Lucy Felthouse has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule to chat with us…

Lucy what is your most current work out?
My most recent release is The Best of Lucy Felthouse from Xcite Books. It’s a collection of my stories which have been published in previous Xcite anthologies.

Tell us a little about The Best of Lucy Felthouse and what inspired you to write the stories in this anthology?
Well, there are five erotic short stories in this collection, taken from previously published Xcite Books anthologies. Here’s a little blurb for each tale:

Fantasy Assignment
She loves a man in uniform, so being sent to write a feature about life in an army camp leaves Charlene feeling all her Christmases have come at once. Her guide round the barracks is the very sexy Corporal Matt Stokes, and as soon as she sets eyes on him, Charlene can’t wait to see his privates on parade.

A Lucky Man
It’s an awful lot like Christmas, isn’t it? That’s usually the time when you just cannot decide whether you’d really prefer a leg, or a nice mouthful of breast. And even admiring a round and firm parson’s nose only distracts you all the more, making it difficult for you to try and explain why you feel so bad about having to choose just the one to enjoy.

Posh Boy
Accents make her horny, particularly posh ones. So when our narrator calls a friend to wish him a happy birthday and hears Nathan’s dulcet tones in the background, the fun really begins. The pair exchange telephone numbers and chat regularly. Soon the talk turns dirty, and what starts as smoking hot phone sex ends with a promise to meet up and make their fantasies into reality.

E620
Sometimes, the best way to get through a boring lecture is to entertain yourself with a spicy fantasy. This erotica-writing student has a vivid imagination and a lust for her fellow student, Karl, and when the two combine, the result is sizzling sex in the classroom.

Beach Babe
Megan’s relaxing, yet uneventful beach holiday on a secluded island hots up when she meets a sex god. He’s a gorgeous guy and Megan would definitely like to see what he’s hiding under those shorts. The trouble is, he doesn’t speak a word of English. Undeterred, Megan decides she’s just going to have to use body language to get what she wants. A squirt of sun cream later and the fun really begins…

My inspirations for these stories came from various places. Some are based on things that I find sexy, like a man in uniform, guys with posh accents and getting down and dirty in a classroom. Others were written with specific submission calls in mind, for example A Lucky Man is about a beautiful voluptuous woman. Beach Babe was written based on the idea of how hot it would be to have sex with someone who couldn’t speak the same language as you, therefore everything would have to be communicated via body language.

When you start writing, do you already have the story plotted out or do you let the characters dictate what will happen?
Usually, I just go with the flow and what happens, happens. I’m not much of a plotter. Very occasionally I’ll have a specific ending in mind but even then the middle of the story just tumbles out of my brain and onto the page.

What inspired you to write in your genre? Is this the genre you started writing in or have you morphed to this one?
I started writing in this genre on a dare. At University I was talking with friends and we got onto sex, as you do, and one of my friends said I should have a go at writing erotica. You can actually find out a little more about that particular event in one of the stories in the collection…

Do you have a favorite character you have written?
Oh wow, that’s a tough one. I would probably say that Meg, a character in one of my recent releases is my favourite. She appears in my paranormal erotic romance, Bite with Height. Meg is a vampire living in Paris and she lives quite an interesting lifestyle, even for a vampire.

Who was the toughest character for you to “get right” that you have written so far?
I would have to say Meg again. She was tough to get right because of the way she lives. I don’t want to give too much away as it’ll ruin the story, but her lifestyle may give the impression that she’s bad, but she’s actually the good guy. And she’s a kick-ass heroine that I want people to like!

Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life? Any fun stories you could share?
I think I already touched on this a little. The story E620 in my ‘best of’ collection is fairly true to life. Names are changed, and there was no actual sex in the classroom (in fact there was no sex between the characters at all!), but there are definitely elements in there which were taken from real life. I’ll just let you read it for yourselves and decide what really happened…

What do you find the hardest part of writing?
Starting, usually. I find if I have an opening line that I really like that things just tend to flow. But if I can’t decide on a tense or a point of view I struggle until I get it right.

Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you.
I’m only in my mid-twenties. People usually think I’m much older, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not…

Do you have a guilty pleasure?
What, just one? Impossible. Mine are chocolate, the TV show Supernatural and cheesy music.

What do you need before you start writing? Anything that is just a must have or the creative juice don’t flow?
I generally have to clear a period of time to write. If I have other pressing jobs I need to do, then I usually take care of them first, then write. In terms of creative juice, as long as I’m not really tired then I can usually write. If I am tired, then I struggle to write, and the words I do squeeze out are rubbish. So I’ll go and get on with one of the many other jobs on my to-do list instead!

Does music influence your writing? If so, do any of your stories have a theme song?
No. I listen to music as I’m writing, mainly to drown out any other sounds and prevent me from getting distracted. But none of it influences my writing.

If your story was optioned for a movie, who would play your characters?
I guess I have to pick a story first. Well, let’s go for Fantasy Assignment. If that were optioned, I would choose myself and Chris Hemsworth to play the characters. Why? Because Chris Hemsworth is gorgeous and would look hot in uniform. Also, if you read the story, you’ll find out why being Charlene would have its definite perks!

Where were you when you got your first contract? Who did you tell first?
I honestly can’t remember where I was, but I think I told my friends at University as they’d been the ones to encourage me to write in the first place!

How old were you when you read your first romance book?
I was actually very young when I read more mainstream romance. As an avid reader, my cousins (who are all older than me) used to give me their hand me down books. Somewhere in there I ended up with a couple of Mills & Boon books. I would estimate that I was probably only around ten or eleven when I read those.

What author causes you to “go fan girl”/ squeal over/anticipate upcoming books?
There are so many to mention here! It’s a mixture of erotica and non-erotica: Charlaine Harris, Richelle Mead, Karen Chance, Portia Da Costa, Saskia Walker, Charlotte Stein, Justine Elyot… I could go on forever. So I’ll stop now!

If you still have one of those pesky non writing jobs what is it?
I used to have a pesky non-writing job. Now I have a non-pesky non-writing job, which actually still involves writing. I quit my job back in January to start my own business – Writer Marketing Services. I do web design, PR & Marketing for writers and fit my writing in around everything else I do. I really enjoy what I do and have some fabulous clients, so I definitely can’t complain!

What are you currently working on, and what else is in the wings?
I’m just about to start writing what will probably be my longest piece to date. I’ve always been a short story writer, but I really want to break into writing novellas and eventually novels. So the piece I’m about to start is aimed at a specific call for submissions about voyeurism. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

As for what else is in the wings – I’m currently promoting my latest releases, A Bit of Rough, Bite with Height and The Best of Lucy Felthouse, which keeps me busy. I also have several other short stories contracted to be released by Ravenous Romance and Summerhouse Publishing. So keep an eye on my website for more details!

If you could co-write with another author who would it be?
I’ve never really thought about co-authoring before, but I’m lucky in that I have several very talented writers that I also class as friends, so I’d choose any one of them.

How do you pick your characters names?
Sometimes the names just come to me – other times I use baby name apps on my iPhone! I’ll scroll through until I find a name that I feel fits, then do the same again for my other characters.

Do you prefer the love at first sight approach or a steady growth throughout?
It depends on the story. Many of my short stories are definitely more erotica than erotic romance, so there’s not necessarily any love involved at all. However, for my more romantic pieces, I have written both love at first sight and slow burn pieces. They’re both lots of fun, but it depends on what I’m trying to achieve as to how the love interest develops.

What is your reaction to people who say one of the following…”Oh you write romance, I thought you were a real writer”, “Romance isn’t a real writing career” or the ever popular “Oh, one of those books”.
Let’s just say it’s not polite. As I’m more an erotic writer than a romance writer, people’s reactions can be even more scathing than the ones mentioned above. But honestly, I don’t care. Both romance and erotica sell well so obviously not everyone feels it’s not ‘proper’ writing. They may be reading it behind closed doors, but people are definitely reading it. And as long as people are reading it, us writers will continue to write it. So to those people who don’t consider it to be ‘proper’ writing, they can just go and take a running jump. The genres are as valid as any other.

Where can readers find you?
My website: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cw1985
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucyfelthousewriter
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/cw1985
Writer Marketing (my biz): http://www.writermarketing.co.uk

And for the silly side – What is your favorite type of chocolate?
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. No question.