Hello fellow readers and bookaholics! It is that time once again to learn a bit about another intriguing author. Today we have Sarah Grimm with us. She is going to be discussing love, music, and life in general. Don’t forget to read through the whole interview so you can get the chance to read the teaser. It is well worth it! Grab your favorite flavor of java, sit back, and get ready to learn some intriguing facts about this lovely author.
Hello Sarah! Thank you for taking the time to answer some of my questions.
Hi, Danielle, thanks for allowing me to visit with you today.
Why don’t you first start off by telling the readers a little about After Midnight?
She wants to forget her past.
He wants to reclaim his.
Sometimes the moment that changes everything comes After Midnight.
AFTER MIDNIGHT is a story that is near and dear to me. The story of Isabeau, owner of Izzy’s Bar, child prodigy, piano phenom—a woman who is hiding behind a lie of her own making. Here is the official blurb:
Thirteen years—that’s how long Isabeau Montgomery has been living a lie. After an automobile accident took her mother’s life, Izzy hid herself away, surviving the only way she knew how. Now she is happy in her carefully reconstructed life. That is until he walks through the door of her bar…
Black Phoenix singer/front man Noah Clark came to Long Island City with a goal–one that doesn’t include an instant, electric attraction to the dark-haired beauty behind the bar. Coaxing her into his bed won’t be easy, but he can’t get her pale, haunted eyes nor her skill on the piano out of his head.
Can Noah help Isabeau overcome the past? Or will her need to protect her secret force her back into hiding and destroy their chance at happiness?
Much of the plotline in After Midnight deals with music of one form or another. What is it about the musical world that had you including it as one of the main subjects in this tale?
My love of music was probably the greatest influencing factor in making it a main subject of the book. If someone took away my books, I could go on—after all, I would still have my imagination. However, I can’t imagine life without music.
Which is exactly how my heroine Isabeau Montgomery came to be. I took my love for music and the respect I have for those who create it—those with the natural, awe-inspiring ability to just sit down and have music flow from their fingers — and turned it into a story about what happens when that gift becomes your worst nightmare.
From the get go, Isabeau is shown as a woman possessed to play music even as she fights not to. The details of the feelings she gets when playing is amazing. How were you able to tap into the poignant moments and show the reader vividly how she was feeling?
I’m not really sure. I imagined what it would be like to have experienced all that she experienced in life–her talent and fame as well as her tragic childhood–then put myself in her shoes and let my muse run wild. The fact that I’ve had a lifelong love of music and played the bass all through school (string and electric) most likely helped me connect with Isabeau and the emotions that fill her when she’s playing.
Noah is another mega musician in this story. He too has a past that haunts him as much as Isabeau’s has haunted her. What is it about his painful past that had you wanting to write about it?
From the moment I first created Isabeau’s character I knew Noah had to be someone whose very presence in the same room would make it that much harder for her to ignore the pull of music. To me that meant he had to be a musician as well. Unfortunately, Noah’s past is not uncommon in the world of rock and roll.
I loved how you had the mysterious incidents happening at the bar that Isabeau owned. Did you know you were going to have suspense in this story when you started writing it?
Not at all. I had planned for After Midnight to be a straight up contemporary romance. However, suspense, even if it’s just a touch, always seems to find its way into everything I write.
Dominic is another key player in this book. While he may not be romantically involved with Isabeau, he seems to be ready for his own story. Is that going to happen?
I have to confess something…I am madly in love with Dominic Price! It’s true. While writing him, he became so much more than Noah’s best friend and the band’s bassist. I knew he deserved his own happily-ever-after, and I’m happy to say I’m writing his story right now.
Any other WIP going on for you right now?
I’ve been getting such positive feedback on not just Dominic, but another of the book’s characters that what began as one book has expanded into four. I’m a pantser, which means I’m not big on plotting, so this is a challenge for me as I’m forced to lightly plot out the next three books—making certain that specific key elements of the characters, and their stories, carry thru from one book to the other.
Your books seem to pertain to contemporary suspense with romantic elements intertwined. Any other genre you would like to try?
I’ve had an idea for a time-travel romance rolling around in my head since the early 90’s. Will I ever try my hand at it? I’m not sure.
Any genre you would never even attempt to write?
Horror. I don’t enjoy watching horror movies or reading horror novels. It’s just not my thing.
Congratulations on winning the 2011 Readers Favorite Award! When you were a young girl scribbling in your notebook, did you ever think your stories would have this much success?
Thank you. I think when I was really young I imagined I would be a supa-star! LOL I grew out of that age very quickly though, and into one where I never imagined anyone would ever read my stories, let alone enjoy them.
Looking back on some of the writings you did as a girl, would you ever consider revamping them and trying to get them published?
Wow, those stories are so bad that I cringe just thinking about them. No, never.
I love the quote on your blog http://www.authorsarahgrimm.blogspot.com/. Do you have a favorite quote that you want to share?
My favorite writing quote is from Meg Chittenden who said, “Many people hear voices when no-one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.”
Also on your blog, you mention wanting to read on New Year’s Eve instead of going out. Who are some of your favorite authors?
Linda Howard, Tess Gerritsen, HelenKay Dimon, and a very talented lady who has become a very dear friend to me, Amie Louellen.
If you had to choose one person in your lifetime who was the most influential at making sure you never stopped dreaming about writing, who would it be?
My father.
Do you belong to any social networking sites? Can you share them with us?
Can you tell me something quirky about yourself? Maybe something that no one else knows?
This isn’t a big secret to those who know and love me, but I prefer Diet Coke to be at room temperature. Not flat, just not chilled. Weird, I know.
I see you live in Western Michigan. I have to ask…U of M or MSU? I too live in Michigan and our house is full of U of M fans.
A fellow Michigander! In my house, we don’t pay much attention to sports. We’re more about American Muscle Cars and getting from zero to sixty in the shortest time possible.
If After Midnight was to be turned into a movie, who would you want to play the parts of Isabeau and Noah?
This is so hard! I know a lot of authors base their characters physical attributes on real people, but I don’t. Hmmm, the actor who most closely represents the image that I have in my head of Noah would be, Josh Holloway.
Isabeau…wow, I can’t think of anyone who represents Isabeau. I think Thandie Newton could portray her. She’s older than Isabeau, but she’s the only actress that comes to mind.
One last question I like to ask all of my interviewees. In keeping with the theme here at Coffee Time Romance & More, if your personality were to be described as a specific flavor of coffee, what flavor would that be and why?
Not being a coffee drinker, I cheated on this one and asked a friend. She informed me I am a dark, rich blend, like Sumatra. Since that happens to be my husband’s favorite flavor, it works for me. 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to share yourself with us. I hope you had fun! I know I did.
I did, too! Thanks again for allowing me to visit with you today.
Well readers?!? She sounds amazing doesn’t she? Are you ready for more? Here is that teaser I told you about.
~*~
Isabeau Montgomery sat in the dimly lit bar and shook like an amateur before her first recital. Her gaze, blurred by the sudden threat of tears, settled on the keys before her. Her stomach cramped painfully, yet the need was too great to ignore.
With ability as natural to her as the color of her skin, she began to play. The waterfall of music filled the air, washed over her, completed her in a way nothing or no one else ever had. Against the razor sharp sting of memories, she fought…
She was young, vibrant, and born with a raw talent rarely seen. Classical, jazz, or rock and roll, she played it all. Loved all the genres—loved to create. All that mattered was her joy, her love for the instrument beneath her fingers and the music she was so skilled at creating.
For a good ninety seconds, joy returned, the rush of adrenaline and, conversely, the sense of belonging. In those seconds, time slowed, the lines between the past and the present blurred, and she was a child again. There was no longer pressure to be something she couldn’t be, no fear of what her future would hold.
And with the innocence of youth, no idea that everything she held dear could be lost in the blink of an eye.
Fantastic huh?! Uh-oh, the Mistress is coming. Until next time, remember to read lots of great books and drink tons of decadent coffee!
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