"All the Way Out" Interview with Author Ingrid Sterling

Ingrid Sterling talks writing her swoon-worthy debut novel!

By Ted RyanPublished 3 years ago • 4 min read

It was an absolute pleasure to interview Ingrid Sterling for the release of her debut novel and what inspired this story:

What is your writing process like?

I am very much a planner. I always have lots of outline documents - not so much about the characters, as I usually feel like I know them pretty well before I even begin - but for the plot.

How do you approach writing your characters and bringing their relationships to life?

First, I really think *I* have to fall in love with them as individuals and as a couple before I can convince anyone else to do the same. I really try to give them distinct voices when they speak, distinct mannerisms etc I really get to know them as I write, almost like a friend.

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

When I was 15 I fell in love with Shakespeare - no better muse to learn about the power of words, in my opinion!

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

I am a very visual writer - so sometimes I struggle to contextualize and do the inner dialogue stuff. I hope I eventually get what I need, but it’s not the first thing that comes to me when I write.

What do you hope readers take from this story?

I hope readers enjoy the hope that Zach and Liam can give. Zach, especially, shows such bravery in a sport where LGBTQ players are still relatively not present. I hope it could spark a conversation about why that is and how the culture can change.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

KEEP GOING! And don’t change from your English major.

What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel?

It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything for fun! I have a really hard time reading novels when I’m writing/editing. It’s too easy to make comparisons! Maybe your readers could suggest some for me! :)

What would your advice be to any aspiring writers?

Pretty much the same I would have told myself: keep going. Every story is worth telling and will have its own unique spin, so just start.

What are you writing next?

I just wrapped on novel #2 currently called Wow and Flutter - it’s an early 2000’s throwback story about second (and third!) changes at love even in the face of betrayal in the cutthroat Hollywood music industry. Lots of nostalgia, New York and LA, celebrity sightings and, of course, a happy ending! I’m about to start my first round of edits before I look for publishing options!

Blurb

Even at that young age Zach knew that those two truths - all-star athlete and homosexual male - could not exist concurrently. So, he’d started dating Rebecca, his devoutly Catholic girlfriend who wants to wait to have sex until she’s married, during his junior year of high school and never looked back.

But on the last night of a team trip to Rome, on the cusp of his senior season at Northwestern University, a Heisman, a number 1 draft pick and a National Championship, Zach seeks out one last anonymous encounter. He opens Grindr and slips out into the Italian summer night to meet Liam - Liam who has a face that looks like it was carved from Carrara marble by one of the ancient greats and whose brazen facade becomes sheepish when he’s asked about his past in Paris. The night is intense, better than Zach could have imagined. But like all one-night stands, it comes to an end by morning’s light.

But what happens to Zach’s carefully manicured plans for a professional football career and a life in the closet when Liam shows up, not only on the Northwestern campus the first day of the fall semester, but in Zach’s upper-level Plato seminar, too?

Details:

Title: All the Way Out
Author: Ingrid Sterling
Publisher: Literary Wanderlust
Release Date: April 1, 2021
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance, New Adult
Trope/s: One-night stand turned into true love; Forced proximity; Athlete with musician; closeted sports star
Themes: Self-acceptance, coming out publicly
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 79 000/263 pages
It is a standalone book.

Add it on your Goodreads!

Available on Kindle Unlimited or you can purchase here:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Literary Wanderlust| Bookshop.org

About the Author

I named myself "Ingrid" after a character in a story I started writing and will never finish.

I named myself "Sterling" after my dad's boyhood dreams.

I'm a Yankee who has lived south of the Mason Dixon for a decade and I use 'Y'all' without irony. I dance in my kitchen. I vote. I love all the cats in the world and a good IPA. I will scream over college sports.

I write about love, with love, because #loveislove.

With two degrees in music performance, I strive to make my words sing. The rhythm and pacing of the prose are as important to me as my complicated, imperfect characters and my guaranteed happily-ever-afters.