Romance meets action

As y'all know, I'm a big fan of Jennifer Crusie's books. What you probably don't know, 'cause I keep forgetting to mention it here, is that I'm particularly looking forward to her next book, which is a collaboration with Bob Mayer, a bestselling thriller writer.

The book is called Don't Look Down, and it'll appear in stores on April 4. You can read all about it at their website.

The site's main page starts out like this:

What happens when a perfectly nice romance writer writes a book with a grim, paranoid action adventure novelist?

She learns the difference between a Glock and an MP5, and he learns there's more to shoes than matching the belt.

And then Jenny Crusie creates Lucy Armstrong, a movie director with some family problems, and Bob Mayer creates J.T. Wilder, a Green Beret with some CIA problems, and they bring them together on a bridge in Savannah with a helicopter above, a one-eyed gator below, and a cast full of whackos and killers in between.

It sounds like a lot of fun. To pass the time until the book comes out, I recommend poking around on their site; for example, read the How It Happened page, which explains how they met:

One evening in Maui, Jenny Crusie was watching the sun set over the Pacific when Bob Mayer sat down beside her and said, “What do you write?” Jenny said, “Well, basically, in my books, people have sex and get married.” Bob said, “In my books, people have sex and die.”

Things proceeded from there:

They hammered out a rough plot line using different plotting styles: When the action lagged, Jenny would put in a turning point and Bob would shoot somebody.

And so on. Crusie and Mayer do a very entertaining sniping-at-each-other shtick on the site; I'm told it's even more entertaining in person when they're both speaking somewhere, watching each of them roll their eyes while the other talks.

Their dueling blog is also entertaining.

I've never read any of Mayer's books, but I suspect the tone of the site gives a sense of the tone of the book. I'm looking forward to it.

(The idea of the book reminds me of the joke collaborative creative writing assignment, but I'm guessing the book will be a lot better-written.)

Thanks for pointing me to the site, Stephanie! And sorry not to post about it sooner.

One Response to “Romance meets action”

  1. SarahP

    I just read a Crusie this weekend! (Anyone But You). She’s so delightful. And like you, I’m looking forward to this odd collaboration.

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