Author: Heidi Joy Tretheway
Publisher: 300 Pages (October 8th, 2013)
Add to: Goodreads
Order here: Amazon, Amazon UK
NOTE: This is a "New Adult" novel. Due to mature content this title is recommended for ages 17+
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.
Author Interview:
I’m so excited to have you here on the blog today Heidi Joy! I’m in the middle of reading Tattoo Thief right now and I already have a bunch of questions. So, how about we get started? I promise to try to keep it to only a few.
Thank you for inviting me here. I adore some of the same books you’ve reviewed most highly … and I want your little book-birds on a coffee mug. They are so cute! :)
How did you come up with the idea for Tattoo Thief? And from beginning to end, has much of the original idea and story changed much?
The seed idea was to write about a house sitter and her drive to uncover the mystery of her client, especially what it takes to bring him home. I chose to make the client a rock star because when I was a journalist, I got media passes to rock concerts—Courtney Love’s band Hole, Cake, The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, and Garbage are some of the most memorable. Behind-the-scenes experiences helped me form a close-up view of Gavin.
I chose New York as a setting because I wanted Beryl to get completely out of her comfort zone as she sees the city for the first time. I did the same—I booked my first-ever trip to New York and soaked it in as Beryl would. Within six weeks, I finished my first draft of Tattoo Thief.
I go with my gut as a write, with very little plotted in advance, so the big change was writing another 10,000 words (mostly at the beginning and end) based on my developmental editor’s and beta readers’ feedback. Stella’s a lot more complex, Meredith and Dan get more time, and Beryl’s old boyfriend has different motivations.
Can you ask Gavin what his first impression of Beryl was when they had their first chat online?
Gavin: She’s a firecracker. I love that. You know what she said the first time we chatted? She called me an asshole. And then she just fell all over herself apologizing because she thought I’d get her fired. I actually laughed out loud. I mean, I deserved so much worse after what I did, that asshole was kind of refreshing.
And can you ask Beryl if she ever had any trouble seeing Gavin as just your everyday person? Or with his success, was it ever possible for you to see past all of that to the real person behind the fame?
Beryl: For a while, I thought of him as The Gavin Slater, more of a product than a person, like he came from a rock star manufacturing facility. It wasn’t just that he was smoking hot, it was that he acted so recklessly he didn’t seem like a real person. Gavin’s fame wasn’t a big trigger for me, but his honesty was. He told me some ugly truths that made him absolutely real.
Could each describe the other in three words? Without giving too much away, that is.
Beryl: Onstage, Gavin is sexy, intense, and commanding. Offstage, the part that matters to me, Gavin is thoughtful, lost, and passionate. I love that he lives his life by jumping in without overthinking it. I can’t do that. I fret.
Gavin: Beryl is sassy, trustworthy, and hopeful. I like that Beryl is always trying new things. I like that she doesn’t have everything figured out yet, because I don’t, either.
What were the hardest part and the easiest part in writing Tattoo Thief?
Revisions are always the hardest. The major confrontation toward the end of the book between Beryl and her best friend Stella tied me in knots, both emotionally and in terms of plot. Dialogue comes easy for me, and conversations between Beryl and Gavin were the most fun to write.
Would you ever consider writing Tattoo Thief from Gavin’s point of view?
Absolutely! (Would you spot me for the travel budget, pretty please?) Not only would I love to go to Kenya, I’d love to explore what happens in Gavin’s mind as he gets to know Beryl. There are so many reversals that this couple really has to earn each other. I adored Jessica Park’s Flat-Out Love follow-up called Flat-Out Matt and Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster follow-up Walking Disaster, so I think it’s possible for an author to switch points of view while preserving the integrity of the story.
What do you hope readers will take away from Beryl and Gavin’s story?
Tattoo Thief is about second chances. I believe second chances are not only possible after you make a mistake, but also possible after you’ve made all the right choices and then realize you still don’t like the outcome. I call that getting un-stuck. You’ll also find a theme about getting out of your comfort zone, whether that zone means staying put or moving on.
And lastly, since this looks to be the beginning of a series… which I’m seriously jumping up and down over! Can you tell us a bit about the next installment and what we can expect?
I expect to finish the next book in Tattoo Thief’s series this year, about Gavin’s band mate Tyler and Beryl’s best friend Stella. Stella does some rotten things in Tattoo Thief, and I don’t think she fully redeems herself. You’ll see more of Beryl and Gavin in the next book, find out what’s behind Stella’s dating motto, “A bad boy can’t break your heart,” and learn the real story of Tyler’s stolen tattoo. Tyler and Stella is love story with heaps of sexual tension, but at its core, it’s about forgiveness—how much can love forgive? I think the answer will surprise you.
Heidi Joy, thanks so much for taking the time out to chat with me today. It’s been FUN! Please feel free to visit anytime!
Thank you for having me! Gavin and Beryl love adding a little extra flavor, too.
***NOTE: Since sending the questions off to Heidi Joy I have finished Tattoo Thief and I have to say that I LOVED IT!! It was amazing!! Keep an eye out for my review posting soon.
About the Author:
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 exactly what 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
Find Heidi Joy Online:
Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
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