Author Spotlight - Kitty French

Today we have our very own fellow Minx, Kitty French, in the Spotlight. In case you've been hiding under a rock somewhere, Kitty is an erotica author who steamed up the Amazon charts before Christmas with her debut novel Knight & Play, which is STILL in 22nd place in the Erotica bestseller charts.

Now over to Kitty. Tell our readers a little about yourself.
I've been writing for a few years, mostly squeezed in around being a full-time mum to two little boys. They're now old enough to go to school full-time, leaving me with the luxury of quiet hours to write. It's bliss, once I can pick my way towards the laptop over hot-wheels tracks and lego forts!

What number book is this?
Knight & Play is my first published book. The sequel is due out in April, so these are exciting times.

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?
I'm trying out a new approach at the moment. I'm writing in bursts throughout the day, usually for around an hour, and then I'll stop and do something else for half an hour or so - sometimes useful things like cleaning, and sometimes chatting on twitter or facebook. I'm finding it really helpful. When I'm not writing, I'm thinking about the next scene I'm going to write, and I come back to the keyboard each time raring to go and aware of what I want to happen in the scene.
Last resort? If I've really lost my mojo, I go shoe shopping. Every girl needs fabulous shoes.

What is your top promo tip for other authors?
As a self-published author, I've definitely found social networking to be key. Twitter has been a revelation! I've gone from being pretty wary of it to absolutely loving it, it's an amazing way to reach new readers. Facebook, twitter, blogging... they all matter. Do them all, and do them often. In the absence of a marketing budget, they are a gift, and best of all, you meet some fabulous people who help spread the word about your book.

How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?
It's much easier now the boys are full-time. Oddly enough though, I find that words come easier to me between five and seven in the evening, which isn't ideal as it's dinnertime and the kids are racing around. I usually turn to my trusty notebook (preferably flowery) and pen (preferably glittery), and keep scribbling things down as and when I can. Burnt dinners have been known to happen. Thank god for coco-pops!
And then of course I write when the house is quiet and everyone is in bed. These are my favourite times, because they involve wine.

What was the most fun part of writing this book?
Most definitely the research! My writing has always run on the steamy side of romance, but a full blown erotic novel called for me to delve into areas of the internet previously unchartered, lol!
Knight & Play features a hero who runs an empire of sex clubs and stores, so sex was always going to be central to the plot.
Aside from the erotic elements, Lucien is Norwegian, the land of soaring alpine mountains and the beautiful aurora borealis. Immersing myself into books and video's about Norway was a real joy - it's number one on my must see places list now.

Could you be friends with any of your heroines?
Sophie would be a great friend. She's funny and loyal, but very down to earth and caring too. She's you, she's me, she's the ordinary girl next door who's life is turned upside down when she meets the anything but ordinary Lucien Knight.

Have you ever written a hero you'd be happy to run off with?
Oh god, yes! But then as a romance writer, I think that's my job.
Lucien is a gift to write. He's beautiful and sexy as sin, but he's also complicated and loyal. He's filthy dirty, but tender and kind too. I'm going to miss him when I've finished writing book two.

Do you write to music, or with the tv on in the background, or do you need complete silence?
I can't write with talking in the background, so TV & radio is a no-no.
Music though? Oh yes. I'm a spotify addict, and create playlists for my books to have on in the background as I work.

At what point in your career did you actually start to feel like you were a writer?
This is a hard question. Was it the first time I put my fingers on the keyboard? Was it when the cover for Knight & Play arrived? Was it when I pushed the publish button on Amazon? Even now I mumble into my hand when someone asks me what I do, and that's just plain wrong.

I've been a writer for years, and like lots of others in the same boat, for some bizarre reason we feel knobby saying it out loud. Let's all ditch that. It doesn't matter where you are on the path to being published - if you put your time and efforts into writing and you want it with all your heart, you are a writer. Not an aspiring writer. A writer.

Blurb:

CEO of Knight Inc. Lucien Knight is catch-your-breath gorgeous and damaged by his troubled past in Norway. All grown up and relocated to London, he's built his empire of adult clubs from the ground up to become the gorgeous patron saint of the sex industry. No one knows the dark childhood secrets that have given Lucien a backbone of steel and a heart encased in ice.

No one until Sophie Black, that is...

From the moment girl-next-door Sophie accepts the job as Lucien Knight's PA, she understands how Alice must have felt when she tumbled down the rabbit hole.
Lucien takes her safe, vanilla life away and plunges her head first into a huge dish of fantasy flavours. Rich, spicy chocolate covered with dark, oozingly lickable sauce? Check. Tutti-frutti with indecently red, glistening cherries on the top? Yes please.

Lucien strips away all of Sophie's inhibitions, and when he instructs her to select three new toys, she soon realises he has more than a game of Monopoly on his mind...

He's opened the door to a whole new pleasure packed world without limits, and Sophie is utterly intoxicated. But how far is she willing to go? And what happens when she has to step back into reality again?

Lucien & Sophie's is a story of star crossed love and forbidden passion, a sexual odyssey that spans the globe and changes both of their lives forever.

* * *

We breathlessly anticipate the release of the sequel in April. Until then, if you haven't already read Knight & Play, you really, really should. Don't believe me? Check out the 200+ reviews. It's available from Amazon and Amazon UK.


About the author:
Kitty French lives in middle England with her husband, two kids and the oldest cat in the world. When she isn't writing, she's researching things on the net that make her eyebrows touch her hairline! Kitty loves to chat to readers. You can find her on her blog, Twitter and Facebook.