BLOG TOUR
Book Title: All the Way Out
Author: Ingrid Sterling
Publisher: Literary Wanderlust
Release Date: April 1, 2021
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance, New Adult
Trope/s: One-night stand turned into true love; Forced proximity; Athlete with musician; closeted sports star
Themes: Self-acceptance, coming out publicly
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 79 000/263 pages
It is a standalone book.
Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited
Literary Wanderlust | Bookshop.org
Blurb
Ever since Zach was 14 years old, he knew two things about himself:
1) He wanted to play football at the highest levels of college and pro ball.
2) He was gay.
Even at that young age Zach knew that those two truths - all-star athlete and homosexual male - could not exist concurrently. So, he’d started dating Rebecca, his devoutly Catholic girlfriend who wants to wait to have sex until she’s married, during his junior year of high school and never looked back.
But on the last night of a team trip to Rome, on the cusp of his senior season at Northwestern University, a Heisman, a number 1 draft pick and a National Championship, Zach seeks out one last anonymous encounter. He opens Grindr and slips out into the Italian summer night to meet Liam - Liam who has a face that looks like it was carved from Carrara marble by one of the ancient greats and whose brazen facade becomes sheepish when he’s asked about his past in Paris. The night is intense, better than Zach could have imagined. But like all one-night stands, it comes to an end by morning’s light.
But what happens to Zach’s carefully manicured plans for a professional football career and a life in the closet when Liam shows up, not only on the Northwestern campus the first day of the fall semester, but in Zach’s upper-level Plato seminar, too?
Excerpt
“What are you doing in my upper level classics seminar?” Liam snapped.
"Um, I’m fulfilling my degree requirements,” Zach snapped back. “What are you doing in my upper level classics seminar? You live in Rome.”
“No, I was regrouping in Rome. I’d been going to school in Paris before that but—Wait, degree requirements? You’re a Classics major? Mr. Hotshot-starting-quarterback is a Classics major?” Liam’s voice came out shriller than he would have liked.
Zach set his hips back against the table, crossing his arms with a sudden smugness. “A Classics major focusing in Pax Romana philosophers with a 3.7 GPA, you mean? Yeah. I am. How do you think I recognized that ridiculous Metamorphoses quote on your Grindr profile?”
“I figured you Googled it like everyone else usually did.”
Zach’s face softened at Liam’s unintentional reveal. “Why didn’t you say anything about coming to school in the States that night?” Zach asked.
Liam leveled him with a look. “I don’t remember us doing an awful lot of talking.”
“We talked enough. You could have mentioned it.”
“I’d only decided to come here a week or so before we met,” Liam explained. “I barely knew anything about Northwestern aside from the fact that it has a pretty well-respected music program. Certainly not enough to know it has some big deal football team. And besides, what were the chances?”
“I’m not a betting man, but I definitely wouldn’t have taken these odds.” Doe-eyed panic lingered on Zach’s face even as he shifted to a more conversational tone. “So, the music school, huh? That’s cool. I remember you had music on your desk. What do you play?”
“Piano mostly, but I’m a composition major. I added a Classics minor ‘cause I can, here. My other school didn’t offer liberal arts courses.” Zach nodded, and Liam realized it was probably his turn to attempt conversation. “A jock with a brain, then. Color me impressed.”
Zach gave a bored lift of his shoulder. “It makes for a great human-interest story. I think every bad pun about Greek gods or Roman gladiators has been made about me at least once. The ESPN announcers think they are so fucking clever.”
Liam stared at him. “You keep saying these things thinking I know what they mean.”
“ESPN.” Zach gave him a patient grin. “It’s a cable sports network that shows games. You know, on the TV.”
“Yeah, alright.” Liam’s pursed lips morphed into an unbidden smile.
It was impossible not to note how the tension in the room had slipped away. The looks that passed between them carried a certain playfulness once they were forced to accept the inconceivable fact that they were both here in the same city, at the same school, and even in the same class. And into that ease slipped the feelings of attraction and memories of the intimacy they’d found on Liam’s mattress by the end of their night together. Liam had sought hidden parts of Zach’s body with his fingers. That small, insinuating touch, burned into his memory, had ignited such terrified want in Zach’s bright blue eyes that Liam had known that he would have been allowed to feel Zach from the inside if only they’d had more time. One more night. One more hour, even. And now here Zach was, standing before him. It was as baffling as it was thrilling. Liam certainly wouldn’t mind if they wound up hooking up again.
“Look,” Zach started, “This is crazy that you’re here, and I hope you love your time at Northwestern as much as I have, but it’s probably for the best if we don’t interact.”
Liam was rendered mute.
“I mean, I know we’re in class together,” Zach continued. “We’ll have to interact, discussion grades and everything, but what I mean is, we shouldn’t be friendly.”
“Why not?” Liam asked after another stunned beat.
“It’s nothing personal. In fact, I think you’re—” Zach stopped. He pressed his eyes closed and shook his head sadly. He took another steadying breath before speaking again. “It would make things really difficult for me. Like I told you in Rome, no one knows about me. About me and…” He spoke the next word at a careful volume. “Men. In fact, you’re the only person on this entire campus who does.”
Zach’s sexuality was a secret that should have bound them. But instead, Zach was using it to put a wedge between them, between even the possibility of them. Liam didn’t think the conversation could get any more ridiculous.
About the Author
I named myself "Ingrid" after a character in a story I started writing and will never finish.
I named myself "Sterling" after my dad's boyhood dreams.
I'm a Yankee who has lived south of the Mason Dixon for a decade and I use 'Y'all' without irony. I dance in my kitchen. I vote. I love all the cats in the world and a good IPA. I will scream over college sports.
I write about love, with love, because #loveislove.
With two degrees in music performance, I strive to make my words sing. The rhythm and pacing of the prose are as important to me as my complicated, imperfect characters and my guaranteed happily-ever-afters.
Author Links
Blog/Website | Twitter | Instagram | Newsletter Sign-up
Giveaway
Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for chance to win
one of three ebook copies of All the Way Out
Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here
Author Interview
Tell us a little about
yourself.
I'm a Yankee who has lived south of the Mason Dixon for a decade
and I use 'Y'all' without irony. I dance in my kitchen. I vote. I love all the
cats in the world and a good IPA. I will scream over college sports.
What would people be most
surprised to know about you?
Ingrid is most definitely a pseudonym!
Do you have a favorite quote
(either from your own books or one’s you’ve read)?
I know it’s super cheesy, but one of my favorite quotes is from
Captain Correli’s Mandolin.
Love is a temporary madness.
It erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.
And when it subsides, you have to make a decision.
You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together
that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.
Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness,
It is not excitement,
It is not the promulgation of eternal passion.
That is just being “in love” which any fool can do.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned
away,
And this is both an art and a fortunate accident.
Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other
underground,
And when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches,
They find that they are one tree and not two.
I’m also a super Shakespeare nerd so:
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite
How long have you been writing
and what made you fall in love with writing?
I’ve always written stories. Even as a little kid I would write
little scenes - most often based off whatever my favorite movie was at the
time! As I got older, writing really became an escape for me. It gave me the
chance to process emotions and relive that thrill of falling in love again and
again.
Did you always want to be a
writer?
Definitely not! I still can’t quite believe that I am, to be
honest. :)
What are your ambitions for
your writing career?
Realistically? Write a few novels that people love. In my wildest
dreams? Write a novel that gets turns into a movie so I get to go to the
Oscars. :)
What’s your favorite part of
writing?
I love living in the heads of characters, learning them so I know
how they would react or respond to a situation. I really feel like I’m getting
to know a character. I also love feeling those highs and lows of emotion along
with them, like a friend.
Tell us about your writing
style.
With my background in music, I really try to make my words sing.
How the words sound is as important to me as what they are saying.
What does your writing process
look like?
I am very much a planner. I usually have a huge outline, with
scenes mapped out with the dialogue way before I ever write them. I also
absolutely write in order - beginning to end!
When/where is your favorite
time/place to write?
I’m a night time writer. I love having a mellow album on in the
background but otherwise quiet in my house.
Why did you choose to write
GLBTQ romance/fiction?
For me, it’s such an exciting genre. We need stories to be told of
all sorts in the LGBTQ genre - funny, tender, happy stories.
Do you write any other genre?
I have written het romance and also fanfiction. :)
Describe a scene in your
writing that has made you laugh or cry?
The scene at the end of All the Way Out where Zach speaks to the
press always makes me so emotional. I’m so proud of Zach in that moment and how
far he’s come!
Give the readers a brief
summary of your latest book or WIP. What genre does it fall in?
ATWO is a contemporary, NA, LGBTQ romance.
Even at that young age Zach knew that those two truths - all-star
athlete and homosexual male - could not exist concurrently. But on the last
night of a team trip to Rome, on the cusp of his senior season at Northwestern
University, a Heisman, a number 1 draft pick and a National Championship, Zach
seeks out one last anonymous encounter. He opens Grindr and slips out into the
Italian summer night to meet Liam - Liam who has a face that looks like it was
carved from Carrara marble by one of the ancient greats and whose brazen facade
becomes sheepish when he’s asked about his past in Paris. The night is intense,
better than Zach could have imagined. But like all one-night stands, it comes
to an end by morning’s light. But what happens to Zach’s carefully manicured
plans for a professional football career and a life in the closet when Liam
shows up, not only on the Northwestern campus the first day of the fall
semester, but in Zach’s upper-level Plato seminar, too?
Give us a little insight into
your main characters. Who are they?
Zach Sugarman is a quarterback getting ready for his senior season
at Northwestern University, a Heisman, a number 1 draft pick and a National
Championship. He’s a hard working athlete but also an excellent honors student.
He’s been dating his high school girl friend since he was 17 to keep up the
ruse that he’s straight. He feels guilty every time he cheats, which is why his
encounters with men have also come short of ever going “all the way”. That is
until he meets Liam.
Liam is a sexually experienced and worldly pianist who is spending
the summer in Rome, recovering from some awful experience at his school in
Paris the previous year. He’s not looking for romantic attachments or dealing
with a guy who got himself firmly attached to the back of the closet. He, along
with his brother Eben, find themselves in Chicago, and Liam is forced to
navigate an American college career he never thought he’d have to, all the
while his older brother Eben is there watching and judging over his shoulder.
When his paths cross with Zach again though, all his convictions are put to the
test.
Will we be seeing these
characters again? Is this book part of a series?
It’s possible! My original draft, which had to be cut down for
length, included an epilogue that took the boys several years into the future.
I’d love to explore that more
Which actor would you like to see playing the lead character from
your most recent book?
Ronen Rubenstein from 911: Lone Star is 100% Zach! Liam is
trickier...
What genre/s do you enjoy
reading in your free time?
I do love a good romance novel. I also love historical
fiction.
What was the last book you
read? What did you like about it?
I have a really hard reading when I’m writing and since I’ve been
busy working on Book #2 for the past few months, I haven’t been keeping up! So
that last book I read (that wasn’t for work!) was Red, White and Royal Blue by
Casey McQuinton. What’s not to love??
Have you held any interesting
jobs while you worked on your books?
I have an awesome full-time job that I love!
How do you relax?
I love rewatching favorite shows like Community, Schitt’s Creek or
The Office. I also am a total introverted extrovert so I love spending time
with friends but also love just being alone!
What hobbies do you have
outside of writing?
Jigsaw Puzzles! So nerdy, but so relaxing and satisfying when it’s
done!
Comments
Post a Comment