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Today, Lily's Reviews has a guest interview with Sarah Nicolas.......

Lily's Reviews: What is the biggest accomplishment you have achieved as a writer to date? The thing that made you feel like you hit a big goal?

Sarah Nicolas: For me, I think it’s always the most recent achievement that feels like the biggest. I don’t think I’m alone in this. It started with actually finishing a book, then sending my first query letter, then getting my first request, then getting my first personalized rejection, then writing another book and so on through getting an agent, getting multiple publishing contracts, getting a contract with an advance, hitting #1 in my category on Amazon. Mainly, I’m most proud of myself for not yet giving up because this can be a difficult business.

LR: How do you come up with character names?

SN: OMG, I am OBSESSED with character names. I think I spend more time on this than on plotting (don’t tell my editor). Every now and then I get a name stuck in my head that I just love (like Riya from KEEPING HER SECRET) and it’s quick and easy, but most of the time it is a process. I create excel spreadsheets with lists of names and research their origins and meanings and references in literature, TV, and movies. I scour baby name websites and check their historical and geographical popularity.

LR: If you could bring one character into real life and have a conversation with them which one would it be and why?

SN: No character has ever fascinated me as much as Bartimaeus from Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy. I read those books ten years ago but still haven’t found anyone else I’d rather have a conversation with in fiction. He is an ancient demon full of snark and wit.

LR: What does your writing day look like?

SN: I’m more of a marathon writer than an every-day writer. I work a full-time job and have a very active life, so I have to schedule writing sessions into my week. I work best with several hours at a time set aside for writing. I have friends who write an hour a day and it works wonderfully for them, but it’s not for me.

I have to have caffeinated beverages and snacks, unless I’m working late at night, then I love to have wine when I write. My writing brain works best from about 9 PM until about 3 AM.


LR: Is there any book that you would rewrite if you could?

SN: Like completely rewrite?

LR: When you are writing and you feel a bit stuck, what do you do for inspiration or to reset yourself back into the groove?

SN: It depends on whether I’m on deadline or not. Ha! If I’m on deadline, I usually just write through it, knowing that I can go back and rewrite or cut the stuff that’s not good. Honestly, it usually takes just a page or two of forcing it to get me back in the groove.

Having said that, I should probably do the same thing when I’m not on deadline, but I don’t. I often take long walks with my dog to reset my brain. Or I get distracted by twitter and lose a lot of writing time. Don’t do that. It’s not helpful.


LR: Who or what (if anything) do you listen to when writing and who is your favorite musician/genre of music to listen to?

SN: My writing music preferences are basic AF, because I find it helpful to listen to music where the emotions are really on the surface and also music with a strong, dancy beat. So I’m all about pop like Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, and Selena Gomez.

LR: What is coming up next for you, writing wise?

SN: I’m working on a new Young Adult about a girl who does high school robotics. It’s a romance :-P

Thank you so much for the wonderful interview!

Sarah Nicolas may be found at the following places:
Sarah Nicolas Site
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Book Riot
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For September, Lily's Reviews also welcomes author Jessica Scott, who was kind enough to do an interview.

Lily's Reviews: Do you listen to music while writing?
Jessica Scott: Yes, I almost always listen to music when I write. It varies, but I’m most productive when I have a song stuck in my head.

LR: If you could live near any of your characters or within any of the worlds you create, which would it be?
JS: Back in Durham. I loved living there.

LR: Out of all your works, which pairing (only one) would you choose to and why?
I think Noah and Beth are probably my favorite. That is a very personal book to me for a lot of different reasons.

LR: Who is your favorite character to write?
JS: He’s a character from my very first series, but Vic Carponti was always my favorite to write.

LR: What’s your favorite series to write?
JS: I'm enjoying the Falling series very much. It keeps surprising me on where it’s going.

LR: What makes you decide to end a series?
JS: When I lose the joy of working on it and when sales simply don’t support continuing.

LR: What was your job before being a writer? What did you study in college?
JS: I’m a full time Army officer and I have a Ph.D. in sociology.

LR: What made you become a writer?
JS: I needed a place to put all of the stories in my head and to unpack a lot of the stuff from deployment and my time in the Army.

LR: Do the seasons have any influence on what you want to write?
JS: No, but I love reading a good Christmas story.

LR: Who is the most challenging character to write and why?
JS: I think Caleb in a forthcoming book is going to be a real pain to write. Mostly because I didn’t really like him for most of the Falling series, to be honest. But he’s starting to grow on me.

LR: Describe a day in the life of Jessica Scott.
JS: Get the kids off to school, teach most mornings, lunch, email, admin work, home, dinner, put the kids to bed and then hopefully have some time with my husband before we both collapse and do it all again the next day.

LR: Do you compile any playlists while writing a book that is specific to that book?
JS: Sometimes I do but mostly my books end up with 2 or 3 songs that run through my head in various parts of writing each one.

Thank you, Ms. Scott for stopping by Lily's Reviews.
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Today, Lily's Reviews welcomes author KC Burn.

From KC Burn's website: "I’ve been writing for what feels like my whole life. I’m a sucker for a happy ending (get your mind out of the gutters!) so it’s been romance almost all the way. After moving from Toronto to Florida for my hubby to take a dream job, I discovered a love of gay romance and fulfilled my own dream — getting published. After a few years of editing web content by day and at night, neglecting my supportive hubby and needy cat to write about men loving men, I was uprooted yet again, and now reside in California.

Writing is always fun, despite the hard work, but writing about my guys is more fun than I’ve had in a long time. Love between consenting adults is a beautiful thing, and should be celebrated, regardless of sexual orientation. I hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I love writing them."

Now, the fun part :) :

Lily's Reviews (LR): Do you listen to music while writing?

KC Burn: Absolutely. The music doesn’t in any way inspire or influence my stories, but it definitely helps keeps my butt in the chair!

LR: If you could live near any of your characters or within any of the worlds you create, which would it be?

KB: LOL. Well, most of my contemporary stuff is located near places I’ve lived. However, as for my paranormal and sci-fi stuff, I’d definitely have to say probably the world of my Galactic Alliance series. Interplanetary travel and sentient aliens would be the coolest thing.

LR: Out of all your works, which pairing (only one) would you choose to and why?

KB: What a difficult question! Probably Tyler and Maxwell from Illusion of Life. It was such a challenge to write that story, since the two don’t actually meet until well after halfway through the book, that I have a real soft spot for the two of them.

LR: Who is your favorite character to write?

KB: Most of my characters are dear to me, and the answer to this question would probably vary depending on which day you ask me but today I’m going to say Gideon Arcturus from Voodoo ‘n’ Vice. He was so buttoned up, so rules oriented that he almost causes a galactic incident in Alien ‘n’ Outlaw, and I need to redeem him to the point of being a sympathetic hero deserving of love in Voodoo ‘n’ Vice. I definitely adored writing him.

LR: What’s your favorite series to write?

KB: All of them! That may sound weird, but there are reasons why I like all the series I write. But if I’m forced to choose, I’m going to say MIA Case Files. A little bit campy, a whole lot of fun, and a lot of sex. I had a blast writing those.

LR: What makes you decide to end a series?

KB: My problem is too many ideas, too little time. After about three books, I certainly have plenty of ideas with which to continue a series, but other plot bunnies usually start screaming about that time. I do intend to continue my Galactic Alliance series, though, and I could easily go back and pick up any of my existing series, no problem.

LR: What was your job before being a writer? What did you study in college?

KB: Ha! How about what’s my job WHILE being a writer! My day job is website development, and while I might at some point be able to ditch the day job, at the moment I need to keep my health care. As for university, I have a degree in Physical Anthropology and another in Medieval History. Neither of which have been particularly useful since, although I used the evolutionary biology aspects of the first degree to help develop my aliens in my Galactic Alliance series.

LR: It must have been interesting to study. I love Medieval History myself (and my own 'research section' proves it). What made you become a writer?

KB: I’ve always been a reader, and when I was ten my dad gave me a copy of The Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings. That was it. Game over. I knew then I wanted to be a writer.

LR: Do the seasons have any influence on what you want to write?

KB: Nope! I live in California now, and seasons are apparently nonexistent down here. I’m working on a Christmas story now, and writing about snow and sleet when it’s been years since I’ve lived in that sort of environment is always a bit challenging.

LR: Who is the most challenging character to write and why?

KB: R’kos, my alien protagonist from Alien ‘n’ Outlaw, hands down. One of the trickiest things is to create an alien that is sexually appealing, with enough differences to be “alien” but with enough similarities to enable them to create relationships with humans. Tricky, tricky. He was definitely a challenge.

LR: Which perfume/scent matches each main character?

KB: Generally, I don’t consider scent much. Adam, from Wolfsbane, though, had a particular scent that I had to scour the cologne counters to get just the right one. However… since colognes aren’t MY thing, and I didn’t name the scent in the book, I can’t remember exactly which one it was. It came in a blue bottle. If only I’d made notes… But I’m just not that organized.

LR: Describe a day in the life of KC Burn.

KB: Super dull, unfortunately. Feed the cat, feed the hubby, fire up the laptop to start my work day. Once that’s done, I try to do some writing, then start dinner. Feed the cat. After dinner, if I’m not on deadline, hubby and I will watch TV or play board games (our current favorites are Castles of Mad King Ludwig and TIME Stories). If I’m on deadline, then it’s back to the computer for more writing. That’s about it.

LR: Which character do you most relate to?

KB: A lot of my characters are fish out of water, and that’s often how I feel. However, the one that is absolutely closest to me is Dean Murphy from Three Dates of Christmas. I’m definitely a Christmas Grinch, because I also spent many years in retail, and it’s really, really hard to retain goodwill after that.

LR: Do you compile any playlists while writing a book that is specific to that book?

KB: Nope, just listen to my regular collection of music. I have such narrow musical tastes that there’s little point in separating things out into playlists.

LR: Huge thank you to KC Burn for stopping by Lily's Reviews!

KC Burn may be found at:
KC Burn
Twitter
Facebook
GoodReads
Amazon
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Lily's Reviews welcomes author Aria Kane to the blog for an interview.

Welcome Ms. Kane - very glad to have you here!

Lily's Reviews: Do you like to listen to music while writing?

Aria Kane: Yes! I actually did a panel two years ago at Coastal Magic about music and writing. I often use music to help me establish the mood of a scene I’m writing, so my playlists are more about that than book-specific.

LR: If you could live near any of your characters or within any of the worlds you create, which would it be?

AK: I’d love to be friends with Derek and Andy from One Lucky Night! I’d go to the pub Derek works at and Andy’s always great if you need anything fixed around the house :-) Plus, Derek knows how everyone takes their coffee!

LR: Who is your favorite character to write?

AK: Erik from Once Upon a Darkness was probably my favorite character ever. He’s a huge guy, rough around the edges, but also kinda a teddy bear. One day, I’m going to write a book for him.

LR: What was your job before being a writer? What did you study in college?

AK: I actually still have a day job as an event planner for a library and it’s the best job ever! I studied Mechanical Engineering in college and worked in that industry for a few years, but I hated my life most days.

LR: What made you become a writer?

AK: I had always been interested in writing, but when educators found out I was good at math & science, I got pushed pretty hard in that direction. I enjoyed the coursework, but once I got in the industry, I was pretty miserable. I was a project engineer and found myself in upstate New York in late Autumn (i.e. more snow than I’d ever seen in my life) with no friends and lots of free time. That’s when I started writing again and I was hooked.

LR: Do the seasons have any influence on what you want to write?

AK: I live in Florida and we don’t really have seasons. Haha! Though you can see from my previous question that snowy weather was partly responsible for me getting into writing.

LR: Describe a day in the life of Aria Kane.

There really is no typical day. I’m an event planner so even my dayjob schedule isn’t regular. On top of that, I have some health issues, so some days I can do the bare minimum and some days I can’t stop writing. I try to work on something every day, whether it’s writing a book, taking care of emails, writing articles for Book Riot, or promo. Some days it doesn’t happen though. I’m also an incurable extrovert so I have a lively social life.

LR: Thank you very much for stopping by the blog!

Aria Kane is a recovering mechanical engineer and romance author. As a military brat, she grew up all over the country, but now lives in sunny Florida with a 60 lb mutt who thinks he's a Chihuahua.

She also writes young adult books as Sarah Nicolas.

Find her on Twitter @sarah_nicolas and on Instagram at @presidentsarah.

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