
Please welcome Cari Z. & L.A. Witt to The Blogger Girls!! Tell us about the Bad Behavior series, where are you getting the inspiration for each book?
Cari: The Bad Behavior series is romantic suspense, with an emphasis on suspense and police procedure. There aren’t a lot of hot and heavy moments, but we managed to find time to develop the relationship in between the cases. The cases themselves are totally different in each book, which was part of the fun of it. We kind of picked a crime and then built the plot around it—for example, the first book deal with taking down police corruption, the second one has a serial killer, the third one is a kidnapping. It helped keep things interesting for us.
L.A.: What Cari said. And we did still want the romance, but we didn’t want their jobs to take a backseat to their relationship because it just doesn’t work that way with cops. Especially when they’re in the middle of a major case. So we started with the crimes, and let the relationship between the guys – both professional and romantic – develop alongside the cases they were working. Which means getting interrupted at inopportune moments, and stealing fleeting moments whenever they can. Which in turn frustrates the hell out of everyone, so color me happy. Hehehe
Is it hard co-writing a series? Does the process take longer or is quicker than writing alone?
Cari: It was so easy to write with Lori! That hasn’t been the case with, well, any of my other co-authors, but this collaboration was just kismet, as far as I’m concerned. Lori is a pro at working with others, and very adaptable, so I knew I was in good hands, so to speak. And for me it was a LOT faster than writing alone.
L.A.: Definitely not hard! Cari is amazing to work with. I love co-writing in general, and I hope to do a lot more with Cari.
Tell us a little about Romantic Behavior, what are the characters like and how have they changed since the start of the series?
Cari: Aw, this story is the sweet resolution 😊 Darren and Andreas are finally ready and able to commit to each other, and they’re serious about making it work for the long haul. It’s definitely the book with the cutest moments in it. The guys are totally in love, they rely on each other, they have no doubts (well, almost no doubts) and they’re looking forward to a happy future together. *sigh*
L.A.: I’d say Andreas has had to get his priorities straight, both regarding his family and his boyfriend. By book 4, he’s mellowed considerably across the board, and as I said, he’s gotten his priorities straight. As for the Romantic Behavior, it’s basically a chance for the characters to finally have their hard-won happy ending. That’s not to say there aren’t bumps in this one, but no one’s getting shot at or anything this time.
What’s your favorite scene from the book?
Cari: My favorite scene is either the very first one, where Darren is nervous because Andreas is acting weird, or the one where he finally loses it and tells off someone who, quite honestly, really deserved telling off at that point. It felt cathartic.
L.A.: The wedding. Definitely.
And lastly, where do you see the series going from here?
Cari: This is the end of the Bad Behavior series! It’s done, finished, fini, finito, and all the other f-words that mean the end. I’m really proud of how it’s turned out, and hopefully now that it’s done readers who were reluctant to start something without having an end in sight will feel ready to dive in.
L.A.: Yep. I’m not opposed to the boys showing up as secondary characters in other books, but their story is done. We deliberately set out to make this one a trilogy with a well-deserved extended epilogue, rather than making it go on and on. Ongoing series can be fun, but not this one. Even though I am going to miss Darren and Andreas something fierce.
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