Book Promo and Interview: Ice Blue by Susan Rae

Ice Blue

by Susan Rae

When lives are on the line, sometimes the wrong thing is the right thing to do. 

Born into a Chicago cop family, while her brothers get their rush from catching bad guys, paramedic Angela DeLuca gets hers from saving lives. A tough beauty with a heart perhaps too big, she champions the underdog because, as the youngest of six siblings, she often felt like one.

ICE Special Agent Troy Deavers became a cop to prove he wasn’t like his father—a southern politician who brought his family down with greed and corruption. He doesn’t suffer victims well. At first intrigued by Angela’s passion, he soon fears that the fire in Angela’s heart will be her undoing.

What happens when Troy falls in love with the lovely but infuriating Angela, the Chicago paramedic who insists on protecting a young witness and her unborn baby—a witness who could break his case wide open?

You met the DeLuca family in heartbeats, now come to know them even better in ICE blue.
--Even if you haven't read heartbeats, you can still enjoy ICE blue. Each book has it's own gritty suspense tale and is complete within itself.

PLEASE COME BACK TOMORROW FOR MY REVIEW!

Follow Along With This Tour:

April 13 - Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews - Interview/PROMO

April 16 - Taking it One Page at a Time - Review

April 18 - Read Your Writes - Guest Post/PROMO

April 22 - Book Reviews By Dee - Guest Post/PROMO

April 23 - Gimme the Scoop Reviews - PROMO

April 25 My Cozie Corner - Review

April 26 - Beth Art From the Heart - Review

April 30 - Books and Needlepoint - Review/Interview

May 1 - My Reading Addiction - Review

May 2 - Enchanting Reads - Guest Post/PROMO

May 6 - My Devotional Thoughts - Guest Post/PROMO

May 8 - Total Book Geek - Review/Interview

May 9 - Author Ever Leigh - Review

May 10 - My Pathway to Books - Review

May 13 - Book Referees - Guest Post/PROMO

May 15 - The Canon - Review

May 16 - Texas Book Nook - Review

May 17 - Andi's Book Reviews - Interview/PROMO

May 20 - Busy Mom Book Reviews - Review

May 21 - Wormy Hole - Review/Interview

May 22 - The Must Unleashed - Review

May 23 - The World as I See It - Review

May 24 - RABT Reviews - Review

Susan took some time to answer some questions for me over the weekend.  Please enjoy the following interview:  

How do you typically write?  Do you plot it all out beforehand or do you just let the story pour out?

I am a plotter—to a point. Because I write romantic suspense, I have to have a pretty good idea of where I’m going and how the characters are going to get there.  Once I get an idea for a story and who the main characters are, I get my notebook out and start brainstorming.  Most times I already have the beginning and end in my head, so I start jotting down the other main beats of the storyline—those scenes that move the story in another direction.  At some point though, I have to just sit down and start writing.  And that’s when the magic happens—the surprises—as the characters start taking over and things happen that I never thought of originally!

How long do you think about a story before starting to write the book?

It’s funny that you ask that.  Some books are in my head for years before I start writing them.  Some I start writing and never finish (or rather, haven’t finished--yet J).  The idea for my current novel, ICE blue, came about a year after heartbeats was first published,  however it is a very involved book and although I started it shortly afterward and had one-hundred and fifty pages done, I didn’t finish it until last December.  But I think that’s a good thing.  Because I grew from both mine and my family and friends experiences during that time, the book is so much stronger for it.   

Do you have much say in the title or covers of you books?

I do!  Because I am with MUSA Publishing now, I work very closely with the art director on my covers.  In this on-line era, it is more important than ever that a book cover reflects what the story is about.  I want mine to say sophisticated romance and suspense.  I think ICE blue’s cover does this well, along with the other two covers Musa has done for me.  What do you think?

              

 I think Ice Blue is very fitting!  I am guessing that is the Chicago skyline in the picture as well?

Was there anything (or anyone) while growing up which helped you decide you wanted to be a writer?

Actually, when I was very young, I wanted to be a doctor—a pediatrician. But, as an avid reader, I found myself gravitating more and more to the written word. I penned my first melodrama in fifth grade, complete with hero, heroine, and dastardly villain—not so different really than the romantic suspense I write now.  In eighth grade I played the role of Jo in Little Women. By then, I felt it was type casting. When the words still don’t come so nicely onto the page, I often recite Jo’s words, “If father were here, he’d tell me to throw it in the fire!” It puts a smile on my face. Now, even though I am not a doctor, I enjoy writing one J. (Elizabeth in heartbeats and ICE blue). 

Do you have a favorite quote?

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant–

 Success in Circuit lies… ~~Emily Dickenson

When I read this little poem in college, I realized how true it was.  I try to follow Dickinson’s advice in my writing, in how I approach my characters and plots.  With romance, telling someone that “Love conquers all,” just doesn’t do it, and it isn’t always exactly true.  But creating full, well-rounded characters, making them as real as possible, putting them in difficult but believable situations and seeing how through their grit and determination they get through those situations, often overcoming desperate odds—that’s telling the truth and hopefully giving the reader something they will enjoy reading.

What does a day look like in the life of your main character?

Angela, the main character in ICE blue is a Chicago paramedic.  I had the opportunity to interview a former Chicago paramedic for the novel.  Her twenty-four hour shift was very hectic.  I am slightly amused now when I see the paramedics on the TV show Chicago Fire just hanging out at the station house with the firefighters.  My paramedic said they rarely had time to hang out.  They often squeezed twenty to twenty-three runs into a twenty-four hour shift.  That left very little down time!

What time of day do you like to write?

I “write” (actually sitting down at the computer and getting words into the draft) best between the hours of eleven a.m. and six p.m.  However, I am brainstorming and thinking about a novel almost constantly when I get close to starting a book and during the first draft.  Especially annoying are those four-thirty a.m. wakeups when I can’t get back to sleep because my hero and heroine had a fight and I’m trying to figure out how to get them back together!

What is the most you have written in one day? 

 Twenty pages, or about 5,000 words.  

What themes do you love to read or write about?  

 Love, trust, overcoming difficult situations, and murder most foul!

What is your favorite way to promote a book?   

I do a lot on-line, but I love meeting readers face to face.

If your book was made into a TV series or movie, what actors would you like to see playing your characters?

 The hero for ICE blue is easy, Matthew McConaughey.  Sexy, suave. Can be comical, but also quite serious.  Check out this link for some eye candy! http://www.matthewmcconaughey.com/photos/193087

If you could have a superpower, what would it be? 

 Flying, definitely!

Favorite season?

 Spring.  Renewal and all that.

Favorite sport?   

Participitation?  Golf, swimming, canoeing.  Watching?  Tennis and Football.

Favorite music?   

Very eclectic.  Hard and soft rock, to blues and Broadway musicals.

Talk or text?   

Yes!  Depends on the situation.  Mostly talk.

Cat or dog?   

Dog.  You can meet Half-pint in ICE blue who is patterned off of my own dog, Nikute.

Nikute is so adorable!  I am so ready to get a puppy!

Coffee or tea?   

Tea.  I collect teapots.

I found a great teapot last summer at a garage sale - it is Eeyore!

If you could live in a literary world  - what world would that be and why?

Middle Earth.  It’d be cool to experience wizards, ents, elfs, and all, once the fighting was over!

Favorite gadget?   

Can opener.  At least after the apocalypse I could open a can.

I must say - this is a gadget I would not have thought of!

Ebooks, paperbacks or hardcovers?   

YES!  Did I mention I love to read? Anything, anywhere, anytime!

Is there anything else that you would like my readers to know?

Only that I love a good sexy romance with a gritty suspense story, and that’s what I try to give readers with my novels. A try to bring a plot with a lot of meat to it and well developed characters that will bring joy, fear, laughter, and even tears to readers while possibly raising their awareness of things outside their normal everyday life. ICE blue is billed as DeLuca Family 2, but don’t let that throw you off.  Even if you haven’t read heartbeats, the first book in the series, you can enjoy ICE blue.  Each novel has its own hero and heroine and gritty suspense storyline that is complete within the novel.

Thank you Kristi for having me and thank you, readers, for taking the time to visit with me today.  For more information on my books and my writing, please visit me at www.susanrae.com

Happy Reading!