Switcheroo
by Cheyenne Blue
Released: Mar 27, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Why this book and why now?
In a previous book (Not for a Moment) the main characters were sitting around with pizza and beer, and their friend asks them who they’d swap lives with if they had the chance. That quick scene sparked the question: what if two even more disparate characters got to swap lives for not just a week, but a year? And so Hayley the New York City girl came about, and her life swap took her to outback Australia… about as far away from NYC as it’s possible to be, in both geography and experience.
Would you and your main character(s) get along?
I think we would. Jenna, the outback station hand, would be reticent at first, but we’d share an immediate connection through love of the outback and the peace it brings. And while Hayley, being the more extroverted of the two, would seem to be easier to get along with, she guards her inner self until she’s really comfortable with a person. I think if I were to spend time with Hayley, both of us would come to share a lot about our lives.
What TV show would your main character(s) most likely binge watch and why?
On Ghost Gum Station where Hayley and Jenna live, the remoteness means there’s only two TV channels available, (and as Hayley says, usually showing things about sheep.) Most of the workers there download their favorite shows and movies. Jenna is a bit of a closet romantic under her brusque exterior, so I’m sure she’d watch the old show, “The Farmer Wants a Wife” when no one was around. I’m not sure if this Aussie TV show has made it elsewhere in the world, but it’s a sort of “Bachelor” spin off, with the farmer living in a rural area. For Jenna, it would be a female farmer, of course!
Hayley would probably watch anything set in New York that would remind her of the city she loves. She’d probably go for “Girls” as being closer to real New York life than many of the more glamorous shows.
What 3 things would your main character want with them if they got stranded away from civilization, and why?
Well, to many people, the outback where most of Switcheroo takes place would count as being stranded away from civilization! For Jenna, who’s lived most of her life there, she’s comfortable and happy the way she is. She might ask for more of a queer community around her.
For Hayley, her early time in the outback is difficult, and she yearns for decent food, her best friend Mad, and more than two TV channels. So those would be the three things she’d want. The food, in particular–she’d probably pick a Cuban sandwich and a huge salad comprising more than simply lettuce, tomato, and cucumber!
Publishing a book is a huge accomplishment and it’s time to party! Choose a celebratory beverage for one of your main characters to toast the release of your new book.
Hayley would be more up for a party than Jenna, so she’d drag Jenna there. Then Hayley would take the very ordinary domestic beer from Jenna’s hand and substitute it with a cocktail that she used to make in her New York bartending days. Given she’s in outback Queensland, and not a New York bar with a million exotic spirits and ingredients, she’d probably plump for the very Aussie Dark ‘n Stormy, which is mix of dark rum, ginger beer, and a dash of lime. The rum would have to be Bundaberg Rum, which is ubiquitous among Aussie rum drinkers and made from Queensland sugar cane.
