Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.
Today, Lisa Oliver – Lisa Oliver had been writing non-fiction books for years when visions of half dressed, buff men started invading her dreams. Unable to resist the lure of her stories, Lisa decided to switch to fiction books, and now stories about her men clamor to get out from under her fingertips.
Thanks so much, Lisa, for joining me!
GIVEAWAY:
Lisa is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this post. Comment below for a chance to win.
J. Scott Coatsworth: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it.
Lisa Oliver: My first published fiction work was The Reluctant Wolf, book 1 of the Cloverleah Pack series. It is set in a fictional town in the US and in this story, focuses on Kane, the alpha of the Cloverleah pack and what happens when he meets his mate, Shawn. Shawn is a very unusual wolf and has a lot of people trying to kill him, so of course, we get to see the pack spring into action to save Shawn and their encouraging efforts to keep Shawn and Kane together.
JSC: Do you use a pseudonym?
LO: Originally no. Lisa Oliver is the name on my drivers license and has been for the past twenty years. However, I have started writing shorter MM paranormal romances under the penname Lee Oliver. I did that because for me, I wanted the chance to explore some shorty ideas, and for the readers, so they weren’t disappointed as many of them appreciate my longer stories like the Cloverleah and Stockton Wolves series.
JSC: How long do you write each day?
LO: I am lucky enough to be a full time writer, so I am on my computer from 9 am every morning (yes, seven days a week) and I usually get off about 6 pm each night. But the writing part is a little more difficult to explain. Promotion, social media, organizing translations and audio and all those things get done during my day as well and often I find myself typing my stories on the iPad at night, so I can get my word count done for the day. I aim for a minimum of three thousand words every day.
JSC: Do your books spring to life from a character first, or an idea?
LO: Always a character first, or usually two of them. I use pictures for my inspiration and when I find two (or three) I feel can go together and who actually “speak” to me, then I start to write. Obviously, in longer series books there are story arcs that need to be included in a story, but I never know how my stories are going to end until I get there. This can be difficult sometimes, especially if I am at a hundred and eighty pages and I still don’t know how a story is going to end, but my books are always character driven, so I let them tell me about it at their own pace.
JSC: Let’s talk about Bound by Blood – what is something we don’t know about your heroes and what makes them tick?
LO: My characters in this story actually threw me off my stride a bit for a while. Readers had met Max back in the Cloverleah pack book 7. He’s the best friend of Vadim, who, through a series of events became the Regent of the Atlanta coven and then gave the job to Max. I thought Max had it all together. He was very old, very wise and seemed to take everything in his stride. That was, until Lyle came along. Lyle is adorable – a cute little cat shifter who didn’t know anything about the paranormal world. When he met Max he even asked him if Max could remove his “curse.” Of course, the sweet young man wasn’t cursed but his learning about the paranormal world was an interesting journey. Max on the other hand, proved he had a lot of growing to do as the readers will see in the story.
JSC: Who does your covers and what is the design process like?
LO: As a self-published author I do all my own cover work. I like to think I am getting better at it. One of the most difficult things for me is finding model pictures I can use that accurately reflect at least one of my characters. I often use Paul Henry Serres Photography for my models, although in the case of BBB, I found that delightful man on Shutterstock. But because my men often have long hair, and not many models wear their hair long anymore, it’s difficult sometimes to find the face I need.
JSC: And now onto a few personal questions – what pets are currently on your keyboard – names? Pictures?
LO: I was recently blessed with two new arrivals in my household. Meet Hades and Zeus.
They are brothers, two male Rotty puppies, who in that picture were eight weeks old. They are now fourteen weeks old and believe me, I don’t want them anywhere near my keyboard. They do however, love to play around my desk (keeping me worried about my cords) or when they have tired themselves out, they rest in their beds which are in my office. They can be noisy, are definitely a distraction from my writing, but I adore them and I like to think the feeling’s mutual.
JSC: What other artistic pursuits do you indulge in apart from writing?
LO: I adore art in all forms and have a workshop set up at home, although it doesn’t get used as often as it should be. I recently took up fluid painting, which is a very relaxing and fun thing to do and I am also exploring photography and digital art.
JSC: What do you like to read in your free time?
LO: Is free time a real thing? Lol. I adore MM paranormal stories and I read them constantly. My automatic one click author list has over forty authors on it. I also enjoy mysteries, historical and science fiction, but they must be MM (or MMM, or even more M’s but MM definitely).
JSC: And finally, what are you working on now?
LO: Phew – my books to write list is growing longer by the day. But the next two books I will be tackling is the third book in the Necromancer’s Smile trilogy, called “Taking Care of Business,” and the second book I will be working on will be Book 2 in the City Dragon’s series. It hasn’t been titled yet, but it will be about Samuel. I also have a new idea for an Alpha and Omega book I am keen to get down on paper, the third book in the Northern States Pack to write (under Lee Oliver) and of course the latest installments in the Cloverleah Pack series, the Gods Made Me Do It series, the Arrowtown series and my personal favorite, the Balance series. Now you can see why I write seven days a week, lol.
Thank you so much for having me here today. It’s been a lot of fun.
And now for Lisa’s new book: Bound by Blood:
Maximillian “Max” Lipovsky has been Regent of the Atlanta coven for the past six months. His days are full of meetings and paperwork as he does his best to straighten out the mess left during the disastrous reign of Vadim’s brother Ermine. With Vadim now happily living in Cloverleah with his mate Josh, it’s up to Max to keep his friend’s coven happy and safe. Easier said than done. When it is pointed out to him it’d been more than six months since he’d fed from a willing donor, Max decides a night out is exactly what’s needed.
Lyle Roberts is tired of being scared, tiny, and alone. But mostly he’s tired. When a tall, strong man with flashing red eyes stops him getting beaten up in an alley, he thought he might have found a momentary reprieve from his rotten life. Finding out the man was a vampire, something he’d only seen in movies, Lyle decides to take a chance and asks the man to remove his curse. Only, it turns out Lyle isn’t cursed after all – unless you consider having a workaholic mate as a curse.
Lyle’s arrival at the coven seems to have brought out the worst in people. As soon as one threat’s dealt with, another one rears its ugly head. With the Alpha of the Atlanta pack pushing for a meeting, and vampires turning rogue within the coven itself, Max has his hands full. The only problem is, with his hands full, he doesn’t have anything to hold his beloved with. Will Max and Lyle ever find their HEA or will the mating curse strike its cruelest blow of all?
Bound by Blood is a complete standalone spin off story from the Cloverleah pack. Regular Lisa Oliver readers will remember Max from Watching Out for Fangs (The Cloverleah series #7) but it’s not necessary to have read that book, to understand this one. Intimate situations and some violence means this book is suitable for adults only.
#MMPNR #MMRomance #MMTrueMates
Amazon | Smashwords
Excerpt
Lyle shivered in his fur, huddled behind an overflowing dumpster, praying no one would see him. Not that anyone would care if they did. He was a complete anomaly, not that it showed on his outward form. All passers-by would see if they looked in his direction was a pure white house cat. Well, usually white. Since arriving in the city two weeks before, Lyle had fended off dogs, rats and other cats, not to mention the odd boot from a human. Now his fur was matted with mud, blood and filth from the city streets. He let out a miserable meow. My life sucks.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d had clothes on when he’d been kicked out of home. But no, his step-father insisted he’d paid for them, so they belonged to him too. For over a month now, Lyle had stayed in his shifted form, unable to work up the courage to steal clothes from any washing line he passed. I’m not a thief. I might be a pervert and an abomination, but I will not steal. Which was why he was huddled by a dumpster behind a restaurant hoping a few scraps might come his way.
He was tired, so tired. From the moment he’d shifted, Lyle hadn’t had a decent sleep. Every time he closed his eyes for longer than five minutes, his body shifted back to human, leaving him naked and vulnerable. At least it used to, now Lyle wasn’t so sure. His human perceptions were starting to fade, his life before being thrown out of home becoming distant memories. While a part of him was so tempted to jump off the mental abyss and embrace his cat life completely, a small part of him – the human part – hung on.
An evil hiss sounded behind him and Lyle turned, the fur on the back of his neck rising. A big black tom cat was showing his teeth. Great. I’ve wandered into another cat’s territory. I can’t get a fucking break. Laying his ears back Lyle hissed in return. There was a wonderful smell coming from the restaurant and Lyle wasn’t leaving his post until he’d tasted whatever it was. If that meant fighting, then he’d fight.
***
“It’s true, I tell you,” Max laughed as he and Dominic left the restaurant. Feeling more relaxed than he had for ages, Max was looking forward to busting out some moves on the nearest dancefloor. “Tobias told me the next day, just after Vadim got married. His friend had bitten him, claimed him, and then ran off to make a phone call to some other guy. What else was Tobias meant to think?”
“And he ended up with both of them. Lucky bastard.” Dominic stilled. “Did you hear that?”
Max tilted his head. “Sounds like a couple of cats fighting in the alley.” He sniffed the air discretely and his eyes widened. “It’s nasty. There’s blood in the air.” Turning, he walked into the dark alley, his eyes flashing red as he scanned for life forms.
“Max, what are you doing? It’s just a couple of cats, for crying out loud.”
“Not just any cats, Dom. Go and get the car.” Max followed the faint hint of blood in the air, drawn to it, mesmerized. He lost it for one minute, as the smell coming from the dumpster flooded his senses, but he kept going. There, in the darkness, were two cats. One black, one who looked as though he used to have white fur, but now that white was matted with blood and what looked like dust and grease. The skinny white cat was holding his own, but the black tom was bigger, meaner, and wasn’t backing down.
Max kicked a stone across the concrete and both cats froze, looking at him. Trusting his instincts, Max crouched down and held out his hand. “Here, kitty, kitty. Nice white kitty. Come on, come here where you’ll be safe with me.”
“What are you doing?” Dominic’s voice sounded behind him and in the distraction the black cat lashed out a paw, swiping the white one across the face. The pained meow tugged at Max’s heart as fresh blood welled up from the scratch. As soon as the tantalizing scent hit the air, Max knew. His long search was over.
“Fate works in mysterious ways, my friend,” Max said keeping his voice low. “Unless my nose is having a major malfunction, that little white beauty is my beloved.”
“Holy fucking shit.”
Author Bio
Lisa Oliver had been writing non-fiction books for years when visions of half dressed, buff men started invading her dreams. Unable to resist the lure of her stories, Lisa decided to switch to fiction books, and now stories about her men clamor to get out from under her fingertips.
When Lisa is not writing, she is usually reading with a cup of tea always at hand. Her grown children and grandchildren sometimes try and pry her away from the computer and have found that the best way to do it, is to promise her chocolate. Lisa will do anything for chocolate.
Lisa loves to hear from her readers and other writers. You can friend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lisaoliverauthor), catch up on what’s happening at her blog (http://www.supernaturalsmut.com) or email her directly at yoursintuitively@gmail.com.
Blog: http://www.supernaturalsmut.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lisaoliverauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wisecrone333
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/author/lisaoliver
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