Reading by Deb: INTERVIEW with LILY HARLEM

First I want to thank Lily Harlem so much for taking the time for this interview!

I hope that you enjoy the interview as much as I have! What an exciting life of travel!

Make sure to give Lily a big shout-out and make sure to FOLLOW her on all her social media!

Bio:

Lily Harlem is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of sexy romance. She writes for several publishing houses including HarperCollins and Stormy Night Publications (who specialize in deliciously kinky plot lines that will keep you reading late into the night).

Lily writes Male/Female, Male/Male, reverse harem, and ménage a trois romances that all leave the bedroom door wide open so you get to enjoy the characters' most intimate moments. She’s also very partial to a happily ever after.

Lily’s contemporary ménage a trois novels The Silk Tie, The Glass Knot, and Shared have been blessed with many 5* reviews – all available on Kindle Unlimited.

If you love sporty romance don’t miss HOT ICE a seven novel 5* series about those sexy bad boys of the ice all available on Kindle Unlimited and the first book FREE when you sign up to her quarterly newsletter.

Enjoy paranormal? Darkest Night is the full collection of Lily’s smokin’ hot vampire and shifter stories.

One thing you can be sure of, whatever book you pick up by Ms. Harlem, is it will be wildly romantic and deliciously sexy. Enjoy!

Visit Lily’s website for more details of her other books or her Amazon Author Page. Subscribe to her newsletter to get a FREE ebook and be the first to hear of new releases, and if you enjoy Facebook hop on over there and say hi! For those of you who like to get up close and personal, join Lily's Reader Group and hang out in the VIP lounge with her.

When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always been a keen reader but it wasn’t until I moved from England to Wales and gave up a job in nursing that I decided to do a creative writing course with Cardiff University. To begin with it was for the sheer fun of writing and learning the craft, but by the end of the three years I was getting published and it soon became a full time job.

Did you have any influencing writers growing up?

Not especially. I did the usual classics at school and enjoyed them as we had a super English Lit teacher who would always get very excited and leap about the classroom.

Are any of your characters based on people in real life?

Maybe not in their entirety but certainly traits, or experiences or habits. My friends love it if they tell me something and I say ‘I’m putting that in my next book!'

Where do you draw your book inspirations from?

Everything, from music to art, a single scene that pops into my head, and once an advert in the local newspaper - ‘Room to Let:Wanted Girl to Share’ - that inspired the menage a trois novel SHARED which has been popular with readers for over ten years now.

Do you use have a basic outline when starting a new story or do you let the characters lead the way?

I have a basic outline, a few scenes, a few bits of dialogue, but other than that the characters lead the way.

When you are picturing the characters in your book, do you have a cheater photo for inspiration?

No, they’re usually a mixture of people moulded together to create my own unique character.

Many people read as a form of escape and relaxation. What is your favorite way to sit back and relax?

I love nature and I like to walk or horse ride in the Welsh hills. I’m also a sucker for a real fire, Netflix and a glass of red on a cold winter’s day, add in Mr H to that scene and I’m in Heaven.

Who are your favorite current authors to read?

I don’t have one author that I read religiously, currently I’m reading I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes. It was loaned to me by a friend and I can’t put it down.

What are your favorite books by others?

I love Bronte and Austin, always will. Also the TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE is a favourite.

Do the locations in the stories have any meaning to you?

Yes, always. I’ve been to Africa several times and have set stories there.

I’m British and have lived in England, Scotland and Wales so I have stories set there too.

I also have family in the USA, dotted around in different states, so I often write US based stories.

I like to have been somewhere if my story is placed there, it helps with the descriptions of the buildings, landscape, weather etc.

I have a three novel series called LONDON MENAGE which is set in my most favourite city of all.

Do you write in single or multiple POV?

Both and first and third person, depending on my mood and the book.

For example BREATHE YOU IN is about a woman who falls for the man who received her dead husband’s heart. That kind of gut-wrenching emotional story deserves first person to really get deep into the soul. It was, by the way, a USA TODAY Reviewer’s Recommended Read of 2013.

What do you find to be your best research tool?

Life! Oh, and Google!

Do you write under a pen name? Also, do you write under more than one name?

Yes, I use a pen name.

I also write under the name Harlem Dae, which is a co-author name with Natalie Dae, and A J Harlem which is horror/detective/suspense.

What genre do you write and why is this your preference?

Romance mainly because I just love love! And sex too I guess, because there’s a LOT of sex in my books.

Tell me something about yourself outside of writing. Jobs, accomplishments, family, quirky traits....what led to you being you?

I’m a purple belt in karate, a qualified nurse, I’ve been stalked by a tiger in Nepal, chased by elephants in Africa and bitten by a trigger fish off the coast of Borneo. I have no tattoos even though I like them. I’ve been with my husband since we were both 18.

If you are a duo writing team, how do you share the writing process?