Away From the Spotlight by Tamara Carlisle - Virtual tour and giveaway

Today we're welcoming author Tamara Carlisle to the blog on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for her contemporary romance, "Away From the Spotlight".

Tamara will be awarding two (yes, TWO) $25 Amazon GCs to randomly drawn commenters at the end of the tour, so comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner over there on the left, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops)! The more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win prize!

The author was brave enough to share some things we might not guess about her, so let's turn the floor over to her!

Five things you might not know or guess about me by reading Away from the Spotlight:

I’m A Compulsive Multi-Tasker

Except when writing my novels, I can’t do only one thing at a time. I have to have multiple things going at once. At the office, I often am writing a presentation, answering questions from a co-worker on the office chat program, participating in a conference call and thinking about the plot of my latest novel, all at the same time. Maybe that’s why I’m always tired. Good thing there’s Sugar Free Red Bull!

I Don’t Do Ambivalence

I tend to love something or loathe it. I am rabid about my alma mater, the University of Southern California, and my favorite sports teams, music, places, foods and books, among other things. Away from the Spotlight refers to one of my attributes in this regard when Shannon Sutherland, as the first-person narrator, mentions that she is “evangelical” about her music – that is me in spades. I love my music and try to turn everyone I know into fans.

I Think Argument Is Sport

I love to engage in banter over just about anything – sports, music, politics, you name it. As long as I’m talking with someone who understands the sporting nature of the argument and doesn’t take it too seriously, it is a lot of fun. I started young. When I was growing up, my father was a master of clever banter. At the dinner table, my mom, sister and I used to try to best him. If you could insult my father well, you would receive a standing ovation. I did not carry over that tradition into my household, but my daughter does have quite the sarcastic, argumentative streak as well – I think there must be a gene.

I Love to Make Sports-Related Bets with Friends

I am a member of two football pools, one for college football and one for pro-football. In addition, I often make side bets with friends and co-workers. I had a long, long winning streak, wherein I made the prizes as embarrassing as possible for my opponents. For example, I made a UCLA alumnus wear a USC baseball cap to work for an entire day and post a picture of him wearing it on Facebook. He was subjected to a lot abuse as a result (USC and UCLA are cross-town rivals), and I loved it. My friends and co-workers were gunning for me when I finally lost a bet. The loss meant that I had to post a picture of myself on Facebook wearing a Notre Dame Leprechaun costume and standing in the Fighting Irish pose. This was painful enough for me as Notre Dame is a hated USC rival and I was subjected to a lot of abuse on Facebook. Then it got worse. The picture went viral at my client company (I am a business consultant) – one of my so-called friends and co-workers e-mailed it to many other co-workers, and created a poster, which was then posted in the hallways, elevator banks, break rooms and bathrooms on three floors of the office building that housed my group. I have yet to live this down.

I Used to Chase Rock Stars

I visited my best friend from college two weeks ago in L.A. We were reminiscing about “the good old days,” and she brought up an old song that KROQ (a Los Angeles alternative rock radio station) used to play called, The Fanatic, by Felony. The lyrics talk about chasing limousines. Yes, we actually did that a few times – and a few band tour buses as well. I think I might write a romance novel about a musician with all the grist for the mill from my rock star chasing days – actually, I’ve started two already.

In the closing weeks of law school, Shannon Sutherland meets handsome and charming Englishman Will MacKenzie. Initially swept off her feet, Shannon finds that Will has a secret that, once discovered and the consequences realized, could destroy their fledgling relationship. Will and Shannon take great pains to have a normal relationship but, ultimately, find it impossible to do so. Will the pressures of their careers and the temptations of others drive Will and Shannon apart? Can Will and Shannon live a happy life away from the spotlight?

“I met someone. His name is Will. He’s English, I think.”

“That would be different for you.”

She wasn’t wrong. I had very casually dated a number of men I had met in the various pubs in Santa Monica. They were from all over Europe, but not one of them had been English for some reason. There were Scottish, Irish and Welsh men among them, but never English. I had commented on occasion on the fact that I never seemed to meet English men at the English pubs I frequented.

“I’m going to see him again tomorrow night.”

“What’s he like?”

“Drop-dead gorgeous, smart, funny and with excellent taste in music. Just my type. Well, better than my type, actually. It’s hard to believe someone that perfect has any interest in me.”

“Please” Rachael said. “You get hit on every time we go out.”

“That’s overstating things quite a bit.”

“You seem oblivious to it half the time.”

I guess I did ignore some of it. When you spend time as part of a female minority in bars full of drunk men, it was hard not to think that some of them would have hit on me for no other reason than that I was female, regardless of how I acted, what I said, or what I looked like. I therefore learned that getting hit on wasn’t necessarily a compliment and, the later it happened in the evening, the less of a compliment it was.

Tamara Carlisle is a former attorney and business consultant. Away from the Spotlight is her first published work of fiction. She currently is working on two additional novels: one is about love in the music industry and the other is a work of paranormal fiction. Tamara currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her British husband and daughter. For further information, go to http://www.tamaracarlisle.com.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Away-from-the-Spotlight-by-Tamara-Carlisle/166846163445733
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6185721.Tamara_Carlisle
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/books/29531300/Away-from-the-Spotlight?amatc=kdp-c
Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/author/carlisletamara
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tamara_Carlisle

Tamara’s Goodreads Author Page also includes a blog detailing trivia relating to Away from the Spotlight.