Thanks
so much for inviting me over to your lovely blog today, Erzabet, it’s great to
be here. You kindly sent me a grilling so here goes with the answers J….
1. How did you start writing erotica? I
moved from London to the countryside 6 years ago. This meant leaving my job as
a nurse and while I was looking for something else I found myself stumbling
onto a creative writing course in the local village hall. I went along to make
friends more than anything but before I knew it I was hooked on writing. I was
definitely the teacher’s pet and the class swot. I soon gave up trying to find
a nursing job (of which were in short supply in rural Wales) and Mr Harlem was
willing to support me while I got my writing off the ground. The decision to
write erotic romance came when with the first piece of sexy fiction I ever
tried my hand at I won first place in a competition. Madam President will always be a very dear story to me for that
reason and you can read it for free on my website.
2. What is your spiciest scene ever? I
co-author with Natalie Dae, who is by the way, just completely awesome, and
I’ve learned lots from her. When we write together I think we both feel able to
push boundaries, we’re kind of like a safety net for our imaginations. We’ve
flirted with taboo subjects, in That
Filthy Book we have a rape fantasy played out, and in our new, soon to be
released trilogy Sexy as Hell we have
certainly gone for some dark material. Anything
for Him published by HarperCollins is very gritty, it’s not romantic, it’s
about obsession and using sex not just for pleasure but also to get what you
want.
Woo hoo! Put me on the review list for those! Naughtier the better!
3. What are some of your hobbies when you
are not chained to the computer? I have dogs, all rescued, and I love to walk
on the beach with them. I go for miles most days as it helps stave off writer’s
bum!
I knew we had something in common! (Besides a love for all things smutty!) I have rescue dogs as well. They pretty much take over my life.
4. Open your book and tell us what is
happening. The book I’m writing now? Okay, the hero and heroine are just
getting off a gondola and entering a masked BDSM ball in Venice! Great scene,
can’t wait to get to the good bits!
5. Tell us about your Naughty Nurse story.
(Make it good. I just
poured myself a new glass of ice water.)
*cheeky grin* I LOVE my naughty nurse Sharon and her patients and of course
the doctors and the mortuary security guard she does it with on the autopsy
table, hee, hee. They are all great fun and I would be lying if I didn’t admit
that some of them are drawn from real characters from my nursing days. This was
such a good book to write, like taking a trip down memory lane at times. I’m
completely thrilled that I’ve had reviews from nurses saying how authentic Confessions of a Naughty Night Nurse
feels, that was something I was striving for.
*fans face* My, my. I have to read this one right now!
6. What are your favorite types of
characters to write about? Flawed characters. I’m not into perfect heroes
and heroines. I like them to have something to overcome, be it a past, a
trauma, an obsession. My latest novel Breathe
You In is about a girl recovering from the death of her husband and a guy
recovering from a serious heart condition. It’s got a great twist that allowed
me lots of real high-octane emotional stuff because he just happens to have her
husband’s transplanted heart. Breathe You
In is a story of love and hope and finding passion and a future after life
has thrown you a curve ball. It’s not a mega-kinky book but it is very sexy and
Ruben just melted my heart as I wrote his story. Having a hero who has a little
vulnerability about him is incredibly sexy and it makes the bedroom scenes all the
more poignant, especially when lust takes over and things get hot and frantic.
7. If you had three things on your writing
desk at any given moment
what are they? In the winter – a candle
(cinnamon), a pot of tea and a pack of tissues. In the summer – (I like to
write outside weather permitting) a vase of flowers, a glass of lemonade and a
candle (citronella to keep away the bugs, I hat bugs!)
8. Beverage of choice while writing?
Tea, tea and more tea. I’m not a coffee drinker, it makes my heart go funny. I
do like my wine but if I write after wine I tend to think it’s the most
brilliant literature I’ve ever produced but the next day, without fail, I have
to hit delete!
9. What book are you reading now? A
Jack Reacher Novel. Love him!
10. What projects are you working on?
Oh, now that is a question that makes my head spin. Okay, I’m just coming to
the end of the Sexy as Hell trilogy
with Natalie Dae, that’s the masked ball scene in Venice. I’ve also just
contracted Grand Slam another co-author
with Lucy Felthouse to Ellora’s Cave and we’re playing with a sequel. I have
edits on my 5th HOT ICE novel High-Sticked
that I really should be getting on with as that will be hitting Ellora’s Cave
very soon, and I also have a rumbling plot idea for a follow on story for The Glass Knot which is a book I
self-published last year and has had such a positive response from readers that
I just can’t stop thinking about The Silk
Tie and how that would work out – see, my head is spinning, there just
aren’t enough hours in the day, not if I want to have any kind of real life
outside of my imagination. LOL. But I’m not complaining, it’s just how I like
it, busy, busy, busy!
Thank
you so much for inviting me over, it’s been fun. I’ve added a little information
on Breathe You In, I hope you’ll check it out…
Lily
x
Blurb for Breathe You In
Soul-aching
desire was just the beginning!
If the road to Heaven starts in Hell then I
was ready to start climbing my way out and Ruben Strong was the man to
accompany me. With his devastating good looks, seductively sexy charm and lust
for adrenaline he was sure to make it a sensual and erotic experience as well
as one to re-awake the passionate, throw-caution-to-the-wind woman I’d once
been.
I’d given Ruben something, though, without
him realizing, and that gift had come from the man I’d loved before. But I
couldn’t tell Ruben. I had to keep that a tight secret even as our naked bodies
wound together, sought out pleasure and hit the dizzy heights of ecstasy as
one. Because Ruben had my husband’s heart, literally, and that heart was still
in love with me, so it seemed, and now I was in love with Ruben.
Emotions tangled with bliss, and fears were
locked away as I surrendered to the touch of Ruben’s hands, the taste of his
skin and the sounds of his pleasure. I couldn’t deny that Ruben had brought me
back to life the same way I had him and there was no way I was giving up that
feeling, not for anyone.
Excerpt from Breathe You In
“Oh
my goodness, I swear that one is a Marshmallow Man.” I pointed out of the
window and laughed. I’d never seen anything like it.
“Where?”
Ruben looked, saw the hot-air balloon I was flapping my hand at and chuckled.
“It looks like the one from Ghostbusters.”
The
sky from Ruben’s flat—he had an amazing view of the park, which meant the
festival too—was a multicolored sea of inflated hot-air balloons. But few were
traditional shapes, the majority were novelty, and I marveled at how some could
fly they were so big.
“This
is crazy.” I sat back on his sofa that we’d spun to face the window. It was
like having our own private box. Down below people milled about; kids eating
candyfloss, toddlers in buggies pointing excitedly, couples strolling hand in
hand. A carousel and a Big Wheel had been set up. Music and laughter and the
whoosh of flames lifting the balloons from the ground breezed through the open
window.
“More
wine?” Ruben asked.
“No,
I’m fine.” I set my glass on the table.
We’d
enjoyed our own indoor picnic. Not because Ruben wasn’t well or that we didn’t
fancy mooching around the festival, but because we could enjoy it from the
comfort of his home and that was a unique experience.
“Last
year they had a McLaren balloon, shaped like a Formula One car. It was huge,
probably the biggest, and I think it went the fastest too.”
“Why
does that not surprise me?”
He
reached for my hand, kissed my knuckles. “I would have organized for us to go
up in one if you’d wanted to.”
“No,
I don’t think I could cope with that. I like my feet firmly on the floor.”
“Of
course.” He put his arm around me.
I
snuggled in close, loving his body against mine. He’d only spent forty-eight
hours in hospital, and then was back at work the next week. His strength had
returned quickly, and we’d been spending as much time as possible together.
Enjoying our new romance and the closeness that went with it. We’d both had
enough of battling on alone.
“Next
weekend,” I said, tracing my finger over his belly, rucking his t-shirt as I
went. “My friend Felicity is getting married.”
“The
girl whose hen night you went to?”
“Yes,
that’s right. Well, I told her about you and…” I paused. “I don’t know if
you’re up for it, but she wants you to come to the wedding. With me, as my
guest.”
“And
that makes you nervous.”
I
looked up at him, stilled my finger. “A little.”
“Because
they’ve only ever seen you with Matt?”
How
did he just get that? I didn’t know, but I was grateful that he did and I
didn’t need to spell it out for him. “Yes.”
“Well,
you could always make up some excuse for me, say I’m off bungee jumping that
weekend or something.”
“No,
I want you there. I don’t want to spend the weekend without you, and besides,
Matt’s gone, it’s us now, Katie and Ruben.”
“Yes.”
He stroked my cheek. “It’s us now.”
“I
want everyone to know it.”
“Me
too.” He smiled.
“So
you’ll come?”
“Absolutely.
And I’ll be on my best behavior.”
I
rolled my eyes. “Right, because the girls are always so well behaved.”
“What
I mean is, I won’t do any of this.”
Suddenly
I was on my back and he was over me. I giggled and wrapped my arms around his
neck, my legs around his thighs. “I should think not, Mr. Strong, and certainly
not in church.”
“Mmm,
but maybe later, at the reception.” He pressed a kiss to my lips. He tasted of
wine and the salty crisps we’d been eating. “In our hotel room, maybe then I’ll
have my wicked way with you and do all the things I’ve been dreaming of doing.”
“I’ve
unleashed a monster,” I said with a smile and then groaned when the hardness of
his cock, through our jeans, pressed against my mound.
“You
really want to see my monster?”
“I
think I’d better. See if it can ever be tamed.”
He
kissed me again, slanting his head and probing deep. He swept his hand up the
inside of my t-shirt, squeezed my breast and then tweaked my nipple through my
thin bra.
I
became lost in him. Every sense was focused on Ruben; a hungry need settled
between my legs.
“I
want you now,” he whispered hotly. “Here.”
We’d
made love several times since he’d left hospital, but in bed, at mine, quiet,
slow, intense, the same as the first time. I wasn’t complaining, it was
wonderful, but this was new, this was middle-of-the-day sex, and damn, I wanted
some.
“Yes,”
I said, “fuck me.”
He
raised his head, stared down at me. A devilish smile curled his lips. “Say that
again.”
“What?”
I pushed his flopping hair back from his forehead.
“What
you just asked me to do.”
Ah,
he liked dirty talk. I could do that. “Fuck me, Ruben, fuck me now, make me
come, make me scream your name.”
“Oh,
Jesus.” His mouth went slack. “Get naked.” He reached for his top, yanked it
off, his face now a picture of urgency.
I
did the same with my t-shirt, wriggling on the sofa and then tossing the
material aside.
He
dipped his head to my chest, tugging at my bra.
“Oi!
Get a room!” shouted a deep, bellowing but distanced voice through the window.
We
both froze.
“Shit,”
Ruben said, screening my body with his. “What the…?”
I
looked outside. Not thirty feet from the flat was a huge basket with two men in
it. A massive flame burned bright behind them, sending an orange glow over their
bodies. They wore flat caps but didn’t look particularly old—one had a black
moustache, the other was holding a rope.
“I
have got a bloody room,” Ruben shouted. “Bugger off!”
The
men laughed, the flame burned brighter, and they started to lift upward.
“Have
fun,” the one with the moustache called with a wave.
“We
will,” I shouted, managing to wave back as they went from view.
Ruben
looked down at me. “I’m really sorry about that, I had no idea they’d come so
close.”
I
swatted his shoulder and grinned. “It was funny, they couldn’t believe their
eyes. They thought they were going to see some action.”
“Pervs.”
Ruben grinned. “Now, where were we?”
“You
were just about to fuck me.”
“Damn,
you have such a filthy mouth.”
“And
don’t you know it.”
“Not
as much as I’d like to.” He unclipped my bra, sat up and squeezed my breasts
together, his thumbs toying with my nipples.
I
arched into him, adoring the sensation of him touching me and gazing so
adoringly at me. “So how about I tell you to get your cock out,” I said,
reaching for his waistband. “Get it out and show me what you can do with it.”
“So
sweet yet so dirty.” He grinned. “But hang on.” He stood, went to the window
and drew the curtains. “Just in case we have any more voyeurs. I don’t want
them seeing what I’m about to do with my cock.”
“I
like the sound of that.” I licked my lips.
“Do
you now?”
He
looked tall and hot standing over me and slowly undoing the buttons on his
jeans. Long arms and legs, strong fingers, the perfect spread of body hair and
an air of absolute determination about him.
“You’d
best take your trousers off, or they might get ripped,” he said, nodding at my
jeans.
“Yes,
sir. Whatever you say, sir.”
He
rolled his eyes, groaned. “Now you’re just messing with my head, woman.”
I
giggled, sat and shoved off my jeans. “I can mess with any bit of you that
needs dirtying up.”
“Will
this do for starters?” He fisted his cock, moved toward me and slotted one hand
in my hair.
Sat
on the sofa, I was the perfect height to take him into my mouth.
“As
long as I still get the main course,” I said.
“You
can count on that.”
I
eyed the slit at the end of his dick—dark and deep. My mouth watered for the
flavor of him. He held me tight, and I opened up to take what he offered.
“Ah,
yeah, that’s so hot to watch.” He groaned as he sank in.
My
heart was tripping. This was a new side to Ruben, more dominant, more
assertive. I liked it, a lot. I could be his to do whatever he desired with; it
would suit me very much. I just wanted to make him happy, and I knew full well
he’d make me happy.
Lily Harlem Bio
Lily Harlem is a multi-published, award-winning author of
contemporary erotic romance. She lives in the UK with her husband and a bunch
of animals, all rescued, and loves to spend her days immersed in imagination.
Her books are a mixture of full-length novels and short
stories, some are one offs, some are sequels or part of a series (all can be
enjoyed as stand-alone reads). What they each have in common are colorful
characters traveling on everyone’s favorite journey — falling in love. If the
story isn’t deliciously romantic and down and dirty sexy, it won’t be written,
at least not by Lily. So with the bedroom door left well and truly open you are
warned to hang on for a steamy, sensual ride - or rides as the case might be!
Links
Buy Links for Breathe You In
Amazon US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CEIXC2E
Lily Harlem Links
Website http://www.lilyharlem.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/lily_harlem
Facebook author page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lily-Harlem-author-page/200182030094568
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/lilyharlem/
Thank you Lily for spicing up the blog today! It has been a joy having you over and can't wait to hear about your next release very soon!
Thanks so much for inviting me over today, Erzabet :-)
ReplyDeleteLily x
Thanks Lily!
Delete