“How do you recognize your soulmate?
In glittery 1980’s Los Angeles, Beau Kellogg is a brilliant Broadway lyricist now writing advertising jingles and yearning for one more hit to compensate for his miserable marriage and disappointing life.
Amanda Harary, a young singer out of synch with her contemporaries, works at a small New York hotel, while she dreams of singing on Broadway.
When they meet late at night over the hotel switchboard, what begins will bring them each unexpected success, untold joy, and piercing heartache ... until they learn that some connections, however improbable, are meant to last forever.
STEALING FIRE is, at its heart, a story for romantics everywhere, who believe in the transformative power of love.”
STEALING FIRE was a Quarter-Finalist (Top 5%) in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest.
Excerpt:
Oh, God, it was him, the bastard who had upset the switchboard operators and bellowed through the lobby loudly enough to alert all five boroughs. At three o'clock in the morning, asking for room service. Unbelievable.
Amanda leaned back in her chair. Her stomach was tightening inexplicably. "I'm sorry," she said finally, when she could control her voice. "Room Service closes at midnight."
There was a pause. "Oh. What time is it now?"
She looked at her watch. "Ten after three."
"Then whom am I speaking to?"
"I'm the night operator. This is the main switchboard."
"Well, main switchboard, you must all sound alike down there. I could swear I talked to you earlier tonight."
Well, how about that. "You've got a good ear, 704. I was on duty earlier."
"Good Lord. How long are the shifts around here?"
"Eight hours for everybody else. I’m working a double today."
“Why?"
"Maybe I just love it here."
"I guess you do. But I hope you're well compensated."
Trust a man to think of money first. "That’s not my major concern."
"Glad to hear it."
Okay, enough's enough. It's been a long day, made even longer by him. No reason to shoot the breeze with this guy. "Excuse me, I have other callers. Sorry I couldn’t help you."
"Well, better luck with them."
"Look, if you'd called earlier—"
"Absolutely. My fault entirely, for falling asleep after a cross-country flight, a time change and a screw-up in hotel administration. Forget I even mentioned it." The phone clicked in her ear.
She sat for some moments before she noticed she was trembling. This was the second time he'd undermined her—and it bothered her.
About the author:
Susan Sloate is the author of 20 published books, including FORWARD TO CAMELOT (with Kevin Finn), an alternative history of the JFK assassination, STEALING FIRE, an autobiographical love story, and REALIZING YOU (with Ron Doades), for which she invented a new genre – the self-help novel. FORWARD TO CAMELOT was a #6 Amazon bestseller, took honors in 3 literary competitions and was optioned for film production by a Hollywood company. STEALING FIRE was a quarter-finalist in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. Susan has also written young-adult fiction and non-fiction, including RAY CHARLES: FIND ANOTHER WAY!, which won a silver medal in the 2007 Children’s Moonbeam Book Awards, AMELIA EARHART: CHALLENGING THE SKIES, a perennial Amazon bestseller, and MYSTERIES UNWRAPPED: THE SECRETS OF ALCATRAZ, which led to her appearance on a special for The History Channel in 2009, as well as books for five girls’ fiction series. As a screenwriter, she has written an informational film for McGraw-Hill Films and optioned two scripts to Hollywood production companies. As a sportswriter, she’s covered the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets. She’s also managed two recent political campaigns, founded the East Cooper Authors Festival (which put 18 professional authors in 17 area schools in one day) and serves on the Culture, Arts and Pride Commission of the Town of Mount Pleasant.
**Susan will be awarding a notebook perfect for journaling to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Interview:
1. What inspired you to write this book?
It sounds so trite, but actually, this whole story happened to me, pretty much as I wrote it. I began writing when I was in the middle of living through it, in a lot of pain, not understanding what was happening to me, and as always throughout my life, the way I handled experience was mostly by writing about it.
So I changed the circumstances slightly; unlike Amanda, I didn’t live in New York in my 20’s, and I never worked in a hotel. And my ambition wasn’t to be a singer; I was trying to become a writer. And the man I loved wasn’t a lyricist and had never worked on Broadway. But the personalities of the two characters and their emotional connection was very real; it was exactly how we related to each other.
2. What characters do you connect with most?
Well, obviously Amanda; she’s a very fair representation of who I once was, and I know how I was feeling while I lived through this very tempestuous relationship.
I feel connected on some level to Beau because I understand him so much better now that I’m a lot closer to his age. I don’t agree with his choices or his point of view, but I do understand them, and I didn’t when I was Amanda’s age.
3. What's your favorite book-turned movie?
Oh, boy, there are so many!
I loved GONE WITH THE WIND as a novel before I saw the movie and was disappointed in the movie when I first saw it, because the book had so much more in it. But I’ve seen the movie many times since that first time and realize it really is one of the great movies ever.
ATLAS SHRUGGED is one of my favorite novels, and the movie has just begun to come out. The first two parts (of three) have been released, and the third is in the process now. Can’t wait!
I also thought the HARRY POTTER books were amazing movies; they didn’t miss a single important episode and they were wonderfully done.
4. If you could be best friends with one of your characters, who would it be?
I’d probably be best friends with Amanda, because I understand her most; after all, she’s really a part of me. Of course, at this point, I’d more likely be her mother!!
5. Can you tell us about any other books you're writing?
I actually have a very busy fall; I have three novels being published in the next three months (that is not a typo). The second will be REALIZING YOU (co-authored with Ron Doades). That’s a really interesting book because it’s a self-help NOVEL. Ron wanted to teach important life principles through fiction, which is almost never done, and never to the extent that we did it, creating multiple characters, storylines and situations. But we want people to learn from the characters how they can live their lives better. That should be available in October in eBook and paperback.
The third book coming out this fall is FORWARD TO CAMELOT: 50th Anniversary Edition. This is a newly revised edition of a book I wrote and published ten years ago with my co-author, Kevin Finn. It’s about the JFK assassination, a time-travel thriller that readers have just loved over the years. Since this is the 50th anniversary of JFK’s death, we thought it was a great opportunity to re-publish it with our new publisher, Drake Valley Press, revise and re-edit it, and make it everything we wanted it to be. That should be available in October as well, in eBook and paperback.
So between the publishing process and letting readers know about these books, I’m expecting a very busy fall!
6. What do you do in your spare time?
Read, of course! I’m always reading something, and quite often it has nothing to do with the book I’m currently writing. I just love to read and learn new things. I spend time with my younger son (my oldest just left for college, which has been quite an experience). I’m working on getting fit again, exercising, walking, running and dancing. And I serve on my town’s Culture, Arts & Pride Commission, and we’re always doing projects to boost cultural awareness and town pride. It’s a lot of fun.
7. Who's your inspiration?
Many people have inspired me throughout my life. If I had to pick a writer, it would probably be Dick Francis, who flew for the RAF during World War II, had an amazing career as a champion jockey (he rode for the Queen Mother for years), and when he hung up his racing boots started yet another career—mystery writer—which turned out to be his biggest success, writing more than 40 books which are simply outstanding. Someone giving so much to others just by the way he lives his life, to me, is the most outstanding example, and it’s really inspiring.
If you were stranded on a desert island which character do you want by your side?
Definitely Amanda. Beau would completely freak out and be absolutely useless!
8. What are you reading now?
An interesting autobiography titled ME AND LEE. It’s about a woman who in her late teens was a gifted science student interested in curing cancer. In the course of her scientific research, she ended up working with some extremely important doctors also doing cancer research—and at the same time, she met and fell in love with Lee Harvey Oswald, just a few months before the JFK assassination. (I’m still fascinated by the assassination and still read all kinds of books about it.) Oswald was connected to these doctors, and what they were really working on was a project to create an aggressive cancer they could inject into Fidel Castro to kill him and free Cuba.
What fascinates me most about this is a writing phenomenon I am at a loss to explain, but I’ve seen it demonstrated time and time again. Ten years ago, when Kevin and I first published FORWARD TO CAMELOT, this woman’s book had not been written, though I heard rumors, as we were finishing the book, about her. I didn’t read this book till just now—yet everything we theorized about the assassination ten years ago is, according to her book, absolutely true, right down to the person who supposedly planned it.
I can’t really explain this. Writing something and then having it happen, or finding out it’s real, is something that several writers I know have had happen to them, and it’s happened to me before, too. So this book has meant a lot to me, because it confirms for me that even ten years ago, we were on the right track.
Thanks for letting me visit today. I’ve really enjoyed being here!
**Susan will be awarding a notebook perfect for journaling to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
15 comments:
Thanks for hosting me today, Julianna!
Loved reading Stealing Fire, Susan! It's a beautiful love story - a classic!
Thanks for the thumbs-up, Ms. Terrell! I LOVE that you enjoyed it!
Boy what a fantastic read this is. Susan Sloate can really write a great romance. This is a love story you will not soon forget. You can't help but fall in love with Amanda and Beau. A real page turner, hard to put down.
Thanks so much, Anonymous! That response is exactly what I hoped for when I wrote the book. Glad you enjoyed it so much!
This sounds wonderful! I will be adding it to my tbr! Thank you! kamclauc AT gmail DOT com
Thank you for this amazing interview, excerpt and giveaway!! :)
reliving the 80's from writings sound interesting!
Wow this sounds interesting! I have got to read more :D
Thanks for the giveaway, I love notebooks(:
cool_cat97@msn.com
cool :)
Sounds like a great read!!
Thanks for the chance to win!
natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com
Need a new journal - awesome!! abrennan09@hotmail.com
Love the cover looks awesome i am in the process of righting a book and trying to search for a good cover myself. josephhawkshaw@yahoo.com
Cool ;) bobbyehopebooth at yahoo dot com
This looks really interesting. Can't wait to read it!
arcs93@hotmail.com
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