Hi everyone! As mentioned in my January reading recap<\/a>, I reached out to the lovely Lilac Mills<\/a> to see if she was interested in having a nice little Q&A with me.<\/p>\n Lilac lives on a Welsh mountain with her very patient husband and incredibly sweet dog, where she grows veggies (if the slugs don\u2019t get them), bakes (badly) and loves making things out of glitter and glue (a mess, usually). <\/p>\n Aside from the romance, I like that most of them are character driven, and many of them deal with issues that any of us might face. And of course, the happy ever after leaves me with lovely warm, fuzzy feelings that lift my day.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s just a coincidence. If a chapter needs to be longer to address a particular scene effectively, then I\u2019ll make it longer.<\/em><\/p>\n Ooh, that\u2019s a hard one. The protagonist in whatever story I\u2019m working on at the moment tends to be my favourite character, as I lose myself in their life and their romance. But I particularly love Flossie in Summer on the Turquoise Coast<\/a>. She wasn\u2019t the main character, but she was an absolute joy to write.<\/em><\/p>\n Most of them contain elements of real people, but those elements are jumbled, and no single character is just one person: they often have several characteristics combined. For instance, Flossie, mentioned above, contained more than a little of my grandma, with bits of my Aunty Nellie thrown in.<\/em><\/p>\n Yes! Definitely. Although I often move bits around, or completely uproot places and drop them into other locations. Tanglewood is loosely based on a small town called Crickhowell, on the Welsh-English border. I moved the river though\u2026 Foxmore has elements of the town of Usk in South Wales, but I added a village green, moved the river again (I seem to like moving those!) and relocated the whole thing to North Wales.<\/em><\/p>\n The countryside. You don\u2019t have to go far to be in the heart of it, and green spaces are so important to me. Ten minutes from my front door brings me onto open moorland. A few minutes more and there are little wooded valleys with streams tumbling through them. And sheep. Lots of sheep.<\/em><\/p>\n It was a horrendously long full-length novel that was part family drama, part time slip, and wholly un-publishable. But it proved to me that I could write a novel, and it also taught me a little about plot and character development. It is hidden in the depths of my computer, never to see the light of day.<\/em><\/p>\n The last book I read was Samantha Tonge\u2019s Lost Luggage<\/a>. I liked that the main character is older, and I enjoyed the way the author dealt with grief, family secrets, complex relationships and the main character\u2019s self-discovery. There were a few plot twists that were fun, too.<\/em><\/p>\n I usually prefer silence, but I have been known to write on trains, on the beach and in the living room with the TV on. I can\u2019t write when music is playing though! My favourite time to write is very early in the morning, before anyone else is awake and there is little chance of any distractions \u2013 as long as I stay away from social media!<\/em><\/p>\n Normally about two months for a first draft. But if I add on the editorial (developmental) edits, and all the proofreading back and forth, the total is about six months. But the true beginning can be a long time before that, when an idea pops into my head. Some ideas can take years to brew.<\/em><\/p>\n Finish it. So many books are abandoned halfway through- maybe the author has written themselves into a corner, has lost momentum, or thinks it\u2019s not good enough\u2026 It may be a cliche to say you can\u2019t edit a blank page, but it\u2019s true.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ve noticed that this has become a\u201d thing\u201d lately, but I think it\u2019s unrealistic to an extent. I\u2019m sure Val McDermid doesn\u2019t commit murders, and Andy Weir hasn\u2019t been to Mars. And I\u2019m fairly certain Mary Shelley didn\u2019t stitch a load of body parts together. It\u2019s the author\u2019s ability to imagine that makes stories such as these possible, and allows them to put themselves in the minds of their protagonists. As for myself\u2026 no, my life has not been as charming as the lives of my characters. But I do know a little about the places I set my books, and I was born and bred in a small close-knit community, so I am utilising my own experiences and knowledge to a certain extent. The rest is imagination and research.<\/em><\/p>\n I am! I\u2019m expecting the edits for the second Foxmore<\/a> book back from my publisher any day now, and in the meantime I\u2019m about halfway through writing the first draft of the third book in the series. And I\u2019m also beginning to think about a brand new series for 2024-2025, but the ideas are vague and unformed at the moment.<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, Lilac!<\/p>\n You can find Lilac at her website, lilacmills.com, where you can also sign up to her newsletter \u2013 Lilac\u2019s Letters<\/a> \u2013 to stay up to date with all her exciting news and upcoming works.<\/p>\n You can also find her on Instagram @LilacMillsAuthor<\/a> and Twitter @LilacMills<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wordsfromthepaige.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/lilac-mills-author-photo.jpg?w=768\")
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She is the author of over 12 romance novels, which have been translated across the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat do you enjoy most about women\u2019s fiction?<\/h4>\n
Your chapters are really short. Is this a conscious decision or just a coincidence derived from your writing style?<\/h4>\n
Out of all of your published works, do you have a favourite character? If so, who & why them?<\/h4>\n
Do you base your characters on real people from your life?<\/h4>\n
Are the locations in your works (Tanglewood, Foxmore Green, Applewell village) based on real locations?<\/h4>\n
What do you love most about living in Wales?<\/h4>\n
What was the first piece of fiction you ever wrote?\u00a0<\/h4>\n
What is the last book you read, and what did\/didn\u2019t you like about it?<\/h4>\n
What is your process for writing? Do you need complete silence, or are you a writer who enjoys background noise?<\/h4>\n
How long does it take you to finish writing a novel?<\/h4>\n
Do you have any top tips for aspiring writers?<\/h4>\n
A lot of people say \u201cwrite what you know\u201d\u2026 has your life been as charming\/fairy tale-esque as women\u2019s fiction sometimes is?<\/h4>\n
Are you working on anything new at the moment?<\/h4>\n
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