Christina Lauren Title Reveal and Q&A!

With the finale of Beautiful in the books (heh, see what I did there), the writing pair of Christina Lauren isn’t taking a break anytime soon. I had a chance to chat with them about what’s next, and the two women talk about their upcoming projects, which span all the way into 2019. We also get an exclusive title reveal of their next romance, which is due out in May or June of next year!

We also find out what they’re currently reading and their thoughts following the release of Beautiful. Get ready to send your TBR-pile into overload!

Beautiful
A | BN | K | AB
Amanda: How are you guys feeling post-Beautiful launch? Are you sad, happy? Has it been a whirlwind?

Lauren Billings: We’re good. One thing that’s been interesting is that the readers have been really vocal about being in love with this book and also sad that the series is ending. It’s been really sweet seeing all of the tweets and Facebook posts and emails. I think it’s been less sad for us because we’ve been so busy and writing Autoboyograpy right now and we’re sort of in love with these characters too. One benefit we have as authors is that we get to fall in love immediately with the next thing and readers kind of have to wait for it.

But it’s been really fun. It’s been a reader/author bonding experience.

Christina Hobbs: I think it’s also hard too because they’re like, “Are you writing together anymore?” And we’re like, “Yes! We have two books already written. They just aren’t up for preorder yet.” We just haven’t really talked about them. We promise there’s more, but some readers don’t know about it yet.

A: One of the main reasons for this interview and something I’m sure readers are looking forward to is the title of your next book, which comes out next summer.

L: I think it’s May or June. We don’t have the actual release date yet.

We actually wrote this book a year ago.

A: Wow!

L: We are so excited to be able to talk about it now. The title is Dating You/Hating You. It’s so fun and I think readers who love Beautiful Bastard  ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) Chloe and Bennett’s combative dynamic with a more adult feel like in Beautiful Player ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and Beautiful Secret ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) are really going to like this book.

What happens is the main characters meet through a mutual friend. They really like each other and hit it off. They go on a date and have a great time, and they get to work on Monday and find out their companies have merged and they’re competing for the same job. And they work in the talent industry in Hollywood, so there’s a lot of diva behavior and sabotage. It’s really, really fun and it’s been really fun for us to write.

Quote from Christina Lauren - "One benefit we have as authors is that we get to fall in love immediately with the next thing."A: I’m just surprised that you wrote this a year ago! I don’t know how you two find the time to do all of this writing. Some days it’s a struggle for me to write a few tweets.

L: It’s funny you say that because I feel the energy is different. There are different energy thresholds for different things, right? Writing a book, for us, is what we want to do. It’s fun. We sit down and it’s like, “Oh my gosh, we actually get to do this for a career.” But sometimes thinking of tweets or going on Facebook to post something creative or other aspects related to the job take more energy. It’s like I don’t know what to say!

But we’re lucky to be able to do this and do it together.

C: The stuff that we’ve written in these books surprises me just as much as anyone else because I am slow. I tell Lo sometimes, “How weird is this?” I’m just so slow and I look at it sometimes like, holy cow! How did we actually do this?

A: Well, reading the books for me is very singular. You get tunnel vision and you’re invested in whatever couple you’re reading at the time. I finally put Beautiful on the shelf next to everything else – all the Wild Seasons and Beautiful books – it was like, did I really read all these?

But they all look so nice together!

C: We felt like that too. We had moment like that when we were in France and it was like, “Oh wow, it really is over. That’s a lot of books. Look what we did.”

L: It was funny because I was working on some school PTA stuff the other day. Another mom came over to the house and she walked into my office and I have all the Beautiful and Wild Seasons and then all the foreign editions. It’s a really big bookcase because these books are out in thirty languages and she walks in and is like, “Oh, this is a lot of color.” I love that that’s the first thing people notice, that’s it’s really colorful. Seeing it through other people’s eyes when they come in and see all these books is like, oh yeah, it really is a lot of books. For us, it’s each individual piece of time and each individual project is like putting slots into place. We have all this writing and the edits and the promo. Seeing it as a whole is really amazing.

A: Is this new book a standalone or is it going to turn into a new series?

C: Nope, it’s just a standalone.

L: This one is a standalone. We have more romance novels coming out that are all sort of standalones. But we also have some women’s fiction stuff too.

A: With starting this new standalone, are you nervous about it coming out? Are you uncertain how your readers will receive it, since it is a new world you’re setting up?

L: I think anyone who’s read and loved our books, and has seen the evolution of our writing, will really enjoy this book. It’s not going to feel like a different author wrote it. It’s a CLo book and I think we’re just taking our voice and putting it in a different world. It was fun to write and I hope it’s fun to read. I think it will be. We’ve revised this book a lot and put a lot of our hearts into it making it into what it is and what it’s going to be. I think at the end, we’re pretty confident that readers who like ours books will like this one too.

Quote from Christina Lauren: "We’ve revised this book a lot and put a lot of our hearts into it making it."A: I’m curious, once you start writing other books, would you try writing a new genre apart from contemporary-set novels? I know you have The House.

C: We originally started writing YA and we were writing YA when we got our agent. That book that we got our agent with was a paranormal romance and we really loved it. But paranormal is hard. We give props to people who do it and do it well. There’s a whole world! But like Lo said, we’re going to be doing some women’s fiction. We’re sort of lucky to be able to write what’s in our head and I don’t think we’d say no to anything. Do you, Lo?

L: No, I mean we’re working on Autoboyography, which is our next YA novel. It comes out next fall and it’s about a senior who lives in Provo, Utah. He takes this novel-writing seminar and he falls in love with the LDS bishop’s son who’s mentoring the class. So it’s basically him writing a book about how he navigates falling in love with a Mormon boy in this very LDS-rich town.

That’s not a Beautiful Bastard-type book. It’s much more earnest and has different conflicts that jump out at you. I think whenever we have a story that we really want to write, we find a way to make it happen.

A: And of course, I want to know what are you reading and loving right now? I believe last time we talked, you were both doing Captive Prince re-reads.

C: Oh my god, I just forgot I have the novella – Green but for a Season ( A | K )

L: It’s a fast read. It’ll take you half an hour.

C: I saved it for the plane ride to France and I completely forgot.

A Little Life
A | BN | K | AB
L: So I’m reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It’s amazing and it’s taking a whole month to get through. I’m savoring it. And then in between emotional intense moments with that, I finished Tiffany Reisz’s Her Halloween Treat ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is so much fun! I seriously loved it; I blew through it. So those two, I would say definitely pick up.

C: It’s so funny because I’ve seen Lo reading A Little Life a couple times. I think she took it to France.

L: I started it on the plane!

C: This book is so big and I can see her mark where she was and every time I see her, it’s a little further in. When you put it on your shelf, it’s like a trophy.

L: It’s an intense book and it’s emotional exhausting. It’s weird to be reading and only be able to read twenty pages at a time before I’m like, whew, I’m full. I need a break. Usually I burn through books, but it’s kind of nice.

Royally Screwed
A | BN | K | AB
C: I just and I mean just finished The Girl on the Train ( A | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd ) a few days ago and poor Lo has to constantly put up with my running monologue as I’m reading and trying to figure out. And now I’m reading The Girl in the Ice ( A | BN | K | G | AB ); I’ve been on a thriller thing lately.

I have Royally Screwed on my Kindle.

A: I do too!

C: But I ordered the paperback because I prefer to read in paperback, so I can’t decide whether I’m going to wait. But I’m so, so excited for that.

L: I love Emma Chase’s voice so much. I’ve heard a bunch of people say that this is her best book yet. That’s exciting.

A: I devoured the Legal Briefs series a couple months ago and when I saw Royally Screwed, I was like, yes please.

C: The cover and summary! I texted her about it and she told me, “Sometimes, when you finish a book, you just know it’s something. That was this book.” So I’m really excited.

L: Which is a big thing for her to say because she’s very humble and circumspect and that’s awesome.

A: Is there anything else you want to add about your upcoming titles?

L: I’m just super excited about the line up for next year. It’s really strong. Dating You/Hating You is so much fun and Autoboyography is so sweet and earnest. And our next romance is going to be really fun.

A: You seem to have a lot of books coming out! So are you slated through 2019 at this point?

L: I think…yeah. I think we have stuff scheduled through February of 2019.

A: Oh my gosh, I was joking!

L: Right?! I think there’s one schedule for 2019 already and three scheduled for 2018.

A: That’s going to be a busy next couple years.

L: Yeah, but it’s awesome though!

Thanks to both Christina and Lauren for sitting down for a interview with me! I don’t know about you but I’m super excited about their upcoming titles, Dating You/Hating You (Spring/Summer 2017) and Autoboyography (Fall 2017). I’ll be watching like a hawk on updates for their 2018 and 2019 titles!

I’d also like to mention that after I talked to them, I immediately started Royally Screwed and it’s amazing so far.

Are you as excited for Christina Lauren’s releases next year? Have you finished the Beautiful series?

Comments are Closed

  1. Erica H says:

    I am excited, but I am not quite done yet with Beautiful series!

  2. Love the BEAUTIFUL series and sad to see it end…some of my favorite reads this year (I just discovered Christina Lauren this year…I know, I know, I’ve been living under a rock!). I’m also super excited about ROYALLY SCREWED. I just finished THE NIGHTINGALE, which was so good but so heavy. Pumped to read something a little more fun and sexy. Thanks for the fab interview! Love these ladies!

  3. JayneH says:

    I read my very first CLo book (Sweet Filthy boy) because of an SBTB podcast. I think Jane’s quote was along the lines of “get over the title, There’s a lot of sex in it, it’s great” and I’ve loved every one I’ve read since!

  4. Amanda says:

    @Erica: Well you have plenty of time to finish! 🙂

  5. DonnaMarie says:

    I don’t recall how I ended up with that fateful copy of Beautiful Bastard, a rec here, an ad somewhere, Goodreads review, an author mention in an interview, but I am more thankful with every book for the happy circumstance that brought Christina Lauren to my attention. Can’t wait for the next reading adventure to begin. Thanks for the interview, Amanda.

  6. denise says:

    Squee! Loved the conversation!

  7. Jennifer says:

    I finished Beautiful two weeks ago. So sad! But I feel like C and L did an awesome job in the epilogue of wrapping things up and not leaving readers wondering. I am definitely a series fan and was hoping for a wrap-up of Wild Seasons that really brought it all home the same way.

    Either way, I will read anything they put out, for sure!

  8. Tara says:

    I love CLo – the Beautiful series are always on the top of my Recommendation lists! You can re-read that series and Wild Seasons several times and enjoy them each time.
    I really liked Emma Chase’s Tangled books – I am disappointed that some of those books and others of hers now retail at $16.99 CND. That is just too expensive for an eBooks in my opinion.
    Great interview Amanda and thanks Christina and Lauren

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