Jenny: I live in a small town in southern Ohio very like the small town in central Ohio where I grew up (Wapakoneta). I have a beautiful, intelligent, kind, perfect daughter who is a landscape architect on the West Coast. And there is no time when I'm not writing; I'm so far behind I'll be writing from the grave.

Donna: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

Jenny: I've always been a voracious reader and thought about writing the way readers do, but I didn't know I truly needed to write until I was 41. That's when I sat down and wrote my first novel and sent it off.

Donna: What made you choose to write romance?

Jenny: I had read 100 of them for my PhD dissertation and was just amazed by how powerful and feminist they were, even the ones that weren't well-written. There is something at the base of the romance story that is a kind of anti-toxin to the garbage that the world throws at women every day.

Donna: How does your family feel about you writing romance - are they supportive?

Jenny: I think they're confused but proud. I'm not really the romantic type, so the choice of genre took them by surprise (well, the fact that I published a book took them by surprise) but they're very supportive.

Donna: How did you go about selling your first book? How long did it take?

Jenny: I sold a very bad novella through a contest and the editor running the contest asked to see my novel. She rejected it, but sent it to Sheri Posesorskie at Harlequin who showed me how to rewrite it and fix it. I started the book in the summer of 1991 and sold it to Sheri in late summer of 1992, so it took about a year to get published.

Donna: Where do you get ideas for your stories?

Jenny: Sears.

Donna: Do you ever use personal experiences when writing your stories?

Jenny: Very seldom. Occasionally I'll use experiences with my pets or pieces of dialogue, but real life just doesn't make enough sense to use for fiction.

Donna: How much of you ends up in your heroines?

Jenny: My worldview and values, mostly. My heroines are not me by any stretch of the imagination, but they're all people I'd have lunch with.

Donna: Do you work from an outline? Do you already know the whole story before you actually write it?

Jenny: Nope. Most of the time I know the heroine, the hero, and some of the scenes but I never know how it's going to turn out beyond the happy ending. I don't write in chronological order, so this isn't a problem. I write all the good parts first, the scenes that are fun to write. They usually lead to other new good parts. Eventually, I put it all in chronological order and analyze what I have and plot and diagram and do all of that, but it's fairly late in the process, at the end of the first complete draft.

Donna: Do your characters ever try to take over the story and rewrite their scenes?

Jenny: No, but sometimes they won't go where I want them to. I keep writing and writing and can't figure out how to logically make them do what they need to do next. That's usually a strong clue that what I'm asking is a character violation.

Donna: Do you ever write your characters in situations that are hard to get them out of?

Jenny: Sure. If they were easy to get out of, there'd be no conflict.

Donna: How long does it take you to write a story?

Jenny: About a year and a half. Which is why I'm always behind.

Donna: Where do you do the most research for your books?

Jenny: Internet. I also have a group of people I can turn to for advice, like Deb Lanata who's a CSI for the Columbus PD.

Donna: All of your books have "laugh out loud" humor. Does the humor come naturally to you?

Jenny: I guess. I've never tried to be funny in a book because I think that gets in the way of the characters. The humor has to come naturally from the characters, or the book doesn't feel real.

Donna: I just have to ask this, because of the delightful wit and repartee of your characters - do you ever find yourself in a real life situation where you just don't know what to say?

Jenny: All the time. One of the beauties of writing is that you have months to think of the right thing to say.

Donna: Your love of animals is evident in your writing. Do you have pets?

Jenny: Four dogs and three cats. And I've just moved into a new house that has a koi pond so now I have fish, too. And there are two finches at the local pet store that fascinate me. I'm a sucker for pets.

Donna: Your interest in classic movies is also evident. What is your favorite movie of all time?

Jenny: That's too hard a question. How about my favorite romantic comedy of all time? "His Girl Friday."

Donna: Do you listen to music when you write? And if so, does the music influence your writing, or does your writing influence the type of music you listen to?

Jenny: Sometimes, not always. I listen to music when I don't write and that gives me ideas, plus when I'm in the middle of the book, sometimes I'll hear something and think, "That's what Tilda would listen to," or "That's what the Dempseys would have heard when they were little." The heroine I'm writing now, Min, is a solid Kim Richey fan, so I'm having a wonderful time listening to Richey now, but I found out she was a Richey fan when I was listening to the CD in the car and thought, "This is Min's music."

Donna: You write characters who are average (yet eccentric) people instead of the standard glamorous, "perfect" people of other authors. How do you choose the characters you write?

Jenny: My heroines are generally people I'd like to know, people like the women I do know and love. But I'm not sure I choose characters. I think stories grow in the subconscious and then the conscious act is to discover them.

Donna: Lately, even your love scenes (at least the first one) between the hero and heroine are not the "earth shattering" experience that romance readers have come to expect. Why did you choose to deviate from the "norm" here?

Jenny: I think I'm writing the norm, the real norm anyway. The first time is often not that good because people are with each other for the wrong reasons or haven't been with each other long enough to really trust each other and so things go wrong. I like the idea of exploring the arc of the relationship in the arc of the sexual relationship, too.

Donna: What is the hardest part of writing a story?

Jenny: It's all hard. Hardest thing I've ever done. But it's also the most satisfying. Things that come easy are never as satisfying as the things you have to bleed for.

Donna: What is the funniest or most embarrassing thing that has happened to you related to your writing?

Jenny: I can't think of anything. Sorry.

Donna: What has been your favorite question or comment by your fans?

Jenny: That they can read the books over and over again and still find new things.

Donna: What is your least favorite question from fans?

Jenny: I don't really have any least favorite. I'm so lucky to HAVE fans, I'll answer about anything.

Donna: What kind of books do you read for pleasure? Who are some of your favorite authors?

Jenny: I read just about anything. Lots of favorite authors: Patricia Gaffney, Judith Ivory, Barbara Samuel, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Anne Stuart ... really, the list is endless.

Donna: How did you feel when your books started to be released in hardback?

Jenny: It's a new set of worries but it's also a new audience and new opportunities so I'm very happy.

Donna: Since you are no longer writing series books, do you have more free time?

Jenny: Much less. The books are harder to write now, not because they're not series but because I know so much more now and have so much more to remember. You learn so much with every book and all of that has to go into the next one. It always gets harder.

Donna: Were you surprised by the popularity of your books?

Jenny: They're popular?

Donna: Before your earlier books were reprinted, they sold for some pretty high prices on the auctions. Did this have any influence in the decision to reprint them?

Jenny: Nope. Harlequin reprints when it's ready.

Donna: In some of your earlier books, you hinted at a future romance with secondary characters. Did you ever plan to revisit those characters?

Jenny: Well, I had planned to and then I left Harlequin. So the answer now is "probably not," but I never say never.

Donna: FAKING IT was as wonderful as I have come to expect from a Jennifer Crusie story! Where did you get the idea for this story?

Jenny: Thank you for the kind words about FAKING IT. I'm biting my nails now because it's about to come out, so believe me, they're greatly appreciated. As for the story, I couldn't get Davy Dempsey or Clea Whipple out of my head. Usually when a book is done, the characters are gone, but this time they stuck around. The problem is that I don't write books about heroes, so Davy all by himself couldn't generate a book. And then other stuff filtered in, girl group music, which I started to listen to obsessively, and the idea of drag and masks, and this mutant inbred dachshund I'd gotten from Dachshund Rescue, and a couple of stories about women painters from the Renaissance who'd been exploited by their fathers, and the idea of art forgery and life forgery ... and then there was Tilda. And I started to write. It sounds much more organized than it was. It took me months.

Donna: I was delighted to find that FAKING IT was a sequel to WELCOME TO TEMPTATION. When did you know that you would write Davy Dempsey's story?

Jenny: It's not actually a sequel because Sophie and Phin are barely there at all. And I didn't actually write Davy's story, I wrote Tilda's. Davy just happened to be the guy who got lucky and found her, so I knew I'd be writing about him when I found her. Without Tilda, there's no book no matter how charming Davy is.

Donna: Which character do you most identify with; Tilda, Gwen, Eve, Louise or Nadine?

Jenny: All of them. I put something of myself in every major character, including the bad guys, so I can keep them real. They can't ever be so different from me that I can't find my way into their heads.

Donna: Simon was very intriguing. Will you write his story? If so, will Eve be part of the story?

Jenny: At the moment, I have no plans to write Eve's story. If Simon shows up again, he'll be part of some woman's story. I know the next two books and neither of them have Simon or Eve. After that, who knows?

Donna: Those Dempseys have a very special outlook on life. *G* Is there a Dempsey family connection in your real life?

Jenny: Nope. Made them up. But they seem real to me.

Donna: I love the Goodnight analogy about Muffins and Doughnuts. In your own personal life, have you had more muffins or doughnuts?

Jenny: I am a doughnut magnet. One of the many reasons I love pets. And romance novels.

Donna: Do you choose the titles for your books?

Jenny: For SMP, yes, but my editor and agent have veto power and they exercise it. They know what they're doing so I always listen.

Donna: What is next? Can you give us a hint?

Jenny: It's a book called BET ME, about a woman who overhears the man who just dumped her make a bet with another guy that the new guy can't get her into bed in a month. It's about believing in romance, I think (won't know for sure until the final draft is done), and I think believing in love in our cynical society is very, very difficult. So it's fun to write, but difficult to put across.

Donna: The Jennifer Crusie email list is one of the most active lists that I have ever subscribed to. And you personally are very active on that list. You give a lot of writing advice to the list members. Is that the teacher in you, that you want to share your skill with others?

Jenny: I love teaching. I think I'm a much better teacher than I am a writer. But the list is really just a bunch of us talking about whatever we've tripped over lately. Buffy is always a big topic. Right now we're obsessing over goats. It's a great, great bunch of people and I really enjoy them all.

Donna: How has the internet affected you as an author?

Jenny: It makes is easy to keep in touch with my friends who are all over the place. It makes research infinitely easier. It give me the yahoogroups list for feedback, and the other lists I'm on for professional support. It's pretty much essential to me.

Donna: What are some of your favorite web sites and discussion boards?

Jenny: Television Without Pity is great. EBay is addictive. I use B&N.com and Amazon.com all the time. The only public discussion board I'm on is the JenniferCrusieFanGroup on Yahoo, but I love that one.

Donna: Do you have any advice for the aspiring authors here at RBL?

Jenny: Read every day and write every day and study your craft (read Seger, Hauge, and McKee) every day. It's very, very hard work and you never stop learning.

Donna: Anything else you would like to say?

Jenny: Just a huge thank you to anybody who's ever bought one of my books. I'm eternally grateful.