Hi y’all! I’m super excited to share our interview with Avon Gale, author of the Scoring Chances series, with you!

Her latest book – The Love Song of Sawyer Bell (re-)released on June 17th with Carina Press and we had the pleasure to ask her a couple of questions about that and upcoming books from her. Scroll down to see her answers!

Don’t miss this heartwarming and funny reunion romance from Avon Gale

Indie rocker Victoria “Vix” Vincent knows a good thing when she hears it. The moment Sawyer Bell picks up her fiddle, magic happens. Beautiful and wildly talented, Sawyer is the perfect match for Vix’s band—and, just maybe, for Vix. The dynamic in any group is a delicate thing, but with Sawyer and Vix thrown together on tour, it’s not long before the line between bandmates and lovers gets a bit blurry.

The indie rock life is not what Sawyer ever saw for herself. She worked hard to get where she is—in her second year of Julliard, with a bright future in classical music. But instead of spending her summer working and rehearsing, she’s on tour with her secret high school crush. And even though it was only supposed to be temporary, Sawyer feels like she’s finally found a place she belongs.

This summer with Vix has been like a dream. But every tour must come to an end, and when Julliard comes calling, Sawyer will need to make a choice: continue on the path she’s chosen, or take a leap of faith and follow her heart. 

Goodreads | Carina Press | Amazon | B&N
Release Date: June 17th

This book has been previously published under the same title

Hi Avon, welcome to Queer Books Unbound! I’m super excited to have you here with us. Ready? Let’s start!

What do you especially love about this book?

As a bisexual person, it was really important to me to write a book that featured a bisexual character who was open about her sexuality. I loved writing Vix’s unapologetic sex positivity, too! And honestly, the setting is my favorite kind of music and I go to a lot of concerts in very similar venues. I also absolutely love driving to concerts – it’s one of the most relaxing things for me, and so getting to add the road trip element in the story was also a favorite.

And I really love the scenes where Vix and Sawyer get to have fun in bed. I loved being able to write a dynamic between two women who wanted to explore their sexual dynamic and had a hell of a good time while doing so. Given how much of the time Sawyer and Vix spend in the van with other people, these scenes were also about how they connected as friends and lovers, and I wanted to develop a dynamic where they just got each other and made each other laugh. I wanted it to be hot and a little dirty, too.

The Love Song of Sawyer Bell is your first published FF romance, can you tell us about what inspired to write you this story? 

Sure! I was at a Lydia Loveless concert (on whom Vix is loosely based) in the Duck Room in St. Louis, and was waiting for the show to start when I started thinking about how I wanted to write something about a badass Americana singer who fronted a band. This is not an easy industry for women, and if you to listen to Lydia Loveless’s songs she talks a lot about that. I wanted to feature a woman as both the MC of the story and the leader of the band. One of my favorite musicians is also Amanda Shires, who plays the fiddle – and I started thinking how fun it would be if a classically trained violinist took a summer gig as a fiddle player for an Americana band.

The concert was about two hours from my house and on a weeknight, so as my husband and I drove home I brainstormed the story. I came up with Vix’s name and character right away, but tried about eight thousand different ideas for Sawyer’s last name. When we pulled into an all-night truck stop for Mr. Gale to get some coffee, a huge semi with “BELL” pulled in next to us….and there it was!

There is a difference between how FF and MM romance is received. You’ve written both FF and MM romance, what has been your experience when releasing a FF romance compared to a MM romance? What do you hope to see more of in FF romance?

I’d say the one thing I noticed the most is that F/F books seem to have a lot more scrutiny about the main characters, and an expectation of perfection, that I don’t often see carried over to male MCs. It’s probably not a surprise, given how women are so scrutinized in society, but I feel like female MCs aren’t as often allowed to be imperfect  –  even at the beginning. Romance is a character-driven genre where the point is not only to find an HEA with a partner(s), but with yourself, too.  And that means allowing characters to grow and change throughout the narrative. Everything from rethinking previously held beliefs (like Sawyer’s when it comes to bisexuality) to addictive behaviors (like Vix’s smoking habit). People are complex and have nuances, and deserved to be loved and respected and understood. People are messy, and that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to grow and change and find happiness.

As for what I’d love to see more of, I’d adore some good rivals-to-lovers F/F, since it’s one of my favorite tropes. And I’m dying for some more polyamorous F/F, too!

Any other FF romances you have planned that you can tell us about?

I have a series based on professional wrestling, where one is an F/F novel about a former Olympian who joins a Pro-wrestling organization, and the reigning diva heel (wrestling term for a “villain” of a storyline or plot) has to teach her how to have a scripted rivalry – so it’s like, fake!rivals-to-lovers, haha! And I also have an F/F about a journalist who teams up with a pole fitness instructor to take down a make-up pyramid scheme – that one’s a romantic comedy, and it’s been fun to work on. I have a lot of ideas, but those are two I’m especially excited about!

Sawyer Bell is the first book in the Tour Dates series, can you tell us a bit about what we can expect in the sequel The Ballad of Whiskey Jax?

If I am remembering correctly (and that’s a big if, haha) you can expect that one in March of 2020. It’s about Jax, frontman of Racer (who you meet in The Love Song of Sawyer Bell), and Noah Greer, the popular indie musician who’s selling out shows and making a name for himself as a bit of a brat. Racer gets a tour gig with Ink River, Noah’s band, and the two become close over the course of the tour – which, God love you, Jax. Noah is definitely one of those imperfect, messy types!

Thank you!

Thank you so much for having me!

Avon Gale lives in a liberal Midwestern college town, where she spends her days getting heavily invested in everything from craft projects to video games. She likes road trips by car, rock concerts, thunderstorms, IPAs, Kentucky bourbon and tattoos. As a queer author, Avon is committed to providing happy endings for all and loves to tell stories that focus on found families, strong and open communication, and friendship. She loves writing about quirky people who might not be perfect, but always find a place where they belong.

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Genre: Contemporary Orientation: Bisexual Orientation: Lesbian Pairing: F/F Publisher: Carina Press Tag: Guest Post Tag: Interview Tag: Part of a series Tag: Rockstar/Musician Avon Gale The Love Song of Sawyer Bell Tour Dates series