Author Interview: Catherine Bybee
1) Sasha, from your newest novel Say it Again,
is unlike any character that most readers will have encountered. Can you give
us a rundown of your heroine?
Sasha is a female James Bond with all the skills that kick ass and the sexy
that opens doors. She’s a master of disguises, speaks more languages than
anyone should…and has a razor-sharp mind that doesn’t sleep. In all her
badassery, (pretty sure I just made up that word) Sasha has a soft spot—a
vulnerability that makes her want to protect the innocent. She’s a true to life
superhero who walks the fence between right and wrong. She really doesn’t have
any issues breaking laws to get what she wants. And that’s what makes her so
fun to read, and for me to write.
2) Fans have been following Sasha throughout your First Wives series. Did
you always know you wanted to write her story?
No! Not at all. The first four books in the series were going to be it.
However, Sasha commanded attention the first moment she walked on the page and
I couldn’t get enough of her once I dreamed her up. I was almost finished
writing the first book when I decided that Sasha was not going to be a bad guy.
Yes, I’m a pantser, and have no real outline before I sit down to write. I
think the fact that I didn’t know she was one of the good guys made her all
that more believable. I don’t even think she knew she was going to be on the
side of right and justice until the end of Fool Me Once.
3) While many of your novels have a mystery or suspense element, you dive
head first into action and spy-games in this book. How easy was this transition
for you?
It was super easy and tons of fun. In fact… I think I may have a spin off of a
spin off rolling in my head with all the fun characters I played with while
writing this book. Neil was one of my very first book boyfriends from the
Weekday Brides. And having him come back in this book just reminded me how much
fun it is to write all the action and intrigue. I hope my fans love it enough
for me to continue the theme with new books.
4) When AJ is first introduced he seems pretty average—just a guy looking
for answers about his sister’s death. But in reality, there is nothing average
about AJ. How would you describe him?
The best picture in my mine that I can describe with all clarity is Brian
O’Connor, Paul Walker (RIP), from Fast and Furious. Innocent until
he isn’t.
I would say that AJ is exactly what Sasha needed to open up and accept that she
too can be loved. I wanted AJ to come off as average until he wasn’t. Sasha is
such a strong character that she needed someone who wasn’t going to try and
overpower or overshadow her badassery (love that word). AJ does that. Yet he
has some badass moments himself and that is what makes her fall for him even
more. He is in no way perfect and neither is she.
5) AJ and Sasha have something in common—they are both characters with lots and
lots of secrets. What makes them open up to each other? What else do they have
in common?
Trust through time. That’s the best way for me to describe how they evolved in
my head. There is a common respect the moment they “acquire” the other’s phone.
A moment where they take notice and begin to respect the other. Honor among thieves
as they say. I think the common ground that isn’t apparent until the story
evolves is how they want the love of a family. AJ is much more open to it than
Sasha, but they both have to fight for it in the end.
6) While you have written books with scenes in foreign countries, this story
takes place internationally. Have you visited the same places as your
characters? Where do you hope to take readers around the world in the future?
Yes, I have been to all the places I have written about. I was in Berlin a
couple of years ago at a book signing and managed to get their by taking the
train from London, through Amsterdam etc. So yes, I’m blessed to have visited
these places which makes the story that much richer in my opinion. Richter, the
school in the story, is from my imagination. I did some fact checking and
learned that post Hitler’s Germany, military boarding schools were not welcome
in the country. So I made one up and made it as great and awful as I could
while still making it believable.
I have placed most of my travels, or experiences from them, in my books. And as
I travel the world, I will bring my readers along…eventually.
7) Say it Again wraps up your First Wives series. What have
you learned while writing these books? Will these lessons affect your writing
in the future?
On a personal level, I will say that I’ve leaned to write with a great deal of
personal turmoil. There have been times I’ve doubted my process and this final
book in the series has told me to never do that again. I would like to always
keep the door open for more books because of characters like Sasha. I love
writing fast moving romantic suspense and intrigue and can see Claire, Cooper
and the whole of Neil’s team as a great setting for future books. Yeah… I’m
liking that idea more and more. I hope my readers do, too.
***
Say it Again Excerpt
AJ was being stood up.
It was half past noon and Sasha wasn’t there.
The Brandenburg Gate was one of the busiest tourist attractions in Berlin. The
square was filled with families and walking tours led by someone holding a
colored flag on a stick and talking into a microphone while a line of dazed,
zombie-like visitors followed behind. Aside from those in the square learning
about the history of the place, there were a dozen police officers and security
guards moving around. Considering the American, British, and French embassies
were all within a stone’s throw of each other, AJ was surprised there wasn’t a
stronger military presence.
AJ kept scanning the crowd in search of Sex on a Stick in
black leather pants and a bad attitude.
Nothing.
Left without options, AJ dialed his phone number on her
phone and waited. It rang twice.
Behind him, the riff of “Bad to the Bone,” his ringtone,
shot through him. He dropped his hand from his ear and saw a blonde standing
three feet away, her back to him.
Slowly she turned.
“Whoa.”
Sasha stared back at him, wearing white capri pants and a
bright floral top. The blonde wig overdid it but completely camouflaged her in
broad daylight. She took a step closer, reached out her hand holding his cell.
“Hello, AJ.”
They switched phones. “How long have you been standing
there?”
“Half an hour, give or take.”
He looked her up and down. She looked like a typical
American housewife, minus the kid in the stroller. “Impressive.”
“I wanted to make sure you were alone.”
AJ glanced around at the passing tourists. “Is there a
reason behind the cloak-and-dagger?”
She moved closer, lowered her voice. “You’ve come here to
look for your sister’s killer. You think there is some connection to Richter.
Went so far as to go there asking questions. You’re stalking the local pub and
hitting on, not to mention stealing from, the patrons . . .” Sasha waved her
phone in the air before tucking it into her back pocket.
“I’m calling pot to kettle on that last accusation.”
Although all the rest she pointed out was spot-on.
“I like to go unnoticed. If someone followed me here, they
lost me the second I made the city limits and went clothes shopping.”
“What if someone followed me?”
“Then I would have seen them watching in the thirty minutes
you’ve been standing around looking like a lost child without a parent.” She
turned and started walking toward the gate.
AJ had no choice but to follow.
“What makes you think anyone is following either of
us?”
She smiled, didn’t answer his question. “I used to help your
sister on her agility training,” she told him.
The mention of his sister brought his attention back to what
he should be focused on. “She wasn’t the most athletic woman.” Amelia took
after their mother, who didn’t grow more than five feet five inches tall and
had a sweet tooth that always kept her rounder than she’d liked. At least
that’s what she’d blame when she went on one of her many diets.
“No. But she held her own most of the time. Everyone at
Richter was pushed to do at least that.”
“Her coworkers said she had recently started taking morning
walks before work,” AJ said.
“Which explains the police report about her being murdered
in the park and tossed in the river.”
AJ stopped walking. “You looked her up.”
“Only because I knew her.”
He jumped in front of her, stopped her from moving. “Then
you’ll help me.”
“There is nothing to suggest that Amelia’s death is at all
linked to Richter.”
AJ looked over Sasha’s shoulder and noticed a man eating an
ice cream cone and staring at Sasha. The middle-aged guy turned his attention
away and took a few steps in the opposite direction.
“Maybe she . . .”
AJ felt eyes, turned to his left.
No one.
“What is it?” Sasha asked.
“The guy with the ice cream, over your left shoulder.”
She grinned, cocked her head to the side. “We did this last
night.”
“Yeah, only I’m not asking you to lay a lip lock on me.
Tempting as that might be.” Truth was, he’d thought about that kiss more times
than he wanted to admit. “If how you’re dressed is any indication, you’re the
expert on all things undercover. You tell me if you feel the weight of
someone’s stare.”
Sasha paused, then looked over her shoulder. “That him?” she
asked, thumbing toward the guy with the ice cream.
“Yeah.”
She grabbed AJ’s hand and walked directly toward the guy he
thought for sure was watching them.
“What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer. “Excuse me?” Her voice rose a full
octave, her smile was sickeningly sweet. Any accent he’d detected from her
voice was gone . . . or changed.
The man with the cone turned toward them. “Yes?”
“Are you American? You look American.”
“I’m, ah . . . yeah.” The guy looked directly at AJ.
Sasha kept going. “Good. Would you mind taking our picture?
I can’t get the gate behind us with a selfie.”
Again the guy offered AJ unblinking eyes. “Ah, sure.” He
reached for the phone Sasha was handing him.
Next thing AJ realized, he was standing beside Sasha, her
arm slipped around his waist, and he was smiling like all of the other tourists
surrounding them while the man he thought was spying on them took their
picture.
The stranger holding Sasha’s phone, while trying to balance
his ice cream cone, looked completely out of place.
“Take a second one, just in case.” Sasha giggled.
The sound of her voice didn’t suit her. The hand on his
waist, however, suited him just fine. The feel of her there, the warmth, the
softness he knew she would hate if he pointed it out, felt a little too
right.
“Thank you so much.”
The stranger handed her phone back with a nod. “Have
fun.”
She waved. “We will . . . thanks.”
And he was gone.
AJ watched the man slip away as Sasha removed herself from
AJ’s side.
He missed her warmth, instantly.
“Any self-preserving spy wouldn’t have made contact,” Sasha
told him.
The two of them walked toward the center of the square.
“Okay,” AJ started. “Maybe I’m a little paranoid.”
“You’re a lot paranoid.”
AJ paused in the middle of the plaza and stared at the
massive horses that sat atop the gate. The image of his sister at Christmas the
previous year surfaced. It was the last time he’d seen her alive. “I know
Amelia’s death wasn’t random, Sasha. I feel it with every breath I take.”
She sighed. “I know you do.”
He looked at her. “You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you believe.”
He lowered his head, studied the salt-and-pepper colored
stones beneath his feet. “You’re not going to help.” Damn it . . . he was back
to ground zero.
Another heavy sigh from the woman at his side. “I will help
you.”
AJ snapped his head up. “What?”
She placed a hand in the air as in warning. “Not because I
think you have anything other than grief inside you. The not knowing, or never
accepting the facts, can eat you alive.”
Not ground zero. He wanted to kiss her. Not that she would
be receptive to that kind of thing. “Why are you doing this?” There wasn’t
anything in it for her. Sasha turned away from him and focused her attention on
the Brandenburg Gate.
“Because I’m not bored.”
***
About the Book
Title: Say it Again
Author: Catherine Bybee
Release Date: September 24, 2019
Publisher: Montlake
Summary
Protector-for-hire Sasha Budanov is accustomed to life as a
loner. Always on the move, she’s now reached a crossroad. Looking for answers
about her shadowy youth, she’s returned to the strict boarding school in
Germany where she was raised. It’s also where she was trained in the stealthy,
militarized art of survival. But behind its gleaming gates, Richter is a
fortress of secrets, including those buried in Sasha’s mysterious past. To
uncover them, she’s clinging to her first rule of defense: stay guarded.
If anyone can challenge Sasha’s rules, it’s devilishly sexy stranger AJ
Hofmann. He wants answers, too. And he needs Sasha’s help. The recent deaths of
several of Richter’s former students—including AJ’s own sister—have aroused his
suspicions. He’s arousing something more in Sasha. Never one to surrender to
her emotions, she senses something tempting in AJ. She trusts him. He’s
fearless. And he kisses like a demon. Sasha’s found her match.
But treading Richter’s dark halls—and following their hearts—has its risks. As
the decades-old secrets of the past are mined, Sasha and AJ are falling deeper
in love . . . and into danger.
My Thoughts
Oh, Catherine Bybee you have brought a character that I loved reading about in past books of yours and made her a true hero. Sasha had a history that was very much a secret. She kept to herself, didn’t let anyone get close but was always around, somewhere. She was only a phone call away and she’d be there to lend a hand.
I love that Sasha was kept as a secret, she kept her secrets close, she didn’t open her heart up, and she stayed alone. She lived her life by her rules and held herself accountable for what was happening around her. She was strong, she was tough but as the story continued, I got glimpses into her heart. I saw that she cared and that she wanted to find love. AJ is the perfect person for her. He respects her boundaries and quirks but doesn’t let her settle for less than the best. He pushes her to let him in but understands that there are something he may never know about her. Together they worked perfectly.
This is the last book in the First Wives series and it was the perfect ending. Each book can be read alone but the characters do crossover into each other’s books.
Author Biography
New York Times, #1
Wall Street Journal, and
USA
Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written thirty books that
collectively have sold more than five million copies and been translated into
more than eighteen languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to
Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored
with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse,
spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time
and has penned the Not Quite Series, the Weekday Brides Series, the Most Likely
To Series, and the First Wives Series. For more information, visit
www.catherinebybee.com.
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