Double Clutch Tour.. Author Interview with Liz Reinhardt

Double Clutch by Liz ReinHardt

What happens when you fall for the perfect guy...twice...in one day?

Brenna Blixen spent her freshman year homeschooling in Denmark; now that she's back in the States, she's determined to make her sophomore year unforgettable. And by unforgettable, she imagined awesome classes, fun friendships, and maybe a little romance.

What she got was a whole lot of romance, and all at once.

The same day that dark, brooding Saxon Maclean charmed her with his killer good looks and whip-smart wit, Jake Kelly stole her breath away with his heart-wrenching smile and intelligent, thoughtful focus.

But Saxon is a proud player who makes it clear that he doesn't know why he can't get Brenna off of his mind and out of his system, and Jake's sweet and humble attitude hides a secret past life that might be darker and more complex than Brenna is willing to deal with.

Complicating the matter is the fact that Saxon and Jake were once best friends and are now arch-enemies...and the more Brenna finds out about their connection to each other, the more intrigued and worried she becomes.

Between keeping the peace with her lovingly over-protective parents, designing t-shirts for her high school's rising punk band, keeping up her grades in classes split between academic and technical high school, and running the track like a maniac, Brenna has enough to worry about without juggling two guys who make her heart thud and drive her crazy all at once.

She has to make a choice, but how is she supposed to do that when giving her heart to one of them might mean breaking the other's?

Interview with Liz

What was the very first spark that inspired you to come up with this story, another authors book or maybe life experience; or was it a long brewing story that just had to be written?

It was a combination of extreme homesickness for Sussex County, NJ, where I was born and lived until six years ago, and total, complete love forTwilight. I fell in love with the love triangle aspect of the story, but I really thought poor Jacob Black didn't get a fair shot! I mean, I knew for sure mid-way through New Moon that he didn't have a chance. At all! And I wanted to write a love triangle story where you really loved both guys and felt frustrated right along with the heroine about which was the right one. And I set it in Sussex County to help take off the edge of my homesickness! I felt like I was back there when I was writing about it.

Were there any characters in your life at the time that influenced the characters in the book, if so how did they influence that character?

Jake and Saxon are definitely influenced by my husband and the crew he hung out with in high school. They were trouble-makers, partiers, always wreaking havoc and barely escaping trouble! But every one of them wound up finding that certain girl who helped them put their past behind them and become (mostly) responsible members of society. My husband thinks he's all one of the guys, and gets so mad if people cheer for the other guy. Which is funny, because I see so much of him in both of them ;)!

At what age did you realise you wanted to be an author or had it always been a dream?

I always liked to write, but I was pretty sure I was going to be an anthropologist when I grew up. Then I went to college and knew I'd be a professor. Then I became a teacher and knew I wanted to stay at home with my daughter. Then I pulled out some books I'd been working on and started a few new ones. Writing has been, by far, the most rewarding and interesting thing I've ever done, and I feel so lucky I got to experience being a writer during the time of ebooks and self-publishing. It's extremely exciting to be part of this process!

Is there a particular genre you haven't done before that you would love to take a shot at?

I would love to write a novel about being the age I am now (I'm 30) and all that goes along with being married, having a kid, trying to be a grownup...it's such a fun, crazy, hilarious time. I have all these funny blogs I read about other women going through the same things, and I think it would be great to write a book about it. One of my friends keeps telling me to start, so maybe I'll take her advice soon! She's pretty brilliant and usually knows what she's talking about!

If you had the chance is there any part of the book that you would go back and write differently and why?

In all honesty, sometimes I read a critique of the steamier parts in Double Clutch, and the reviewer will say that it's a bad influence on young readers, or that it's too much or too graphic, and I have this minute of regret. Obviously, when I put this book out I knew there would be people who would not enjoy that aspect. And I'd read enough YA to know it was rare to have that kind of really honest, detailed scene in there, though there are plenty of books with those types of scenes in them! In the end, I'm really glad I left them in there. It's such an honest portrayal of what first love is like physically. That exploration is part of it, and I wrote it with a deep respect for my characters and what they were feeling. The only time I'd take something like that out is if I felt like it was just filler or thrown in for shock and awe.






Thank you to Liz for answering some questions for the blog and for letting my blog participate in the Double Clutch blog tour, hope you are all enjoying the tour!