The Secret Lives of Rock Stars Author Interview

The Secret Lives of Rockstars: Book Two

by Suzanne Lazear

Summary:

Saving the world, one tour stop at a time.
Join Bitsy in the second installment of her attempts to stop a magical war threatening Arizona and all those who call it home. With the help of a human, a sexy dragon, and the members of her band, Bitsy must stop an angry mob of chaos demons before the band leaves for their next tour stop.

It’s nice to be needed, but Bitsy has no idea how to defeat the demons and she just might get herself killed trying. But then, at least one problem would be solved…

Fitting in doesn’t matter if you’re dead.

Extract from the book

Author Interview

1. What inspired you to write THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS?

This was not a story I’d ever set off to write. Certainly, I didn’t expect to finish it. In some ways it wrote itself. I “accidently” wrote it one summer when I was in the middle of brutal edits while working full time with a two-hour commute each way. I hadn’t meant to write an entire manuscript. I just needed a side project to keep me from burning out.

When I finished it, I also didn’t know if it was any good, though I adored the world and characters I created. These rockstars were too fun to write. They had too much fame, money, and magic, and not enough sense—and it took place in my hometown in the middle of summer. It was fantastic. Also, since this book was elf-punk, not steampunk, it presented a fun challenge in creating an entirely new type of world and writing in a new genre.

Since I had so much fun writing it, I was convinced no one else would find it interesting. It didn’t even have a title. I called it THE BOOK THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED for the longest time since I couldn’t think of a one.

Then one day, THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS found a home with Shine and was divided into two parts. Part one came out last year (https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lives-Rockstars-Book-One-ebook/dp/B01KN7POAU) and now, with part two releasing, (https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lives-Rockstars-Suzanne-Lazear-ebook/dp/B0777N31FR) you get to read all of it. Really, this is the little book that could and I’m really excited that it’s out in the world.

2. Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS series?

It’s been so much fun writing part one and part two of THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS, which mainly takes place in Tempe, AZ, my hometown. The Freakshow, Bitsy’s cirque-noir punk band, is on tour and it would be interesting to see the places they go, people they meet, and trouble they find as they travel around the world. If there is a next book in the series, it would take place in Japan and center around Bitsy and her bestie Jules, as we learn more about Jules’ past, start unraveling the mystery of Bitsy, and meet a Kitsune.

3. Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS?

The main character, Bitsy Butler, is the ringmaster of the cirque-noir punk band THE FREAKSHOW, which is on their first big solo tour. She has magic that she doesn’t know how to use—and is a little afraid of it. When Jake-the-angel asks her to help him with his demon problem she literally doesn’t know how to do what he needs. However, she’s willing to try, because innocent lives are at stake.

Jules is the front woman for their band. She’s originally from Japan, half siren, and is Bitsy’s best friend. The other members of the band are Aiden, Matt, and Rocky, though Rocky is absent for most of the book because he is injured and Bitsy has to take his place as lead guitarist. Aidan is one of the Sídhe (an elf, because this is elf-punk), the bassist, and the brains of the band. He and Bitsy handled most of the business for the band before they got big—though the band was Bitsy’s idea. Bitsy has known Aidan the longest. Matt is the drummer and in incubus, he’s also really into computers and handles most of the band’s social media.

It was fun to write a rock band where not only where the characters not human, but they’re all fairly young for their respective species—basically college age. This is their first time really out on the road alone, and for Bitsy, especially, this is their chance to prove they can make it on their own as adults in the human world.

We meet some other great characters. My favorites are Eric and Phil. Phil is a human college student who works at The Underground, which Jules’ calls the nerd bar. She’s part of “The Brotherhood” – an ancient, secret society that protects the others, from the humans. Eric is her roommate, who is drakken—a dragon. They two of them help Bitsy in her quest to save Tempe from the chaos demons and unravel who is behind it before The Freakshow leaves town.

Another favorite character of mine is “Uncle Morty.” Now he’s a character I have been writing for a decade and I’m glad I finally found a home for him in this book. Because shouldn’t an elf-punk story have an elven mobster?

4. You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

I have so many favorite authors it’s hard to chose just one!

5. If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?

Before I started writing elf-punk, I wrote Steampunk. I think it would be interesting to travel to the Victorian era to see what it was really like.

6. Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

We have a hamster named Mittens.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us today.

Thanks for having me! I hope you enjoy reading THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS. Please take a moment to enter my giveaway (http://gvwy.io/8qhl67t).

~Suzanne Lazear

About the Author

Suzanne Lazear spins tales of the fantastic. She’s the author of the New Adult Elfpunk The Secret Lives of Rockstars (Leap Books) and the YA dark fairytale steampunk series The Aether Chronicles (Flux). Suzanne lives in Southern California with her daughter and husband where she’s trying to make tiny dragons out of wool. One day she’ll actually create a working cupcake cannon.