Romance Addict: Tell us a little bit about yourself; how did you come to be a writer?
Lauren Blakely:
I've always loved telling stories and making things up! I have written
in one form or another for most of my career.
Romance Addict: What motivated you to publish a novel?
Lauren Blakely:
There's so much excitement and opportunity right now in self-publishing
and independent publishing, and I was drawn to the chance to connect directly
with readers in this genre in a way that wasn't truly possible a few years ago.
Plus, the romance genre is experiencing such a resurgence thanks to eBooks!
Romance Addict: It sure is. Are there any good romance novels
you've read lately?
Lauren Blakely:
I LOVED ONE-WEEK GIRLFRIEND by Monica Murphy. That's one of my favorite
recent reads. It's tender and sexy and edgy and just a wonderfully
heart-stopping love story! I also liked Valentine's Arrangement by Kelsie
Leverich, and The Next Forever by Lisa Burstein
Romance Addict: I agree those are some great books!
Lauren Blakely:
Aren't they??? Glad you like them too!
Romance Addict: What inspired Kat & Bryan's story in
Caught Up In Us? Maybe your own first love?
Lauren Blakely:
I definitely think we draw from a lot of our own experiences - in my
case, my husband is the funniest guy I know, so some of Bryan's lines are
things my hubby has said! As for the romance, well, I just think there's
something really magical about first love and rekindled romance...and that
sometimes when we watch the movies we want that kind of romance...I wanted to
write about what it might feel like to actually get that kind of romance and
love!
Romance Addict: So your husband helped inspire Bryan? Do you
see some of yourself in Kat?
Lauren Blakely:
Yes, definitely! We've been married 15 years and he makes me very happy!
And yes, I see myself in Kat somewhat...I'm a bit of an idealist when it comes
to love and like her I get swept away by movie romances!
Notting Hill, Shakespeare in Love, You've Got Mail - love
them all!!!
Romance Addict: Wow! Not a lot of couples make it that long
these days! Do you have some tips to help keep that romance after so long?
Lauren Blakely:
Find someone who makes you laugh!! Seriously, though. That's what does
it for me! The way to my heart is totally through humor and my hubby is the
funniest guy I know...Plus, we both like romantic comedies! One time I found
him watching Notting Hill on his own!! I was like "Hey, let me join
you!"
Romance Addict: Was there an inspiration behind Kat’s
roommate, Jill?
Lauren Blakely:
I didn't have a particular person in mind for Jill, but I definitely saw
her as a very bold, outspoken, kind of snarky gal..she's a lot of fun to write!
Plus, I love the theater and the world of acting, so it was
fun to write an actress.
Romance Addict: Will there be a squeal with Jill? If not –
could there be? She was a lot of fun!
Lauren Blakely:
Yes!!! But I haven't written that yet! Did I tell you about my next
book? I blogged about it...let me send you link!
Romance Addict: Ha! I was going to ask about Reeve &
Jill!
Lauren Blakely:
That's right - I remember that in your review! You were one of the first
people to "notice" the potential in Reeve!
Romance Addict: Nice! Yes, he seems like a cool character!
Lauren Blakely:
I like him!! He's a total hottie...
Romance Addict: What actor would you imagine him looking
like? Or model, I guess even…
Lauren Blakely:
Well, I have someone in mind..but you can't google his images because he
doesn't look how I imagine Reeve to look like in all his pics! So can I send you the one good one where
he's totally how I picture my Reeve??
Romance Addict: Yes, PLEASE!
Lauren Blakely:
Here you go...The actor is Reeve Carney....(Hence the name!) I saw him
in Spiderman on Broadway and he's gorgeous IMO and can totally sing like a
rockstar...and here's the pic of him that I see as my Reeve.
Romance Addict: Ok, enough drooling. We should get back to
the book. How would you have written her brother, Nate, and his reaction to
finding out about Kat and Bryan?
Lauren Blakely:
Yeah I kinda left that out. I think Nate probably would have been fine
with it ultimately...but not back then...He's very protective of Kat and if he
knew he would have punched Bryan... So that's why I made it all secret... But
now that they're together...I definitely see Nate being very supportive. Oh!
You had an interesting point in your review about the final chapter...I
deliberately didn't have him "propose" officially...I wanted it to be
something very unique to the two of them...a happily ever after, but one that
fit who they were - hence the Hello Kitty ring.
Romance Addict: I was about to go there. I got the Hello
Kitty ring. I just didn't get that there was no 'will you marry me?'
Lauren Blakely:
Yeah...I hear ya...I just wanted it to be a little non-traditional...
Romance Addict: I'm all for that. If there is a squeal...
will Wilco make an appearance?
Lauren Blakely:
Good question - I'm not sure about Wilco...Probably not though...
Romance Addict: And since you read my review - you know I have to ask.. why was there no drama with Wilco?
Lauren Blakely:
Why was there no actual fight on page?
Romance Addict: I guess I just like drama. I was waiting for
a BIG fallout with him.
Lauren Blakely:
Because if there were a fight then logic would dictate that Bryan would
have needed to save Kat from the fight...and that felt like something that was
"done" already...I wanted Bryan to be the one "injured" and
I wanted Kat to take care of him after...so I kept the moment off page... I
understand that some readers might have preferred it another way and that's
totally cool! But this made sense for how I saw them.
Romance Addict: Yeah, I gotta say I almost wanted Wilco to
catch Kat and Bryan.
Lauren Blakely:
Yeah, that's another way it could have gone too! There are definitely
alot of directions the story could have gone in!
Romance Addict: So you've got Reeve's novella coming out
soon. What other juicy things do you have in the works?
Lauren Blakely:
Let's see...after Pretending He's Mine I should probably get to work on
Jill's story! But I also have another novel that I wrote a year or so ago that
I may revise and rework before I do Jill's story...
Romance Addict: Anything you can share about that novel?
Lauren Blakely:
Let's see - it's set in NYC! (Most of my books seem to be!) The
characters will be in college, so a bit younger than the Caught Up In Us characters...and
it's probably a little edgier, more daring in some of their exploits...
Romance Addict: You have my attention with edgier. So I take it you like NYC?
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Website: http://www.laurenblakely.com
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