Interview with Jay Crownover

If you don't believe opposites attract, you haven't read a Jay Crownover romance. The bestselling author is an expert at throwing two people from opposite worlds together…and then letting the sparks fly. Good girls fall for tattooed bad boys in her Marked Men series, and the wrong side of the tracks can't stop love in her Welcome to the Point books. In Charged, Crownover's new Saints of Denver romance, no-nonsense criminal attorney Quaid has never had a client like bad girl Avett. The pink-haired troublemaker is reckless, inappropriate, and totally irresistible—even when she's not flirting with him. Quaid knows he should keep their relationship professional, but something about Avett's wild spirit makes him want to throw "strictly business" out the window.

Crownover answers your questions about who inspired her Marked Men heroes (she dated one of them!), what she always drinks while writing, and how she accidentally turned up the heat in Charged.


Kerri: Thank you for creating such interesting, in-depth characters! What I like the most about your writing is that you make no apology for your "bad boys." They are what they are—not good boys pretending to be bad. So my question is this: What is it about the less "perfect" characters that draws us all in?
I think the flaws and mistakes are what make them so relatable. No one is perfect, and as humans, we are all bound to stumble along the way. My characters need work. Happiness is never handed to anyone on a silver platter. I think people who have had to work for their happiness appreciate the journey more. That happiness has been earned. So when less-than-perfect characters finally get a piece of happiness, I think it's not just a victory for them, but for the reader—because they were there for the journey.

Heather: Is there a sexy tattooed guy in real life who gave you the inspiration for your Marked Men series? If so, is he single?
LOL. There have been many real Marked Men in and out of my life over the years. Rule's character is the spitting image of the first boyfriend I ever had…. (He got married a few years ago, so no longer single.) I was also married to a greaser for a long time, so Rowdy's look is obviously one I know well and love. Give me a boy with rolled-up jeans and a pompadour any day of the week! There is no specific tattooed hero any of the boys are based on, when it comes to history or personality, but I do love a boy with some swagger and some ink…. That's what I'm attracted to, so it's not a stretch to bring them to life with a little imagination. I believe there are real Marked Men out there. You just have to keep an eye out for them!

Tara: First of all, I love your books and have read them all more times than I should admit. I was wondering how you decide what the biggest hurdle for a couple is going to be? In Charged, obviously, a huge hurdle for Quaid and Avett is that he is her lawyer, but is that the biggest hurdle or is there something bigger?
I usually start off with what the external issue is going to be, so in Charged it's obviously the conflict of interest with Quaid being Avett's lawyer. Once I have that locked down, then I work on what the internal conflict is going to be for each character and how each of those will affect the other person and the plotline, including the external conflict. Quaid and Avett are oil and water. They have almost nothing in common: There's a huge age gap, a very different class status, and opposing ideas as to what is most important for a happy, fulfilled life. They make no logical sense on paper, and yet from the first second they get in a room together, everything fits. They have chemistry that flares so hot, I'm surprised the pages don't burn. Their internal issues honestly have less to do with the conflict the outside world would immediately recognize and more to do with where they have been and what they want the world to see in them. They were by far one of the most fun couples I've ever written. Avett is such a mess, and Quaid is so proper and controlled. You know all of that will make for an epic clash of personalities and passion when they collide.

Debbie: I'd like to know more about your three crazy dogs. Breeds? Names? I am a huge dog lover and a huge lover of all of your books. Always look forward to your new releases!
Ahhh, my favorite subject next to books and boys!! I have a black Lab named Charley that is a dope. He's protective and clumsy and just the most labby Lab that ever labbed. He has the best personality in the whole world, and there is nothing cuter than his fuzzy face.

I also have two Italian greyhounds, a boy and a girl. Duce is the boy, and he just turned 12 this year. I've had him since he was two months old, and I couldn't love him more if I tried. I have a picture of him tattooed on the inside of my arm. I kept him longer than I kept my ex-husband. Pistol is the girl. She was a mill dog rescue and was so sickly and sad when I brought her home that I didn't think she was going to make it. She's a trooper and pulled through and is now a total spaz with the energy of 20 dogs. She is spoiled rotten and gets treated like a princess.

I actually have major puppy fever right now but can't bring a new dog home because I'm gone for book signings…. Next year, when I slow down, I'm really thinking about adding another member to the pack!

All three of them make frequent appearances on my social media, and they often get more attention than my books do!!

Louise: You've said you're a big fan of tattoos. Have you seen a tattoo that inspired you to write a story?
For sure. I was turning around the idea of writing about a car thief and a really seedy crime syndicate. I wasn't sure how to turn a bad guy—an actual bad guy—into a lead for a romance. I couldn't quite picture him in my head, but I was driving and happened to stop at a red light next to a group of bikers, the Sons of Silence. The guy riding in the lead was young, cute, and wearing a bandanna and mirrored sunglasses. He also had a tiny star tattooed right by his eye. When he turned to look at me, he pulled his sunglasses down (because I was staring like a crazy person) and smiled at me. The star sort of winked, and in that split second I had Bax and the entire Point figured out. I'm not sure it all would have come together without that guy on the Harley or that star tattoo.

Sofia: If you could only choose one of your series to live in, which would it be—Marked Men or Welcome to the Point?
LOL. Well, I already kind of live in the Marked Men and Saints of Denver books. I'm actually in Colorado and went to college in Denver. I lived off Colfax for years, and I worked in a sports bar slinging drinks, very much like Ayden and Shaw.

I don't think I could survive the Point. I'm tough, but I think you have to be almost ruthless to live and love in the Point. My heart is too soft!

So I pick living in Kristen Ashley's Chaos world. Still Denver, but not really a Denver I know! Plus Tack and Hop and Joker and Logan…. Oh my!!!

Whitney: I have loved every book of yours! When you're writing, do you have a certain ritual you keep? A certain place you go or a certain coffee (or latte, tea, etc.) that you drink while you write? Maybe music you listen to?
I write on a desktop in my office. I can't really do a laptop in front of the TV—I get too distracted and get nothing done. I try and work between 12-6 or 12-8. I have to feed and walk my three dogs throughout the day, so it just depends on them how long I settle in for. I like to watch cartoons when I write. I leave Bob's Burgers on or South Park. I can't watch anything I have to pay attention to, or I stop writing, even if I don't mean to. I do listen to the radio…. That's why all the books have a soundtrack. I usually have a certain vibe for each story, and that's what I listen to when I work. I never write anywhere other than in my office. I think that's my safe place. It's also all the way across my house, so I have to get up and go downstairs, which forces me to move!!! I always have a Pepsi on hand when I write. I wish I could quit…. I've tried to cut it out of my diet more than once, and it never works…. I NEED IT!!

Maria: On your Goodreads profile, you say that you would rather be a rock star. Have you ever written any songs? And if so, what were they about?
Naw, I'm not very lyrical. No songs and no poetry. No love letters or sonnets. It's always been romance books for me.

Rachel: I love the way you write. You really dig into who your characters are and what they're feeling. Which of your characters has been the most challenging to tap into—and why?
There have been a few, but the trickiest one has to be Asa. For one, he was never really supposed to survive Jet's book. He was a bad guy, and he was going to meet a bad guy's end…. But there was something about him that I couldn't let go of. So I had to figure out how to turn a bad man into a hero. I had to figure out how he was going to become someone who deserved an epic kind of love. I knew he was going to end the entire series once I couldn't kill him off, so I had to figure out a way for him to be as important and to have his journey matter as much as all the boys who came before him. I wanted to redeem him but not change who he was at his core. That was a struggle. Luckily Royal came along and loved him for who he was, and I think she helped me understand that all I could do was take Asa as he was. I really had to take the time to build something in each and every book that worked him toward his own end—and toward the new life he could have if he was willing to accept it.

Books&Makeup Blog: Do you "outline" your steamy scenes, or do they just develop on their own as you write? Does it take the fun and sexiness out of them when you do edits?
I just write them. Then tend to find rhythm and purpose as the story unfolds. I never have a specific place for them or a plan for when…. The vibe of the story line ebbs and flows, and I think the sexy time naturally slides into that pattern.

If I ever get edits on the sexy stuff, it's usually comments that make me laugh—like really laugh. One time I gave Rowdy a magic third arm because his hands were on Salem, and yet he still had himself propped over her. And there was one where my editor told me it was well past time that Rome gave Cora a little oral attention—stuff like that. I've never really had to do a hard edit on any of the sexy stuff…. Though my editor did mention that Quaid and Avett seem to have turned up the heat quite a bit. I didn't plan that! The chemistry simply is what it is between the characters, and I think that it's reflected in all the intimate moments on the page!!