Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Guest Interview: Becca L'Amour Interviews KD Robichaux


★⋰⋱☆☆⋰⋱★#NewRelease★⋰⋱☆☆⋰⋱★
#BeforeTheLie by #KDRobichaux is now LIVE! Grab your copy of this HOT #ContemporaryRomance and find out why readers can't get enough of this story!
Title: Before the Lie
Series: The Confession Duet Book #1
Author: KD Robichaux | @kaylathebiblio
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 24
Add to your TBR: http://bit.ly/2geO135

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Synopsis
It was love at first sight.
Not just for me, but for Corbin as well.
Our eyes locked across the room, and that was all she wrote.
But we didn’t rush things.
We wanted to do it right.
After all, we would spend the rest of our lives together.
The love of my life.
My soul mate.
He was the intense and fiercely protective soldier,
and I was his doting and faithful lover.
I found my happily ever after.
This was our story…
Before the Lie

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? 
I’m friends with a TON of authors. A lot of them came from when I was strictly a blogger, and then a full-time editor, but most of them I’ve gained since I became an author myself. I love all of them, but my longest and most selfless and loyal? I would have to say Aurora Rose Reynolds and Erin Noelle.
Aurora, no matter how successful that woman is, never hesitates to help me. I’ve edited almost every single one of her books, seen her go from debut-status to hitting every list—NY Times, USA Today, Wall Street, every-damn-thing—multiple times, and SHE. NEVER. CHANGES. Not a single review, list, or dollar has gone to that woman’s head. I look up to her so much. She always gives me advice, shares my stuff, boosts my confidence, reads my books, and even practically wrote my blurb for No Trespassing. That girl. She is #goodhumangoals.
Erin Noelle, my Twinnie, she is my partner in crime, in the author world and in life. She lives right down the road from me, and our friendship is one I couldn’t live without. We have matching families—hardworking husbands we love, with two daughters—and if I didn’t have her, I would be lost. We’re each other’s sounding board when it comes to trying to balance real-life with book-life. I’m also her editor, and she reads my books and critiques them. She’s who taught me the ins and outs of actually getting my book on Amazon. She was so patient and answered every question when I first started out.

Who are the real people you base your characters on?
In my Blogger Diaries Trilogy, ALL of my characters are based on real life people, and I kept most of their real names.
In No Trespassing, Emmy is 98% my girl Laura. Dean and the story were inspired by TV Host Don Wildman. The besties, Erin, Calvin, and Ricky were all based on real people, and I kept their names.
In Before the Lie, Corbin was a voice in my head, but he looked like Matthew Hosea. Sierra is Sierra Burrell, aka author CC Monroe. And Vi is definitely my teenaged self. She was very therapeutic to write. I probably wrote her a little more confident than I was though, at that age.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
No Trespassing was the only real research I had to do. It was SO MUCH FUN! Egyptian history, history of New Orleans, the stories of the Atlantean Ring… it was definitely my most fun story to write. You’d think I would’ve had to do a lot of research for Before the Lie, with the rock climbing stuff... but SURPRISE! You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I used to be a pretty badass rock climber back in the day. It was a long time ago, so I did have help in the beginning of the story, remembering proper terms for things. I enlisted the help of my very first boyfriend, who got me into climbing when we were 14, John. Let it be known, it was very hard to write a serious plot when he had me dying laughing with his puns. Everything in climbing sounds dirty LOL!

Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?
There are times when I get lost in my writing. I’ll look down and won’t believe how many words poured out of me. But then there are also times when they just won’t come. That’s when I have to turn inward and let whatever scene is talking to me come forward, even if it’s out of sync.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
Sometimes I won’t know how a guy would react to something very feminine my heroine does. I usually ask Matthew what he’d do if he came up against that!

How do you select the names of your characters?
I’m HORRIBLE at picking names. I usually just go with my friends’ names.

Do you read your book reviews?
I don’t go on Goodreads. But I do read all my reviews on Amazon.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Most definitely. I’ve been asked several times now who the mysterious DB is in my acknowledgements for Before the Lie, but I’ll never tell!

What was your hardest scene to write?
Usually the hardest part for me to write is the filler in between the big, momentous scenes. The scenes you’d think would be hard, like the heartbreaking, sad parts, are usually the ones that pour out of me, because they’re so emotional that they take over my fingers and appear on the page.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?
I wrote Before the Lie for Nanowrimo, so 30 days. It usually takes me about 25 WRITING days to write a book. But I only write in between my edits, so it takes longer than just a month.

Do you believe in writer’s block?
I do! But I’ve found the secret to getting over it. Write what is talking to you, and then just go back. It’s sometimes a pain in the ass to go back, since you’ve already furthered the plot, but it definitely keeps you going instead of just stopping. Like Aurora told me a long time ago: just DON’T STOP. Write every single day. Don’t get out of the habit. Even if it’s just one hour a day, put words on paper!