I haven’t been reading Lydia Michaels books for long. Just this February of this year when I discovered her, a new to me author. But, once I started reading her books I knew that eventually I would read everything that she has written. Forfeit was the first book that I read and I loved it. The last book that I read by Lydia is Sacrifice of a Pawn and it has a brilliant ending, I love, love, love that book! Now I need to just find the time, to read all the other books that she has written. I believe she said she has written 35 books to date! I feel very honored that she wants to celebrate our 3rdyear anniversary & her new release with us.
Tanya: First things first, if we’re meeting somewhere to conduct this interview, where would it be? I will take a Bloody Mary if this is a morning meeting or a Dirty Martini with extra Olives and extra dirty if it is lunch or dinner that we are meeting?
I love a Bloody Mary in the morning! I’ll take one of those please!
Tanya: If there’s food involved, what type would it be?
Lydia: I love all food! So anything you order is probably fine with me.
Tanya: Then we will have Brunch! Along with our Bloody Mary’s!
Now the interview begins.
Tanya: Why do you write?
Lydia: I write contemporary romance. I started with sci-fi-fi, Amish Vampires. They’re currently in the vault since they were my firsts, but I’ll be re-releasing them sometime in the near future. All of my other work is steamy, contemporary and sometimes RomCom. I do a lot of deep emotion, so I like to write about tough subjects, depression, sexual identity, obesity, poverty. My characters tend to have real problems because real people with real problems fall in love every day and they’re the sort of heroes and heroines I like to focus on.
Tanya: How many books have you published?
Lydia: I believe I just crossed 35 this month.
Tanya: What do you do for fun or to relax?
Lydia: Ha. I’m a workaholic, but I truly love my job. But if I do step out of the office to relax, I’m a big couch snuggler in my spare time. Put me with my family and an old sitcom and I’m in heaven. I also love sharing a bottle of wine and good gossip with friends.
Tanya: Do you remember your first book? What is the name and date it was first released?
Lydia: My first book… Well, there are several answers to that question. My first book published was CALLED TO ORDER and it came out in December 2011. We took a big bus trip to the city to celebrate. But the first romance I ever wrote was called White Chocolate (New Castle series 1). That came out some time in 2012 and has since been re-released with a new cover and title and new editing. It’s now called FIRST COMES LOVE. The first book I ever wrote was called MONSTER IN MY CLOSET and it was never published. Maybe someday.
Tanya: What is the latest book that you have written?
Lydia: My latest book is Sacrifice of the Pawn (Surrender Games 1) and Queen of the Knight (Surrender Games 2). I have to say both of these, because they were originally one book, but it got so large I had to split it into two. I’m so excited about the new SURRENDER GAMES series! It’s a spin off series from the bestselling Surrender Trilogy. I’ve never done a spin off series before, but this one was a ton of fun to write and I love that it can keep going with all the different side characters from Surrender!
Tanya: Do you feel like you push boundaries with your books?
Lydia: Yes. Like I said above, I write about real topics. I’ve even written a book with a heroine who had a mastectomy. This is real. Woman are not all created to look like airbrushed supermodels, but we are all uniquely beautiful in our own way. The same goes for men. I’ve written homeless characters, characters on welfare, illiterate characters, families affected by autism, LBGTQ characters facing violence or hate crimes, alcoholism, attempted suicide, OCD, miscarriages, bullying and more. But I do promise that ALL of my books have HEAs. I just wring out every emotion along the journey. I think my books are so packed with emotion they tend to haunt readers in a good way.
Tanya: What do you want to tell the reader about yourself or your books?
Lydia: Take a chance on one of my stories if you haven’t read one yet. I have something for everyone and I’m very active on Facebook, so if you don’t know where to begin, never be afraid to ask. I’ll help you find a good starting point. I put a lot of thought into who is reading my work and what they’re looking for. I think my stories are different. They’re love stories that come from true love. They could exist in every day lives, but they’re full of extraordinary victories.
Tanya: What is the most frustrating part about writing?
Lydia: LOL Never having enough time.
Tanya: What is the best thing about writing?
Lydia: It’s my dream job. Writing is in my bones and ink is in my blood. The best part of writing is being able to get up and do it every single day, because otherwise I’d probably be in a mental institute. I need to write. It’s literally a compulsion of mine.
Tanya: Is there a genre that you would like to write
Lydia: I’d love to write YA. My daughter is eleven and she wants to read my work someday. I’d love to write something for her to enjoy that’s age appropriate. I have a few stories outlined, but no manuscripts yet. Right now I’m content to keep with romance. It’s my favorite.But I do wish I could write something for her.
Tanya: Is there a book that you regret writing or one that you want to shout out that you are the most proud of?
Lydia: I’m most proud of La Vie en Rose (Life in Pink). This book changed me. I don’t know where it came from, but I wrote it in about ten days with very little sleep in between. I tell people I didn’t write that book, it wrote me. It’s an absolutely beautiful love story and my favorite, because it was so challenging to put myself in those characters’ shoes. But it’s emotional as hell, so buckle up and grab tissues if you intend to read it.
Breaking Perfect is another one I’m proud of, because it’s so dirty and fun. I had to really step out of my comfort zone to publish it. I almost published it under a different pen name, but I’m glad I didn’t, because it’s one of my bestsellers. I just had to tell my grandmother not to read it LOL. But everyone here at TaSTy WordGasms totally should!
As far as books I regret… I don’t regret any of my novels. If I did, I never would have published them. I do, however, wish the writing was better in some of my legacy titles, but writing is a learning process. Even today my writing is getting better than it was yesterday, so I accept what was and focus on what is and keep on trucking.(But between us, I sometimes flinch at my writing in my first novels LOL. That’s why they get re-edited.)
Tanya: Is there anything you want the reader to know about you or your books?
Lydia: My books will make you feel, but isn’t that the goal? Oh, they’ll also make you pant and fan yourself and squirm, because they’re sinfully delicious!
Tanya: What’s next?
Lydia: Ah… I have so many works in progress and I’m so excited about every single one! Next will be a novella called Sugar that’s going into an anthology for the Sexy and Sassy Signing in 2018. After that, Calamity Rayne 2 will come out along with Untied, the sequel to Blind in the Mastermind series. Then I intend to write the next Surrender Games story (Toni’s story). I have a few other goodies cooking, but I can’t share anything about them at the moment. The best way to keep up with my new projects is to follow me on Facebook. You can join my private group Read Between the Wines for giveaways and VIP info.https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReadBetweenTheWinesStreetTeam Oh, and some of my older legacy titles will be coming out of the vault in 2018, so look out for them!
For shits and giggles.
Tanya: What is your favorite word?
Lydia: Cocksucker (Especially when old ladies say it. I intend to be one of those old ladies some day.)
Tanya: What is your favorite dirty word.
Lydia: Oh, ha! I suppose I answered the above too soon. Hmmm… I really love when people with accents call other people twats. I just think it’s funny. Us American’s don’t get away with using that word as easily. But hearing a Scott or an Aussie call someone a twat will always crack me up.
Tanya: What is your least favorite word?
Lydia: I hate the word “ series”, because there is no possessive form for this word and I have to talk about series all the time in my job, and I’m usually speaking about more than one,
Tanya: Is there a word we will NEVER find in your writing?
Lydia: You know, I’m not sure I can think of one. I absolutely hate derogatory terms about race or sexuality, but sometimes I have villains who use those words. It pains me to type them, but villains have to be ugly to be believable. However, I very rarely go to that extreme.
Giveaways!
Rafflecopter
Lydia Michaels is running a Rafflecopter Giveaway (ends 9/27/17) and giving away an autographed copy FALLING IN (The Surrender Trilogy 1), an autographed copy of SACRIFICE OF THE PAWN (Surrender Games 1), a “Romance Readers like it HOT Under the Covers” T-Shirt, and a $10 Amazon Gift Card! PLEASE let your followers know about it so they can enter the drawing.
To share the giveaway with your followers blogger links and codes are listed here:
Rafflecopter Surrender Games Giveaway
Release Party!
You’re Invited!
Date: September 26, 2017
Location: Read Between the Wines
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReadBetweenTheWinesStreetTeam
Details: http://bit.ly/Surrender_Games_Release_Party
Surrender Games Series Details
Book 1
Sacrifice of the Pawn (Surrender Games 1)
Surrender Games follows the emotionally charged and highly erotic contemporary romance saga, The Surrender Trilogy.
Isadora Patras has sacrificed years raising her younger siblings, Lucian and Antoinette. As her brother and sister grow more independent, she feels her purpose is lost. Aching to do something selfish and hungry for a taste of the forbidden, she takes a lover—her father’s protégé and trusted family friend, Sawyer Bishop.
In a secret affair trust is tested, respect is bartered, and reputations are on the line. Sawyer has always been Isadora’s mentor, but now it’s her move. She’s through being a pawn and ready to demand the respect of a Queen.
The Surrender Games Series should be read after The Surrender Trilogy.
Author Info
About Lydia Michaels
Lydia Michaels is the award winning author of over 30 romance novels. Her novels from the darkly compelling Surrender Trilogy were Apple iBooks Bestsellers and her work has been featured in USA Today. In 2015 she was the winner of The Best of Bucks Award and she has been nominated as Best Author in the Happenings Magazine two years running [2015 & 2016]. She is a four time nominee for the prestigious RONE Award. Her books are intellectual, emotional, haunting, always centered around love. Lydia Michaels loves to hear from readers!
TaSTy WordGasms 