Lisa: We’re so pleased to have author Luna David dropping by today on the tour for her new book, Let Me In. Welcome, Luna! Let’s start with an author question: What’s the one genre/sub-genre you haven’t written yet, but would love to? What’s kept you from it so far?

Luna: I haven’t written paranormal and/or paranormal with shifter/mpreg. I think I eventually will, but it’s intimidating because I don’t always read it. I have to be in the mood for it, but when it’s done well, it’s amazing.

I haven’t done it so far because it’s not in my comfort zone/wheelhouse. I don’t have experience or strength in world building and coming up with all new surroundings, worlds, creatures, habitats, realities, and those kinds of things. It’s something I’ve never done. I’m a contemporary author and stick to the world I know, so branching off is daunting. I’ll do it eventually, I just have to psyche myself up for it. 😉

Lisa: Let’s talk tropes: do you have a few favorites that you enjoy both writing and reading? If so, what are they and what makes them your faves?

Luna: My favorites won’t be a surprise to anyone who reads my books. I love ex-military/security/protection storylines. I love a large dominant type guy and a smaller, more submissive type guy getting together. I love the juxtaposition of their size differences. I love hurt/comfort. I love BDSM, fetish, kink in my books. Daddy kink is a favorite. I love age gap, age play, and role play. I love shifters, and mpreg when I’m in the mood. The list goes on and on, but those are my favorites. With all of these it’s the relationship dynamics in these types of relationships that really work for me and hit all of my buttons.

Lisa: If you could choose one of your books to be adapted for the silver screen, which would you choose? Why do you think it would translate well to film?

Luna: Saving Sebastian. It was the most emotional book I’ve written and the one I feel closest to. There are so many pieces of myself in that book. The story is “big” in so many ways; the love they share, the fear they feel, the anger and self-recrimination they feel; their insecurities, Sebastian’s medical issues, the love that shines through from their family and the friendships that are made are all “big” or feel that way to me. It will never happen, but I feel of all my books it’s the one that gutted me most and would lend itself to that medium.

Lisa: How long did it take to write your book, and what was the most difficult part of the writing process (i.e., dialogue, plot or character development, pacing, etc.)?

Luna: It really depends on the book. I wrote my first book (222K) in 8 months, but I was in no rush and gave myself no deadlines. It was so long I was advised by several author friends to split it in half, so that is what I did for Custos 1 and 2. For Custos 3 (180K), I released it a year after book 2. It was a rough year and I had a lot going on in my personal life and again, didn’t give myself a deadline. Saving Sebastian was immensely personal to me, so that made it doubly hard to write. On top of that it took an enormous amount of research. But Let Me In (The Boys Club Book 1) (100K), took me six weeks. I didn’t specifically set myself a deadline for finishing because that literally kills my creativity. But I did set myself monthly/weekly/daily writing goals to try to reach. If I didn’t reach them, I didn’t get upset, I just tried to do better. It helped that I didn’t have much to research compared to Custos books and the story cooperated, mostly, from start to finish. It was immensely fun to write. It also helped that I outlined Let Me In really well. Having those “breadcrumbs” really worked in making things move much faster.

Pacing seems to be one of my biggest areas of improvement that I need to work on. I love writing dialogue and character development happens for me pretty naturally. I used to be more of a pantser but that was creating issues because I never set goals for myself that way and just let myself go wherever the story took me, which I still do, to an extent, but I basically taught myself how to outline in a way that works for me. The way I’d been taught in the past didn’t work, which was why I was a pantser to begin with, but once I figured out a really great system for me, my story (Let Me In) ran much smoother.

Lisa: What would you say was the most intimidating thing about publishing your first novel?

Luna: Everything.  Hahaha I laugh, but I’m not even joking. When you first decide to sit down and write a novel, everything is daunting. I had no experience with it because I’d never done it before. I just sat down and wrote, and wrote, and wrote, and wrote. It took me months and the whole time I mostly told myself nothing would come of it. That I’d try to get it self pubbed but didn’t know if it would ever happen or how to go about it. It’s intimidating to befriend authors you look up to and ask for advice but that’s literally the only way I got it done.

It’s daunting going through editing for the first time, going through getting beta readers and working on their edits. It’s intimidating trying to find a cover artist and trying, as a newbie, to explain what you want, not really knowing what you want or how it will look. It’s intimidating doing the formatting yourself. And the most intimidating thing of all is setting the book up on amazon to publish, and then after that, even worse, the waiting for people’s reactions. Will they hate it, will they love it, will they destroy the book with their fb comments and reviews or will it just get out into the world and it will be like it was never released, crickets chirping, no one noticing.

So, like I said. Everything.

Lisa: What’s the best piece of writing/author advice you’d pass on to someone else just getting started in the business?

Luna: This is just my opinion and my process won’t work for everyone, so take that into consideration before taking my advice or anyone’s advice on writing. In the end, writing is a solitary and very personal pursuit and it’s up to you how you go about it and what works for you. I’ll tell you what has come to work for me and the advice I’d give from what I’ve learned.

Write. Just sit down and write and keep on writing. If you are a planner and not a pantser, plan the book enough so you know what’s next for each chapter, but don’t bog yourself down with every minute detail you’re going to put in the book, or you’re basically writing the book twice. IMO a lot of authors get stuck in the stages between starting on their outline and their second or third chapter. Writing an outline is daunting and so is character and plot building. Do what you need to do to know what you are going to write in each chapter but not much more.

When I first started trying to outline for book one in my Custos series, I got so bogged down into the nitty gritty, even putting in quotes I wanted my characters to say and I realized I was putting so much time and effort into writing my outline, I was basically writing my book in outline form and IMO that’s too much and will slow down your progress or stop it before it gets started.

Once you’ve finished your outline, start writing. The prologue (if you have one) and/or your first chapters are some of the hardest ones to write, or at least they are for me. Push through. It may not be your best work but keep going because even if you’ve outlined you’re still learning who your characters are. Use your outline but don’t force yourself to stay exactly on each outline point. Allow yourself to move away from it if your characters are taking you somewhere else. Some of my best moments in my writing process and in my books are where my characters lead me off on a tangent and I go with it. Allow the process to be organic.

Don’t spend too much time going back and rereading what you wrote because you’ll drive yourself crazy with edits and rewording instead of moving forward. It’s what I call polishing the cannonball, which doesn’t need to happen. Don’t edit/rewrite until you are done and going through your own read through, beta edits, your editor’s edits, and your proofer’s edits.

Lisa: If you won the lottery, what’s the first completely self-indulgent thing you’d do?

Luna: Hahaha besides pay off all my debt? Go on a month long (or longer) vacation with my family, no expenses spared. See parts of the world we’ve never seen and experience new things, places, and food with my kids and husband.

Lisa: If you could sit down to dinner with any author, past or present, who would you choose, and why? What are some things you’d want to chat about?

Luna: J.K. Rowling. She seems to be an all around good person and I can’t imagine being able to world build like she did with the Harry Potter series. There wasn’t a thing I didn’t absolutely love about the books. I’d want to know more about what gave her the ideas, what things in life caught her interest enough to tweak them and put them in her book, what she does about writer’s block, how she outlines her books, what kinds of things she does to build such strong characters, etc.

Lisa: If you could be any animal in the world, what would you choose? Why?

Luna: A sea turtle. They’re ancient and have been around for millions of years. I can’t really wrap my mind around a species that’s lived during the time of dinosaurs. They’re beautiful and peaceful. I’ve been lucky enough to swim with them several times in my life and they were some of the best experiences of my life. They’re rather solitary, which I can relate to and spend most of their life swimming, which is one of my favorite things to do.

Lisa: If you could travel back in time, with all your years of experience and wisdom intact, what advice would you give to your teenage self?

Luna: Stop caring so much about what others think of you. I still have to remind myself of that today. And also, start writing much earlier. I didn’t start writing until later in life and I feel like I missed a lot of time and could have been doing what I was meant to do, what I absolutely love doing for much longer had I just realized it earlier on.

Lisa: That’s great advice to end on, Luna, thanks again for dropping in to chat today!

About the Book

Genre: M/M Erotic Romance
Release Date: 03.30.18
Cover Artist: Morningstar Ashley – Five Star Graphic Designs
Blurb: Twenty-year-old Liam Cavanagh works three dead-end-jobs to take care of his family. He’s been the sole breadwinner since he was fifteen and yearns for a life of his own. Forced to grow up too fast, he carries the burdens of responsibilities that shouldn’t be his, and it’s slowly destroying him. The more he tries to control, the more out of control he feels.

When he gets a hit on a personal ad he placed on The Boys Club app, he shrugs it off as impossible. With nearly 600 miles between him and “Boston Daddy” he knew the odds were against them. Until Boston Daddy’s current boy convinces him otherwise and persuades Liam to take on the role of Daddy’s new boy.

Saying forty-year-old entrepreneur Cash Moreau is having a bad week is an understatement. The man he’s been with for years leaves him for a new job, his own company is in crisis, and to top it all off, a young stranger shows up on his doorstep with all his worldly possessions, claiming to be his new boy. Liam wants a Daddy to depend on, and Cash refuses to believe he’s what’s best for Liam.

Despite their powerful connection, Cash finally pushes Liam away, and the beautiful boy who stole his heart disappears. Soon, Cash realizes what he’s let slip through his fingers. The elusive thing he’s been searching for is Liam, it’s only ever been Liam, and suddenly Cash will move heaven and earth to find what he’s lost. Will he find his boy in time to make things right, or is it too late to let him in?

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Tour Excerpt

Three hours later, he felt Liam stir and glanced over to see him stretch, look at the clock, and grimace. “Sorry I slept so long. Thought I’d just be out for an hour at most.”

Cash squeezed Liam’s thigh and smiled when the boy moved to cover his hand and give it a squeeze in return. Cash pulled off the freeway at the next exit, headed towards a chain restaurant he figured was better than a fast food joint, and pulled into the parking lot. He squeezed Liam’s leg again, unhooked his seatbelt and kissed him softly on the lips, whispering, “Stay right where you are.”

Liam did as he was told, and Cash walked around the car to open his door and help him out. He clasped Liam’s hand and made to turn to lead them to the restaurant’s entrance, but he was stopped when Liam didn’t budge. Turning, a questioning look in his eyes, Cash met Liam’s gaze, saw his rosy cheeks and moved back towards him. He leaned back against the car door and slid his finger in one of Cash’s belt loops, tugging him flush against his body.

Cash slid his arm around Liam’s back and smiled down a him. Liam’s flirtatious smile and sparkling eyes made his smile grow wider. “What is it, boy?”

“The first time it happened, I thought it was because I was hurt. The second time, at the shop, I thought it was because I was taking too long getting my wallet, but you asked me to wait for you this time. Do I need to wait every time I get out of the car?”

Cash couldn’t fully read Liam yet, so he didn’t want to step on his toes, if the boy didn’t like it. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want—”

He stopped when Liam lifted his fingers to his lips to shush him. The boy was adorable when he smiled shyly up and him, and when he said, “Does Daddy want me to wait for him to come help me out of the car?”Cash nearly groaned out loud and pressed his hips into Liam’s so he’d feel what Liam had done to him.

“Yes, boy, I do.”

Liam looked deeply into his eyes, lifted his hands and scratched them through Cash’s beard. Cash couldn’t keep his hips from grinding into Liam’s again. Damn, but the boy was full of surprises. Liam licked his lips and asked, “Are you always going to take such good care of me?”

“Yes. I take care of what’s mine.”

Liam nodded as if his answer had been expected then whispered, “How am I ever going to be able to thank you for being so good to me?”

Cash couldn’t keep the Cheshire grin off his face when he nearly growled, “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

Liam licked his lips and said, “I hope so.”And pushed against Cash’s body enough to have him moving back. Liam clasped his hand and looked up at him when he asked, “Can I get a milkshake, Daddy?”

Cash chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I think you deserve one. Come on. Let’s fatten you up a bit, shall we?”

Liam laughed and nodded. “Yes. Let’s.”

About the Author

Luna David is a true romantic at heart who was fortunate enough to find and marry her soul mate. Most of the time she considers herself lucky to have been blessed with having twins, but they’re giving her a run for her money. She’s a stay at home mom and an author, so when she’s not begging her little monsters to behave, you’ll most likely find her writing.

She loves anything book, coffee or dark chocolate related and can’t think of a better way to pass the time than to combine all three. She reads romance novels voraciously and while she prefers contemporary romantic suspense with strong Alpha males finding their soul mates, she’s a sucker for any romantic story, regardless of genre.

She created the Custos Securities Series because she loves to write what she loves to read. Her books feature strong dominant males and the men they would die protecting. Toss in some BDSM and kink and you’ve got her Catharsis Novel Series and The Boys Club Series. She loves nothing more than making her readers feel a wide range of emotions with her words. And she hopes you enjoy her stories. Happy Reading!

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