Being an only child sucked as there was never anyone to play games with so she would make up different characters to play against and amuse herself. From there she began writing short stories and poems.
It took a long time for her to figure out who she was inside, but now that she knows, there's no stopping her. Her goal is to bring normal, everyday people to life and show the magic that can happen while you're going along doing your thing.
Second chances are needed. Love happens when you least expect it. And never be with someone whose kisses don't rock your world.
Looking back I would say back in high school. I took a creative writing class and loved all the crazy assignments - on the side I was writing little "soap operas" with my friends using our favorite rock stars. It was fanfic that made us all happy and took the boredom out of class. I continued to write short stories from there and in my twenties my mom told me to do something with it. I finally did.
Did you have any influencing writers growing up?
Georgina Gentry, Phoebe Conn and Kathy Jones stand out. I adored romance and couldn't get enough of it.
Are any of your characters based on people in real life?
When I write contemporary they are. I have some amazing people in my life and this is my way to share them with my readers.
Where do you draw your book inspirations from?
Sometimes I have weird dreams, sometimes it's something I've experienced or someone I know has experienced. Sometimes it's pure whimsey and I run with whatever thought comes to the front of my brain.
Do you use have a basic outline when starting a new story or do you let the characters lead the way?
I am a COMPLETE pantser and my characters lead the way.
When you are picturing the characters in your book, do you have a cheater photo for inspiration?
Absolutely. Looking at a picture of them brings them to life even more in my mind.
Many people read as a form of escape and relaxation. What is your favorite way to sit back and relax?
Play video games, hang with my family, watch videos on cake decorating because I find it fascinating.
Who are your favorite current authors to read?
Penelope Bloom, TL Swan, Eris Adderly, Lucy Score
What are your favorite books by others?
Bass-Ackwards by Eris Adderly. I re-read it at least once a month.
Do the locations in the stories have any meaning to you?
Not really. I pull from northwest Indiana and the Chicago area because it's what I know. But when I write my fantasy/sci-fi worlds I make the place up.
Do you write in single or multiple POV?
Multiple. As a reader I want to know what's going on and what everyone is thinking, so that's how I write.
What do you find to be your best research tool?
Google, the library, interviewing people - whatever it takes to learn.
Do you write under a pen name? Also, do you write under more than one name?
I do and I do.
Ivy Penn writes contemporary, second-chance, friends to lovers.
Aeryn Zaera writes sci-fi romance.
Lilith Adams and Jasmine Grant write high heat set in a fantasy place called the Forgotten Worlds. It's all the nursery rhymes, stories and fairy-tales mashed up and given new life. Jasmine is my writing partner for the Forgotten Worlds and our characters can mingle and build on each other. The stories can be read as standalones or in order.
Then there are the King sisters Starr & Lola who who write erotic tales set in the King's Dungeon of the Forgotten Worlds.
What genre do you write and why is this your preference?
Honestly I love telling tales so the genre is flexible, hence all my pen names ... there will be another one or two joining in by the end of 2022. The most important thing to me is telling a great story. No matter which of my personalities is telling the story, it needs to be good. It needs to make people get lost inside and enjoy it. If not I feel like I've let the reader down.
Tell me something about yourself outside of writing. Jobs, accomplishments, family, quirky traits....what led to you being you?
Let's see, I got married at 18 and it didn't work out. It was ugly and when I got divorced I thought, I needed to try again. So I did. That one was even worse. After divorce number two I stayed single until I thought I had it right. Number three wasn't right either. All of them had elements of abuse in them. I got out and away, that's more than some women can say.
I bought myself a trailer and got a roomie. Her name was Ember and she was the most amazing woman I've ever met. She taught me not only how to find myself, but how to be comfortable in my own skin.
Then I met number 4 - he was a huge mistake. Through all this I had my friends, and one in particular who was my best friend. And I had my Golden Girls (Karen, Jenn & CeCe). They loved me even when I didn't love myself.
Then one day I stopped being so afraid of rocking the proverbial boat and trying to make sure people liked me, that my family liked me, that I lived up to some imaginary expectations that were on me - that's whenI began living. I learned what being in love truly was and ended up marrying my best friend. It's been 11 years and we're still crazy about each other and he's still my best friend. After we got married we moved over 700 miles from where we both were born and grew up to start our life. It was the best move we ever made.
We adopted our daughter in 2017 from a special program called Second Chance. It's a program that helps children who have been adopted and it's not working out for the family find a new family. Becoming parents was a crazy, joyful, crazy time and through it all we came out bonded and now it's amazing. (Trust me, crazy needs to be mentioned twice). All of this is what made me - me.
If you are a duo writing team, how do you share the writing process?
Jasmine and I met through a mutual friend and did a live write together where we learned we have very similar styles, the more we got to know each other, the more we connected and soon we planned our stories together. We can each write our own thing or we can trade off writing. It depends on the story and what the characters call for. She's my writing wife.
What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
DO IT! Just write the story and find a friend to read it. You can always go back through, read it and add or take away, but you have to get the story out first. It's scary, but somewhere someone is waiting for that story.
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