Jayne Interviews Cathie Linz

JAYNE: Okay, full disclosure here. I loved this book !!!!! GOOD GIRLS DO is clever, fast, funny, sexy, heartwarming romance. I devoured it.

All right, I got that out of my system. (Takes deep breath and assumes formal journalistic air). Now, then, you’re the award-winning and best-selling author of 49 category romances, but GOOD GIRLS DO (in stores now) is your first longer contemporary romantic comedy. What made you decide to write a longer book now?

CATHIE: You did!! You were an awesome cheerleader throughout entire event

JAYNE; Oh, wow! A cheerleader. I always wanted to be one of those. (Journalistic air evaporates). Wonder if there are any pom-poms around here?

CATHIE: Ahem. As I was saying, I wanted my 50th book to be special. You were the one who gave me that friendly kick in the derriere.

JAYNE: Oh, yeah, I'm good at that.

CATHIE: A number of my shorter books feature a strong sense of community, which means you have more characters to explore in more detail. This longer length gives me the freedom to do that, and to include more of the humor that I so love to write. In GOOD GIRLS DO, my heroine Julia Wright is a librarian. I’m told that, like Marines, librarians like you and me are always former librarians (never ex). As for the hero, well, Luke Maguire is a bad boy who takes great joy in pressing Julia's buttons and shaking up the books on her shelves.

JAYNE: Something about a guy on a Harley, isn't there?

CATHIE: That’s right. As if having hottie biker man Luke roar into the quiet town of Serenity Falls on his Harley isn’t bad enough, Julia’s wacky mom, bad girl sister and little niece “Toni the Biter” show up unannounced at her doorstep at the same time. Julia can’t even eat her Pop-Tarts in peace anymore.

JAYNE: It was obvious you were thoroughly enjoying yourself. That energy comes roaring through to the reader.

CATHIE: I had so much fun with all the characters in this book, including the secondary characters. The people of Serenity Falls are determined to get on the list of the Best Small Towns in America, no matter what. Having llamas in Julia’s backyard, or nude murals in the pub that Luke just inherited does not sit well with the uptight citizens.

JAYNE: Will we see any of these secondary characters in the future?

CATHIE: Yes, most definitely! In the back of GOOD GIRLS DO is a sneak preview of Julia’s bad girl sister Skye’s book BAD GIRLS DON’T, a November 2006 release. And coming in June 2006 is Julia’s best friend Pam’s story in the bridal novella BRIDES GONE WILD, which is in the CATCH OF THE DAY anthology.

JAYNE: Definitely more great stories coming. Let's take a second here to give people your web site address. It is: http://www.cathielinz.com/. Now, before you go back to your computer and I go online to buy some pom-poms, is there anything you would like to say to the folks who visit this blog?

CATHIE: In my writing, I've always been inspired by images from my favorite romantic comedy movies -- from Tracy and Hepburn in "Adam's Rib" to Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire". My question to your blog community is, what are some of your favorite romantic comedies in film?