MEET ROMANCE AUTHOR LILA MUNRO

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a forty-something empty-nester married to the Marine Corps and recently transplanted from the East Coast to the West Coast via a new duty station. I’m having a terrific time getting to know my new surroundings.  

What do you do when you are not writing?

Honestly, I was a write-a-holic for the past several years as my husband has been away from home so much I sort of lived a life where I did what I wanted when I wanted because there was no one else around to consider. If I wanted to write at 2 a.m., I did so. If I wanted to skip dinner, I did so. Now that we’re a “normal” family again, I spend my not writing time getting used to this new “normal.” I cook regular meals and stay in bed after hours. ;) Right now, we’re spending a lot of time together exploring our new “home town.”

Do you have a day job as well?

Fortunately I have a wonderful, supportive provider so I’m afforded a life of luxury I know I am blessed to have so writing is my full time job.

How did you choose the genre you write in?

It sort of chose me.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

Yes I do and it can be rather annoying.

Do you work with an outline, or just write?

Well, I start off with good intentions and an outline, but you know what they say about good intentions. The basis for the story remains pretty true to the outline, but there can be lots of weaving and bobbing along the way for me.

Can you tell us about your most recent work?

Love Vindicated, Steele Image Book 1, released June 17. Kyle Montgomery is one of my characters from the Identity series that simply would not let go of me and he ended up getting not just his own book but his own series. Steele Image novels will rotate around Kyle and his Steele Image clubs, for the most part they are BDSM themed and my readers will see my first full length m/m romance out of this series.

 Here’s the blurb:

In 1980, Kyle Montgomery’s life was seemingly perfect. Heavily recruited by Force Recon fresh from the Naval Academy, he’d been working black ops for the Marine Corps for six years and was on the cusp of being promoted to Major. He was on the fast track to bigger and better things, had all the right people vetting him, and he'd married the woman of his dreams and was exploring a lifestyle which could have ended his career. 

With the Iranian embassy under siege and the Middle East in turmoil, Kyle was sent on a mission which would change the course of his life forever.

Returning home after three months of being invisible, Kyle finds his wife has been murdered by the very people he'd been sent to protect. And instead of the government retaliating, they hand him his walking papers with the agreement they’ll never speak of the events again. It's like Kyle never existed. His wife never existed. And the people who maimed and tortured her never existed.

Resigned to never again walk that path, Kyle opens the first Steele Image club with the thought of providing a safe haven for others like him, those who were invisible to the public and most of the government. Those who had eclectic sexual tastes. Those who would later become his allies. And his enemies. What he never expected, after settling into the comfortable role of detached service sadist, was to find someone to once again call lover. Haley Kilpatrick awakens the side of Kyle he believed dead, challenging him emotionally, physically, and intellectually and driving him back to the place he’d thought he’d let go of forever to vindicate his love…

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

Not only are these BDSM themed stories, they are also action packed as Kyle runs a mercenary business and is prior military. Being as my husband has devoted 25 years of his life to the Corps, the military/action elements are as real as I can make them. What answers he doesn’t have, his fellow marines do. So, in that respect they are based on real life—of course, there is always that creative license that exists, but I am the queen of realmantic so I try to keep it as real as possible.

What project are you working on now?

I have a couple of things I’m working on actually. Book 2 in the Steele Image series is coming along. It’s Dillon’s story, who has also appeared in the Identity series. I’m also working on the companion series, Steele Clips, two of which will release this summer. And, I have a very special project coming along—a contemporary romance entitled For His Country. It’s the story of an old-assed marine who’s at the retirement mark when his entire world flies apart and he has to figure out how to put it all back together, learn a few new tricks, or lose the woman he loves forever.

I THINK IT'S TIME FOR SOME FUN QUESTIONS.

Have you ever gone out in public with your shirt on backwards, or your slippers on, and when realizing it, just said screw it?

Um, no. During one of my husband’s deployments when the boy child was still at home I was so flustered one morning I left for work minus the bra…needless to say I couldn’t say screw it. And honestly, seeing people in their jammies and slippers in the store, well, disturbs me to say the least. Being a military wife, with an entire command watching me, I was taught better and it’s sometimes hard for me not to go up to these people and yell at them to go the hell home and put on some clothes—clothes that fit at that, not hang off your butt or show all your assets.

Do you prefer fuzzy or tube socks?

I have shorty cotton socks I walk in and fuzzy scrunchies for those cool evenings.

Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point?

I definitely see the point, but there are days…

Be honest, how often do you wash your hair?

Every day. Sometimes twice if I do something strenuous and get it all amok and sweaty. ;)

Do you get road rage? What pisses you off the most about other drivers?

Absolutely not. Road rage gets people dead and in a hurry. So, no. In fact, my husband calls me Miss Ten and Two. I used to see a lot of road rage around Lejeune and I saw a lot of accidents that were the result. No, no, and definitely no. Other drivers don’t so much piss me off as just scare the shit out of me at times. I saw a woman on the free-way once applying make-up, talking on the phone, and smoking all at once…um, was the car driving itself? Oddly, road rage doesn’t seem to exist in the greater Portland area, at least that I’ve seen. I’m sure it’s out there, but it’s nowhere near what I experienced on the East Coast.

Do you go outside without make-up? Or to you put on full make-up to go to the grocery store?

I used to be fanatical about not leaving the house without make-up. However, I went through a period not long ago where I faced some demons and now it’s not above me to dart to the corner grocery for a gallon of milk naked-faced. I’m pretty—It just took me a long time to know that and believe it. It’s not the norm for me, I usually have it on even when I’m just working at the desk all day, but I don’t freak out if I have to go outside without it. Never leave without my sunscreen though—that’s essential. I don’t want to be Miss Leatherface when I’m 50. Yuck!

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

That depends on if it’s a make-up day or not. J Not long. I’m usually in and out from shower to final touches in less than 45 minutes and can do it in 30 in a pinch.

What’s your favorite dessert?

I’m a southern woman. It’d be sacrilege not to admit it’s Red Velvet Cake.

Do you watch soap operas?

No, I write them-ha!

Are you a reality show fan?

Definitely not! I think reality TV is the stupidest thing to hit TV…well, ever. My motto has always been if you want reality walk a mile in my shoes—that’s real! I’m sure most of those reality stars would wilt within the first hour trying to live my life.

HERE'S A LOOK AT SOME OF LILA'S OTHER BOOKS!

I enjoyed speaking with you, Lila. It's great to learn more about you. We have a few things in common. I'd love to have a cup of coffee together. A piece of Red Velvet Cake would be great. All the best with your writing. Congrats on a wonderful body of work. I'd love to have you visit me here again, anytime.  

Thanks, Kathleen for having me over and thanks readers for coming by to spend a bit of time with me.  Please come by and find me at Realmantic Moments or like me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LilaMunroAuthor!