Would You Like A Book With Your Wine: Elizabeth Lynx

I write erotic romance & erotic romantic comedies. As a stay at home mom of two little boys, I spend most of my time as a climbing rock. But when I get a break from that, I like to sit in front of my laptop and write about the crazy characters that pop into my head.

WYLABWYW: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Something we won’t find in you author bio on your website (do you work, hobbies, what do you like to do when not writing/working, etc.).

I have been a Medical Photographer, Improviser, Actress, Printer, Graphic Technician, Salesperson, Merchandiser, and Executive Assistant. I have always wanted to be an Archaeologist or Forensic Pathologist or History Professor. I’m sorry, it’s too hard to be just one thing.

WYLABWYW: Are you self-published, with an agency, or a combination of the two?

I am self-published currently. I am working on a manuscript that I want to send to a literary agent. I one day want to be both. I think the traditional publishing has it’s pros: can reach a wider audience, larger marketing team, etc. But Indie publishing also has it’s pros: More control, can set price, have control on promo/book cover, more control on the writing, etc.

Because of that, I want to do both.

WYLABWYW: What inspired you to become a writer?

When it comes to creative ventures I tend to jump in without looking. It works in my favor and it also really, really doesn’t. It works because I don’t have time to worry if I am doing something wrong, panic and change my mind. It doesn’t work because of everything else you can think of. I make tons of mistakes. I mean a lot! A lot of writers have literary degrees or have written little stories all their life or have read tons and tons of books all their life, so they decided to take the author plunge. None of that is true with me.

I read very little most of my life. I have a learning disability and used to have panic attacks when people asked me to read something. My mom used to try to bribe me with clothes as a teenager (you can get your favorite name brand sweater if you read 3 books), but it didn’t work. Once I hit my late teens/early twenties I had a boring summer job after my junior year in college where I worked in a hotel gift shop. The only thing to do there was read from the bestseller list that lined the display. So I did. It was the first time I actually liked reading. I would occasionally read off and on after that, but I gravitated toward historical fiction or fantasy. I did read some romance.

The embarrassing part is I didn’t even know erotic romance existed until I started writing it. That’s how naive I am. I had heard of Fifty Shades of Grey but I never read it. I just thought it was a dark romance. Then I read an article about a stay at home mom who wrote erotica. I thought, “If she can do it so can I.” I never knew the author, never had read her books, just read the article and decided to jump in head first - like I do. So, a little over a year later, here I am having made a bunch of mistakes, but learning and growing as an author.

WYLABWYW: Do you have a mentor or mentors?

As far as a mentor, I am too afraid to go up to any author and ask if they will mentor me. I asked Penny Reid a question once and nearly had a heart-attack after because she didn’t respond for a few days. I kept panicking and thinking I scared her off and that she thinks I’m crazy and is ignoring me. Turns out she was just busy with life. But she was very nice answering my question in great detail. My husband doesn't understand my paranoid fear of asking for help.

WYLABWYW: What do you do to prepare for a story?

An idea pops into my head (usually the very beginning of the story, or the first half of the story, fully formed) and I start to write. If I don’t immediately write it down, it’s gone. Have two children under the age of 5 in my home has zapped my brain cells, so I easily forget things now.

Once I have written a little, I stop and start to flesh out the characters, do a general plot sketch. Nothing is ever set in stone and most of my books end up getting changed a lot during the writing process. I recently finished writing a chapter for Rules of Payne 2 where up until the very end of the chapter I planned on it ending a certain way, but the character had something else in mind. So, the ending to that chapter turned out completely different from what I intended.

WYLABWYW: What do you find to be your biggest obstacle in the writing process?

Time. Since I am a stay at home mom of kids under 5, most of my time is spent dealing with them (feeding, playing, and taking care of). So, I would love much more time to write, but I can’t. I’m lucky now that they go to a specialized preschool M-F in the mornings, which gives me five days a week to write for a few hours. Last year at this time, I didn’t have that. Unfortunately, I have had to scale back for the summer while they are out of school.

WYLABWYW: Where do you write?

On the couch of the dining room table, on my laptop. I would love to have an office, but don’t have the money or the space for that.

WYLABWYW: Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what do you typically listen to?

No. I tried a few times early on, but I got so distracted by the music. The kids are so noisy that when I get a chance to write I want quiet.

WYLABWYW: How much of your book(s), if any, is taken from real life events?

None. LOL, I would love to have the hot stuff that happens in my books to happen to me. The only thing that was anywhere similar to me was when Jos gave birth in Luna & Corbin’s story in the Him Her Them Series. She gave birth a month early and her baby had to go to the NICU. She just kept repeating the words, “I never got to hold him.” I gave birth to my youngest 2 months early and he spent about 6 weeks in the NICU. That first day in the NICU, they called me just as I was going to bed (I gave birth to him at 3 am that morning, so I hadn’t slept in almost 36 hours). I got released early from the hospital since I was physically okay and they knew I wanted to see my son who was located at another hospital. When they called they said my son’s heart stopped and he had a heart condition. I panicked and my husband talked to them. They told me the heart condition was normal for a preemie and I didn’t need to come to the hospital, they just wanted to inform us of his progress. After we hung up I lost it. I sobbed and kept repeating, “What if he dies? I never got to hold him.” Both of my son’s births were not typical, so if I write a birth it most likely won’t ever be typical.

WYLABWYW: Who is/was your biggest support for your writing career?

My mom. She has told me most of my life I should write. I never believed her since I have a learning disability. She would read my papers and tell me every time I should be a writer. It didn’t matter what she said because no matter what I wrote I would get a C on the paper, due to grammar errors because of my disability. I figured if a teacher doesn’t think my writing is good, then what hope do I have to ever be a writer. My mom is just being nice because she is my mom.

When I finally told her I was going to be a writer at age 40, she was over the moon.

WYLABWYW: What lead to write your chosen genre?

The article I read about the erotic romance writer. I had read romance books, but not erotic romance. So I went a read a bunch of erotic romance books to figure out how to write a sex scene and then went to it. It was a lot of trial and error, but I think I have grown in just over a year.

WYLABWYW: Tell us about your book(s).

The Him Her Them Series: Grading Him, Reaching Her, Becoming Them is about Josephine Powell and Pierce Carver. Jos is an intelligent assistant professor of Psychology. She is a woman who knows what she wants, a man she would be happy giving a grade A to in the bedroom. Unfortunately, she has yet to meet a man that even comes close. She’s tired of dealing with men who just don’t try; she needs a man who can handle her and her needs.

Pierce Carver is a smart man. So smart he got out of the slums of Baltimore to go to MIT and make a lot of money so he never has to visit his old neighborhood ever again. He’s not interested in making money anymore; he’s interested in only two things, his charity to help inner city youth and woman. The later he prefers variety, as in one good lay and then out the door you go. Women are for sex and nothing more.

Their story is what happens when both get exactly what they want.

In the Him Her Them Boxed set I included a bonus story about their friends Luna and Corbin. They got together during the Him Him Them Series, but Luna’s father got sick and they had to break up so she could move away to be with her father. During their story, you see what happens when she comes back.

The series was my very first and it was in reaction to all the virgin woman/male whore books out there. I wanted a book that had a smart, confident woman, who knew what she wanted both in and out of the bedroom. So, I wrote it.

The next series, sort of series because it’s kind of all over the place, is the Payne series. I have a weekly character blog called Payne In The Blog where you see the woman’s POV. It started off with the character of Morgana Drake, but is now her roommates POV, Aria Dixon. The first 4 months worth of posts I turned into a free book that you can get from Amazon, B&N, iTunes, etc. After that I changed the POV to Aria. I also came out with a book based on Morgana and her boss, Henrik Payne called Rules of Payne.

It picks up where the blog book leaves off. You don’t have to read the blog book or the posts to understand Rules of Payne, but it’s fun to see all the things that are just mentioned in Rules of Payne, happen to Morgana in Payne In The Blog.

It’s an erotic romantic comedy. Just because it’s a romantic comedy does not mean I don’t bring the steam to the sex scenes. So, if you like your books steamy, you will like Rules of Payne. The same goes for the comedy. I do work at making the reader laugh. I spent many years to doing Improv and taking comedy classes, so comedy is very important to me. If you like to laugh then you should check it out.

The Payne stuff is ongoing. The blog I keep up, so every week I put up two new posts. Also, Rules of Payne 2 is coming out August 4th, which is the final book for Morgana. I do plan on writing one for Aria and a couple of the other women in the Payne series. That won’t happen until very late in the year, if not early next year as I have lots of other projects I am working on as well.

WYLABWYW: Do you have muses you used for your characters?

Not really. They just pop into my head. No one inspires them or anything. I do think Henry Cavill is hot, so I picture him as all my male leads.

WYLABWYW: Time to give your support a shout out! Tell us about your crew (cover designer, photographer, editor, videographer, proofreader, swag designer, etc.)

I am the cover designer and promo designer. I worked in the printing and graphics industry for over ten years, so I know Photoshop and Illustrator like the back on my hand. Also, I am very picky about what a book cover looks like, so I just do it myself.

As for an editor, I found a great editor named Silvia at silviasreading.webs.com. She is great and tells me what I need to hear, even if she thinks I don’t want to hear it. She is great at what she does and understands what I am trying to put out there.

I also have a great PA, Melissa Fiest. She laughs at my jokes (important as PA), does all the dirty work and gives me a good slap in the face when I goofing around instead of writing.

WYLABWYW: What are you working on now, and when can we expect your next release?

I am working on a co-author project, working title called House of Epic about a male strip club. I am working with L.E. Chamberlin on the book. If you have ever read Game of Thrones, you know that each chapter is a different character’s point of view and it all flows in real-time. That is the inspiration for the book. It isn’t sci-fi, still a romance but there will be a lot of different story-lines interweaving with others and some dark elements as well as light and funny. Most will have a HEA, but since there will be so many story-lines, not everyone is going to be HEA. It’s going to center around a Male strip club in Washington DC. The best way to describe it would be Game of Thrones meets The Wire meets The Notebook meets Magic Mike, if that makes sense.

I will keep up the Payne In The Blog through all this, until the end of the year. After the EPIC book I will start on Aria’s book. Also, through all this I have been working on a book I want to submit to a Literary Agent. So, I am doing a ton of writing.

My next release is Rules of Payne 2 which comes out on August 4th!

If anyone wants to check out one of my several stories I have on the brain as I write them they can see them here:

That Sweet Deal: A steamy romantic comedy: http://w.tt/1CKVnQV

Perfect Please: A very dark romance – think Romeo & Juliet meets Kalifornia: http://bit.ly/1MeGhGx

WYLABWYW: Can you share an excerpt from a work in progress?

This is an excerpt from Rules of Payne 2:

Once we finish our meal, I head back outside while Aria finishes paying the bill. As I wait for her on the sidewalk, I glance across the street and see him. Henrik is in dark gray suit pants, a light gray shirt, and red tie. His sleeves are casually rolled up and I notice his ink trailing down his arm. His hair is a bit tousled and he looks so good. I'm ready to call out his name when I notice a cute blonde exit the 7-Eleven store and sluttily touch his arm.

That's right I said sluttily. She is touching him, therefore she is a slut. I know I am being awful right now, but he disappears from my life after confessing everything he did for me and finally when I see him again a cute little blonde in a slutty suit with her aggressively slutty hand is touching him.

I wonder if that is the woman I heard on the phone with him yesterday. I want to go over there, shove her away, and slap him. Then, I want to make out with him. Damn it! I'm going to find a doctor that can give me something for my overly horny vagina.

"Morgana!" My Brain pipes up.

I really don't want a lecture right now from Brain about how I am being judgmental and that I know nothing about that woman.

"Look Brain, I know I am being too critical of her right now but I'm just hurt, alright," I explain.

"Oh no Morgana, she is clearly a slut. I was just going to tell you that if you want to get rid of her I am more than happy to help you out." My Brain is eyeing the blonde with suspicion.

"What? Maybe I should just talk to him. Maybe he got a job and she is a co-worker? Perhaps he is interviewing for the job and they just finished a lunch interview. I would ruin it if I went over there and acted jealous. Besides, we aren’t together anymore. He made that quite clear to me yesterday. He can see who he wants." I try to rationalize.

"Or you could cut her!" My heart pipes up and I notice hatred in her eyes as she stares at the blonde.

"Whoa! Shit just got real! I think I will just have a rational conversation like a normal person." I shake my head.

"Fine. Whatever you want to do. But know this Morgana, we will support you in whatever or however you choose to handle this. And by handle, I mean take care of. And by take care of, I mean cut a bitch..." My Brian surprises me by going along with Heart, who is nodding her head in agreement. I quickly cut her off before she talks about making the blonde disappear.

I have been watching a lot of Dexter reruns and I think it's getting in my head.

"Ladies. Please. Just, stop."

"Hey Morgana. You ready to head ba... Is that Henrik?" Aria happily skips out the door with her belly full of ham and cheese until she sees what I see and comes to a halt.

"Yup." I am so confused that I can only utter one word.

"Who is that slut he’s with?" Aria notices.

"We told you Morgana. I think they sell knives in the 7-Eleven," Brain adds.

"You know what? I am not going to cut anyone, so let it go," I yell out.

Aria turns her head to me scrunching her brow in confusion.

"What are you talking about Morgana? I said slut not cut." Aria slaps me on the back as she giggles.

I look back to where Henrik and Ms. Slut were and now they’re gone. My eyes dart around and I see them crossing the street and heading straight toward us. He hasn't seen me and I wonder if maybe I should hide and then follow him. He followed me in New York, so now I can do the same to him. Find out if he is with her or if they just work together.

I quickly dash behind a parked car beside the curb as Aria watches me. She nods in acknowledgement and runs back inside the sandwich shop as she watches through the glass window. I gasp as the car starts and exhaust fumes blast into my face. I have to close my eyes as I gag and cough. Then the car pulls away.

"Morgana?" Henrik’s deep voice calls over to me and I look up to see him tilting his head with the blonde at his side.

I look frantically down on the ground and see a dirty wrapper and quickly grab it as I stand.

"There it is." I shake my head and chuckle as I walk over to Henrik. I raise the shiny metallic paper in my hand letting them know I found what I was apparently searching for.

"Fell out of my hand. Thought I lost my lucky..." I examine it closely and discover it's a condom wrapper. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath before I open them to see Henrik as he tries to cover a laugh.

"Your lucky what, Morgana?" His shoulders are shaking and his hand is now covering his mouth.

Smug bastard.

"Condom wrapper! My lucky condom wrapper. I mean, come on, doesn't everyone have a lucky something? If you think about it what is worse, a lucky rabbit's foot, which is morbid by the way or the wrapper from the condom you lost your virginity to?" I raise my brows and nod as if this makes total sense. But as I hear myself I realize how disgusting I sound. When I glance over at the blonde who is now looking at me like I have the bubonic plague, my suspicions are confirmed: I am revolting.

I drop the wrapper and wipe my hand on my jeans.

"Your lucky wrapper is blowing away Morgana!" Henrik pretends like he is trying to catch it.

"Shut up." I say as I fold my arms over my chest.

WYLABWYW: Do you have any upcoming signing events or appearances scheduled later this year or in 2016?

Not at the moment. Those events cost a lot of money for authors and most authors lose money doing them, but they do them to meet fans and readers. I totally get that and would like to be in that position one day. Unfortunately I am such a new author I don’t even make money on my books yet, let alone have money to lose for a signing event. I have to wait until I am making, even a modest, income from my books to afford a signing. I can’t wait to one day meet the fans that have been so nice sending me messages and talking to me on Facebook!

WYLABWYW: Which new authors have caught your attention?

Obviously Desiree A. Cox! I like L.E. Chamberlin, Julie Jaret, Penny Reid, Mia Sheridan and the amazing CD Reiss. I love LH Cosway and M. Pierce.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us all.

3 comments:

Elizabeth LynxJuly 27, 2015 at 6:36 AM
Thank you so much! This looks great.
UnknownJuly 27, 2015 at 8:38 AM
Following on Amazon now. The box set sounds intriguing and going on the wish list for xmas ( never too early to start collecting one of those for Santa ;-) ) Loving the humorous elements and interaction between your characters in the Payne Series. Nice to meet you, Elizabeth and lovely interview. <3 Jules Dixon
Elizabeth LynxJuly 27, 2015 at 4:46 PM
Thank you so much! I love it.

Would You Like A Book With Your Wine

Monday, July 27, 2015

Elizabeth Lynx - Interview

3 comments: