Welcome back to Anna’s World. Today I have the fabulous Lila Munro as my special guest. Lila is a fellow Rebel Ink Press author and I’m so glad she stopped by for a visit. She’s also doing a Giveaway, so be sure and sign up on Rafflecopter at the end of the interview. Let’s see what she has to say about writing and her new release, A Slower, Lower Leap. The title has me intrigued already, how about you?

Let’s get started. Lila, what inspired you to choose your genre (genres)?

Lila: Well, honestly, it chose me. I’ve been making up stories since before I could spell, but my entire life, writing was put on the back burner (even though at one point I was a journalism major/PR major—my husband says I’d have made a terrific speech writer, but alas, I digress…). My first inspiration came in the form of my creative writing instructor in sixth grade then by way of my English teacher in high school. It was in college I got my first cleat cut straight up my back from one of my writing instructors there. I’d never received less than an A my entire life and I walked away from his class by way of a C that semester because he believed me to hopeless a romantic to be a serious minded “real writer.” What prompted that? One assignment, which by the way he read aloud to the entire class (most of whom were seniors and I was a mere sophomore—yes, I was one of those advanced placement kids). He said the assignment was to describe positive attributes of someone in our lives whom we could observe in close proximity and make him believe in this person. His assessment was I couldn’t be objective because I was in love with my subject. I. Was. Horrified. I changed majors…again. I was 19. At age 40 with an empty nest, a husband who was (and still is!) away most of the time and the need for me to actually retain gainful employment a non-player, I was left to my own devices as to what to do besides mingle with the quilting “bees.” (one of my hobbies—wink) I thought, “Hey, don’t I have an old manuscript somewhere around here…aaahhh…yes, there’s that box!” **cue coughing, dust flying, and a few cuss words** Well, I didn’t use any of that old crap, but between those and reading romance a lifetime, I was inspired to pen my first work, The Executive Officer’s Wife, a contemporary romance. Of course, I’ve branched out into a few sub-genres since then, but contemporary characters do and will always hold  special place in my heart—I know I loved writing Logan’s and Lizzy’s story A Slower, Lower Leap and miss them now that they’re all grown up and gone to press.

Anna: I can relate to your love for contemporary romance characters. They hold a special place in my heart, as well. Now, a tough question, we all have issues with balancing our time between writing, editing, promoting, along with other obligations and personal time. What works best for you?

Lila: When I first started I must have resembled some dancing voodoo chicken with its head cut off because quite frankly I was doing everything and managing nothing. I figured out the only way to do all these things and do them well is to treat my career like it’s a normal 9-5 job. Before I came to that resolve, I was up writing at all hours of the night (which was easy with no husband here and the kids all out on their own), sleeping when the mood struck or I just simply couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer, and eating when I remembered to do it and then it was something that wasn’t wholly good for me…the result? A fat-assed, frustrated, exhausted writer with high blood pressure. Not. Pretty. It was one doctor visit which helped me put it all in perspective and find the balance. Now I do treat my career like a job instead of a carnival ride. I get up at the same time every day, (I’ll be honest #2 on the list is supposed to be exercise, but I’ve been slack lately and am having a hard time getting back on that wagon), eat a healthy breakfast, spend the morning working on promotions, writing blog posts and that sort of thing, eat a healthy lunch, spend the afternoon writing on the current WIP, healthy dinner, then me time—reading, sewing, watching a favorite show. For me I had to be extreme and actually make myself a schedule and stick to it. I don’t like crazy, dancing voodoo chicken, but I love Lila J .

Anna: Sounds like you’ve found that balance now. We love Lila too, so we’re all happy about that. Tell me, who are some of your favorite authors? Did they inspire you to write?

Lila: I read wide variety of genres and authors. Everything from classics to women’s fiction, at one point I did read paranormal until the vampires started sparkling then I stopped. And my favorites have varied over the years as widely as the genres they write. Early on it was Stephen King and Anne Rice, Robyn Carr is an auto-download for me, Susan Mallery, Maya Banks, Virginia Woolf (I know, where did that come from all of the sudden? Hehe)…Poe! Huge Poe fan and Hemingway. And did any of them inspire me? I would think if a writer is not inspired by other writers they aren’t really meant to be one. It was Stephen King who said…and this is a loose quote…If we don’t have time to read, we don’t have time to write. I see writers who say they don’t read…This concept just blows my mind! How can you attest such a love of the written word and not read it? Odd.

Anna: Give us a little dirt about yourself. What’s your favorite guilty indulgence?

Lila: LOL—Just one? Okay I’ll try…how about this? My husband allots me a purse allowance every month. (and it is a hefty amount) I’m a Vera Bradley fanatic and have a collection in our walk-in closet which actually is about to spill over into my husband’s side and send him packing to another closet…

Anna:  Being a purse freak myself, I love it, Lila!!  Now are you all ready for a little taste of Lila’s newest romance, A Slower, Lower Leap? I know I am.

A Slower, Lower Leap

Book 3, Slower Lower series

Rebel Ink Press

February 17, 2013

Purchase Links:

Amazon               ARe                        Barnes and Noble

Blurb:

When you’re the last man standing…

 Not only was Logan Delaney the last of his siblings to remain unmarried and unsettled, his entire family believed he’d never find a wife. The baby of eight, he’s been dubbed an irresponsible player and told he’ll never amount to a hill of beans. And at one time, Logan may have been okay with those descriptions, but no more. On a quest to prove his worth, he’s spent the entire summer learning the family business, staying in at night, and saving his money. And if his family would stop meddling in his affairs and trying to dictate who he should and shouldn’t be seeing, he might just show them he’s found the one, Lizzy Jenkins.

And have a bad reputation to blame…

Elizabeth Jenkins had always known Logan Delaney existed, but he’d never so much as turned one glance her way until she handed him his butt on a silver platter in three sentences or less over the phone. After that it seemed at every turn there he was and the more she resisted the heat building between them, the bigger the fire got. Until his family interfered. And why wouldn’t they? Between Logan’s legacy and her baggage, they were a disaster in the making.

Can you be trusted with a fragile heart?

But Logan doesn’t run when he finds out about Colby. In fact, he embraces Lizzy’s special needs son and defies the advice of everyone urging him to leave Lizzy alone. But after one moment of weakness, Logan finds himself knee deep in a marriage complete with the little boy whose father bailed before his birth and Lizzy’s grandfather, who needs constant care as well.  Then there’s the man who just might be the demise of it all.

Excerpt :

With a mixture of emotions swirling through her, Lizzy watched the same storm overtake Logan’s features which was brewing inside her. A veritable lightning bolt passed between them as soon as he’d touched her. She knew she’d always been attracted to Logan, but the instant heat still scalding her skin from his fingers left her unsettled. It was but a mere couple of hours prior she was trying to convince herself she could do with some sort of quickie sexual gratification, although she’d admitted it could never be with Logan, and now she wanted nothing more and the door to her emotions was wide open leaving her vulnerable and believing maybe they could have both. And just as she was trying to tell herself to stop trusting the lies her deprived body was concocting, Logan decided to try to convince her he might be interested in more as well.

 Where was Logan the player and who was the imposter sitting across the table from her who could probably talk her right into his bed with one sentence or less and keep her coming back heartbreak on the horizon or not?

 As her pulse slowed a bit, she turned to look at Colby and reminded herself why she couldn’t be playing horizontal Twister with anyone let alone Logan. And she sure couldn’t go letting Colby think there was a reason to get too comfortable around him. He seemed to like Logan and the Delaney herd of kids and she didn’t want him getting his feelings hurt because she couldn’t control her hormonal urges. What if she made the mistake of screwing Logan’s brains out, things didn’t work out, and that made it awkward to be coming around anymore? This was the first time anyone had really taken them in and welcomed them unconditionally and she didn’t want to rob Colby of it.

And here’s the scoop on Lila:

Bio:

Lila Munro currently resides on the coast of North Carolina with her husband and their two four-legged kids. She’s a military wife with an empty nest and takes much of her inspiration for her heroes from the marines she’s lived around for the past fifteen years. Coining the term realmantica, she strives to produce quality romance in a realistic setting. Her genre of choice is contemporary romance that spans everything from the sensual softer read to BDSM and ménage. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading everything she can get her hands on, trips to the museum and aquarium, taking field research trips, and soaking up the sun on the nearby beaches. Her works include The Executive Officer’s Wife, Bound By Trust, Three for Keeps, the Force Recon series, the Slower Lower series, the Identity series, and the Private Collection. Currently she is working on two new series set to release summer of 2013, the At Your Service line and the Steele Image line. She’s a member in good standing of RWA. Ms. Munro loves to hear from her readers and can be found at Realmantic Moments   Facebook    Goodreads   Twitter You can also contact her via email at lilasromance@gmail.com and you can find all her works at: Amazon   ARe  Nook    Bookstrand

I hope you’ve enjoyed this interview as much as I have. Thanks so much, Lila, for visiting with us today and sharing a little about yourself and your book! Don’t forget to sign up for Lila’s giveaway!!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c5869e2/

Until next week,

Love, Anna 🙂