Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews: Speakeasy by Suzey Ingold - Blog Tour with Author Interview and Giveaway

Author Name: Suzey Ingold

Book Name: Speakeasy

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/suzeysays

Publisher: Interlude Press

Cover Artist: Cover Art by Colin Moore; Cover design by C.B. Messer

Release Date: February 18, 2016

Blurb:

In the height of the Prohibition era, recent Yale graduate Heath Johnson falls for Art, the proprietor of a unique speakeasy tucked away beneath the streets of Manhattan where men are free to explore their sexuality. When Art’s sanctuary is raided, Heath is forced to choose between love and the structured life his parents planned for him.

Pages or Words: 244 pages

Categories: Gay fiction, Historical, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt:

Heath swallows, playing over an idea that had formed shakily in his head after he saw Frankie, since Art walked through that door and possibly longer without him being fully conscious of it. “Maybe it’s time I was honest. Tell them that I don’t want to marry Ginny or work with my father. Let the pieces fall where they may.”

“You would do that?”

“If it meant being with you, I would do anything.” Heath sits up and the sheets fall to pool around his waist. “I know what I want, now. And it’s you and whatever a future with you brings.”

Buy the book:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1mGtvXF

Interlude Press: http://store.interludepress.com/search?q=speakeasy

Apple iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/speakeasy/id1059517648?mt=11

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/speakeasy-suzey-ingold/1122958658?ean=2940152470123

All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-speakeasy-1972248-145.html?referrer=55feb862851f8

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/593328

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781941530696?aff=Interludepress

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Suzey Ingold, author of Speakeasy.

Hi Suzey, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Thank you for having me! I’m a writer and linguistics student, currently based in Edinburgh. I’ve been writing for years and had my first short story, The Willow Weeps for Us, published in 2015, in the Summer Love anthology from Duet Books. Speakeasy is about a recent Yale graduate who must discover what he really wants when he meets the owner of a unique Midtown speakeasy in 1920s Manhattan.

1) When did you write your first story/book? How old were you?

I remember writing a book when I was in my first year of school, so I must have been 5 years old. I don’t remember what it was about but I know that I spent as much time binding it up all nicely as I did writing it and that I drew a very large, slightly wonky house on the front. No doubt my mother still has it somewhere; she’s a hoarder. My teacher read it out to the class when I was done and I was simultaneously proud and mortified—I was a pretty shy kid!

2) Are you a plotter or pantser?

I suppose I’m a plotter although I’m a bit of both, really. I plan out my general plot, including the major plot points and roughly how far through the novel I’d like to hit those plot points. And, typically, I plan day-to-day: when I finish writing one day, I’ll note down where I want to go with the story the next day. But, at the same time, sometimes my characters just do whatever it is they feel like doing. Sometimes, things just happen and it wasn’t planned but I like it enough to keep with it. In Speakeasy, for example, I’d never planned out Heath’s parents being known as the Duke and the Duchess. It just happened and I liked it so I stuck with it!

3) What do you think makes your book stand out from the crowd?

I like to think my book has a little bit of everything: it’s got romance but it’s also got some other tensions building under the surface; it’s got LGBTQ+ characters but it’s not just about that; and it’s the Jazz Age, which is quite “in fashion” at the moment (thanks, Baz Luhrmann).

4) How do you find or make time to write?

Sometimes, it can be really hard. Last year, while I was writing Speakeasy, I was only studying part-time for various reasons and that made it a bit easier to make time to write. But this year has been tough: I’m a full-time undergraduate student; I work in retail on the weekends; and I volunteer with a couple of organizations—on top of writing. It feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day! But I learned in high school how to manage my time by being a ridiculous overachiever and I like to keep busy. So I say right, this morning here is for university work, and then in the afternoon I write. I might get a lot done, I might get barely enough done, but I keep to the schedule. And every other week I panic about how much I have to do, but somehow, it does always get done—I haven’t missed a writing or university deadline yet!

5) What do you like to read in your free time?

I read a whole variety of things. I do love romance, but I also enjoy mysteries and crime novels. I love finding a great series to really sink my teeth into and work my way through. I mix it up between contemporary fiction and older works: in the summer I finished up a book of short stories by Fitzgerald and then dove into The Girl on the Train. I’ve gotten more into reading non-fiction recently, too: often it’s something about linguistics (which is what I’m studying at university) or language, but I also find non-fiction texts on social issues really interesting.

Meet the author:

Suzey Ingold is a writer, linguist and coffee addict, currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Brought up in a household where children’s books are quoted over the dinner table, literature has always had a strong influence on her life. She enjoys traveling, scented candles and brunch. Her short story, “The Willow Weeps for Us,” was included in “Summer Love: An LGBTQ Collection,” published by Duet, an imprint of Interlude Press (2015).

Where to find the author:

Homepage: www.suzeysays.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzeysays

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzeysays/