Erotic romance with the "Mistress of Moonlight" herself, Lelani Black...around the Cauldron!

Lelani Black, extremely popular Colorado-based erotic romancier has just released her new novel. I'm a massive fan of Lelani - as are a growing number of e-book readers around the world - and she is a terrific friend of the Cauldron.

Lelani's first interview with Wiz

Picking up the Wizphone, I caught up with her in her smallholding as she struggled to catch and restrain her flying chickens. Yes, chickens DO fly, Lelani assures me. I'll believe it when I see it ha ha.

Here's what Lelani had to day.

It has been a while since you have been around the Cauldron. Tell new readers about yourself, Lelani

Aloha, Wiz! I am Lelani Black, a happily married author who is contracted with a small New York publisher—The Wild Rose Press. I am also Indie published with my own collection of steamy Hawaiian island reads called the Island Moonlight Collection.



Whereabouts in the US are you from? And is it snowing yet?

I live in Colorado, but we have family in Hawaii. I was freezing my bum-bum off last week, and yesterday was baking hot—not in Hawaii, but in the Colorado Rockies. 

The greatest quote ever about the Rocky Mountains

A few snowflakes have made an appearance, but we do have some warm days on the horizon left.

I don't believe you, L. It always snows in Colorado! So tell us about your latest work.

This month I launched Book 3 of my Island Moonlight Collection (grins and pats self on back considering it was six months behind schedule). 

Mistress at Midnight is a secret baby, marriage-of-convenience love story with a mild paranormal twist. The heroine, Viviana, has just lost her sister who left behind an infant son. When Viviana’s attempt to adopt her sister’s baby brings her up against a brick wall, she is forced to look for, and confront, the baby’s father.   He startles her by taking full and complete responsibility for the infant. 
There’s just one tiny detail he leaves out…he’s not the baby’s father.

   
Can we have an extract? 

Funny you ask…I have one right here! The hero, Michaelis, shows up unannounced at Viviana’s workplace to ask her to marry him, purely for convenience as he is being sneaky and wants to take the baby overseas to meet his real father. (Edited for length) 

Here’s what she thinks of his outrageous proposal: 

"Viviana stared at him, not sure she heard him right.
“What did you just say?”
“I asked you to marry me.” His eyes blazed out a challenge.
“I think that marriage to me will resolve some of your concerns about bringing Charlie to Greece. Of course there will be no sex, or any other lovey-dovey stuff—”
She practically leaped over the counter, her eyes threatening to kill him if dared yap out another word.

“Outside. Now!”
She shoved Michaelis away from the bar, thrust him out the patio door and choked off the urge to kick him in the okole and down the flight of stairs leading to the employee break area. He might have a splendid ass and big shoulders but with her luck, she would aim her foot, miss, and he’d drag her down the steps with him.
“What are you doing?” she screeched when she got him alone.
Surrounded by palms and hibiscus shrubs, the break area gave them shade and privacy from the nosy eyes peering down at them from the patio.
“I came here to ask you to marry me.”
“The answer is no.”
“Why not?”
“Other than I hate your guts? I don’t want to marry you,” she sassed back at him, enraged he would think she would go along with whatever nonsensical thing he planned. "

American/ROW Readers Buy Mistress at Midnight HERE

UK Readers Buy HERE

Which is your favourite Lelani Black book? 

Wiz, I love them all. Now I do owe an extra pat of affection to Boss with Benefits, the first book I sold to a publisher. 

This is the book that got things started for me. It’s an erotic romance and one of my most enduring titles. All of my other stories owe a debt of gratitude to the Boss.

And which would you recommend new readers take next after Moonlight? 

Readers who are curious about my erotic romances typically will read Boss with Benefits.

How would you class your work? I hear it is a tad more on the romance side than erotica? Would you agree? 

The Indie books in the Moonlight Collection were written as sensual contemporary romances, still steamy but with heaping doses of story and, of course, love.

My erotic romance fiction—published through The Wild Rose Press—are all love stories, too, with added (explicit) emphasis on the physical dynamics that occur when two people take their attraction to a physical level—the bonking, if you will, hahaha.

Oh yes, the bonking ha ha...

All of my books have the elements of love and romance in them. It’s just up to the reader to decide the level of heat they want to read.

I also hear that the bottom has fallen out of the erotica market just lately, since Kobo/Nook took their decision to ban self-published novels. Is this this the case? 

Unable to sell erotica to his publisher, Bob Abercrombie
now writes healthy eating cookbooks

My erotic romances aren’t self-published, and they are on Kobo so I can’t really say what other authors who’ve self-pubbed their erotic fiction have had to deal with. 

I can say that being an author with an Indie published novel, regardless of genre, can get you dirty looks from booksellers, readers and family members who haven’t been paying attention to what has been happening in the publishing industry. 

You are a professional writer. Is the environment easier or harder than when you started? 

It’s like the Whack-a-Mole game at the arcade, Wiz. 

You nail one thing, and something else pops up to challenge you. For me, it’s easier—only a little, and only because I’ve had years of conditioning.  

I’d been with Romance Writers of America for a decade before I even published. I was with author groups and loops, some met at libraries every month, others were online. 

Romance writers gather for the after-conference
dinner

Years of exposure to the industry, to authors, established and up and coming, reading (and enjoying) all genres of books helped me so much. There will always be challenges, but I know which ones to embrace and which ones not to worry about.

Are you a Goodreads fan? 

I hope to be more active on Goodreads, but in my humble opinion, it’s not an easy site to navigate for me, personally.

You have had many battles with trolls and flamers over the years and Goodreads is a notorious bullying site that ought to come with a health warning. Can an author survive without it? 

I don’t see why not. I think most author/reader resources can be effective when used the way they’re supposed to be used. That said, like most author/reader sites, there are always a few bad apples that spoil the experience for others. Not every site is going to work for every author, either. Just putting yourself and your art out there exposes you to all manner of people, kind strangers and some not so kind. Some authors give glowing reports about Goodreads, others not so much. 

It's not for me, Lelani. So, what are you watching, reading and listening to lately? Anything good? 

I’m hooked on Game of Thrones, Wiz.

Popular sword and sorcery TV show for teenagers

Oh, and re-runs of 30 Rock. 

Legendary American officecom which 

never made the UK

How are those chickens in your back garden?

It’s chicken anarchy! Whoever told the world that chickens don’t fly never had chickens. Ours fly up onto a five-foot fence, perch in the apple tree branches, and all this with their wings clipped. They are really cute, though.

Chickens can fly!!

You are a terrific cook, I hear. What was the last great meal you cooked? 

The last great meal I cooked was beer batter fried fish with boneless strips of walleye, a meaty type of white fish caught from the depths of a cold, Colorado lake. 

This is cruelty, Lelani! I am starving now (Ed)

We drizzled the lot with lemon and sprinkled with malt vinegar, it was beyond scrumptious. Only thing missing was mushy peas.

And finally, what next for the lovely Lelani Black?

Oodles of fun things in store, Wiz.  I’m finishing up a romantic suspense novella this fall. 

I’ll work on Book 4 of my Island Moonlight Collection shortly after, and…cha-chaaaa…my erotic romances through The Wild Rose Press may soon be available translated in Japanese. Good times on the way! 

Allow me - and all the Wizardwatchers - to wish you the best of luck with this, Lelani and I hope to see you again next time.

Thanks bunches again for letting me pop in for a natter, Wiz. Thank you so much for all you do for authors, and for the Indie community!

As a treat to anyone curious about my Indie pubbed collection – Book 1 of the Island Moonlight Collection, Bargain Bride, Billionaire Groom can be downloaded FREE TODAY AND THE NEXT TWO DAYS*

*Sept 21 -23

http://www.amazon.com/Bargain-Billionaire-Island-Moonlight-Collection-ebook/dp/B008WB49HY/ref=pd_sim_kstore_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1063T2R7JPRW1KAXARNZ 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bargain-Billionaire-Island-Moonlight-Collection-ebook/dp/B008WB49HY/ref=la_B005DF36FS_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411239890&sr=1-3 

Lelani and her husband relax at home

Follow Lelani on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lelaniblack

Like Lelani on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lelani-Black/292526715027

Classic Tarantino rip off filmed a bit near
where Lelani lives

UK Author Page

Amazon Dot Com Author Page

Rochdale based Lelani Black fan devastated to
find out she'll have to wait
six months for her next fix

An Interview with Lelani Black

Lelani Black

From Hawaii to Colorado, "Lelani Black"  has made a tasty niche for herself as a romantic/eroticist. 

I've heard people say some of her stuff is definitely on the safer, romantic side, but I read "Doctor, Doctor" the other day and there is some pretty prime rib naughtiness in there.  I include a credited extract. 

Acolyte of Mary Whitehouse? Skip today's instalment.

Her sales are excellent and one cannot begrudge that - Lelani is one of the nicest women I have met on my journey into the heart of Indie. 

I don't mind when a nice person sells books: There are enough guileless illiterates making money out of the Indie game, so its good to see a balance. 

Polynesian Lelani is an absolute pleasure to talk to and can be found in all the usual places.  I got on  the Wizphone and woke her up as she pondered matters erotic in her garden writer's den in deepest Colorado.

Lelani's back garden "garret" - environment which influenced
"Doctor, Doctor"

Tell us about yourself. Who is Lelani Black?  
He he he he (soft, evil laugh). Lelani Black is a pen name for a multi-published author who writes erotic and sensual romance fiction, some of them set in beautiful Hawaii. 

Lelani's childhood playground

Whereabouts in the US do you live? 

I live in Colorado, but my true home is on an acre of property, on one of the Hawaiian islands. Does your environment influence your writing? Oh, most definitely! As with many writers, their books express bits and pieces of who they are and where they’ve been. 

"I’m not necessarily talking about the naughty bits in my stories, although I do get funny looks from friends and relatives all the time, thanks to the shenanigans of the characters in my books."(Lelani Black)

Latest
bestseller

What is your latest project? 

I just launched Book 2 of my sensual Island Moonlight Collection, Doctor, Doctor, and I have an erotic romance, All Hands Below, that’s in production at my publishing house as we speak. 

I’m just waiting on a release date for that bad boy. Whew! Deep breath. It’s been a wild ride. Trying to release 3 novel-length books in less than a year has been nerve-wracking, stressful and exciting.

Does your husband ever get jealous because of your steamy prose? 

Tee-hee, no. I actually feel bad for the man because I’ll pop into his man-cave when he’s in the middle of conquering evil wizards and trolls in the ‘shire, or whatever gaming environment he’s in, and say “Can you help me with some research, please?” and he’ll always oblige, or humor, me.

 “Go ahead, sweetness…” Dane flicked her nipple with his tongue and swiped it around the halo that framed the dusky nub. “You’re amazing. Beautiful. That’s good, honey. Let go,” he commanded, then cupped her mound in his palm at the apex of her first orgasm. He devoured her nipple and sucked on her breast until she came and came and came some more, helpless against the fiddle of his fingers. And somewhere in their delicate, yet relentless, strumming over her clitoris, he squeezed her knot between his thumb and forefinger and wiggled it. The tugging sensation of it drove her wild. Made her noisy. So noisy that his mouth fled her breast and he was forced to clamp her mouth shut in a harsh kiss to keep her quiet as she moaned, whimpered, and carried on like a woman who’d lost her marbles..." Black, Lelani (2012-12-28). Doctor, Doctor (Island Moonlight Collection, Book #2) (Kindle Locations 985-993). Littlemoon Press. Kindle Edition.

Reading the above, it occurs to me: Do you ever get embarrassed at church? 

No hahahahahahahha. I love being a writer and am proud of my craft. I’ve also yet to walk into a church and have the walls come crashing down on me. I think it’s more that I make it a point not to make others feel awkward by my chosen genre of fiction when I’m around friends, coworkers, family or what-not. 

Not everyone has the enthusiasm for the genre or the craft of writing that I do. There are still individuals who judge and trash even the sweetest books of the romance genre, so even at social functions I won’t talk about my books unless someone asks. 

Random Google Pastor Rob after
reading an extract from "Doctor, Doctor"

Do you miss Hawaii? 

I do, I do! But I go home once or twice a year, and that keeps the homesickness in check.  I’m also fortunate to live a couple of hours away from world-class ski resorts, minutes away from national parks where we hike, fish, camp and enjoy the Colorado lifestyle. 

Skiing in Colorado

There’s something magical about sitting in a hot-tub with your sweetheart, enjoying a glass of wine while snow-flakes are falling down all around you. Colorado was also once a hot-bed of dinosaur activity, so it’s been a treat for us to explore and visit areas like Lakewood/Morrison, Colorado, where dinosaurs once roamed. I also enjoy a beautiful view of Pike’s Peak from my deck.

The view from Lelani's rooftop eyrie in Hawaii, possibly

 Have you ever written, or considered writing, in other genres?

 I don’t rule that out. As it is, I’ve been able to write subtly different stories than the erotics with the introduction of my sensual books—my Island Moonlight Collection. I could have written those books as stand-alones, but I wanted to differentiate them from my straight-up erotic romances that I write for my publisher, The Wild Rose Press. 

The TWRP books have more explicit scenarios and language than what’s contained in the Moonlight Collection. Although there have been a few readers that consider the Moonlight books erotic as well.  

Is the erotic fiction hive now devoid of nectar? Or is there still honey dripping from the core? 

Wiz, it’s a thriving hive, robust as ever, as we can see from the success of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. There will always be up and coming readers whose tastes will expand, or delve, into the genre of erotic romance fiction.

Three men dressed as chickens kidnap you from your smallholding and drive you to the city limits. You are thrown in a disused chicken coop in the middle of nowhere. The men are from the Liberate Chickens Now! movement. As they leave they throw you a sack full of three books, two cd's and a dvd. (And a chicken costume as they intend to rob the bank at El Paso with you to raise much needed group funds). What would you like the sack contents to be?

Back garden chicken coop, chez Lelani

 hahahahhahahaha they’d probably kick me out of the coop in exasperation because I’d fret and carry on that there aren’t enough books in there to begin with. Okay, here’s my list.

The books:

1.            Carla, by a talented author named Mark Barry.

Carla by Mark Barry (that's my alter ego!)

2.            A coffee table book on Vincent van Gogh’s life, with pictures of his artwork.

Starry Night - magnificent Van Gogh painting

3.            The paperback of my first Indie offering, a story called Bargain Bride, Billionaire Groom. 

Aside from it having special meaning, it was a milestone in my life, to hold a paperback version of one of my books in my hands.

Maroon 5 (????)

The Best of U2

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

If Lelani could invite anyone she chose to dinner, who would it be and what would you eat? 

My dad. He died when I was very young, but what I’ve heard about him tells me that he would have been a great dad. I’d make a simple island feast. 

"Grilled teriyaki butterfish (exotic black cod) which has this delicate, buttery melt in your flavor and texture; cool, creamy macaroni salad, hot, sticky rice, island greens like lightly blanched watercress tossed with chopped fresh tomatoes and sea salt, another cooked vegetable dish made with eggplant, okra, green beans, tomatoes and onions with bits of pork or shrimp. " (Lelani Black)

Dessert would be some yummy filled pastry called cocoa-puffs, or some buttery glazed Chantilly cake from my favorite island bakery.

What does the future hold for fans of Lelani Black? 

More books! 

Short and sweet! Lelani, I wish you all the best for 2013 and thank you for coming in to see us here at the Cauldron.

Thanks for inviting me, Wiz! Love it...

Contact!

Buy Doctor, Doctor here!!

http://www.lelaniblack.com/

For more Hawaii interview fun, read "An Interview with (top indie reviewer) K-Trina Meador"

(Still the number one interview on The Wizard's Cauldron)

http://greenwizard62.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/interview-with-k-trina-meador-of-hawaii.html