When did you first realize you wanted to become a Writer/author?
Well, I always made up stories in my head as long as I can remember. By the time I was eight, I had a teacher who introduced me to the joys of writing and ever since then I knew it was what I wanted to do with my life.
Where do you get your ideas for your book?
I got the initial idea for Stake-Out, book one in my Paranormal Detectives Series, while watching the TV show Motive. I wondered what might happen if a cop’s perp turned out to be a vampire. From there it blossomed naturally. For the rest of the series, I didn’t get the ideas. I fully blame my characters for wanting more than I was originally willing to give and running amok in my head. When I write Danny and Angelica, I don’t feel like it’s me writing, if that makes any sense. They take the reins, I am just the vessel.
What kind of things do you enjoy when not writing?
I love music, so concerts are a favorite when I’m up to going. Cooking is another big love of mine; I grew up in an Italian/Sicilian family and food to me equals love. I also enjoy getting tattoos, reading comics and manga, and watching anime and the CW Network. I’m kind of boring, aren’t I?
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I have written more than are published, so out of my four currently published works, I would have to say Life Sentence, book three in the Paranormal Detectives Series, is my favorite because it was a huge turning point not just for the characters, but for me as a writer. I can’t give too much away, obviously, but the book was my longest at the time of writing it and really had me broaden my horizons with the new characters I introduced.
Do you have any suggestions to help others who have a passion for writing?
What I have to say might not be original, but it’s the truest advice I can give anyone, especially people who don’t write in popular genres (like myself). Be you. Find your voice, listen to your characters, and don’t let people change you. Writing is a beautiful art form and no matter the rejections, no matter the criticism, don’t ever change just to fit a market or a publisher or an agent’s guidelines. Walls are for ordinary houses, but the mind is a palace and its confines cannot be shrunk to fit inside someone else’s box.
What do you think makes a great story?
There are many factors to having a great story. You have to have an entertaining plot. Never mind if it’s been done before, because every author writes differently. Stephen King, Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris, and Darren Shan all write vampires. None of them write alike. So take your plot and run with it.
After a good plot, you also have to have great, realistic, relatable characters. No one likes stereotypes anymore. Forget princesses needing rescuing or knights in shining armor. Depth and realism--even in fantasy--are necessary.
Which Writer/Authors inspire you?
As a child I was inspired by Ann M. Martin and Judy Blume. In my middle school years I discovered vampire authors Ellen Schreiber, Darren Shan, and Zac Brewer, and they really shaped how I write and why I choose the material that I do.
As I got older, Terri Garey, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King (of course, I just love that man!), and JK Rowling also added their books to the mix that made me realize what it took to be a good storyteller, especially with horror, paranormal, and fantasy.
What are you working on at the moment?(optional)
I am currently writing my sixth novel, Never Again, which will be a standalone spin-off of my PDSeries. It releases on December 5th from Vamptasy Publishing and follows the story of a character not yet introduced in the main series named Sean. He is a male siren and the book will follow his journey from Bethlehem to World War Two and beyond, fighting monsters both human and demonic, and the biggest monster of all: hate.
What genre are your books?
My main series are paranormal mysteries. Some categorize them as PNR, because the central characters’ love story is a big part of the plot, but I like to think that the violence and the mystique overpower that.
Aside from paranormal/horror, I also write LGBT erotica. I have a few erotic short stories out, and on April 27th will release my short A Bloody Legacy, which is based off of Dracula and is a lesbian BDSM tale. I think that, no matter what main genre I write in, there will always be some type of inhuman character, be they vampires or witches, or whatever.
What drew you to the genre you write?
I have loved vampires ever since I was a toddler, so it was natural that they would be my favorite subject about which to write. Horror and paranormal have so few limitations, it lets my imagination run free. There’s something so delicious about the tingle of fear before an attack, the adrenaline of a fight, the raw emotions that surround character death. It’s addicting.
As for erotica, I never had any interest in it until Christine Hughes, one of my colleagues at my publishing house, had an open call for an anthology called Death Love Lust. I immediately had an idea and that began my little affair with LGBT erotica.
Which Actor/Actress would you like to see portraying the lead character from your most recent book?(any book you like)
For my Paranormal Detectives Series, I’d love to see Louis Ferreira (Motive, Breaking Bad) as Danny Mancini and Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) as Angelica Cross.
Do you write full-time or part-time?
Full-time, while enduring therapy and healing from various emotional disorders including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
It’s never as nice on the page as it is in my head. I always feel my skills are inadequate to depict the scenes my imagination creates. My hands and my brain don’t seem to work well together, and that can be a struggle.
Any tips on how to get through the dreaded Writer’s block?
I either change my playlist, work on another part of the same project, or I write fan fiction. One of those things can usually knock me out of it.
Do you read much, and if so who are your favorite Authors or genres?
I read constantly. I read all of the authors I mentioned above, plus Ransom Riggs, multiple classic authors, and many of my contemporaries in the indie scene like Rue Volley, TL Travis, and Piper Kay.
Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?
Just that, when it comes to my books, they’re not what you’d expect from my genre. I give them all a very personal touch, from the race to the setting to the disorders some of the characters suffer from. They’re not just paranormal books, they deal with xenophobia, racism, reincarnation, depression, and much more. If readers decide to give my series a chance, I hope they see and enjoy that.
How can Readers discover more about you and your work?(please provide proper links)
You can purchase my Paranormal Detectives Series on Amazon Kindle (they’re free if you use Kindle Unlimited) and in paperback on Amazon as well: http://smarturl.it/ParanormalDetectives
They are also available in paperback on Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million.
My other works can be found at http://smarturl.it/LilyLuchesiAmazon
Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview 😊
Thank you, I was happy to be here! xoxo
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