Author Q&A ft @sarazalesky | The Wheeler Series Book Tour and $25 Amazon GC / Bookmark #Giveaway

The Wheeler Series by Sara Butler Zalesky is on virtual book tour. The sports romance stops at Readeropolis with an author i...

The Wheeler Series by Sara Butler Zalesky is on virtual book tour.

The sports romance stops at Readeropolis with an author interview.

Be sure to enter for a chance to win the giveaway $25 Amazon GC and handmade crochet bookmark and follow the Silver Dagger book tour (for other dates see the link at the bottom of the post).

What inspired you to write this book?

It was June of 2015 and I was watching the Aviva Women’s Tour in England while working on an indoor cycling profile for my Tour de France classes. The idea to write a story about a character in the Women’s Tour caught fire and exploded in my brain.

What can we expect from you in the future?

I might take a break from writing, but probably not. I have two ideas bubbling in the back of my brain at the moment. One is a Fantasy/Thelma & Louise type story where two Searchers are on a quest for the Eye of Osiris. The other is a romance/suspense about a NJ State Trooper. Maybe.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Wheeler?

Loren Mackenzie is the main character of the Wheeler series. She’s reserved with a dry sense of humor, a good friend, and a teensy bit controlling. She’s a closet romantic with a big heart and sees her teammates as her sisters.

Graham Atherton is her current love interest (and minor antagonist). He’s British a Shakespearean-trained actor. Sexy but not your average romantic lead type. He uses the Bard’s words to make Loren go all ‘fangirl,’ and it works.

Felix Lalonde is Loren’s manipulating first love and main antagonist of the series. He has been obsessed with her – the one that got away but also as a kindred spirit. They have lived through similar childhood abuse and neglect. Unfortunately, his fixation turns violent.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

There were times when I loved writing. The words flowed from my fingers to the keyboard, but then there were times when I didn’t want to write, I had to write. It became a compulsion that took me over.

Who designed your book covers?

My best friend, Bob produced my covers for me, but I came up with the design. There’s a little homage to Athena on them. Can you find it?

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Truthfully, I never would have published Wheeler in 2016 without first committing the money and hired an editor before anyone ever saw it. That is and forever will be my biggest regret.

Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

I learned so much about how to write and how NOT to write. I learned I’m a total pantser. I tried to plot the third novel and it went way left, but in a good way, I hope.

If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

My characters are based on real people but I’m not going to say who. I might get in trouble.

If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be?

It might surprise you, but I’d spend the day with Charlotte, Loren’s best friend. She’s full of snark.

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?

It’s the strangest feeling to have characters you gave mental birth to jump off the path you set for them. There have been times I’ve gone back and read something I don’t recall ever writing. Obviously, I wrote it … or did I?

What did you edit out of this book?

I edited out almost 60k words from Wheeler, some of which I used the second novel, In Darkness, There Is Still Light.

Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process of the book.

Loren is more me than I’d like to admit. While I didn’t have the kind of childhood she had, her reactions to situations are mine.
There are little references, jokes or pop culture sprinkled in each the novels that are about things I like or dislike.
I had to read every word Shakespeare ever wrote and comprehend the meaning of the lines before I could use them. Believe me, I dug deep to get the right ones, but I don’t remember a word of it.

Wheeler

Wheeler Series Book 1

by Sara Butler Zalesky

Genre: Sports Romance

Loren Mackenzie is at the top of her game, leading an elite team of pro cyclists in the Women’s World Tour in Europe. But for her, cycling was a way to escape, using the burn of her muscles to cleanse her mind.

After a change in the management of her team, Loren is brought back together with a man she once loved. His amorous attention resurrects the feelings she once had for him, but also how he tried to force her to sleep with him, and the sting of his hand on her cheek at her refusal.

When mishap puts her in the sights of an A-list actor, the flirtation quickly develops into something more for Loren, but the relationship exposes her to the tabloid media, dredging up the past she wanted to bury. It also reveals a dangerous rival who puts her chances in the World Championship in jeopardy.

Love and obsession collide in the first book of the Wheeler series, can Loren stand at the center of the storm, or will she lose the success she has worked so hard to achieve?

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In Darkness, There Is Still Light

Wheeler Series Book 2

"Atherton Leaves Her! Has the Actor’s Whirlwind Romance with the Women’s Pro Cyclist Run its Course?"

Loren Mackenzie knew the headline in The Sun was misleading, but the Elite Women’s World Champion cyclist still felt the sting. With her team’s season winding down, reuniting with boyfriend, Graham Atherton is tops on her holiday to-do list. But as rumors and innuendo swirl around the couple, secrets they have kept from each other shake their relationship to its foundation.

Her fragile confidence is tested when Loren discovers details of her relationship with Felix Lalonde were provided to the media. Still reeling from the headlines, a bittersweet reunion with someone she thought lost becomes the catalyst for reliving the fractured memories of her childhood. Resentment and betrayal only add fuel to the fire already burning in her heart.

All the while obsession and greed churn into a storm on the horizon, threatening Loren and those closest to her. When the tempest hits, what is uncovered tilts the axis of her world.

In the second novel of the Wheeler series, can Loren believe that even in darkness, there is still light, there is still hope; there is still love.

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One Fire Burns Out Another's Burning

Wheeler Series Book 3

It’s the start of a new year for World Champion cyclist Loren Mackenzie and already, her luck has taken a nosedive. Tensions rise at training camp in Mallorca, Spain, with the arrival of team sponsor, Ryzak Sports. There’s something familiar about Maksim Ryzak’s charm, and while Loren can see through it, she can’t shake the attraction.

Fingers are pointed at Loren when a reporter hints at her involvement in a doping scheme allegedly begun by Felix Lalonde. She denies it, but her fears that no one will believe her drag her down. When pictures of Graham with another woman are published by the tabloids, a match ignites that could burn their relationship to the ground.

The Spring Classics begin with races in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy, where rivals become allies and friends become adversaries. Loren is tested in both mind and body, but she is determined to prove herself worthy of being a World Champion.

But, as one fire is put out, another takes its place. Loren is still haunted by Felix, and it’s his voice in her ear in competition, whispering she’s not good enough. Even with her friends and family rallying behind her, can Loren free herself once and for all?

**Coming Soon!!**

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Sara has never lacked for imagination, but it wasn’t until the Fates decided to give the string of her life a tug, bringing her romantic leanings together with her passion for the sport of cycling and Poof! A story was written down and completed, much to her surprise and chagrin.

She is a (self)published author of women's fiction/sports romance novels, Wheeler and Wheeler: In Darkness, There is Still Light. A third novel to complete the series is in development.

The author resides in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, with her husband and their son. Sara is a paralegal for a law firm in Chester County, Pa, an avid road cyclist, and indoor cycling instructor at a national chain.

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