Discover the world of author Amy Stilgenbauer's Sideshow and don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win some amazing prizes from the author at the end of the post. The contest closes on September 14th. The tour is sponsored by Pride Promotions.
Today I’m very lucky to
be interviewing Amy Stilgenbauer author of Sideshow.
Hi Amy, thank you for agreeing to this
interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current
book.
Glad to be here! I’m a writer from Michigan who
also spends most of her time buried in historical documents. My lifelong
fascination with the written word, storytelling, and history led me down the
very obvious path of writing historical fiction. Sideshow is set in the late 1950s and follows the adventures of
Abby Amaro, the daughter of Sicilian-American immigrants, as she joins up with
a traveling carnival and finds love along the midway.
Talk to us about your
characters in this book. What makes them unique?
It was important to me that the characters in Sideshow all have lives beyond the page.
They each have lives and dreams and ambitions that extend further than Abby’s
story. This may not be readily evident at all times, but I think keeping these
things in mind is important in order to present a well rounded world. Some
little tidbits include: Della ran away from home when she was 16 because she
was having panic attacks, Vinnie has bad memories of Cleveland because he lived
there during the torso murders, and Constance’s family has been involved in
carnivals for three generations.
What was one of the
most surprising things you learned in getting your book from start to publish?
When I self-published my first novel, I was very
much on my own. I sent my manuscript to editors and got their input, but it was
certainly not a collaborative process. That was different this time around and
it took some getting used to. I had to be reminded a number of times that I
wasn’t alone in this and that, yes, if I needed support or advice or what have
you, there actually was someone to ask. I am debilitatingly shy, so it can be
difficult for me to reach out and ask for help, but it was so nice to know that
someone was there.
Have you ever gone to
a convention? If so, how was it? If not, do you think it’s something you’d like
to do in the future?
I really want to. Going to a convention or two is
definitely on my career bucket list. Unfortunately, I’m a big introvert who has
a hard time approaching people in unfamiliar settings and I do work a lot at my
day jobs. Those two facts make it really easy to talk myself out of going to
conventions. I don’t plan to let that go on much longer though. My goal is to
get myself to a convention sometime within the next year and I plan to stick to
it.
Would you like to be a
full-time writer?
Part of me wants to say “More than anything.” I
have so many ideas rolling around in my head and I simply don’t have the time
execute them between working full time and all the other little life
necessities. I mean, do I really have to go grocery shopping, again? Still, I
think I’d miss archival work. Getting my hands dirty in history is part of what
inspires my writing in the first place. Maybe if I could do both my jobs part
time? A girl can dream, right?
Design the ultimate
pizza.
This is going to be a little contentious. I
apologize to all of you. For me though, the ideal pizza, is a thin crust,
brushed around the edges with olive oil and sprinkled with chopped garlic and
sesame seeds, followed by a thin layer of tomato sauce and diced onions. Then
it would be topped with fresh mozzarella, anchovies, olives, artichokes, and
pepperoncini. Finally there would be a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese and
red pepper flakes. Now I’m really hungry.
Now let's check out Sideshow:
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover
Artist: C.B. Messer
Release
Date: August
25, 2016
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29557163-sideshow
Blurb:
Abby Amaro wants to sing at La Scala Opera House, but she’s a
good girl, and in 1957 good girls get married. Still, when she receives her
first marriage proposal, she freezes, knowing the way her suitor makes her feel
bodes trouble. When he won’t take no for an answer, she flees, joining up with
a traveling carnival.
Thanks to a burlesque trapeze artist and the world’s saddest
clown, Abby bides her time and fits in until she can rejoin the world she
knows. She doesn’t expect a sideshow strongwoman named Suprema, who captures
her imagination. As the carnival makes its way across the Midwest, Abby learns
much more than she had ever imagined—about herself, about her identity, and,
most importantly, about love.
Pages or Words: 61,000 words
Categories: Fiction, Historical, Lesbian
Romance, Romance
Excerpt:
Abby couldn’t remember falling
asleep. She only remembered the dark night and how, outside the window of
Della’s trailer, the rolling slopes of Eastern
Ohio slowly flattened into the farmland of the
western side of the state and faded into darkness. She didn’t say much during
the trip, but her mind was spinning, unable to process what she had done.
Once,
when she had been a little girl, barely older than Annette was now, her mother
had taken her and Natale to visit their aunt in Chicago Cleveland Coventry
Buy the book:
Interlude Press http://
Amazon http://amzn.to/
Barnes and Noble http://www.
Apple iBookstore
Smashwords
Kobo
All Romance eBooks https://www.
Book Depository not yet available
Tour
Dates & Stops:
31-Aug:
My Fiction Nook, BFD
Book Blog
5-Sep: Divine Magazine, Havan Fellows
6-Sep: Alpha
Book Club, Molly Lolly
Meet the author:
Amy Stilgenbauer is a writer and aspiring archivist currently
based in southeast Michigan
Where to find the author:
Webpage: amystilgenbauer.wordpress.com
Tumblr: amystilgenbauer.tumblr.com
Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/amystilgenbauerwrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amystilgenbauer
GIVEAWAY: $25
Interlude Press gift card for one winner, an e-copy of ‘Sideshow’ for five
winners
a Rafflecopter giveaway
1 comment:
Thank you for hosting a stop on the tour! I would be happy to answer any questions about the book.
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