Emma - Thanks a lot, Katie! My name is Emma Hillman and I’m a published author of erotica and romance. I live in Paris with a (nice) husband, (cute) toddler, and two (very) loud pets.
K.S. - Any interesting writing quirks or stories you would like to share with my readers?
Emma - Well, I fully believe I don’t control the reins when I’m writing. Most of the time, my characters take over and end up doing whatever the heck they want. Mind you, the books turn out more interesting as a result!
K.S. - When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? What sparked the desire to pen your first novel?
Emma - When I was a teenager, I used to ‘write’ stories in my head about me and my favorite singer. I had a huge crush, you see, and my overactive imagination kept creating different scenarios where he’d sweep me off my feet. I discovered years later that this was called fan fiction! (welcome the Internet)
I spent years writing fan fic and still own a website, which needs to be updated by the way (bad Em). I was writing a collection of short stories last year and realized I could actually turn them into a novel. ‘Location, Location, Location’ was born, and it’s still my bestseller. Who’d have thought!
K.S. - What genre do you write?
Emma - I write erotica and romance. To be truthful, I prefer writing about Rubenesque heroines so that’s my usual sub-genre as well.
K.S. - What would you say has inspired you most in your writing career? Or, who is your favorite author and why?
Emma - Oh, everything inspires me. Seriously. I have at least one idea for a book a day. It’s like my brain won’t shut up!
My favorite author these days is Kristan Higgins. She writes romance novels for HQN and I just adore her writing style. She makes me cry, she makes me laugh. I love the way she manages to make her readers feel everything her heroine does. It’s an amazing quality in a writer.
Like I said in a blog once, when I grow up, I wanna be just like her
K.S. - What does your family think of your writing?
Emma - My husband is really supportive, but that might be because he thinks I’ll be rich one day. *grins* Joking aside, they’re all very excited and proud. You should see my mother…she’s turning into my manager!
K.S. - What was one of the most surprising things you learned while creating your latest book?
Emma - That a story is never straightforward. It was supposed to be a simple novella: girl sees guy and falls in lust, guy sees girl and falls in lust, they have lots of lovely yummy sex and fall in love because everyone needs a happy ending. What did I end up with? A ménage. Yup.
K.S. - What inspired you to write your novel?
Emma - You’ve got to know a little bit more about the premise of this novel. Lucy sees her new neighbor through his open window getting, uhm, busy with himself. What she doesn’t know is that he watches her in her bathroom every evening. She’s got this blue film over her window but he can still see her silhouette…
The idea came from my mother-in-law telling me one morning after they’d spent the night at our house that she’d woken up at 3am, had gone to the bathroom and seen our neighbor…standing stark naked at his bedroom’s window. “Ewww!!!” was my first reaction, but then I started thinking about what would happen if the neighbor was hot and…etc etc.
K.S. - Can you tell us a little about your novel?
Emma - Sure thing. It’s a novella entitled ‘Man Frame’ (long story behind the title), and will be released on April 19th at eXcessica.
Here’s an excerpt for y’all:
WARNING ADULT CONTENT
She couldn’t help it. She automatically looked around and guessing where his bedroom was, she went straight for it. She stepped into the white room she’d been spying on from her own apartment. The boxes, the unmade bed, the wide-screen plasma TV she’d imagined on the wall. It was all there. Walking closer to the window, she opened it and looked at the building opposite.
Her bathroom window stood open and you could clearly see the cabinet and its tall mirror. “Oh hell.”
“I see you’ve found the scene of the crime,” he whispered in her ear just as his arms wrapped around her from behind.
She jumped, startled by his sudden embrace. “What are you doing?”
“Shh.” His voice had lowered. “I didn’t mean to startle you, I’m sorry. I’ve just been thinking about this all day long and now here you are...”
She blinked, never once realizing she hadn’t moved away from him or turned around. That she’d accepted his hold on her as if it was entirely normal. As if she hadn’t learnt his name only five minutes before. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s not play games, Lucy. You know what happened last night.” He cupped her right hip and pulled until she was turning around in his embrace.
She looked up into his eyes. Oh my, intense grey eyes. She licked her lips then sighed. “I thought you couldn’t see me.”
He chuckled. “Oh baby, I could see you all right. I’ve been watching you every night ever since I moved in.”
She started. “But that was over two weeks ago!”
His turn to blink. “You know when I moved in?”
Oops. “Yes, I saw you carrying some boxes that day. What do you mean you’ve been watching me?”
He slid his hands down her back until they were cupping her butt. Feeling her tense, he quickly added, “Every evening before going to bed, you take a shower.”
“Bath. I take a bath.”
He shrugged. “Okay. And then you apply lotion or cream or whatever on your legs, sometimes all over your body. It’s sexy as hell.”
“I keep my window closed.” She wasn’t that stupid, damn it!
“You’ve got the lights on and your silhouette is clearly visible. Believe me, baby, I’ve been watching you every night. Fantasizing about you every day too. And then last night-“
She cut him off. “Last night was a mistake! I really thought you couldn’t see me!”
“So you were jerking off in front of your window because...?”
She bit her lip. Hard. “I was watching you.”
“And?” He lowered his face until his mouth was nearly skimming hers.
“You took your clothes off.”
“Because you told me to, remember?”
Oh god, he’d heard her? “You touched yourself.”
He nodded then his tongue traced her lower lip. Softly. Too softly. “I had to. You were driving me crazy and you were so sexy, standing there naked. Touching yourself. Making yourself come.” He couldn’t stand it anymore. His mouth crashed on hers, his tongue diving in and tangling around hers as if he couldn’t wait to taste her.
K.S. - That was ... Wow! Where can we find your novel?
Emma - Through my publisher, eXcessica.com, or at most eBook vendors (ARe, Fictionwise, Amazon Kindle, etc.).
K.S. - Do you have a website, fan site, or Blog that we can visit?
Emma - I have a website I need to update (I’m consistent like that!): http://twist.wakeywakey.net, and I contribute to the Coffee Fueled Erotica blog every Friday.
K.S. - Do you have any closing advice to aspiring writers?
Emma - Sure. Keep trying. Keep writing. Keep reading. It may sound simple but it isn’t. Rejection is hard, but it doesn’t mean that you suck. When you reread your own stories, do you like them? Do they make you smile? If you write what you like, you’re already halfway there.
And now for the part you've all been waiting for!
THE BOOK GIVEAWAY!
Emma has made available ONE a free copy of her book!
All you have to do is leave a comment, indicating you want to enter, and your email address.
Only one entry per person.
Emma will pick one lucky winner (at random) from the comment section.
If you do not wish to leave an email address, please make sure you are signed in to your blogger profile so we have some way to contact you.)
Winner will be announced no later than Monday April 12th.
Good Luck!