Giveaway & Interview with Lise Horton author of Words of Lust

     Hello to all your lovely readers! I am beyond thrilled to share this giveaway and interview with you. Lise Horton has been very kind to share her thoughts and her story with me. Please read below to learn more about this very talented author. Then scroll down a little more and enter to win a copy of Words of Lust. But beware your e-reader might start to smoke with all the hot scenes. 

   Thank you so much Lise for stopping by The Page Princess tonight. We are all very excited to learn more about you and your writing. Now onto the interview.

     1)      How did you start writing? 

      My earliest memory of writing was a teenage romance I wrote with a young actress as the virginal love. The plot mimicked the film “Inside Daisy Clover” (film starring Natalie Wood and Robert Redford – great film if you never saw it!) My story was pure melodrama and climaxed with me, er, my leading lady, left alone the morning after in a motel on a dusty, deserted road. I was hooked – because I by writing I can “be” my heroines in all of my stories or, at the very least, live vicariously through them. During that same general time I developed a mad crush on a Senior class football star and composed poetry that I actually mailed to him. Long story short, at the time things didn’t work out well, but my writing must have made an impact because a couple of years later, that same guy put the moves on me looking for a date. Bottom line? I’ve always been a voracious reader and my family was a family of storytellers. Writing was the natural extension and being a total romantic, I can’t think of anything better to write about than love and passion!

2) What made you pick erotica?

            When I was an actress back a few years, in acting classes I was always paired up with the shy guys to work on love scenes. I once asked my long-time coach why, and he said he liked to pair up actors with different strong suits and mine was love scenes. I was never embarrassed by them, no matter how graphic they got (and David Mamet and Sam Sheppard get down and dirty, let me tell you!) and my comfort with the scenes helped the guys loosen up.

Still, when I started seriously writing romance I was afraid I might have trouble writing compelling love scenes that were both emotionally rich as well as sexy. I started out writing mildly sexy but my characters kept wanting me to push the envelope. When I discovered erotic romance I was immediately drawn to the intensity that the more graphic nature of these romances offered. You got a steaming hot physical relationship that was a perfect match for the heightened emotional one. I also write erotica (anyone who is interested in some smoking hot free reads, please drop by my blog, Lust In The Afternoon at http://blackrosediaries.blogspot.com/ ).  As an author I am always intrigued by the difference between an erotic romance with its happy ending, and pure erotica, which does not necessarily follow the romance trope. It is challenging, but fun writing both. What it boils down to is you have to enjoy what you write. And I can admit it – these stories get me all hot and bothered. I hope my readers feel the same!

3) Since you have become published what has been your favorite fan moment?

It has been so exciting publishing my first novel, and the support from near and far, friends and mere acquaintances, has been overwhelming. It is a terrific part of the experience and I love being able to share with so many people. This community is really an amazing one as far as being fans, and champions, of the genre and its authors. But one moment stands out. I was at a book signing here in New York City for a bestselling author and met some lovely ladies from other states. We chatted like old friends all evening and shared all our favorite books and authors. I told them I was an author when they asked what I did, and we ended up exchanging information and friending on Facebook and they kept in touch asking about my release date. A few days after the release I got a call from an area code and number I didn’t recognize, but returned the call. It was one of those ladies, calling from Michigan. She had just finished my book and told me a text or Facebook message wasn’t enough. That she had to be able to speak to me to tell me how much she enjoyed Words of Lust. That just blew me away. She took the time not only just to buy and read my book, but to reach out to me and tell me so. There’ve been a lot of great moments, but that has been an awesome highlight. I wish every author fans just like her!

4)Where did your inspiration for Words of Lust come from?

It’s really cool, actually, how it came about. I get ideas from lots of things – movies and TV, naturally, news stories, dreams, even just a photograph, or an image of someone or something I see in passing. But this came about because I read the final passage in James Joyce’s often banned book, ULYSSES. Banned especially because of the passage, the soliloquy of Molly Bloom, which clearly depicts a woman in the throes of orgasm. The final line ends:  “. . . put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes”. I’d toyed with the idea of a smart female professor and a blue collar alpha hero, and this line sparked the concept that became Words of Lust. If you read the book, look for my (hopefully) subtle tips of the hat to this soliloquy.

5) Did you have a preset limit to how far you would take Nick and Serafina's love scenes?

I didn’t, really. Since I was writing erotic romance, I knew it would be a steamy book. But as a former “method” actress, I write the same way – in other words, I get deep into my characters’ hearts and minds and let them lead me.  Sometimes they want super hot vanilla, other times, well, let’s just say my characters have been known to make even ME blush! When I got my first editorial comments back on this novel, my (fabulous) editor Alissa Davis asked me to ramp up the love scenes. The edgier scenes evolved from my edits on the novel that led my characters into more intense situations than I had initially envisioned. Beefing up the erotic through-line linked these increasingly hotter scenes. But they were important to illustrate the growing trust between Serafina and Nick, as well as their willingness to push the erotic envelope in bedroom exploration.

6) Can we expect to see the Stellato brothers soon?

I’ve enjoyed seeing readers’ comments on the family members they liked, so I certainly hope so! I fell in love with the entire Stellato clan and have plans for a love story for each of the siblings. Fortunately, my editor is excited as well. But I can’t say more or it might be a “spoiler”!

7) What are you currently working on?

I am finishing the first draft of the next Stellato siblings’ book – and this will be Alberto’s story, where we discover that his “goombah” persona is more of a defense mechanism than we are first led to believe. And when he uncovers the lusty lady that is Alice Keyes, Wharton English Department secretary, who has some dramatic issues of her own, well, let me just say I hope your e-reader cover is made out of asbestos!

In the meantime, under my erotica pseudonym, Lydia Hill, my short story “My Master’s Mark” will be published in the Spring 2014 Cleis Press anthology, “Slave Girls”, edited by the incredible editor/author D. L. King. While it is a short, dark tale, I am incredibly proud of it.  “Slave Girls” has a terrific cross section of some of the best erotica authors writing today and I am thrilled to be included.

In closing, I just want to express my thanks for the feedback you have given me, and this terrific chance to share a bit of me – and my story and characters – with your readers!

Long live romance!

Wow! Thank you again Lise for answering all my questions and sharing your writing with us.

Now if you want to be update to date on all the things going on with Lise Horton click the links below to follow her. Twitter Goodreads Facebook Website 

About Lise Horton

I am a published author of erotic romance and erotica, Past President of the NYC Chapter of Romance Writers of America, Skidmore College graduate, ex-theatrical actress & award winning cabaret singer, NYC legal assistant for an entertainment law firm, and past jobs have included apprentice diamond grader, nursing home aide, shipping clerk, Burger King checker, traffic coordinator for a women's fashion manufacturer, bartender, magazine advertising coordinator, and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade volunteer. I am a voracious reader. Of everything except self-help. Sociology, psychology, science, history, classics, romance, mysteries, thrillers, paranormal and fantasy and anything else I forgot to mention. Oh, yeah, theater history, biography and books about books. 

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