Interview With Lauren Layne, Author of Good Girl

19 May 2016

Tell us a little bit about your new release, Good Girl.

Well, it’s about a country music “pop” star, but I feel like I need to make it clear that you don’t need to love (or even tolerate) country music in order to enjoy the book 🙂 I’m realizing that country music can be super polarizing, and I hope even the non-fans will give Jenny and Noah’s romance a chance! Basically it’s the story of Nashville’s latest sensation who’s struggling to adapt to life in the spotlight, so she retreats to a rundown mansion in Louisiana, where she encounters a very hot, very irritable young caretaker. There’s insta-dislike, even as there are mega sparks.

What books do you find yourself returning to again and again?

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve read It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas about a hundred times. It’s my comfort read, and I couldn’t even really say why?! There are just so many moment when I get the tummy-flip; I even know they’re coming because I practically have it memorized, but it happens anyway!

If you had to pick one place to vacation for the rest of your life, where would you choose?

I’m definitely a fan of quiet retreats over beach vacations or popular tourist destinations, so I’d probably say somewhere in coastal Maine that’s a bit off the beaten path. A place where I can curl up on a misty morning with a cup of coffee, a notebook and a daydream.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

My favorite part about reading and writing is banter. Good dialog is hard to find, and nothing impresses me more than an author who’s mastered witty banter (Cora Carmack, Christina Lauren, and Julie James come to mind). In my own writing, the banter-heavy scenes are the ones that get me through the book. I don’t tend to like writing the “plot stuff” so much, and sexy-times scenes can be tricky. If it were up to me, I suspect my books would just be two snappy characters throwing quips off each other all day long 🙂

What’s rocking your world this month?

I’ve been on a major rosé wine kick. There’s just something about a crisp, cold glass at the end of a great day of writing as the sun starts to set that says SPRING to me.

What’s one thing you never leave the house without?

I have pink lipstick in my purse, always. I’m currently loving Christian Dior’s KISS ME!

What scene in Good Girl was your favorite to write?

Definitely the ending scene. That’s pretty much my favorite scene to write in every book, but Good Girl’s was particularly romantic. The way it unfolded really felt like something out of a movie, and I can’t give too much away without being spoilery, but there’s this one MOMENT that the entire book has been leading up to, and it’s just … GAH. Swoon!

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

It sort of changes depending on my mood and where I am in my life, but right now I’m sort of loving this:

“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”- Roger Staubach

Sometimes in the publishing industry (especially the romance genre), it can be so so hard get even a moment in the spotlight. You’re constantly trying to stand out among thousands of books similar to yours, and hundreds of authors similar to you. Since I can’t really control what readers glom onto, the best I can do is to BRING IT every single day. It’s so SO easy to settle into complacency or mediocrity or “good enough.” I try not to!