faqs

Do you have a fan club? Well, kind of but not. There's a Yahoo list called JenniferCrusieFans that was begun as a fan list, but how long can you talk about fifteen books? So we moved on to fainting goats, vibrators, chocolate Jesuses, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and now it's just a great community of very open-minded people who will talk about anything with great enthusiasm. Basically, they feed on ideas. I love them. They're called the Cherries--their idea--and I am one of them.

Do you have a mailing list? Yep. You can sign up on the mailing list page. We'll send notice of new book releases, tour info and a quarterly newsletter, and we swear never to give out your info to anybody. Really.

How do you pick your book tour cities? I don't pick, St. Martin's picks. And they're always cities that are generally considered "book towns" so that people will actually come to the booksignings, and the booksignings are almost always in New York Times reporting stores. However, some times I do conferences and then I show up wherever the conference is. And yes, sometimes they let me out of the country. I'll be in Australia and New Zealand in August of 2007 (and I am really looking forward to that).

How do I find information about your next book that is coming out? For my solo books, here on this website on the upcoming and w.i.p. page. For the books I write in partnership with Bob Mayer, go to the Crusie-Mayer site.

Why don't you write faster? Because I'm a slow writer. Kind of like, I'm not short because I'm tall. However, I am now collaborating with Bob Mayer, Speed Demon, and we finished our first book, Don't Look Down, in nine months and it's really, really good, plus Bob thinks our second book, Agnes and the Hitman. is going to go even faster. I think he's delusional, but basically as long as Bob is driving, we're going to be getting there sooner. If you're talking about my solo books, I'm still moseying along the back roads, stopping for lunch and shopping second hand stores. It'll be awhile.

What types of books do you enjoy reading? Good ones. I know, annoying answer, but I pretty much read across genres.

What is your favorite book of all time? Favorite author of all time? Can't do it. There's not just one. Some of my faves are Georgette Heyer, Terry Pratchett, Emily Bronte, Jane Austen, Joss Whedon (his scripts and comics), Michael Gilbert, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Pat Gaffney... it's just too hard.

Who are your favorite contemporary authors? What authors do you recommend? There are so, so many. My favorite comfort read right now is Terry Pratchett. I love the Discworld, especially the Watch and the Death books. I want to BE Susan. There, you want my favorite character in fiction? Susan Sto-Helit.

Do you adapt events/people/animals from your life into your books? Sometimes. My dogs and cats have all been in books. People are harder because once they're in the book they become characters on their own. Events, not so much. I've used snatches of overheard conversations, that kind of thing. But not events from my own life. Not enough distance. Basically, using real life people and events limits you too much. You want the characters to breathe in and become their own people, the events to grow out of the people they become. So real life can inspire, but you don't want to imitate it.

Have you ever met/known men like the heroes in your books? Sure. There are a lot of great men out there. If you're asking me if the men in my books are based on real men, no (see answer to question above).

When will Sizzle, The Cinderella Deal, and Trust Me on This be reissued? What is the best way to find these titles now? Sizzle, please God, never. The Cinderella Deal and Trust Me On This belong to Bantam, and they're waiting until I get famous to reissue them.

Will you ever write sequels? Books about supporting characters (Amy, Eve or Liza)? Depends on the character. Amy, no. You know what happened to her. It's pretty much implicit at the end of WTT. Liza, no. You know what happened to her. It's in the last chapter of Bet Me. Eve. I love Eve, but I don't know. She was supposed to be the heroine of Faking It until Tilda took over. But it's a possibility. I'm more intrigued by Nadine and Dillie, but I'm fairly sure that I'm way too far removed from twenty-something culture to get it right. And they'd have to be in their twenties before I wrote about them. So, maybe. But probably not. But I did go back to Davy Dempsey. So never say never.

Are they ever going to make a movie or TV show based on one of your books? Hard to say. They get optioned all the time but I think they're really difficult to adapt. Plus it's very difficult to get any movie made. There was some talk at one point about Fast Women being a TV show but that went nowhere. I think there's more potential for Don't Look Down. Bob kept shooting things and feeding people to the alligator and flying helicopters under bridges. Very cinematic.

Why do you choose to write about different characters for each book? Very short attention span. Also, I think a great book is about the most important moment in a character's life. So the next book would be about the second most important moment, and then the third book. . .

Do you think you'll ever write a series? I'd say no, but never say never. I could see writing a limited series, say three books that were conceived as one plot, but it takes me about two years to write a book now, so I'd be spending six years in that world. The only fictional world I want to spend that long in is Discworld, and then only if I'm Susan.

There are several pages missing from my book, what should I do? Take it back to the bookseller and ask for a new copy.

There are typos and/or grammatical errors in my book, where should I send my complaint? Corrections? Well, the book's in print, so I don't suppose you'd settle for just feeling intellectually and morally superior? No, I didn't think so. Write to St. Martin's Press.

Where can I purchase your older books? E-bay is the best place. Used bookstores have them, but they charge an arm and a leg because I wasn't that popular in my earlier days so they didn't print that many. However, as of January 2006, all of my Harlequin titles will be in reprint, and St. Martin's Press keeps my back list in print, so the only ones you can't find would be . . .

Can I write to your publisher to request that they publish a reprint Sizzle, The Cinderella Deal, and Trust Me on This? DO NOT ASK FOR A SIZZLE REPRINT. That damn book is following me around the way early porn films follow actresses. Feel free to write Bantam to request reprints of The Cinderella Deal and Trust Me On This. I've asked them, and they said no, but maybe they like you better than they like me.

Where did you come up with your pseudonym and why are you using one? Jennifer is my real name. Crusie is my maternal grandmother's maiden name. My other family names were Smith, Headapohl, and Woolf. I thought about Woolf, but it seemed more mystery than romance, so I went with Crusie because it sounded lighter, not realizing that people would be misspelling it for the rest of my life. I used one because I was teaching high school when I sold to Harlequin, and I didn't want teenage boys reading my sex scenes out loud from the back of the classroom, plus Harlequin required that you use a pseudonym. It was good for me at the time, so we're not blaming Harlequin at all.

Do creative writing classes and seminars help writers at all? Depends on the teachers. Lee K. Abbott was a huge help in my MFA program. Probably 75% of what I know about writing fiction, I learned from him; he's a great, great teacher. Ron Carlson was a terrific teacher. Deb Dixon is a terrific teacher. Michael Hague taught me a lot in his screenwriting seminars. But there are a lot of controlling, elitist nutcases teaching, too. Be careful out there.

What are the best books to read to learn how to become a writer? Linda Seger's Making A Good Script Great is a terrific introduction to basic story structure. Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction is a classic for good reason. Ralph Keyes The Courage to Write is required reading for any writer on mental health grounds. Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird is also excellent. Robert McKee's Story has a lot of great information in it. Bob Mayer's The Writer's Toolkit is a great introduction. And there are more being published every day.

How can I get an editor to look at my work? Write a great, great book, research to find out what editors publish the kinds of books you like, learn to query them, and then learn to take rejection. It never stops.

Do new writers need an agent to get published? No. New writers need a great book to get published. They need a good agent to keep from getting taken to the cleaners when they sign the contracts. But a GOOD agent, not any agent. They're harder to find than good editors, so take your time. For more detail you can check out some of the essays I wrote on the subject.

Do you give critiques to aspiring writers? Nope. If I did, that's all I'd get done. I'm a slow writer, remember?

Will you give my book/manuscript a quote? Nope. I only quote for books I've read in full and really, really liked. And right now I have fourteen manuscripts stacked in my living room, waiting to be read, and some of them are six months old. Which means they probably don't need a quote any more. But if you insist, have your agent send it to my agent. She'll send it to me. And I'll put it at the bottom of the stack.

Can you judge a contest that my organization is holding? Nope. People like to sue, and if I write a book that has a plot element in it that's in a manuscript I've judged for a contest, I'd have hell on my hands. So I just don't do it.

Will you write a book with me? Nope.

Where do you come up with the ideas for your stories? They come out of the nowhere into the here. The Girls in the Basement send them up. I just listen and type.

Do you write with an audience in mind? Well, me. I have to like it first. Then I think "smart, open-minded women." Or "people in bookstores with money."

Do you write in chronological order? No, I tend to think in patterns, so I need to write different pieces of the book and see what happens when I put them together.   That helps me build up the character arcs, although it can make plotting really difficult.

Do you work on one story line at a time or are there multiple ideas going at once? There are always multiple ideas, but I really have to concentrate on one book at a time because I have to go into that world completely.

Do you spend eight hours a day/ 40 hours a week writing or is it less structured? Honey, I don't do anything for forty hours a week. It's less structured. I like that. "Less structured." Instead of "completely random and chaotic."

How long does it take you to write a book? By myself, eighteen months, give or take a year. The collaboration took nine months, but I only had to write half of it.

Do you have to do a lot of research for your books? I do a lot, but it's always stuff I want to learn anyway.

Is writing something that came naturally or something you had to work at? I work at it. I have scars. Hardest thing I've ever done in my life.