I’m so excited to be returning to one of my favorite events this March: the Liberty States Fiction Writers Create Something Magical Conference in New Jersey. It’s a wonderful event that I enjoy each year and highly recommend attending. I am honored this year to be hosting an interview each week with the attending speakers! It begins today and will continue each week leading up to the conference. I hope you enjoy! ~Jillian
Today the Liberty States Create Something Magical Conference Speaker Interview Series continues with author Lyla Bellatas:
- What made you want to become a writer? How early in life did you start writing?
I’m an avid reader. Love to get lost in a book. In fact, it’s a coping tool. Early on I found when I didn’t have a book handy I’d just go into my head and create my own story. Yeah, I was one of those kids who could hang out by themselves for long periods of time.
I help myself fall asleep by playing a story in my head. Sometimes it is a replay of something that has happened but more often it’s a dream that I wish would happen, or a sparkle that’s caught my attention that I want to play with like a cat with a ball of string pushing it here and there to see what patterns emerge.
- Is there one piece of advice you would give an aspiring writer?
Write.
Sit down and start writing.
I will play out a story in my head for a time before I begin writing which is not the best way to work. Things take shape much quicker when I start typing, plotting or writing things down. One thing I’ve learned since I began writing is that I need to plot. It’s tedious but effective.
- Who is on your bookshelf?
I like dark, clever soulful stories with depth and humor. I like characters who have lived, who are scarred and who find their one true love. To that end I love Kresley Cole, Kristen Ashley, Lisa Kleypas, Cat Porter and Kim Jones to name a few.
- Can you tell us about one of the most memorable moments in your writing career thus far?
Being published. Seeing Deeper and Hotter on Amazon were red letter days for me. Opening my iPad and seeing my books on my shelf. Having people tell me they love my characters and asking about certain scenes are highlights of my career.
- Tell us about your newest release/current work in progress.
My current work in progress is a romantic suspense series. All In is the first book in the series which revolve around former SEAls who use their money, brains, social status and experience to protect the defenseless. Each book will be a standalone, featuring a different couple.
I am also working on Rougher the next book in The Real Fling Series where my couples meet on vacation and what starts as a fling quickly becomes the real thing. Rougher is set in Greece. Each book is a standalone. Deeper and Hotter are available on Amazon.
- Tell us a little about your workshop at the Create Something Magical Conference.
A BLOODY Good Time from Vampires to Mob Hits to Forensic Investigations, authors Sara Humphreys, Lyla Bellatas and Geoff Symon know a thing or two about the red stuff.
Come for fun, games and cookies as they get your heart pumping and your creative juices flowing.
Bloody good. Bloody fun. Bloody prizes. Bloody COOKIES!
Attendees will dress their naked confections in the bloodiest best paranormal, romantic suspense and forensic way they can. We will have themed party games to keep the crowd fizzy and to help distribute prizes.
BIO:
Beginning her career as an engineer, Lyla has defied convention and morphed too many times to count. She swiftly made the move to marketeer then drifted to digital design, printing CEO, and tarot enchantress, collecting stories along the way.
As with her career, Lyla’s passions have also led to many outlets. She’s a high performance race car driver and driving instructor, poker player without the face, loves to shoot pool and although she hates being away from home she does enjoy exploring new places. She was gifted her first tarot deck during a chance encounter in an elevator. Innately empathic and claircognizant, tarot unlocked the natural witch within. Lyla has taught tarot, pessomancy (reading stones) and reading junk oracles. She’s read tarot, stones and junk professionally for decades and still reads with or without a deck when the moon shines just right.
Swept off her feet by a handsome Greek she met at the race track Lyla finally found her happily ever after as a wife, mother to a spirited, beautiful daughter and writer. They live in the NYC suburbs, loving the fast paced brutal honesty, great restaurants, arts and energy that define NYC and never fail to light a new / full moon candle charmed now by three.
Lyla writes stories that are soulful, dark and erotic. Her couples fit together where they are broken. It’s their imperfections that unite them and create sexy friction, humor and love.
www.lylabellatas.com
https://www.facebook.com/lylabellatasAuthor/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14837519.Lyla_Bellatas
https://www.instagram.com/lyla_bellatas/
Shared on all my socials!!