Author: Liz Reinhardt
Published: September 6th 2011
Series: Brenna Blixen Novel #1
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?
Recommended Age Group: Older YA
I'm very glad to have Liz Reinhardt do an interview with me, if your a fan of the book don't miss out on these Q & A's!
1- I personally never met Brenna or Saxon, how did you go about finding your characters names? (unique but not overly unique like Rainbow or something haha)
I actually have a story for this! My mom was a young mother. 'Brenna' was the name she picked for me and loved, but, at the last minute, she was afraid it was too trendy, so she named me 'Elizabeth,' which she felt was very dignified. I always loved the story of my almost-name, and it seemed like a great way to give my mom a little shout out in a special way.
Saxon was the name of an older guy at my highshcool. He was kind of a hippie, extremely handsome, mysterious, tons of fun...I think everyone had a little crush on him. And I loved his name. When I had to name my mysterious, trouble-making anti-hero, the name felt like a perfect fit.
2- What gave you the determination to becoming a self-published author? I personally think it's ten times harder!
It took a few years. My first step was writing the book. Then I got a critique partner, some beta readers, and an editor. We all worked hard, and I assumed it would get picked up by a literary agent. A lot of agents said really nice things about it and liked it, but no one chose to represent me. I kept working on Double Clutch and other books, and sent out more queries. Finally I told myself that I would try my last few top agents, and if they didn't want to represent me, I wouldn't try to get just any agent.
I got those final few rejection letters (which were very nice, actually!), and I decided that this was it. I got a cover designer and put Double Clutch out there. I was incredibly nervous, but it was also wonderful to be the final judge. I didn't take out anything I wanted in. I got to choose the cover. I got to blog about it, Facebook about it, tweet about it any way and any time I wanted. I also got to set the price I wanted and release the next book when I wanted. It's an incredible amount of work, but it feels fantastic to have so much control! And the other indie writers I've corresponded with are the absolute coolest colleagues ever! I feel very lucky.
3- Brenna had seen her share of the world, what about you? To what places have you traveled? plan to travel? and the places you would give a kidney to live at?
Ah! Travel! Haha! I definitely have the travel bug. When I was 14, I went to Denmark for a month on my own and stayed with my family's former exchange student. He and his mother took me to Paris for one week. Two years later I lived in Germany for three months. Two years after that I spent seven weeks in London and hiking the south end of Ireland with my little sister, Katie. I went to Montreal with my best friend, Alexa, over winter break in college and did nine weeks of study abroad in Italy. My husband and I plan to take our daughter to Italy as soon as she's old enough, and that's where I'd give my kidney to live for a while! Delicious food, gorgeous weather, plenty of art...perfect! I would also love to spend some more time in Denmark, since that's where my father is from. But I would take a ticket anywhere! I definitely love to travel!
4- If you can read one book for the rest of your life only, what would it be?
It would be Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. It's an amazing, beautiful, twisting story of mothers and daughters. It goes through generations and covers so many beautiful aspects of family and friendship. I absolutely love it. I read it at least once every year. And, much as I love it, I'd be very sad if I only got to read one book! Torture!!!
5- Can we get any teasers or ideas about your future work? ;D
Sure! If you read the end of Junk Miles, you know that the next Brenna book is Slow Twitch, and you know it has Saxon's POV. It's actually told in alternating POVs, so you get to hear from Brenna, Saxon, and Jake, all first person. It follows the three of them through a very crazy summer, and you even meet some very cool new characters and get to know old ones better.
Aside from Brenna, Saxon, and Jake, I am doing last edits on a book called Forgiving Trinity about a girl who gets mixed up with drugs, gets herself in huge trouble, and gets helped out by a guy named Aidan. When she gets back on her feet, she has to figure out how to deal with living life without being constantly dazed. It winds up being funny, depressing, hard, amazing...everything she never expected. I'm hoping that one will be out this winter.
Thank you so much for having me and for your amazing questions!
That's it for my stop:D make sure you check out the other tour stops and don't miss out on the giveaway HERE!
Purchase Double Clutch from: Amazon
