Interview with Jay Crownover

by Jay Crownover
Also by this author: Jet, Rome, Nash, Better When He's Bad, Rowdy, Better When He's Bold, Asa, Better When He's Brave (Welcome to the Point, #3)
Also in this series: Jet, Rome, Nash, Rowdy, Asa

 

Back in February, we chatted with Jay Crownover and had the best time! This chic is real, down to earth, and just so humble. Little did she know at that time that her life would be forever changed by writing the book Rule. She never expected to sell more than five copies!

Jay, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I grew up in the mountain of Colorado, went to college in Denver but bounced around because I though cute boys were more important than school at the time. Got a great job after school, lost said job after ten years, and had to go back to school. So despite my lack of technical writing skills..ie spelling and punctuation usage…lol, I actually have a Master’s Degree. I was married, now I’m not. I have a wonderful family and amazing friends. Both my girl and boy besties are just wonderful people. I love my dogs..so much that I have the oldest one tattooed on the inside of my arm! I am thoroughly enjoying this new ride–even if my hyper-controlling and obsessive personality makes it hard to send something I worked on so diligently out into the world for everyone else to have. I’m working on it though.

How did you come up with the name of the series as well as the names of the books?

The books I knew were all going to be named after each of the male leads. They have cool names that sound out, so I thought that was a smart idea, and I don’t like titles that are wordy and where you have to read the entire book to understand what it means. I picked “The Marked Men” because each of the characters, men and women, have something from their past that has left an undeniable mark on them, which makes them act or feel the way they do. The shop the guys work at and where a lot of the social interaction happens is also called The Marked, so it just fit.

Is anything in Jet based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

The setting is real. I lived and worked in Denver when I was in my 20’s. The tattooing is real, I have many and feel like I know the process and depicted it very true to life. I have run a bar for a living or been in the bar industry so long that anything having to do with that aspect of the story is as true to life and my bar experiences as a person can get. And though I would never tell him, Rule is a pretty close representation physically of my very first boyfriend I ever had when I was younger…..only he had green eyes and a lot of his ink was awful!! lol

Is there a message in your novels that you want readers to walk away with? If so, what is it?

I just try and write stories that are true to life. I want the characters to be people that you feel like you could pass on the street. I think accepting someone for who they are, good bad or ugly is also a key point. I don’t think you can love someone if all you want to do is change them into someone else.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

I just read. I read a lot. Some good, some great, some life changing and amazing….but a lot of stuff is crap or has the exact same formula as whatever seems to be selling right now in the market. I figured I could just write something I wanted to read…turns out other people wanted to read it too….I’m very lucky

You’ve been given the task to host a last minute dinner party. Which authors are on your ultimate dinner invitation list? Alive or Dead.

This is a weird question so I have a weird answer….I don’t think I would want to meet any of them or have any of them there. Like all my favorite authors are dead…Orwell, Poe, Salinger, Hemmingway….and all of them supposedly had traits that I think it would make hard for me to like them if I actually met them. No having a cocktail party with a bunch of lovely authors, the ladies that write NA now I could probably do….I still feel like I would probably stick out like a sore thumb even it was my own party!

Are you worried about the rest of the books following RULE doing as well?

Yes I am. I understand what an impact and how successful his story was….I get asked over and over to write a continuing story for him and Shaw. I have already seen many of the reviews saying JET was good but he wasn’t RULE. Having a first love is hard to get past I think. To me I don’t want to write the same story over and over, I don’t want the same main character to be the focus of what I’m writing….even though that has become very popular in the genre. So yes, I am concerned that nothing I do following up RULE is going to compete with the original and that is terrifying.

At what point in your life did you realize that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a career you were going to turn into reality?

When I realized I could afford to not have to go to work for the next 2 years on the profit from RULE. Also when I was spending more time at work answering emails, talking to my agent, interacting with readers and bloggers than I did running the bar. Pretty much I had to make a choice because I was spread too thin and needed to commit my attention to one thing or the other….the hot, sexy guys won out.

Lightning Round Questions

Craziest thing in your fridge right now?
A growler of Maple Bacon Beer from Rouge Brewery….I guess I’m supposed to drink it with breakfast

Do you believe in love at first sight?
I believe in lust at first sight….I think love takes more work than that

Favorite fictional male (or female) character who you have not written?
Qhuinn from the Black Dagger Brotherhood

If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?
Probably LAST CALL by Jay Crownover…lol I could tell so many great stories!

When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A race car driver, then a photographer….but really I always wrote. I wanted to be a writer

Who would play you in a film of your life?
Hmmm…I dunno…Can I say Tina Fey just because I love her and think she is super smart, totally hilarious and a super powerful role model for women? We don’t look anything alike and she is a bit older than me but still…if I had a say, I would pick her.