Please Welcome Lily Rede

My guest today is romance author Lily Rede. Tell us about your current series, Lily.
Bright's Ferry is a nice little seaside town hiding some dark secrets. In Book #2, Safe From the Fire, we meet Grace and Matt. Grace is having trouble finding a guy to play out her little domination fantasies with, and Matt is terrified of turning into a controlling monster like his father. Too bad he's been head over heels for Grace for years. As they attempt to date, tying each other in figurative and literal knots, an arsonist terrorizes Bright's Ferry, and all evidence points to Grace's formerly delinquent brother. It's hot, sweet, and twisty, just like I like it.

How has your experience with self-publishing been?
Fantastic! A year ago, I would never have considered self-publishing, and now ten months in I've sold nearly 20,000 copies. I had plenty of self-doubt holding me back, but getting to share my little worlds with readers and learn from more experienced writers has been incredibly rewarding. I hope this is just the beginning of a wonderful career.

Sounds like you are off to a promising start. What was the hardest thing you've found in the process of self-publishing? And the easiest?
The hardest thing is remembering that it takes time to build an audience, to learn from my mistakes, and to write the next book instead of waiting for reviews. This life requires buckets of patience, which I often have very little of, no matter how hard I try. The easy part is getting it out there - the Internet is an amazing creature, and I am grateful or how idiot-proof most of the process has become. I am not tech savvy on the best of days.

I know what you mean! What is most difficult for you to write? Characters, conflict or emotions? 
I have trouble when the words come out faster than I want them to - I have to remind myself to slow down and really let the characters feel and express each moment before moving them to the next scene. That and continuity are my nemeses.

Do you have any words of inspiration for aspiring authors?
Don't stop. That's it. Rejection is guaranteed, but so is improvement. You will be better with the next story, and the one after that, and the one after that. Do not let fear of failure get the best of you.

I second that! What is your writing routine like? 
I like to write in the mornings, since I'm useless after 2pm. Coffee, music without lyrics, sometimes the jumbled noise of a coffee shop, and I'm set.

I'm the opposite. I like mornings too, but I prefer a quiet atmosphere. Do you ever suffer from writer's block? 

All the time. I usually go work on something else for a while and let my brain stew on the problem until it starts clamoring at me to go back and finish what I started.

What’s next for you?
I'm almost done with a contemporary novella called More Than A Night about a wealthy but inexperienced young woman who decides to pay for an escort for the night, and finds that there's more to love than sex, and also the prequel novella to my paranormal Hearts of Stone series - Shadow of the Raven (monsters and muses, oh my!) In June, Book #3 of Bright's Ferry - Safe From the Storm. Also, there's an ongoing erotic suspense serial on my blog called Shiny Things.

Where can readers find you?
I'm only on Amazon at the moment, but I'm hoping to branch out soon! Safe From the Dark is available in ebook and print, as is Hot & Sweet - Beginnings, my collection of shorts, but the rest of my titles are currently ebook only. I'm gradually formatting the rest, but there are only so many hours in the day, and miles to go before I sleep, LOL...meanwhile, tons of excerpts up on my blog, along with free chapters of Shiny Things.

Thanks for being my guest today, Lily. Here's the blurb for Safe From the Fire.
Firefighter Matt Harris has wanted edgy librarian Grace Mallow forever – there’s something about her purple hair and her sexy dark side that pushes all of his buttons, even if the rest of the town looks down on her. Unfortunately, Matt’s memories of an abusive childhood have left him terrified of turning into a monster like his father. He’s determined to find a gentle way to woo Grace, but he’s unprepared for the white-hot heat that burns when they finally come together.

Grace Mallow knows that no matter how badly she wants him, she doesn’t belong with a wholesome blond dreamboat like Matt, who would be horrified to learn that she wants to be sexually dominated. But Matt is persistent, and Grace is having a hard time turning him down and keeping her emotional walls intact. As the couple struggles to handle their passion for each other, an arsonist begins terrorizing Bright’s Ferry, and all signs point to Grace’s younger brother, a reformed firebug recently returned to town to make amends for his crimes. Matt and Grace race to stop a madman, but can they find common ground and save each other and their town, or will passion and fire burn out of control and separate them forever?

EXCERPT:

“What’s the matter?” asked Grace, and then looked up, eyes widening, “Oh.”
“Hi, Grace.”
Did he have to take up all the oxygen in the room? Grace supposed that when a man was as big as Matt Harris, he was going to take the lion’s share of breathable air. She assured herself that her sudden breathlessness was not a result of her impossible attraction to the hot firefighter. He was objectively beautiful, that was all – all that hard muscle that clothing couldn’t disguise, the face carved by a divine hand, thick golden hair, and sky blue eyes that practically shone with honesty and goodwill toward mankind.
She wanted to climb him like a ladder and lick every inch along the way.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Grace forced a cool smile.
“Hi, Matt. You remember my brother Adam.”
Matt nodded, clearly curious, but didn’t comment on her brother’s sudden reappearance. Adam had been a nightmare for the Bright’s Ferry Fire Department, and Grace couldn’t blame Matt for being un-thrilled to see him again.
“Adam’s going to be staying with me for a while, taking some classes. Isn’t that great?” she went on brightly, squeezing Adam’s hand reassuringly.
Grace knew the second Matt spotted the scars on Adam’s wrists, but again, he remained silent, just raised a surprised eyebrow.
“Did you want something?” Grace cringed internally as the words left her lips, because for the briefest moment, Matt’s eyes flared with heat, and she felt an answering tug low in her stomach.
Oh, he definitely wants something.

Blog: lilycrede.wordpress.com
Email: lilycrede@gmail.com