Get ready to learn more about the book Elle’s Alaskan Cruise in this discussion with sapphic author Lark Sullivan.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz Lark Sullivan about Elle’s Alaskan Cruise, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the No Strings Attached category in the 2025 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write Elle’s Alaskan Cruise?
I took a cruise to Alaska with my mom and wife. I was struggling with my work in progress at the time, and thought I could write a quick story about two women who fall in love over the course of an Alaskan cruise. What felt like a thousand rough drafts and six years later, I finally published it!
Who is your favorite character in the book?
Definitely Stacey. She approaches every situation with honesty and humor and has no patience for anything else. While she puts on a frivolous front, she’s highly intelligent and knows how to use people’s assumptions against them.
I’m not at all like Stacey, which may be why I like her so much. I love characters (and people) who are strong-willed and not afraid to speak their minds. Personally, I avoid conflict and have a terrible time with confrontation. In that way, I’m much more like Elle!
What was the biggest challenge writing this book?
Handling Kit’s character ended up being a challenge for me. She was never meant to play a big role, but by the time I’d finished the first draft, I knew she was destined to change Elle’s perspective on life and love—and the entire plot of the novel. I ended up spending a year rewriting the book just for her!
What part of Elle’s Alaskan Cruise was the most fun to write?
The Musical Trivia scene. I giggled the entire time I wrote this scene because the joke Kit and Stacey play on Elle (tricking her into talking to the cellist) was pulled from real life. On an Alaskan cruise, my wife did this exact thing to me! We both had little crushes on the cellist and my wife tricked me into talking to her after musical trivia one night by telling me we needed to collect our second-place prize. I still have the setlist the cellist gave me!
What is your favorite line from your book?
It may be cheesy, but my favorite line is, “I know that destroyed things can be rebuilt. They won’t always be the same as before, but sometimes what you end up with is even more beautiful.”
How do you celebrate when you finish your book?
I don’t celebrate so much as pretend like the book doesn’t exist for a while. Think Joey from the show Friends putting scary books in the freezer. When I’m ready to face it again, I read it out loud to my wife.
Do you have a pet who helps/hinders your typing?
Winston, a wirehaired dachshund, was my ever-present writing companion. No matter where I wrote, he was with me, usually in my lap, nosing at my hand for pets.
Sadly, he passed away just days before Elle’s Alaskan Cruise was released. It’s been a struggle to get back into the writing mindset without him. He was in my lap when I decided to try my hand at writing ten years ago, he was in the same spot when I published my first book, and when I clicked the button to publish the second.
Q, our kitten, has done his best to take over Winston’s spot, but his kitten energy keeps him on the move, and our old lady, Sophie, is more interested in sitting on my mouse and swatting at my hand when I try to take it back.
What animal or object best represents you as an author or your writing style?
I think I’m a bit of a squirrel. My efforts to guide a storyline by outlining ahead of time feels a lot like squirrels hiding acorns for the winter. I have great planning-ahead intentions, but never end up using half of what I prepared because I go in a totally different direction.
When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?
Sound-cancelling headphones and music. I always have a playlist catered to my work in progress, and I’ll switch among the songs depending on the mood I need. I’ll even put the same song on repeat and listen to it for the entire writing session (or sessions). I’ll go back to that song anytime I revisit the scene to help stay in the right emotional state.
Do you feel bad putting your characters through the wringer?
I feel a bit like a villain, actually. Taking people who, at their core, are innocent, then emotionally torturing them so they can achieve self-growth and complete their character arcs. I try to tell myself that the characters make their own choices (honestly, sometimes I feel like I don’t have a say in it at all).
My current work in progress will be the first of a series based on the vignettes from The Beginning of Goodbye, and my heart aches every time I write a scene with a particular side character, because I know what she’ll have to go through in the future before she can get to her happy ending.
What book do you wish you had written?
Jane Austen’s Persuasion. It used to seem like every book, movie, and song was about the virtues of choosing to be with the love of your life despite all obstacles. To then read about characters who didn’t do that (at least initially) seemed almost revolutionary. This is the first book that made me think about “timing” in a relationship and it’s stuck with me ever since. I’d love to write a modernized sapphic retelling of this book.
Describe your favorite reading spot.
Anywhere and everywhere. I love print books, but ebooks have made it possible to actually have books with me everywhere I go. I used to haul a half a dozen books with me on every trip, every vacation, and there was nothing worse than reading them all before the end of the trip.
