Author Lilah Suzanne is here at Love Bytes today with her blog tour for her book Burning Tracks.
Welcome to the blog, Lilah!
Author Name: Lilah Suzanne
Book Name: Burning Tracks
Series: Spotlight #2 (Can be read as a standalone)
Release Date: August 11, 2016
Pages or Words: 224 pages, 62,000 words
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: Victoria S.
Blurb:
In the sequel to Broken Records, Gwen Pasternak has it all: a job she loves as a celebrity stylist and a beautiful wife, Flora. But as her excitement in working with country music superstar Clementine Campbell grows, Gwen second-guesses her quiet domestic bliss. Meanwhile, her business partner, Nico Takahashi and his partner, reformed bad-boy musician Grady Dawson, face uncertainties of their own.
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Lesbian Romance, Romance Rom-Com
Today I’m very happy to be interviewing Lilah Suzanne author of Burning Tracks. Hi Lilah, thank you for agreeing to this interview.
Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than any others? Love? Action? Romance? Tragedy?
I’ll be honest, writing the love scenes is tough. Not from an embarrassment or prudishness stand-point, at this point that’s rarely an issue for me, but the logistics. Keeping track of whose hand is where and if they undressed and what do I do with their legs and how many different ways can I describe a climax, really? I think I manage all right, though.
What do you think makes a good story?
For me it’s characters first. If I’m invested in them, then I’m interested in their story and I want their happy ending. That’s how I try to approach my own books.
Do you hear from readers much? What do they say?
A little! I’d love to chat more, hit me up y’all! I’ve been really lucky to get some very sweet and supportive readers who just wanted to tell me they enjoyed a story or even to talk about the characters a bit. Nothing makes me happier.
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
Burning Tracks is my fourth book. I don’t know if I have a favorite, but I’ll always have a special fondness for my first book, Pivot and Slip, because it’s about dreams coming true in unexpected ways, and that’s exactly what it represents to me.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I’m a homebody. I like reading and watching TV and hanging out with people I love. On the occasion that I do leave the house, I like going to museums and festivals or whatever is going on downtown.
“There’s a reason you two aren’t allowed to hang out alone.” Arms crossed, one impeccable eyebrow raised, lips twisted, hair artfully tousled, and dressed to the nines: Alexander Wang black-on-black tropical-printed board shorts, a slim fit black-and-white chino and matching black lapel jacket, black boots, and a black and white scarf to tie it all together. “Nico,” Gwen says.
“Nico?” Grady is up in a flash. “You came?”
Nico’s face softens into his Grady look. “Of course I came. Did you really think you were getting rid of me that easily?” Grady comes closer, and Nico brushes a spiraled lock of hair from his face. “I’m sorry it took me so long. There were storms over Dallas, and I got stuck on the tarmac with a dead phone. I barely made my connection, and the clusterfuck of morons known as the United gate at JFK could not get its shit together, and I may be banned outright from Charlotte-Douglas International, can you believe they flag you as a security risk and hold you in a room with no phone signal or Wi-Fi just for threatening one person with shoving that goddam intercom up their—” He opens his arms for Grady; his look of annoyance slips away the moment they touch. “Anyway, I’m here.”
Grady sighs, crowds into Nico’s space, and tucks himself into Nico’s body. Much better, a perfect fit. “God, I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Nico sinks one hand into his hair, strokes the nape of his neck with other, breathes him in, and closes his eyes. “I’m so sorry. About the apartment and taking off and not being here yesterday, I tried to so hard to make it because I know how difficult it is for you. You shouldn’t have been alone.”
Grady sniffs and holds him tighter. “It’s okay. We’re okay. I’m sorry, too.”
Still ensnared in the sheets and duvet and barely awake, Gwen presses her hands to her cheeks and awws. “You guys,” she coos.
Grady lifts his head from Nico’s neck to smile at Gwen. “I wasn’t alone, though.”
“Mmm” Nico says. “And how much trouble did she get you into?”
“None,” Gwen says, defensive. Here she kept Grady safe and sound, searched all over Nashville and Las Vegas while he was off burying himself in work and what thanks does she get? None.
But then Grady smirks and says, “Kind of a lot.”
“Grady.” Gwen throws a pillow at him. “You’re such a tattletale, gosh.”
He bends to whisper something in Nico’s ear, and Gwen doesn’t miss the way his lips drag and linger on the shell of it, or the way Nico’s breath catches and his eyes roll back. When Nico lifts Grady’s shirt and traces around the tattoos with reverent fingers, Gwen takes that as her cue to extricate herself from the bed, put on some pants and a bra, and go fetch her luggage.
“‘Kay you guys have fun and make sure to change the sheets when you’re finished.”
“Wait.” Nico tugs Grady’s shirt down. Then he goes to the case he always has nearby. “You have trouble of your own, Gwen. Thought you might want to know about this.”
Gwen catches the magazine and folded-up papers he tosses her way: screen grabs from a few entertainment websites printed out in black and white.
Is This Clementine Campbell’s Girlfriend? Our source says, “It wouldn’t surprise me.”
Clementine and Gal Pal Definitely More Than Pals Sunning On Vegas Pool Deck.
Our exclusive source and close confidant of both says: Clementine’s married girlfriend “would cheat for sure. She was always touching her. There’s been an energy between them from the very beginning.”
There are pictures: her rubbing sunscreen on Clementine’s bare back, which looks far steamier in a fuzzy long-range picture than it actually was; a picture of them from the back at the store in the Venetian with their hands clasped and Clementine curled in close and her lips on Gwen’s cheek; and most damning of all, grinding together at the VIP club at the Bellagio just last night.
“I don’t—” Frantic and confused, she flaps the magazine and printouts in the air. “What is this? This isn’t— Nico, I didn’t, I swear.”
Nico holds both hands up. “Hey, I am well aware of the slander of tabloids. I get it.” He gives her a sympathetic look. “I’m just not sure Flora is going to.”
Buy the book:
Lilah Suzanne has been writing actively since the sixth grade, when a literary magazine published her essay about an uncle who lost his life to AIDS. A freelance writer, she has also authored a children’s book and has a devoted following in the fan fiction community. She is also the author of the Interlude Press books Spice, Pivot and Slip, and Broken Records, which was named a Top Pick by RT Book Reviews Magazine.
Where to find the author:
Tour Dates & Stops:
11-Aug: Havan Fellows, Jessie G. Books, Divine Magazine, 3 Chicks After Dark
12-Aug: BFD Book Blog, Unquietly Me, The Novel Approach
15-Aug: Molly Lolly, Inked Rainbow Reads, Oh My Shelves
16-Aug: Book Reviews and More by Kathy, Alpha Book Club, Bayou Book Junkie
17-Aug: Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Velvet Panic, Prism Book Alliance
18-Aug: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Kirsty Loves Books, Bonkers About Books
19-Aug: V’s Reads, My Fiction Nook, Happily Ever Chapter
22-Aug: Love Bytes, Foxylutely Book Reviews
23-Aug: Nephy Hart, MM Good Book Reviews
24-Aug: A.M. Leibowitz, Open Skye Book Reviews, Book Lovers 4Ever
Rafflecopter Prize: $25 Interlude Press gift card for the grand prize, One of five e-copies for first prize.
Thank you so much for having me!
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