Blog
15
Aug
2014

Shira Anthony’s Dissonance

I can’t even begin to tell y’all how excited I am to have Shira with me here today. First of all I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her and meeting her. We’ve become friends and I am honored to know her. Beyond that, her books are amazing. Her Blue Notes series is so good that if you haven’t read it yet, you need to go pick them up. Today! She’s also got a sexy merman series out too that you should check out if you like paranormal. But Dissonance? If you haven’t checked it out, you will love the details below and the excerpt that will just make you want to read more! At the very bottom you can enter for a chance to win an amazing wrist cuff with a picture of the NYC subway system.

ACS: Good morning Shira! It is so great to have you join me today. You’ve talked about your music background before. What do you miss the most about it?
SA: I miss performing the most. Being an opera singer was so much more than just being a musician. Opera singers are actors, as well. I loved singing with an orchestra and loved playing a role while I was doing it. And although the applause was nice, the high I got when I got to step into a character’s head and sing was really amazing.
ACS: That rush sounds amazing. How about the other side of it? What did you hate the most?
SA: What I don’t miss are the endless auditions, the constant travel, and the stress of trying to figure out how to pay bills when I was singing 3-4 gigs a year at the most. Singing paid very little, so I had to work a day job that I hated. But it’s funny how you forget about that with time. Now, I really only remember the good stuff, and there was a lot of it!
ACS: It sounds like it was hard work being an opera singer, but rewarding while you were doing it. Now, let’s talk about Lord Cameron for a moment. Cam first appeared Aria. Did he always have a story to tell with a happy ending? Or did that idea come later when he grew on you?
SA: The idea for Cam’s story began to solidify for me when I wrote Aria. I knew there was a reason he was such a jerk to Aiden, because I knew he loved Aiden deeply. So why would he screw things up so royally if he loved Aiden? By the end of my work on that book, I knew the basics of Cam’s back story, and I knew I wanted to redeem him as a character, because I thought he was truly worthy of redemption.
ACS: I love the redemption of characters. One of my favorite plot devices to read. How many more books do you have planned? Can the number go higher?
SA: I really haven’t set a limit in this series. As people who have read the books may know, they are heavily character driven stories. Sure, there’s a plot, but the books are much more about how characters grow and develop through their relationships. But those kinds of stories are challenging to get right, so I tend to take my time thinking about an idea for a new book before I start writing it. All that to say that I have 2-3 more books in my head at the moment, none of which are fully developed. And since I have 3 projects I’ve promised to my publisher before I get to the next Blue Notes Series book, it’s probably a good thing!
ACS: The fangril in me doesn’t want them to end. Time for the fun questions! You are stranded on a deserted island and can only have one album. What album would you take with you?
SA: The answer to this one really depends on what I’ve been listening to recently. I tend to obsess just a little over music (big surprise, right?), and I tend to listen to one album over and over and over again until I find a new favorite. At the moment, I’d have to say Van Cliburn’s Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos album is my fave. Van Cliburn rocked the music world during the Cold War with the USSR by being the first American to win the prestigious Tchaikovsky competition. Here’s a link to the album: http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Piano-Concerto-No-1-Rachmaninoff/dp/B000003EUG/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407862830&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=van+clibun
ACS: I remember discussions of Van Cliburn in my music classes *mumble* years ago. His Tchaikovsky is beautiful. If you could play any opera role, disregarding vocal range or gender or anything like that, what role would you play?
SA: Wow, that’s a tough one! I loved, LOVED playing Tosca. But if I could choose any role that I hadn’t sung, it would probably be Mimi in La Boheme, and yes, it’s a soprano role that I understudied but never sang all of in public. So I guess I’d be happy to stay a soprano even if I had the choice to be any voice type!
ACS: Singing Mimi would be an amazing role. Now I may just have to get you to sing some of it for me when I see you next. Thank you so much for joining me today Shira. Now read all about the book.

Blurb:
British lord Cameron Sherrington has hit rock bottom. The love of his life, opera sensation Aiden Lind, is marrying another man, and Cam knows it’s his own fault for pushing Aiden away. Then someone tries to set him up and take away his family business. Facing arrest by US authorities on charges of money laundering and with no money to return to London, Cam decides to run. But with no money and no place to stay, it’s not exactly the Hollywood thriller he’d imagined.

When Cam hears Galen Rusk play in a lonely subway station, he’s intrigued. But his assumptions about Galen are all wrong, and their unusual relationship isn’t exactly what Cam bargained for. Add to that the nightmares that dog him nightly, and Cam’s world is shaken to its core. Cam figures he had it coming to him, that it’s all penance due on a life lived without honesty. He just never figured he might not be able to survive it.

Note: Blue Notes Series novels are standalone stories, and can be read in any order.

Excerpt:
Cam looked around the room. Much like the curtains, the carpet and bedding were worn. The bed looked old, like it had come with the house. A wooden dresser with a large round mirror took up half of a wall. Opposite stood a bookshelf piled with books. Cam walked over and glanced at some of the titles. Several were in Japanese. He picked up a ragged copy of Goethe’s Faust and leafed through it to discover it was in the original German. He set it back down. One of the shelves was completely filled with music, neatly stacked.

“I teach high school music,” Galen said from behind him, causing Cam to jump. It didn’t explain the Goethe, but now the music and the instruments made sense.

“Does teaching pay that poorly?” Cam turned around to find Galen setting some clothing on the bed.

“Oh, you mean the subway gig?” Galen laughed as he turned back the covers and fluffed the pillows. “I do that just for fun.” He didn’t elaborate further.

“I see.” Cam wasn’t sure he did see, but he was too tired to pursue the topic.

About Shira:
In her last incarnation, Shira was a professional opera singer, performing roles in such operas as “Tosca,” “i Pagliacci,” and “La Traviata,” among others. She’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle.

Shira is married with two children and two insane dogs, and when she’s not writing she is usually in a courtroom trying to make the world safer for children. When she’s not working, she can be found aboard a 36’ catamaran at the Carolina coast with her favorite sexy captain at the wheel.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shira.anthony
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4641776.Shira_Anthony
Twitter: @WriterShira
Website: http://www.shiraanthony.com
E-mail: shiraanthony@hotmail.com

Buy Links:
Dreamspinner Press E-book: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5291
Dreamspinner Press Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5292
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MJ01G98/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00MJ01G98&linkCode=as2&tag=pridepromo-20
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-dissonance-1591228-149.html?referrer=5314fed11fb4f

Tour Stops:
8/8 – Prism Book Alliance
8/11 – Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
8/12 – Smoocher’s Voice
8/13 – Fallen Angel Reviews
8/14 – The Hat Party
8/15 – Amanda C. Stone
8/18 – Tara Lain
8/19 – The Novel Approach
8/20 – LeAnn’s Book Reviews
8/21 – Kimber Vale
8/22 – Full Moon Dreaming
8/25 – Love Bytes
8/26 – Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves
8/27 – Hearts on Fire
8/28 – Wicked Wolves and Dreaming Dragons
8/29 – Velvet Panic
9/1 – Decadent Delights
9/2 – Rainbow Gold Reviews
9/3 – My Fiction Nook
9/4 – Emotion in Motion
9/5 – BONUS DATES: MM Good Book Reviews, Book Suburbia

Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 Comment

  1. Claudia says:

    I haven’t actually read the series but I like the sound of this one I might just read it as a standalone.

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