I’ve got one of my favorite authors, the lovely Lily Rede, on my blog today. Please help me welcome her. She is gratiously giving away three copies of PLAYING HOOKY in either PDF or mobi styles to three lucky commentors so be sure and comment.

1. Tell us about your current series/WIP.

Thanks so much to Cindy for having me!

I’m one of those writers who is completely incapable of working on one project at a time, so “current” is a relative term. However, this week my focus is on my series of summer shorts with my lovely friend Jane Gaudet, titled TEACH ME TONIGHT. The first one is PLAYING HOOKY, which is up now, but I’ve got two more waiting in the wings as single titles, and then I’ll bundle those with a few more for a full collection later in the summer. These are short, sexy little bites of summer loosely tied together, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them!

2. Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Ideas come from everywhere. I get my best ideas in the tub – where there are no writing materials handy, unfortunately. I’m seriously thinking of investing in soap crayons. The whole TEACH ME TONIGHT series, however, was not my idea at all. I have been sitting around, grousing over the fact that I’m not going to get a summer vacation this year (outrage!), and my dear friend Jane, who is not a writer, suggested a series about teachers and school administrators on their summer breaks. The slate is pretty full at the moment, so I suggested a collaboration, and had her plot them out. Then we tossed them back and forth a bit. When you read PLAYING HOOKY you’ll see how badly I’m dying for a tropical beach. I actually live right on the water, but it’s the chilly part of the Pacific, and nary a hot cabana boy in sight!

3. What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Be patient. And when it gets frustrating, be even more patient. It’s a long game, and there’s absolutely no rushing it. I started publishing almost a year ago and the ups and downs can make you want to throw things, but it’s also been intensely rewarding. Build your audience a reader at a time, spend your promo dollars wisely, and remember that the absolute best thing you can do for your writing career is to sit down and write another book. I’d also add be flexible. The self-pub industry is changing rapidly, and you want to go with the flow as much as possible.

4. How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?

I have thirteen short stories (a few in collections) and two Bright’s Ferry books completed at the moment. They’re all my babies, but I think I love SAFE FROM THE DARK the best. The chemistry between Evie and Colin really worked for me, and there was something about creating the world of Bright’s Ferry that was so satisfying. It’s the one I go back to when I get stuck, to remind myself that stories do come together with patience and editing. However, I have to admit that one of the things I adore about writing is the ability to fall in love with characters with every new title. My imagination is fickle and has a serious problem with monogamy, LOL…

5. How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

Never, never, never! The lines between reality and fantasy must not cross, lest all life as we know it implode at the speed of light. Seriously, I don’t like writing about people I know. It gives me the creeps. Occasionally, a character trait from a real human will slip in, but I can’t even use names. I have some weird, deep-seated fear of it coming back to bite me, so I just avoid it.

6. What do you have planned for the future?

The plan for the summer is to deal with the WIP infestation. There are four TEACH ME TONIGHT shorts coming up – one more this month, the others in July. SAFE FROM THE STORM should be out for the 4th of July, fingers crossed. I’m in the editing stage with a hot little contemporary called MORE THAN A NIGHT, which will be out soon, along with the prequel for my paranormal HEARTS OF STONE series – SHADOW OF THE RAVEN. There are a gazillion excerpts on my blog, so check it out! Lilycrede.wordpress.com

7. All self-pubbed books are rumored to be shoddily edited. What do you say to that?

I don’t know, I’ve seen traditionally published work that was barely literate, so I’m skeptical. I do think there’s more pressure on self-pubs, simply because we don’t generally have the longer editing process. It’s a trade-off – less time to get it on the shelf is probably going to mean more mistakes. That being said, it’s impossible to catch all of them, no matter how you publish. I do my best, but I certainly have those face-palm moments that are so hugely embarrassing in reading something over weeks after I published it. Best advice, proof. Proof again. Have a friend proof. Hire someone to proof. Then publish. It’s still going to have a mistake or two, but it’ll cut down on the worst of it.

8. What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

This is a tough one – there are so many new books hitting the virtual shelves on a weekly basis, and tastes are so subjective. I think the best advice is just to read sample chapters whenever possible – you’ll know if something appeals right away. Also, try new writers whenever you can, broaden your horizons and see if there’s something else you might like that’s not on the list of ten writers on your “must buy” list.

9. What is your next project and when will it be released?

Next up, MAKING THE GRADE – TEACH ME TONIGHT #2, which is about what happens when a summer school teacher with a desire to dominate gets trapped in a closet with a hunky school handyman who finds that he kind of likes being at the mercy of a beautiful woman. Hot, funny, and hopefully a little outrageous if I write it right. (This one made me laugh when Jane suggested it – she’s very much a good girl, and it’s kind of a kick to see her dark, kinky side peeking out)

10. How much time do you spend promoting your books? What works best for you?

Sometimes I think I should just stand on a street corner with a sandwich board and free cookies…LOL. Promo is definitely the hardest part for me. I tend to spend less time and money on ads and more time on social media – Twitter, Facebook, etc. I find that my blog readers love excerpts (and I do too!), and my serial romantic suspense novel SHINY THINGS, which I am sadly way behind on at the moment. It’s coming back, I swear! But in all seriousness, I tend to spend about an hour every morning on promo, maybe two when I’ve got a new release. Blog visits are fun, posting new reviews works well, freebies still help (though not as much as they used to), and a well-timed tweet can do wonders. The best thing about both the writing and the promo is that I truly feel you get out of it what you put in – the more love and care I give, the more I get back from the readers.

EXCERPT

He may have a great ass, but Jack Roman was proving to be something of an ass himself.

I don’t know what Bree was thinking, Molly thought, surly and struggling with a hot stab of disappointment, Hot doesn’t make up for jerk.

She turned to go, planning to introduce herself to the other guests and not waste one more second on Jack Roman, when the floor shifted out from under her as the yacht crossed the wake of a passing sailboat and rocked.

The honeymooners giggled, clutching each other, while the birdwatcher simply grabbed the railing and shifted his stance, but Molly was untethered. The flute slipped from her fingers with a crash, and she got a glimpse of Jack’s wide-eyed horror as she lost her footing and toppled ungracefully…right into his arms.

I’M BEING PUNISHED, thought Jack as Molly’s soft weight crashed into him, sending them tumbling down together onto the padded bench by the railing. A second jolt hit as she frantically tried to push away, and suddenly she was pinned beneath his weight, intimately pressed from thigh to chest, and holy fuck, she felt good.

Molly froze as the intimacy of their position hit her, and Jack marveled that having her under him was incredible, even though he’d never pictured them like this fully clothed, on a yacht, with an audience. Anger, frustration, and lust churned through him. Their confrontation was the longest conversation they’d ever had, and now her curves molded against him as if they were two pieces of a puzzle, as if they’d been sleeping together for years. Her breath came fast with her breasts crushed against his chest, their legs tangled, and her intimate heat seared him where his thigh rubbed her hot, sweet pussy. His cock cuddled against her stomach, his thick dumb flesh eager to show her how big and hard she made him.

Molly’s eyes were wide, and this close he could make out the specks of green and count every little freckle on her cute little nose. She wasn’t wearing perfume, but the scent of soap and Molly had Jack holding in a shudder. Then she nervously licked her lower lip and his cock jerked hard. Her eyes widened as she felt it, and the little gasp she tried to stifle puffed against his chin.

It would be so easy to kiss her.

Swearing under his breath, Jack yanked himself away, noting that the staff was rushing to help them and clean up the broken glass, noting that her hands took a moment to let him go as he pulled away. It had only been a few seconds, but his unruly body had taken swift measure of Molly Callahan and decided that she fit him perfectly.

Too bad, he sternly warned his dick, trying to get his pulse under control, you can’t have her.

“Stay out of my way,” he advised her, and turned away.

Without a backward glance, Jack grabbed a fresh glass of champagne from a passing steward and walked away from temptation to the other end of the yacht.