Behind the Scenes with Heidi Joy Tretheway of Say it Louder + #Giveaway

Behind the scenes: 
Street art inspirations for Say it Louder


I’m thrilled to be back with Reading Between the Wines Book Club (sign me up for a nice rosé please) to talk about Say it Louder, the fourth book in my Tattoo Thief series. Each book is a love story about a different member of the band, so you don’t have to start at the beginning to enjoy this one—but the first in the series is free.

I love doing research for my novels to inspire my characters, and Willa, the heroine in Say it Louder, is one of my favorites. She’s a tattoo artist by day and street artist by night, so I traveled from my home in rural southwest Washington state to New York City to capture street art where it’s happening, especially on the Lower East Side where Willa lives and works at the tattoo shop Righteous Ink.

If “street art” makes you think big, loopy graffiti, stop right there. When Willa was living on the streets as a teen, she followed that crowd, but now she likes to make street art that inspires, sends a message, or makes you think.

Her technique of using layered stencils was inspired by one of my favorite street artists, Banksy, who writes in his book Wall and Peace that stencils helped him paint images faster—which helped him create more complex street art avoid getting caught. Willa also tells our hero Dave that climbing up high on buildings and bridges protects her from being spotted by police, and that’s another detail I took from Banksy’s book.

But back to the art I found in New York: It was wild and wonderful, from haunting and political to vibrant and kooky. I saw installations painted on cardboard, cut out, and pasted to walls; tons of stickers (swiping large adhesive sheets from the US Postal Service was a favorite); and both stencil and freehand work.

I wanted to share some of this great art with you in my post, and I hope you’ll take a chance on Willa’s story as her street art propels her into a gallery show. She’ll have to contend with some very pushy buyers—and a thief—and Dave helps her navigate it all while leaning on her as much as she leans on him. Their love story is one of mismatched people whose pieces fit together to transform both of their lives.

Say it Louder 

(Tattoo Thief #4)

by Heidi Joy Tretheway 

Publication Date: September 29, 2016

ASIN: B01IJ47ORU

Dave faces an ultimatum—dump his toxic girlfriend Kristina or break up his band Tattoo Thief. But Kristina won’t go quietly. She has enough dirt to ruin each member of the band, and enough on Dave to send him to jail.

This stinking, bloody threat has haunted him for years.

As Dave hangs in limbo, a new star emerges: Willa, dubbed “The Parking Lot Picasso” by the modern art world. When a magazine feature catapults her to sudden fame, Dave helps her cope with the spotlight when all she’s ever known is the shadows.

Life as a runaway jaded Willa, and it leaves her deeply in doubt of her fifteen minutes of fame. Nothing good lasts forever. Especially not love.
It seems like everyone wants a piece of Willa now. When their music and art worlds collide, Dave's the one person who isn’t trying to take something from Willa, and who might have something to give.

As Dave’s secret is laid bare, a mystery unravels, pointing to his guilt and its dangerous intersection with Willa’s old life on the streets. Both must risk their success and the intense connection to each other to prevent their pasts from defining their future. 

AMAZON 

Tattoo Thief series...

Heidi Joy Tretheway Bio:

Heidi Joy Tretheway is a sucker for campfires, craft cocktails, and steamy romance in books and real life. She sings along with musicals (badly), craves French carbs, and buys plane tickets the way some women buy shoes.

Her first career as a journalist took Heidi behind the scenes with politicians, rock stars, and chefs, all of whom inspire her stories. Heidi Joy is currently working on her tenth book from her home in southwestern Washington. heidijoytretheway.com

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