Author Interview and gift card giveaway: Tracie Ingersoll Loy

Our interview today is with Tracie Ingersoll Loy, author of SLIP INTO the NIGHT. Read to the end of the interview to find out how you can get in on a giveaway of a $10.00 gift card for Starbucks Card or Musa Pubshing!

Jennifer: Where can we find out more about you and buy your book?


Tracie: I do have a website, http://www.tracieloy.com/, a twitter account @TracieLoy, and Musa Publishing also features each writer and a biography, plus Facebook - Tracie Ingersoll Loy. SLIP INTO the NIGHT is available at http://www.musapublishing.com/, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, I-Tunes and all the major e-book retailers.


Jennifer: Tell us about your book.


Tracie: SLIP INTO the NIGHT is a light mystery/romance taking place in Washington State San Juan Islands. After the murder of her husband, Jeannie Rogers retreats to Hartz Island to follow her dream and open up a cafe. Three years later Jeannie is at a crossroads of what to do. Her cafe is failing, and her CPA brother wants her to sell it. Her daughter feels she should start dating. Neither option sounds good to her.

Kip Hendricks has one mission in life and that is to stop terrorism. Kip Hendricks and his crew arrive on Hartz Island to monitor ships arriving from Indonesia suspected of smuggling in terrorists. All the ships must pass Hartz Island before they head to their ports. Unbeknownst to Jeannie and Kip their lives are about to change. As the full moon casts its beams, the mysteries of the islands reveal themselves as do some of the residents' behavior. Life isn't so innocent on Hartz Island.


Jennifer: Where did you get your ideas for your book?


Tracie: I grew up in the Pacific NW and have relatives up in the San Juan Islands and we would boat around. Over the years you hear about smuggling, poaching and oddities. I have many friends who are single via divorce or death and are struggling emotionally and financially. I just thought a good love story and mystery taking place on one of the islands would be good. I like authors who continue their characters and bring in a setting that continues into sequels. Oddly, feet do keep washing up on the shores of Washington State and Vancouver Island.


Jennifer: What do you find most rewarding in writing a book?


Tracie: Besides enjoying the creative process, I like to have an emotional hurdle my characters must conquer, and I always hope people will feel my message to them about succeeding and overcoming their issues.


Jennifer: Tell us about your previous work.


Tracie: I have always been in a high tech industry of marketing and sales and one of them was for radiation monitoring instrumentation company. Actually, I was the first woman hired in the USA to do this. It was an all men's club, but I answered an ad wanting a Sales Engineer at Hanford, WA and I thought, why not me. I traveled all over Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. This was before Dragon Slayers, and tiny little recording devices, laptops etc. I constantly thought of stories and looked at situations for future writing when I had time. The technical knowledge I gained in this position helped me in research and writing, SLIP INTO the NIGHT.


Jennifer: What other projects do you have coming up?


Tracie: I am currently working on the sequel, bringing in additional characters to Hartz Island that also have emotional issues to tackle. Feet keep washing up on the shores, and I feel this mystery needs to be solved.


Jennifer: If SLIP INTO the NIGHT were a movie, who would act in it?

Tracie: I've been thinking about this a lot. Since Kip is in his late 40's, I am thinking George Clooney. So the actress opposite of him needs to be in her middle 40's, auburn hair, somewhat vulnerable and Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, comes to mind.


Jennifer: What was the hardest part: writing the book, getting it published or marketing it? Why?


Tracie: If you'd asked me this question back in the summer I would have said getting it published. SItN has a couple of genres to it, and agents kept saying, "is it a romance or is it a mystery?" My answer was both. With the E-Readers, my style of writing is perfect because there isn't that 1/4th of inch shelf space no longer available at the box book stores. Now that I am published, I will say marketing. You have to be innovative to reach your audience and the old way of selling doesn't exist.


Jennifer: Tell us a little about your non-writing life.


Tracie: My husband I live in northern Illinois on the Fox River that feeds into the Chain-of-Lakes, so I do get my boating fix in the summer. Our daughter has "left the building" and is finding her way in life. I miss the mountains of PNW but I have found my nature niche in our area called the Chain-of-Lakes State Park, and that is where I take my border collie, Ozzy and my cock-a-poo Tibby running/walking/hiking every day - even in the cold weather. The mornings out at the park clear my mind and I think of the day. It is a beautiful spot!


Thanks for reading our interview with Tracie Ingersoll Loy! To get in on the drawing for a $10 Starbucks or Musa Publishing gift card, leave a comment on this entry by midnight PT on February 28. The winner will be announced on February 29!