews. Library Journal says, “With her typical sense of humor, Linz has given readers another joyful, laughter-filled story to savor.” And Booklist gave my book a highly coveted starred review, saying, “Readers will be captivated as they watch the introverted academic get in touch with her inner warrior and realize her true potential. Funny and poignant by turns, Linz’s latest is sure to charm.”I wrote SMART GIRLS THINK TWICE because I love stories with Plain-Jane heroines and wild bad boy heroes. Talk about opposites attracting! Emma Riley is an academic content to study life from the sidelines. Jake Slayter is a total risk-taker, always on the move. Both have come to Rock Creek with questions. The answers they find there will change their lives forever. Because when it comes to dangerously sexy men, smart girls think twice.In my previous 3 books I included a secondary story, But this book was different. There was so much going on with Emma and Jake that their stories were enough to fill the pages…and then some.I write a character driven book. I’ve often said that if I could teach my characters to type, I’d be in great shape. This book in particular had large sections where I had no idea what was going to come next but thankfully my characters did and I just kept typing to keep up with them and their dialogue.Emma and Jake and the other characters often cracked me up and sometimes even made me cry. This is one of the joys of being a writer. At least for me it’s one of the joys. Things happen that I don’t expect. It’s what keeps things fresh for me even after writing 50 books. There were at least half a dozen twists I didn’t expect in this book, but if I tell you all of them, then I’ll be giving too much away. Here’s an example of one thing I didn’t expect to happen in the book. This is from chapter 1 where my sociologist heroine Emma has walked into a bar looking for Jake, the new hot bartender in town. She’s trying to convince him to help her in her academic study when she’s approached by the town drunk
“Forget about him. Try me instead,” a man drunkenly slurred in her ear as he grabbed her derriere and squeezed hard. “Or better yet, I’ll try you.”Her gasp of outrage was instantly followed by a sinister glare from Jake. “Back off, Roy,” he growled.“Or what pretty boy?” Roy taunted. “What ya gonna do about it? You think you can claim every woman in this town, even the ugly ones?”Emma saw red. For once in her life, she didn’t think, she just acted. A moment later, Roy ended up on the floor, his hands protectively cupping his family jewels.“No one touches me without my permission and no one calls me ugly.” She sent a warning glance to the remaining handful of patrons in the bar. “You got that?”They all nodded.Emma could tell Jake was impressed. That certainly hadn’t been her intention. He now eyed her with newfound respect along with a dose of masculine curiosity. “Who are you?”-----------------------------------------
Another example, this time from chapter 5 --Jake knew the drill by now. He wasn’t the man he’d been before. He was scarred…inside and out. The nightmares were proof of that. There was no escaping them, no matter how fast he ran, one mile, then two…Woof.Jake slowed down at the nearby sound of a dog barking.Woof.Jake stared into the darkness, trying to figure out where the noise came from. Woof.The bark was louder this time and sounded like it was coming from behind him. He turned in time to see a row of sharp glistening teeth coming right at him. He backpedaled and fell on his ass in the grass along the road. A half-second later the dog was on him, licking his face and drooling all over him. “Yuck.” Jake turned his head to avoid the doggy spit. “Get off me.” Woof.“Whoa.” Almost overcome by the bad doggy breath, Jake waved his hand in front of his face. “You need some mouthwash, mutt. Get off.” He shoved but the mutt ignored him. So he tried something else. “Sit.”The mutt sat. Right on Jake’s privates.--------------------------------------------------------------- As the author, you’d think I’d know from the beginning of the book that the hero, Jake, would have a dog come into his life. But no. I was as surprised as Jake when Mutt showed up. But Mutt did end up revealing a lot about Jake’s character because that’s what animals do. They have a way of getting to you. I had both cats and dogs when I was growing up. What about the rest of you? Do you have any pets? Here’s a photo of my cat Whiskers who was on the cover of Romantic Times Magazine (he’s such a cover model ..)
All the best, Cathie LinzPS: Please stop by my website to enter my contest cathielinz.com to win a copy of my previous book BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY which was selected by Booklist (American Library Association) as one of the Top Ten Romances of the Year.Also, I'll be doing a chat at writerspace.com this Wed Jan 21st at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT
3:55 AM
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