Thank you, Lil, for chatting with me today. We have a bunch to discuss, so let’s get started…
What kind of research did you do for your book? Did you travel, use the Internet, speak with experts on a topic, etc?
I stumbled across an article on Cracked about getting paid for writing erotica. I used to write erotica but hadn’t done so for a long time and decided to take another crack at it.
What process did you go through when you picked your characters’ names for your story?
The names just came to me. There was no real process involved in creating them.
Are your characters based on anyone you know?
Not at all.
Do any of your characters take over and write the book themselves sometimes? Who?
After their initial creation, my characters always take over and write themselves.
What do you prefer: ebook or print? Why?
Formatting an ebook is easier and then I have numerous options for distribution.
How long have you been writing? When did you decide to become an author?
I started writing when I was four or five years old. I decided to take a crack at becoming an author after reading a truly awful book (not going to name it) where I started going through and correcting the multitude of errors. I though “if this person can get published, there’s no reason I can’t.” This was sometime in the mid-1980s.
What did you do when you received your first Acceptance Letter?
I’m almost entirely self-published so I don’t do the acceptance letter thing. I’ve had stories published in a few anthologies. Not as Lil DeVille, which is strictly an erotica pen name.
All writers suffer from writer’s block at least once in their career. What’s your go-to cure?
I just do something else until the spark comes back. I write pretty much literally every day and I am working on multiple projects, so if one isn’t inspiring me, another probably will. I could always go try and make candy or go outside and take pictures.
Sometimes the romance genre gets a bad reputation for being cliché and full of Fabios. How do you respond to that?
None of my characters are Fabios. I prefer idiosyncratic characters to conventionally attractive ones. In my case, what I write isn’t romance first. It’s always another genre where romance (or sex) happens. I try to avoid tropes. When I use them, they tend to be tongue in cheek.
We all need a little inspiration in our lives. What’s your favorite quote and why?
Just write. Which has been said by numerous people. Also, Keep It Simple Stupid because I tend to overcomplicate things.
Any advice for the aspiring authors out there? Particularly those who are feeling a little discouraged?
If you are going to write, write for the sake of the story. If you are doing it for money or fame, you will be disappointed. Look at what people who are successful (not necessarily famous) writers are doing. Consider becoming involved in other parts of the literary world, such as editing and doing book reviews as well as writing. Participate in writer’s groups such as Marketing for Romance Writers and Weekend Writing Warriors to make connections.
How do you market your books? What do you find more effective?
I’m still learning with that one. But I have learned that participating in promotional opportunities such as this one are quite helpful, especially if you have next to no advertising budget.
What is your favorite book? Favorite author?
I can’t name one favorite book. I started reading Edgar Allan Poe when I was six years old and still love him. One of my favorite books as a child that I enjoy to this day is The Goblin Market by Christina Rosetti. I love the whimsy of Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. When I was in my early teens, I got to know H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. As an adult, I discovered Ambrose Bierce and J.K. Rowling. For non-fiction, I was very touched by Maya Angelou’s book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?
I like to cook so long as it doesn’t involve a huge amount of prep work. I’m learning to make candy and treats.
What’s your most bizarre life experience?
My entire life has been a bizarre experience. I have ADHD, but I didn’t realize that’s what it was until I was in my 50s. I was shamed and scolded for being a “flake” for as long as I can remember. I continue to deal with the effects of complex PTSD. My endocrine system is a mess and I get very tired of people thinking that it’s okay to say nasty things about another person’s physical appearance. I wish that people would be kinder to one another.
The Carnal Invasion Collection Volume I
Author: Lil DeVille
Blurb
This collection contains the first four stories in the Carnal Invasion series. Compact but packed with heat, these naughty little numbers are sure to make fans of explicit erotic action happy.
The Carnal Invasion series features a group of naive yet naughty shape-shifting aliens who need large amounts of energy to maintain their Earthly forms. The quickest way to get the energy they need is sex, and lots of it.
Excerpt
Coming to Earth
Chapter I: Hard Landing
When the Earth invasion fleet from Gamma Iridion was wiped out by irradiated space junk, there were only two survivors. 110X1 was the spawn of the vice admiral and 1X0X1 was the spawn of the lead wing commander. The pair were notorious for being exceptionally lazy; when space junk devastated the fleet, they were napping in an escape pod, which detached from the doomed flagship and fell to Earth, landing in a sand trap at Big Putt Golf Haven at the stroke of midnight.
The pod dematerialized ninety seconds after the surprised occupants evacuated. No-one witnessed the event except for countless mosquitoes, several hundred fireflies, approximately 108 mice, one screech owl, and a young groundskeeper named Gandolph Stafford, known to his gaming friends as Gandy.
“Holy chimera crap!” Gandy gasped.
The evacuees of the pod initially appeared to be amorphous, transparent blobs. Gandy attempted to stay hidden from them. He was just twenty-five years old, and he had every intention of celebrating his twenty-sixth birthday in 172 days. The invaders, however, had far more advanced senses than humans.
Gandy watched as sparks blipped in the forms of the two jelly-like aliens. He realized they must be communicating with each other. Suddenly, the pair extended pseudopods from their gelatinous forms and reached into the brush, dragging the terrified groundskeeper to them.
“No, please, please, don’t eat me!” Gandy begged. “I won’t tell anyone what I saw, I swear!”
The aliens pressed their pseudopods to Gandy’s temples. He could suddenly understand their thoughts.
“Fear not, Terran. We have no intention of consuming you.”
“Oh, good!” Gandy replied. “I…I probably wouldn’t taste that good anyway. My diet isn’t exactly stellar. I’m a bit of a junk food junkie. I could get you something to eat, though. Would you like some ice cream? Oh. You probably don’t even know what ice cream is, do you?”
“We wish to learn of your planet. Teach us what you know.”
“Well, um, yeah, okay, sure. I just need to finish putting everything away. Is that okay?”
“Companion, I believe the Terran would feel more comfortable if we were to assume the appearance of one of his kind,” one of the aliens suggested.
“Yes, I believe you are correct, Companion. One moment, Terran. We are retrieving data from your mind to create a form that you will find pleasing.”
Buy Links
Purchase the Kindle version on Amazon for $3.99
Purchase the PDF from LBRY for 75 LBC (approximately $2.25)
https://lbry.tv/@naughtynetherworldpress:d/Carnal-Invasion-Collection-I–Short-and-Sexy:a
Readers can also purchase the first story in the collection, Coming to Earth, on its own for $0.99 from Amazon.
I will be giving away the PDF version of Coming to Earth from 13 September 2020 to 14 September 2020 on LBRY. After the 14th, the story will return to its usual price of 15 LBC (approximately $0.45)
https://lbry.tv/@naughtynetherworldpress:d/coming-to-earth:f
An LBC is a form of cryptocurrency. Over the past year, it has consistently been worth approximately $0.03.
LBRY is a decentralized content marketplace. I price the PDF versions of my work at approximately half of the Kindle price because I receive the entire amount rather than a royalty.
Readers can get a free LBRY account through the following link. LBRY members earn LBC for viewing content on LBRY as well as from selling their own content.
https://lbry.tv/$/invite/@naughtynetherworldpress:d
Author Bio
Lil DeVille is a boring middle-aged author who writes spicy stories about kooky characters. When Lil isn’t writing, she is reading or avoiding housework.
Social Media Links
The best place to find the naughty and not as naughty works of Naughty Netherworld Press is on the official Naughty Netherworld Press blog at http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com
For other ways to keep up with and support Naughty Netherworld Press, follow this link.
https://bit.ly/morennp
A truly great interview with a woman whose determination and productivity blows me away.
I agree! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂