The Lush series releases in Digital and print on Feb 11, 2014. If you’re interested in an Advance download be sure to comment here. There will be three chances to win, and Delilah will announce the winners on Monday!
One of the most common questions for a writer is “Where do you get your ideas?” or “What inspires you?” I find this question both the easiest thing to answer – and the hardest – because my true answers are not that romantic or inspirational.
Mostly, my ideas come from real life people – the ones I see on the streets, talk to in the mall, or read about in the news. Occasionally music or a picture will stir the muse, but basically, life inspires me.
However, being able to pay my bills at the end of each month also inspires … it inspires me to plant my butt in the chair and get my fingers dancing across the keyboard, even when it’s the last thing in the world I really want to do.
Unromantic, but it’s true.
It’s not often I can pinpoint exactly what inspired a story idea for me, but with the LUSH stories I can. The opportunity to write a single author anthology for Kensington came at the same time I wanted to shift gears a bit with my storytelling. Most of my stories tend to be on the edgy/raw side of things, but I wanted to try something …. LUSH. And yes, the title did come first.
But what is LUSH? Think erotic, romantic, decadent… that’s what I decided LUSH was. I’m a big believer that things don’t have to be explicit to be erotic. A kiss can be erotic. The brush of skin against skin, or the scent of the pillow after your lover leaves the bed, and you’re still curled up warm in bed. Those things are erotic. Those things are Lush.
With the idea of a decadent series in mind, I thought about setting. Often my stories are set in bars or cafes or retail stores…like I said, every day life. But for this, I thought an art gallery would be perfect. And not just any art gallery, but one that specialized in erotic art, and the woman who makes it happen.
I’d love to show you some of the things I found during my planning that inspired the characters and stories, but they are not for everyone’s taste, therefore, I’d like to encourage you all to surf over to my website, and visit the LUSH GALLERY built there. You can view some truly erotic photography, a sculpture that I placed in the gallery, and then follow the link to the Bookpages for some excerpts.
So, for the first time in my life, I planned a series. Yes, they are only novellas, but for a panster like me who doesn’t ever plot, this was a big deal. Okay, I admit it…I planned it pretty loosely. I just planned the character connections, and then let them run free during their stories, and I have to say, I fell in love with them all. Each story has a different feel, but they all retain the erotic decadence that defines LUSH.
Eight years ago when it released, it got fabulous reviews, but not a ton of readers because erotic romance wasn’t as prevalent as it is today, so now that I’m re-releasing them all again, I’m really hoping more readers will discover the Lush Gallery and fall in love with it, and the people who are connected to it.
Want to win an advance Download of One of these novellas? Answer this question in the comments.
If you could be an artist, what form would you work in?
Photography? Sculpting? Glass? Jewelry? Wood?
Excerpt from PASSION PLAY
I decided to give you the first meeting between the hero and heroine instead of the first chapter. I have to admit, I found this story very fun to write because both characters were very strong and came through loud and clear to me. Which is why both Dominick and Mia are in first person. Read the rest of this entry »
