GIVEAWAY/INTERVIEW: "Tattoo Thief" - Heidi Joy Tretheway

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"Tattoo Thief"

By: Heidi Joy Tretheway 

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Synopsis:

22-year-old Beryl doesn't know why Gavin Slater trashed his penthouse, abandoned his dog and fled the country. But as his house sitter, she must pick up the pieces for the front man of the white-hot rock band Tattoo Thief.

When ultra-responsible Beryl confronts the reckless rock star, she wants to know more than just what to do with his mess. Why is he running? What’s he searching for? And is he responsible for the death of his muse?

New York newbie Beryl must find her footing in Gavin’s crazy world of the ultra-wealthy to discover her own direction and what can bring him back.

Steamy, sassy and tender, Tattoo Thief is a story of breaking from a comfort zone to find a second chance.

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Interview:

Hi, Heidi Joy. Welcome to my BRIANNA LEE BOOK REVIEWS. We’re looking forward to hearing some behind-the-scenes stuff about Tattoo Thief.

Thanks for inviting me to share Tattoo Thief. It was so much fun to write.

How did you develop the idea for Tattoo Thief’s plot? 

Tattoo Thief started with a 250-word prologue that I wrote in one quick spurt this February. I showed it to my developmental editor and he encouraged me—he felt it was an original premise with commercial potential. For me, the most important element of the plot was unraveling a mystery and pulling two people out of their respective comfort zones. In Tattoo Thief, I call it getting them “un-stuck.”

Once you had the idea, did you start writing the book immediately? 

I let it grow in my mind for a few months, but the prologue stuck with me. Based on that alone, I booked a four-day research trip to New York City to discover the places and elements that would become part of Tattoo Thief.

I felt the subway rumble under the sidewalk the way Beryl does. I tried the tea-pop, gnudi, truffled goat cheese and green tea cream puffs that Beryl describes. I tried threading and narrowly missed the Summer Solstice yoga-in. I stayed in what would become Anthony’s apartment, strolled the Central Park paths where Beryl walks Jasper, and ate in the restaurants where Tattoo Thief’s scenes are set.

Like Beryl, I also got wickely drunk on a carafe of sangria at a sidewalk table and then compounded my bad decision with champagne. That wasn’t good for my head the next morning, but it inspired a fun and pivotal scene.

What real experiences in your life show up in Tattoo Thief?

Like Beryl, I grew up in Eugene, Oregon. It’s true when she notes in the book that the closest thing Eugene has to a subway is a dedicated bus lane with grass down the middle. Also like Beryl, my dad is a private pilot and owns a Piper Cub airplane—a tiny yellow two-seater that flies slower than freeway speeds. Readers will see some of my best memories of fly-ins with my dad in the book.

My dad is very much alive, but Beryl lost her father as a young teen-ager and I witnessed this tragedy among my father’s flying friends. My high school boyfriend lost his father in a single-engine plane crash. Grief and guilt are key themes in Tattoo Thief, and also how people recover from a loss.

You feature dogs into your novels who are characters in their own right. Do your own pets inspire them?

My family has an old chocolate Lab who I call Saint Mia because she puts up with my five-year-old boy trying to “train” her. You’ll see a chocolate Lab in Tattoo Thief, but the starring role went to a basenji, an African sight hound known as a “barkless” dog.

My parents have owned three basenjis, and everything about Jasper is a real composite of these dogs. High fives? The dog can do them. Cheese obsession? Yes. Shrimp allergy? Laundry chewing? That funny “baroo” yodel? Check, check and check.

I even named the dog Jasper because that was the name I wanted my parents to choose for their most recent basenji. Feel free to fall in love with Jasper in Tattoo Thief, but the breed is notorious for misbehavior. You’ve been warned.

Can you tell us about your next project and what you’re working on currently?

I just booked another research trip to New York City for the next Tattoo Thief book, featuring Tyler (Gavin’s band mate) and Stella (Beryl’s best friend). I expect to finish that book this year and I have had so much fun plotting it. Stella is feistier than Beryl, more independent but also more fragile—not that she’d ever let you see it. I expect to release that book early next year.

Author Bio:

Heidi Joy lives in Happy Valley off Sunnyside Road. She swears she did not make that up.

Heidi’s obsessed with storytelling. Her career includes marketing, journalism, and a delicious few years as a food columnist. Media passes took her backstage with several rock bands, where she learned that sometimes a wardrobe malfunction is exactlywhat the rock star intends.

You’ll most often find Heidi Joy with her husband and two small kids cooking, fishing, exploring the Northwest, and building epic forts in their living room.

She loves to hear from readers via messages at facebook.com/author.heidi.

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