Title- Stealing Fire
By-Susan Sloate
Expected Publication Date- late August 2013
Blurb-
“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 2012 quarter-finalist in the amazon
Breakthrough Novel Award
Contest.
Links-
B&N
paperback- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stealing-fire-susan-sloate/1116263708?ean=9781935970125
Excerpt #1
Six-year-old Amanda wandered over to the
table and picked up the album cover. The name of the show, The Life and Times, was printed in bold letters across the top,
with a pencil sketch of a black top hat and neatly folded white gloves in the
middle. A splashy yellow sun, its rays streaming diagonally, filled the rest of
the cover. She forgot about it, though, as the record began to play.
She loved it instantly.
“Again, Mommy, again!” she said excitedly
when the first song ended.
Her mother shook her head. “Listen to the
rest first.”
Amanda sat down on her favorite soft
footstool near the big brown rocker and listened. She loved it all.
There was one song especially that she
liked. It was about blowing bubbles. She didn’t understand the verse, but she
sang along with the chorus:
“… Bubbles bursting, bursting bubbles …
Breaking dreams with every blow.
I’ll remember each dream burst
Till the final bubbles go.”
She didn’t really
understand the song, but it seemed sad to her.
As with most show
scores, Amanda asked to hear the record again and again. A few months later her
older sister Josie, tossing a ball carelessly around the room, smashed the
record.
Amanda cried and asked her mother to
please buy it again, please. Her
mother explained regretfully that the show had been a `flop’ years before.
There were no copies around, and Josie hadn’t meant to smash it; it was an
accident. “Stop crying now, Amanda,” she said sharply.
She listened to her mother and stopped
crying. But she never forgot the song about bursting bubbles.
Author Interview
What would you have done differently if you were the main
character of your book?
I WAS the main character in my book! I never could figure
out, for the longest time, why I wrote across different genres and dealt with
all kinds of different situations. Then I finally realized not long ago that
every heroine of mine, on some level, is me. STEALING FIRE’s Amanda is the very
young me--and the story of the impossible love affair, while differing in some
details, is really the story of what happened to me when I was 25. I did meet a
fascinating and magnetically attractive older man who was as drawn to me as I
was to him. We did get involved. There was a lot of pain. And the connection
did last.
So I’d have to say, I wouldn’t probably have done anything
different - because what Amanda does to cope is what I did to cope. It was all
I knew how to do.
What was your inspiration behind this book?
As I said, it happened to me--not detail for detail, but
definitely the general outline of it. And while it was going on, I didn’t
understand what was happening, so because writing things down has always been
the way I coped with emotional issues, I started to write these pages--on the
typewriter--many years ago. I had no thought that it was a novel. I was just
writing to try to understand the situation and to make the pain go away. I
ended up with 275 pages, written in wild disarray, with whole sections missing
while others were written with no connecting passages. It was too many pages to
throw away, at that point, and when I wanted to enter the first Amazon
Breakthrough Novel Award contest in 2007, that was the book that was closest to
finished. So I spent a week cutting, rewriting and cobbling together a cohesive
manuscript. Earlier this year, I finally polished it and finished it. And here
we are.
Why did you become a writer ?
I’m not sure you choose
to become a writer; you’re really born with that sensibility, or discover it
later in your life. You think in stories and narrative connectives. I just knew
that I loved being read to early in my life, loved to read on my own later, and
started writing down my own stories around the age of six or seven. It was
something I knew I would always do; it was just a part of me.
What I did learn over the years, though, was that I had to
trust that the stories I wanted to write were going to have value for SOMEBODY.
For a long time, when someone said they didn’t like my ideas, I would just
curdle, and hide the work away. It’s ridiculous. At this point in my life, I’m
going to trust that there are readers out there who want to read what I want to
write, because I want to tell the stories in my heart, whether the publishing
gurus think they’ll sell or not. Luckily, we live in a brand-new era for
publishing, and it gives me lots more freedom to experiment with my own
interests and my own voice.
As a reader and writer I think it is important to get to
know your fans and make a connection with them as an author who takes the extra
step to hear what their fans think and want in their continued writing is
continued success and key to selling more books .Do you agree with that ?
Yes. Writing is an act of communication, and good writing
draws a response from the reader. The most urgent response I’ve had from
readers usually involves asking me to write a sequel to a certain book. That’s
fabulous, because it means they’re so invested in the characters that they want
to go on with that relationship. I also learned that readers bring to your book
their own experience and point of view. So what you write mildly they may react
to as though it’s emotional hot sauce. As long as you’re aware of it, it’s
fine.
Do you have a favorite author or authors?
Tons!
Dick Francis (probably my all-time favorite--the best
mystery writer on the planet). Max Allan Collins--meticulous historical
research, wonderful stories beautifully written. Noel Streatfeild--best English
theater stories ever. Daphne du Maurier--the mistress of mood; fabulous,
evocative and romantic. Ayn Rand--brilliant and unique. Robbie Branscum--one of
my closest friends ever, and an Edgar-winning writer of marvelous young-adult
stories. Simply the best natural writer I’ve ever known. She’s the one who
urged me to finish STEALING FIRE; she loved it and wanted to read the whole
thing. It’s partially dedicated to her.
Other writers have written one or two books I love, but the
authors above--I’d read anything they wrote; they’re that good. Newer authors
like Nancy Bilyeau, who wrote THE CROWN, kept me turning pages without
stopping. And Robin Maxwell writes superb historical fiction.
Do you like to write your books in a continuing series ?
Some, yes. Some lend themselves to a series. STEALING FIRE
is of necessity a single title; there’s nowhere left to go with the characters
after the ending. But in November I’m re-publishing FORWARD TO CAMELOT (with my
co-author, Kevin Finn), which is an alternate-history thriller about the JFK
assassination. And I’m taking my heroine and a couple of other characters from
that book and putting them into a new novel which I plan to publish in 2014. There’s
definitely potential for that to go on and on. I’m also working on three series
which are planned as series books: all three are for the young-adult market, so
we’ll see how they go.
If you could date any character from any book, who would it
be and why?
Jake from MANHUNTING, an early novel by Jennifer Crusie. He
takes wonderful care of you, he’s smart and kind and sexy and funny and totally
dependable, and for a romantic hero, he’s surprisingly real!
What kinds of books do you like to read in your spare time ?
Historical fiction. Y/A fiction. Mysteries, when they’re
well plotted and I can’t figure them out! I also love nonfiction books on
history, politics and biography; I learn so much from them. And true crime
stories. I know they’re bad for me, but they do fascinate me! I also read a lot
of self-help books (which is useful, because I just wrote a self-help NOVEL
with my partner, Ron Doades--it’ll be published this fall). I especially like
books that use prose well; I HATE trying to wade through a book full of typos
and bad usage - life’s too short!
Do you cry when
writing sad scenes?
I cry at just about anything, including Hallmark
commercials. Usually I’m too caught up in the writing process to cry WHILE I’m
writing the scene, but I’ve re-read scenes that I’ve written years later and
choked up. That makes me so happy -- it means the scene works for the reader,
which is so important!
Did you have a Cover Designer ?
Not one that I work with again and again. But I really
appreciate all the hard work put in by all the graphic designers on my books;
they make such a difference!
Who is your fictional boyfriend or girlfriend crush ?
Probably one of Judith McNaught’s heroes from her 80’s books
(the 80’s were a good era, let’s face it--lots of good movies, good books and
good music!)
If you were able to dine and have a one on one with your
favorite writer/author who would it be ?
I think I’ll choose someone who’s not known for writing,
though he did write his autobiography (so that counts, right?) Desi Arnaz--the
man who produced I LOVE LUCY and invented the TV rerun--is one of my heroes,
and his life was amazing. He’s the person I’d most like to dine with. And his
autobiography, titled A BOOK, is just terrific, and surprisingly humble.
Do you re-read your favorite books ?
ALL THE TIME! I still have a full set of Nancy Drew mystery
books, along with Connie Blair and Donna Parker (fans of these old series will
know what I mean). Wonderful stuff! I also constantly re-read the books I bought
as a child in the Scholastic Book Club. I’ve read them so much I can repeat all
the words without reading them. But I always get something out of reading them
again.
Do you ever get in a reading slump like your readers do ?
Not sure I know what that is. Do you mean reading too much
of the same genre, or the same subject or author, and getting tired of it?
Sure. I just put it down and go on to something else. Believe me, at any given
time I’m always five to ten books behind in what I plan to read!
What is the funniest book you ever read ?
TWO LUCKY PEOPLE by Tony Kenrick. I picked it up at a
supermarket checkout counter in 1981 and just roared with laughter when I read
it. And I’ve re-read it at least every six months since then. WONDERFUL stuff!
Have no idea why that never became a movie!
About The Author
Susan Sloate is the author or co-author of more than 20
books, including Realizing You(with Ronald Doades), a recent self-help novel,
and the 2003 #6 Amazon bestseller, Forward to Camelot (with Kevin Finn), which
took honors in 3 literary competitions and was optioned by a Hollywood company
for film production.
She has written young-adult fiction and non-fiction,
including the children’s biography Ray Charles: Find Another Way!, which was
honored in the 2007 Children’s Moonbeam Book Awards. Mysteries Unwrapped: The
Secrets of Alcatraz led to her 2009 appearance on the TV series MysteryQuest on
The History Channel. Amelia Earhart: Challenging the Skies is a perennial
young-adult Amazon bestseller. She has also been a sportswriter and
screenwriter, managed two recent political campaigns, and founded an author’s
festival in her hometown outside Charleston, SC.
Stealing Fire was a Quarter-Finalist in the 2012 Amazon
Breakthrough Novel Award contest and combines autobiographical experience with
her lifelong love of the musical theater. She is proud to be distantly related
to Broadway legend Fred Ebb, the lyricist for Cabaret,Chicago, All That Jazz
and New York, New York.
Links-
My Review
Stealing Fire by Susan SloateMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
**** I received an ARC for an honest review ****
Ok let me just say that this is the first book that I read from this author.
This is the type of book that I was not expecting but I end up like in it, This book is about May-December romance, fill with passion, regret, suspense, tension, conflict and a unexpected delights. I really enjoy this book so much I couldn't put the book down.
I love the characters, and love it how this story turned out to be.
Stealing Fire is a love story that will go to well with all romantics at heart. I have to say this book had me on a emotional roller coaster ride, reading through everything that the characters where going through at the moment.
Amanda Harary is a young idealistic singer who has dreams of appearing on Broadway, while she has a day time job in a hotel in New York City. she is thoughtful, self-sacrificing, and humble but she has a little problem she has stage fright.
Beau Kellogg is a brilliant lyricist but now he is reduce to writing advertising jingles. He is old, angry and he was a jerk but Amanda saw him charming, and that's when he decide it that he was gone be a better man for her.
I really enjoy this book and I hope that when you read it that you get to enjoy it and fall in love with it as much as I did. THANK YOU AUTHOR SUSAN SLOATE for introducing me to this amazing characters and this great book.
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