Gabriel’s Album
Sian Ceinwen
(Cruise Control Heroes, #1)
Publication date: March 14th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
The rock star always gets the girl…
I’m living my dream. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a rock star. And now here I am, about to start my first big tour, when she comes along.
Ariana.
From the second we meet, she’s all I can think about.Asking her to come on tour with me is easy. But she’s shy, insecure, and the paparazzi scare her. We live in two completely different worlds.
I love her and I know that she’s worth fighting for. The problem is, I’m not sure if love is enough.
Gabriel’s Album is the first book in the Cruise Control Heroes series. It’s the companion novel to The Album. Fall in love with Gabriel and Ariana all over again as Cruise Control embarks on their first world tour.
Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?
Gabriel’s Album is the companion book to The Album, which is the first in a four-book series about the band members of Cruise Control. It tells the story of Gabriel and Ariana’s relationship through an album that Gabriel wrote where each song relates to an event in their relationship.
Do you have a favorite character?
Sebastian Fox. Hands down. He’s the lead guitarist and his character arc is absolutely my favorite. He is very much a misogynistic asshole in the beginning. Seeing him meet his match in Lita and him having to face the consequences of his behavior and reputation in The Baby was very satisfying.
Have you ever had a minor character evolve into a major one? Did that change the direction of the novel at all?
The only one I can think of is Ally in The Wedding. She was just going to be helping Heather with her fashion show, but she ended up dating Hayden (the drummer) and becoming Heather’s close friend. It didn’t really change the direction of the novel (all four books have a specific story to tell both alone and within the series), but she was around for some pretty pivotal scenes in the end.
What factors influenced your decision to self-publish your book(s)?
I’ll be honest, I was too scared to try traditional publishing. Fear of rejection. I’m basically a big wuss. I do love the control I have as a self-published author, though. As an example, each book in my series is being released on the band member’s birthday. That meant The Wedding came out the literal day the book started, which was really fun.
Being able to do things like that is almost certainly something I wouldn’t get to do as a traditionally published author. Not having to answer to anyone except my readers is definitely a bonus. Instead of having someone between us dictating what they think the readers want, I can engage directly with them and find out what they really do want.
If you used a graphic designer/publisher’s designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?
I absolutely adore my cover designer. For the Cruise Control series, I had a specific vision that I wanted. He took my ideas and made them a thousand times better. When it came time to do the Cruise Control Heroes series, I let him have free creative control. He’s amazing and his covers are all stunning.
What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?
Music, definitely! I make a playlist for each book and listen to only that while I’m writing. Sometimes, I’ll turn off the repeat and let Spotify place music based on my playlist, then add songs that I feel fit the book to the playlist.
Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?
I didn’t think I was a plotter until I met true pantsers! I do a basic outline in Excel, then just write and everything changes. I always know specific events that are going to happen in each book, but sometimes someone slaps a reporter and you get taken by surprise. 😉
Most recently, the characters were very much not meant to be talking about their feelings at all…next minute they’re having a deep and meaningful about why exactly he cares too much about her. It’s basically going to change how they interact with one another entirely from what I thought their relationship was going to be.
Did you hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?
Yes. I have a friend who is basically a critique partner and hangs out in Google Docs with me while I write. She has a history in editing. From then, my book goes to a freelance editor that I work with. After that, it goes to my proofreader (who’s also my cover designer), and that is probably my favorite part of the publishing process. His feedback is amazing and he’s super funny and sarcastic, so I live for his comments when I get the manuscript back!
Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book?
My word, yes! Because I am insane, I decided to publish each book on the band member’s birthday…which made for basically a stupid publishing schedule. I also have to finish each book 12 weeks out from the publishing date to allow time for editing and proofreading, so I’m always well into the headspace of the next book before the current book comes out.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently writing The Stalker, which is the final book in the Cruise Control series, then I’ll be writing Sebastian’s Baby, which is the third book in the Cruise Control Heroes series. I guess, technically, my next release is Harrison’s Wedding, but we don’t talk about that book.
Author Bio:
Hi, I’m Sian Ceinwen and I live in Western Australia with my husband and two kids. I started writing this in the third person but it was just odd. A little bit about me, I’ve enjoyed writing all my life, getting the worlds and characters in my head down for other people to enjoy is my passion.
Writing a book wasn’t something I ever thought I could really do but inspired by a song, I aimed to do it. With a lot of coaxing from my friends for me to finish it so they could find out the ending.
I released Gabriel and Ariana’s story, The Album, on March 14th, 2020. Harrison and Heather’s story, The Wedding, came out on June 6th, 2020. Sebastian and Lita’s book, The Baby, was released on November 18th, 2020.
The first book in the companion series, Gabriel’s Album, is available for pre-order and will be released on March 14th, 2021. It’s Gabriel and Ariana’s story retold from Gabriel’s point of view.
I hope that you will fall in love with the Cruise Control world the same way that I have.
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