INTERVIEW / Author Spotlight - Liz Reinhardt author of Double Clutch (A Brenna Blixen novel)

I am really excited to be joined by Liz Reinhardt, author of Double Clutch, a Contemporary Young Adult Romance today . 

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

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 with out 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?

Recommended Age Group: Older YA

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AUTHOR BIO: 

Liz Reinhardt was born and raised in the idyllic beauty of northwest NJ. A move to the subtropics of coastal Georgia with her daughter and husband left her with a newly realized taste for the beach and a bloated sunscreen budget. Right alongside these new loves is her old, steadfast affection and longing for bagels and the fast-talking foul mouths of her youth.

She loves Raisinettes, even if they aren't really candy, the Oxford comma, movies that are hilarious or feature zombies, any and all books, but especially romance (the smarter and hotter, the better), the sound of her daughter's incessantly wise and entertaining chatter, and watching her husband work on cars in the driveway.

You can read her blog, like her on Facebook, or email her at lizreinhardtwrites@gmail.com

INTERVIEW:  (S - Sharon L - Liz)

S - Welcome to Obsession with Books Liz, Are you able to tell us a little about your book Double Clutch and yourself?

L - Thank you so much for having me! I am the author of the YA contemporary romance Double Clutch. The book is about a girl named Brenna who gets back to the United States after a year in Denmark, ready to stay focused and have a great year. But things get complicated when she falls for two very different guys in one day. Jake and Saxon both have their good qualities, but each one also has so much bad! She has to navigate these new romances along with her studies, her friends, her new business, her family, and life in general!

When I’m not writing, I spend my days in Georgia with my long-suffering husband and adorably bratty daughter. We like to take road trips, read, watch movies, and go out to eat. Because I hate cooking and am a miserable failure at it!

S - When and why did you begin writing?

L - My first piece of writing that was read (or listened to) by a (very reluctant) audience was a rewrite of Romeo and Juliet for Mrs. Schroth in 8^th grade, which she liked so much, she read it to the whole class.

Maybe she liked it because I killed everyone off?

Yep. Every. Single. Character.

It was just a mass of bodies and lots of weeping and moaning from the surviving townspeople. Mrs. Schroth was one of those hard nut teachers who was never, ever impressed with anything, but she was all glowy and read it with this really great, dramatic voice, and she kept stopping to compliment my writing while all my classmates rolled their eyes.

That was the first time I wrote something that really impressed someone whose opinion of writing I genuinely respected. So that started the whole ball rolling, but I didn’t try my first novel until I was a senior in college.

S - Where did the inspiration for your book Double Clutch come from?

L - I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, and I was, of course, all gaga over it, and swept up in her passionate storytelling and her fearless ability to follow her (literal) dream and create this amazing story.

I was so inspired, I wrote a vampire novel. Or two. And they were awful! Many apologies to my best friend, who I forced to read them both. Ugh! But I didn’t know why they were so bad!

Then I realized that I was kind of writing about what Stephenie Meyer loved, not what I loved. I scrapped the vampires and started fresh, this time with no supernatural elements (which I love reading, but wasn’t very good at writing), and Brenna’s story just poured out!

S - What is your ideal day as an author?

L - Hahaha! Okay, ideal is just that I get to write for a full three minutes without having to break up a fight over a toy or put on the next Yo Gabba Gabba! episode! I am a full time mom, so my days are filled with caring for my daughter and my nights are filled with hanging out with her and my awesome husband.

After she goes to bed, my husband always manages to convince me to watch a Community marathon on Netflix or something. Writing is what I have to escape all my other loves to do, and I kind of love that.

It’s not a forced thing. I never, ever feel grumpy to get going on my books. I love the time I spend writing! It’s that thing that I do just for me. But I can write anywhere, anytime, any background activity, and pick up mid-thought. I have to write that way, or I’d never get anything done!

I do dream of an office with lots of bookshelves and no Nick Jr., though!

S - Do you mind telling us how long it took for you to write Double Clutch?

L - No problem! It took about three months to write the first draft. I sent it to my best friend, who’s an amazing editor, and she gave me suggestions. I made some changes and started querying agents, because I wanted to do the traditional publishing route.

I got a lot of interest from agents, but there was always a reason that they didn’t want to commit. In the meantime, I gave it to my sister, sister-in-law, old roommate, and new friend and critique partner. Anytime it came back with comments, I went in and changed things.

After two years of tweaking things and sending the query out to over 100 agents, I felt like the book was the best it could be. My mom told me to stop being a wuss and put it up on as an indie-pub, and I did. I always listen to my mom.

And then it started selling and people started reading it who weren’t even my friends or relations! Very cool, but kind of scary!

S - Is there anything about you that would surprise your readers? Any quirks, habits, routines etc.

L - I have no three dimensional depth perception at all. I never developed it as a kid. Each one of my eyes works perfectly on its own and has good sight. They just don’t work together! I never get to duck or ooh and ahh during a 3-D movie. But they’re developing therapies to remedy it every day, and when one of the therapy centers opens close to where I live, I’m so going. And I’ll finally be impressed with 3-D movies! It will be very cool.

If I could, I would stay up until early morning and sleep in late. I feel like going to sleep early is a waste of time. So I stay up really late, have to wake up early, then eat a lot of Cheetos because I’m tired! Bad, bad habits!

Although I can totally write without it, I love having special, weird iPod mixes for each one of my books. When I think about writing Double Clutch, I have a whole list of songs that runs through my head!

S - Are you able to describe what your writing process is like?

L - I’ve done different things for different books. What I like to do for any book is write straight to the end, and never abandon any idea. 

For Double Clutch it was all in one long draft, straight through, no chapter breaks.

For a book I plan to release later this year, Forgiving Trinity, I had a blog and wrote one chapter a day. At the end of the blog, I would ask a question about what I should do for the next chapter, and people would vote and comment. It was an awesome experience, and it allowed me to write a book in a month because the schedule was so strict!

I’m working on a paranormal right now that I’m writing with shorter chapters, and I try to do one in the morning and one in the evening.

So my only rule is that I do not give up on a book. I write it to the end, then go back and pull it all apart if I need to.

S - Are there any books or authors that have most influenced you?

L - Ahhh! Such a good question! There are so many, but I’ll pick the ones that helped me most as a YA writer.

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger taught me to be true to my character no matter what, and that people will love your character if you let him/her speak through you honestly.

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty taught me that you can have a kick ass heroine who doesn’t put up with any crap and is a little neurotic and still lovable. And following Jessica Darling for five books taught me that it’s a true gift to be able to see our favorite heroines grow, change, make mistakes, and figure it all out.

Jellicoe Road by Melinda Marchetta taught me that you have to trust your gut as far as pace goes. Sometimes things need to unfold in their own time.

Forever by Judy Blume taught me to be fearless and honest when it came to depicting teenage sexuality. I respect my characters too much to blanket what they’re going through. I want to be honest through them.

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson taught me that poetry and novels can exist within each other. Her language is so rich and wonderful, the entire book is this entire emotional rollercoaster wrapped in the most gorgeous words.

S - Is there are book you are reading at the moment? And do you tend to favor a particular genre?

L - I recently read and loved Angie Tyler’s sweet self-published YA novel Rock and a Hard Place. I watched Angie’s career grow from our time as critique partners to her success as an indie author, and I loved feeling like I was part of her journey!

I can’t wait to read Stephanie Perkin’s Lola and the Boy Next Door. I was in love with Anna and the French Kiss, and I am looking forward to her kissing details and pitch perfect conversations!

I tend to gravitate towards contemporary YA, and I’m so excited to see more of it coming out, especially in the indie world!

S - If Double Clutch were to be made into a movie, who would you chose to play the roles of your main characters Brenna, Saxon and Jake?

L - Brenna would definitely be Emily Browning (Lemony Snicket, Sucker Punch). I think she could do cool, smart, and sexy all at once, and I would love to see her in more movies!

Saxon would be Thomas McDonell (Prom) because he gets that whole dark, handsome, full of himself, smoldering thing down perfectly. And he could do both sexy and vulnerable, which is good for Saxon!

Jake would be Freddie Stroma (Cormac McLaggen in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) because he has that light, sweet, sexy good boy look that can melt your heart. But he seems like he could have a little edge, too!

S - What is up next for you?

L - My big master plan is just to put out more books and keep writing about whatever interests me. In those years when I was cleaning up Double Clutch, I wrote every single day, any idea that came in my head. I have a whole stockpile of completed books that I really love, and they just need to get edited and out there!

Immediately, I’d like to put the follow up to Double Clutch, Junk Miles, out. I plan to have that available as an ebook in November.

Quick Questions:

Fave band / television series / movie?

Iron and Wine / Community / Clueless

Coffee or tea?

Tea…I’m such a baby about coffee! I love the smell, but hate the aftertaste.

E-reader or hardcopy?

Either one! I love my e-reader so I can read with one hand and do whatever chore I have to get done with the other. But who can resist the smell of paper?

Cats or Dogs

I’m very reluctantly smitten with my dog, Duke, who was never supposed to become a permanent pet, but is now absolutely one of the family.

Ideal travel destination?

Italy! As soon as I’ve got enough in my bank account, I’m stealing away with my husband and kid, and I’m going to gorge on art and food and awesomeness!

Thank-you so much Liz for taking time to talk to us today!

I hope you all enjoyed my interview with the delightful Liz.

Buy Links - Smashwords - Barnes and Noble - Amazon