Unquietly Me

Interview with Amy Stilgenbauer:

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 happens to study history, grow tomatoes, knit sweaters, and drink copious amounts of coffee. I love to write about life’s big transitions and Sideshow certainly has that. It’s the story of a young woman, growing up in 1950s Cleveland, Ohio who joins a traveling carnival and ends up finding out more about herself than she ever dreamed she would.

1) Tell us something no one else knows about your characters.

Suprema has been doing her strong woman act for about three years now. Prior to that, however, her aunt Ida was teaching her how to tell fortunes. She especially enjoyed tarot reading. However, her aunt made her stop because she always told customers about incredibly happy futures, no matter how the reading actually went. She couldn’t bear to see the looks on their faces if she gave bad news.

2) Have you ever written something that made you cry?

I am way too emotional, even about my own writing. I cry at movies. I cry over podcasts. I sometimes cry while watching commercials. I cry without warning about unexpected things and don’t cry about things I honestly expected would make me cry. One scene that still never fails to get to me is the ending of “The Fire-Eater’s Daughter” Ruth’s mother’s love for her daughter and their exchange never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

3) Have you ever co-written with someone before?

Oh man, have I?! Dear friend and fellow Summer Love author, Rachel Blackburn and I have co-written a number of epics of highly varying quality over the many years we’ve known each other. I hope to do so again soon once we both have time and a good plot. We both also used to be part of a writing circle focused on 1900s New York City. It started off as part of the Newsies fandom, but quickly transcended its roots and spun off many fascinating original stories, giving me the chance to collaborate with some truly amazing people.

4) What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Focusing on one thing at a time. I have too many ideas. As we speak, I am having a hard time deciding what project I want to work on next because I have six different novels and two graphic novels in my head all demanding my attention. Undoubtedly, I will probably start at least three of them in the near future, and get three brand new ideas shortly after that.

5) Name your four most important food groups.

1. Alliums: onions, garlic, shallots, chives, leeks, each and every one a precious smelly-breath-creating gem, especially garlic. I’ve actually told people that they couldn’t date me if they had issues kissing someone with garlic breath.
2. Nightshades: Maybe not this entire botanical family, but eggplant, tomato, peppers, potatoes…yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.
3. Coffee: self explanatory
4. Ice cream type items, with special focus put on the fig gelato that the shop in my neighborhood sells. It’s amazing!

Thanks again & Congrats on your new release!

Author Name: Amy Stilgenbauer

Book Name: Sideshow

Release Date: August 25, 2016

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 for a week. It had been a nice visit. They had embarked on the train with a great deal of ceremony, and Za Teresa had spoiled the pair rotten, loading them up with peach-shaped marzipan and pizzelle until they were both sick. She hadn’t left Cleveland for any extended period of time since. Oh, sure, she’d talked and dreamt about it. Nonna often wistfully mentioned taking a trip back to her girlhood home one more time now that the war was over and taking Abby along to look after her, and then, if her opera career took off as she had once hoped, she would be visiting all the great cities. In her scrapbook, clippings of Palais Garnier, La Scala, and The Met were decorated with carefully drawn hearts and hopeful stars and the scrawled word: someday. Still, she had never imagined that when she departed the Coventry neighborhood again, it would be in a burlesque dancer’s trailer.

Buy the book:

Interlude Press: http://store.interludepress.com/collections/sideshow

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2b43njS

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sideshow-amy-stilgenbauer/1124079234?ean=9781945053016

Apple iBookstore

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/648885

Kobo

All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sideshow-2058755-367.html?referrer=55feb862851f8

Book Depository: not yet available

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/978-1-945053-01-6&aff=interludepress

Meet the author:

Amy Stilgenbauer is a writer and aspiring archivist currently based in southeast Michigan. She is the author of the novelette series, Season of the Witch, as well as the Young Adult novel, The Legend of League Park. Her short story, The Fire-Eater’s Daughter, was included in Summer Love, an LGBTQ Young Adult collection published by Duet, an imprint of Interlude Press. When she isn’t writing, Amy enjoys all things bergamot and tries to keep her cats away from her knitting.

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

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29557163-sideshow

Publisher: Interlude Press

Cover Artist: C.B. Messer

Tour Dates & Stops:

25-Aug: The Novel Approach, Unquietly Me, Velvet Panic, Bayou Book Junkie

26-Aug: Oh My Shelves, Book Lovers 4Ever, Book Reviews and More by Kathy, A.M. Leibowitz

29-Aug: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Love Bytes

30-Aug: Butterfly-O-Meter, Kirsty Loves Books, MM Good Book Reviews

31-Aug: My Fiction Nook, BFD Book Blog

1-Sep: Prism Book Alliance, Open Skye Book Reviews, Happily Ever Chapter

2-Sep: Foxylutely Book Reviews, Bonkers About Books

5-Sep: Divine Magazine, Havan Fellows

6-Sep: Alpha Book Club, Molly Lolly

7-Sep: Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Charley Descoteaux

Rafflecopter Giveaway:

Giveaway Link: $25 Interlude Press gift card for one winner, an e-copy of ‘Sideshow’ for five winners