Author Interview + Giveaway (INT)- Unexpected & Heartbeat series by Faith Sullivan

Hey guys, today we have with us author of Unexpected and the Heartbeat series, Faith Sullivan.

There's a lovely Author Interview followed by a super cool and generous giveaway where readers have a chance of winning three ebooks! So let's quickly get on to the main stuff after a little introduction.

ABOUT AUTHOR FAITH SULLIVAN:

I really hate talking about myself. My goal is to have the shortest author bio imaginable. I would much rather have a conversation with my readers.

Are you able to escape within my pages?

Does my writing make you feel something?

Are there characters that you can't get out of your head?

Let me know!

AUTHOR LINKS:

Blog / Goodreads / Twitter

FAITH SULLIVAN'S BOOKS:    

                                                 

           

Unexpected / Heartbeat / Come What May / I Am Yours (Coming soon!)

Me review of Unexpected
My review of Heartbeat (Heartbeat #1)
My review of Come What May (Heartbeat #2)

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Hi Faith! Welcome to The Readdicts! It's lovely to have you here. Please make yourself at home and we hope you have a nice time answering our very many questions!

1. I know you don't like doing this, Faith, but you're going to have make an exception here and tell us a bit about yourself. 

Faith: LOL, okay if I have to :-)

I started reading at age four and basically never stopped. I have a bachelor's degree in literary studies and I've worked in the publishing industry in some capacity for nearly fifteen years. My online experience with the written word began when I started to review books. At the beginning of this year, I decided to publish my first novel and dive into the deep end.

2. Tell us something about yourself that no one knows, something totally random. *puppy face* Please?

Faith: I'm not a romance author with a hot husband at home. I'm still trying to figure the whole love thing out.

3. Did you always want to be an author? If not, then what did you want to be?

Faith: I'm more of a behind-the-scenes person. I never thought I'd have the guts to put myself out there as a published author. I always hoped I'd one day have the courage and I guess that day has finally arrived. Sometimes it's good to surprise yourself.

4. Okay. Now we will get to your (and our) favourite part! Tell us about your books.

Faith: My books are crazy. Some people love them. Some people hate them. They're all written from the heart and I try to infuse as much genuine emotion into them as possible. I like to keep them fast-paced so readers don't get bored and I try to shake things up by doing unconventional things. I'm willing to shock readers with a head-scratcher of an ending. I'm up for radically changing a character's personality in a series. I like to explore themes that most would never put together like 9/11 and romance. My brain just likes to think outside the box and either you get it or you don't (and I'm okay with it if you don't!).

5. You write books that fall under the New Adult genre. Many people define NA in my different ways. What, according to you, is New Adult? (Age, storyline, etc.)

Faith: For me, New Adult characters are somewhere between eighteen and twenty-five. That's really my only main requirement because there are so many different directions a writer can go in from there. I don't like to stifle creativity. The plot can take so many different directions with characters in that age group. It's such a freeing concept for a writer because there are no limits to what you can do. You can make it erotic or not. You can set it in college or not. You can deal with more serious issues or not. There's a whole range of emotions you can tap into that aren't really found in other categories or genres. Discovering your individuality. Learning what you want out of life. Falling for someone who isn't your first romance. That's why I love it.

6. I admire how you believe that life isn't a bed of roses and reality can be harsh. When writing the Heartbeat series, did you ever feel that readers (who love happy endings) would have problems with the way Heartbeat ended?

Faith: First off, I never thought anyone would even read HEARTBEAT. I thought it would be pretty much ignored. I was a debut author with a book no one had ever even heard of. So to get the reaction that it did was pretty overwhelming. I wasn't prepared for how passionate readers were over the ending. But I guess it means I did my job if I got them to feel something, even if they wanted to kill me :-)

7. As you've shown in Unexpected, 9/11 drastically affected the whole of US and the world as well. I've read that the book is very close to your heart. Can you tell us about the medley of emotions that you experienced while writing the story?

Faith: It was a catharsis really. I've been harboring the emotions of that day for a long time. I don't think they'll ever completely go away. I'll probably be carrying them around with me for the rest of my life but it was comforting to receive the reader feedback from people who went through something similar. That's all I ever wanted was to connect with others so we could all feel - 'Hey, at least we're not alone.' And for me, that's the power of writing at its core.

8. You are one of the most friendliest authors that I know and you take a lot of joy in connecting with readers. Do the readers, and their likes, dislikes, opinions, views, etc., in any way, help you decide what goes into your stories? 

Faith: Absolutely! I always listen to what the readers have to say. Like I said, I never thought I'd have readers so just the fact that people took the time to read my work is extremely humbling. I want to give as much back to them as I can for investing their time in me. But conversely, I have to follow my heart and where it takes me when it comes to letting my creative spirit flow through my writing. If I started to follow trends or write what other people expect, then I wouldn't be remaining true to myself and I'd feel like a fraud.

9. What's next in store for you after the Heartbeat series is completed?

Faith: Well, there's going to be another release TAKE ME NOW (August 2013 or sooner) before the release of the third HEARTBEAT book, I AM YOURS (October 2013).

I just hope to keep writing and publish at least one novel every two months or so. The ebook phenomenon is such a fast-moving animal and readers are inundated with new titles on what appears to be a daily basis. So to remain current and keep your name out there, you have to publish a lot and quite frequently. At least in my case, because I'm not a 'known' author.

10. Who are some of your favourite authors and what are some of your favourite books?

Faith: Two of my favorites that I've read this year are IF YOU STAY by Courtney Cole and EASY by Tammara Webber. They just hit it out of the park, in my opinion. They're soft, yet they're gritty. They're real,  yet they're swoon-worthy. I always enjoy the combination of hard and soft.

We also have a round of fun questions lined up for you, Faith!

This includes "Favourites" and "If you could..." All you have to do is give us a one-worded or a one-lined  answer to the questions below. It will be seriously cool if you give us a "why?" for the "If you could..." questions! 

These are going to be difficult and easy for the same reason- you get to pick only one!

So have  a blast and here we go!

1. Favourite colour? Blue because it's calming.

2. Favourite food?  Pasta because I like it wherever I go, you can't mess it up.

3. Favourite drink? Diet Coke because it keeps my brain functioning.

4. Favourite word? Hope because if you don't have that, you have nothing.

5. Favourite place? Anywhere in nature (the beach, the woods, etc.) because it's where I feel most at home.

6. Favourite singer/ band? Pink because she's the real deal.

7. If you could take only one author out for dinner, who would you take?

 Sorry for this one, I'd have to take two. KellyHashway and Meradeth Houston because we've never met in person but they support me on a daily basis and that says a lot.

8. If you could keep only one book with you, which book would you keep?

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE because of the beauty of the language and it would give me a lot of food for thought.

9. If you could take only one book boyfriend on a secluded island with you, who would you take?

ADAM from my HEARTBEAT series because we would be able to help each other work out our problems. Yeah, really sexy. I know :-)

10. If you could listen to only one song for the rest of your life, which song would you choose?

I WILL WAIT by Mumford and Sons because of the utter humility of the lyrics, they inspire me.

Thank you so much for spending time with us today, Faith! It was a pleasure to have you over. And we hope you had a great time. Feel free to stop by anytime you feel like it.

We wish you lots of happiness and success in the future. Happy reading and happy writing!

GIVEAWAY:

Faith has kindly and generously offered to give away ecopies (Kindle) of Unexpected, Heartbeat and Come What May.

One winner will receive Unexpected and another will receive the first two books of the Heartbeat series. 
When winners are emailed, I will ask for your preference and this will be on a first reply basis. 
The giveaway is INT. Enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form  below. May the odds be ever in your favour! 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for stopping by and happy reading!