Please welcome Lyrical Press author, Emly Forrest! Emly writes erotic romance and mainstream romance so its really fabulous to have such a versatile writer visit today. Looking forward to learning more about you and your writing, Emly - take it away!
1) What is your writing routine? I like to do it one word at a time. Seriously, that’s how I approach a project. If I think too much about the entire scope of writing a novel, I become intimidated. So, I simply think about small bits of writing each day. I don’t have a routine, per se, but I do make myself write at least five hundred words a day. I’m happier if I can write a thousand, but I try not to beat myself up if it doesn’t happen.
2) Which author/s inspire you to write? Gosh, there are so many: Barbara Kingsolver, James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane, Jane Hamilton, Elizabeth Gilbert, Stephen King (and this is just the short list). You might think that last one is a mistake or at very least a guilty pleasure, but in my opinion, King is one of the finest novelists alive today. His ability to depict characters strikes me as nothing less than magical. If I could write an iota as well as any one of these people, I’d die happy.
3) Which is your favorite romance subgenre to read? To write? Erotica on both counts. However, I don’t read a lot of romance fiction of any kind, even though I write it. Or maybe I should say because I write it. I’ve always had the notion that I’d have trouble finding a personal voice if I read a lot of it. I do enjoy it (who doesn’t?), but especially since I’ve been writing it, I shy away from reading it.
4) How do you deal with criticism/rejection? For about thirty seconds, I become a screaming meeny. Then I slap myself and remember that failure is a necessary part of success. I’ve been a copywriter and copyeditor for more years than I like to think about, so have been redlined by some of the best and worst in the business. I don’t think I take it personally anymore. Unless the criticism is just plain mean spirited or comes from someone who clearly didn’t read the work. Then I have issues.
5) What do you expect from an editor? Objectivity, experience and a touch of gentleness. I’m so blessed to have Piper Denna as my editor at Lyrical Press. She’s all of those things and more. I’ve read hundreds of acknowledgments in novels that speak to a phenomenal editor and how they made the author better than they are. That’s exactly how I feel.
6) 
Tell me about your latest release. The Last Resort is a road-trip adventure of experiences and sexual redefinition for one thoroughly likable protagonist. Margaret Murphy Ryder (Murph to just about everyone) has gone through a painful divorce and decides that she’ll take the motorhome she got in the settlement and go on the road. It’s her “last resort.” The story describes her adventures and affairs (one with a much young man) along the way. She winds up in a Gulf Coast town in Louisiana, buys a run-down RV park (named The Last Resort), and bumps into an incredible opportunity for a do-over with a long-lost love. Part romance, part erotic fiction, part chick lit, the story has wide appeal.
7) Tease us with a blurb or short excerpt. Here’s a short excerpt: On the third day of my stay, Del asked me if she might come to my trailer later in the evening to discuss something with me. I agreed and suggested she bring Tony.
“No,” she said seriously, “this is something I’d like to keep between us. Just the two of us.”
“Okay, come whenever you like. I’ll have a bottle of wine open and ready.”
Del winked. “It’s a date.”
I know I must have winced, given what she had revealed about her bisexuality. Was this a date? Nah. I didn’t think so. Del knew I was strictly straight. Wasn’t I? I had to admit, she was a very attractive woman, disability or no disability, and if I had any inclination in that direction, she would be the kind of woman I’d consider sleeping with. But that was crazy, right?
Flashes of a college encounter came to me then, a chance threesome with one of my best girlfriends and a guy she’d picked up at some bar. We were all at her apartment, more than a little drunk. The guy was supposed to be with Sue. She’d found him and invited him. But when she went to the bathroom for a minute, he grabbed me and started fondling my breasts. I wasn’t adverse to his intentions, but girlfriends come first, in my book, so I pushed him away.
“Come on, Morph,” he slurred, “you and me, huh?”
“It’s Murph, you idiot, and it ain’t gonna happen. Sue expects you to be with her. I’m not getting in the way of that.”
“What about the three of us? Are you into that?”
I thought a minute, though not too clearly for all the alcohol I’d consumed. A three-way with my friend and some guy? Oh, hell, why not? Sounded like a good plan at the time. “It’s okay with me, if it’s okay with Sue.” By that time, she’d come back into the room and had heard most of the exchange.
“It’s okay with Sue.” She smiled at me, then briefly at the boy.
8) Which is your favorite character in the book? Why? No question about it—I’m crazy about Murph Ryder, the protagonist. She’s pragmatic, persistent and adventurous. Just the kind of woman I’d like for a best friend.
9) 
What is next for you? A novella to be published in March 2011 by Lyrical Press. It’s part of a special collection of works that Lyrical is putting out in time for St Patrick’s Day. My particular contribution, Irish Ice, features an older woman/younger man romance. The younger man in question may have ties to the Irish Republican Army and a string of murders occurring in Boston. Danger, intrigue, and a hot liaison inform the plot.
10) What are you working on right now? A couple of things actually. One is novel that takes place in the wilds of Montana. Its character list includes a hot park ranger who happens to be a werewolf, four school teachers, and a gone-south (as in crazy) ex-husband. I’m also playing around with a novella about a guy who owns a strip club. He’s a rounder (do people still use that word?) and can have any woman he wants. Until he meets the one who really matters.
11) Your biggest piece of advice to aspiring novelists? Write. Keep writing. Every day. Whether it’s going well or not. Just keep writing. One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard was “Allow yourself to write a bad first draft.” I can’t recall who said it, but the idea stuck with me. Writing is a skill like any other. The more you do it, the better you become.
12) Where can readers find you? In the virtual world: www.emlyforrest.com, www.emlyforrest.blogspot.com, emlyforrest@gmail.com
In the real world: look for me on a Gulf of Mexico beach in east Texas in the winter and the backwoods of northern Michigan in the summer.
And thanks for taking the time to let me spout about, well...me!
You're so kind to host me today, Rachel. It was fun and interesting to learn we share similar daily writing goals.
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Wonderful Interview and the books sound fabulous. Irish Ice sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cornelia! I hope readers like both of them. I certainly enjoyed writing them.
ReplyDeleteEmly
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