Come on in. You’re just in time. I’vjust put LUX ZAKARI onto my hot seat. Bawawawa-hahaha.

Janice: So tell us about yourself, Lux.

Lux: I write all my dirty stories in northeast PA while getting my master’s in library science. My short stories, poetry and reviews have appeared in anthologies, such as Best Women’s Erotica 2009, Racy Pages’ Surprise and Best Bondage Erotica 2011, and the websites Clean Sheets, Oysters & Chocolate, My erotic novel, Coercion, was released in August 2011 by Lyrical Press, Inc.

Janice: Very interesting. When did you start writing?

Lux: I’ve been writing since I was a kid; I’ve always found that writing was the best, most vivid, most accurate way I could express all the ideas rattling around in my head. I was writing before I could even write; I would color in notebooks and tell myself the story out loud while I drew, and I’d dictate some stories to my grandmother, and she’d write them down for me.

Janice: Sounds like your grandmother had a lot to do with your early writing. Who was the biggest influence on your writing?

Lux: Everyone I know influences me to some degree, especially those who are closest to me, but one memory that sticks out is that of my first-grade teacher. Back then, I was given a vinyl diary covered in little hearts, and it was so beautiful it made me want to write important things inside it. I wrote a few stories in it—nothing more than a few sentences—and had illustrations to go with them, and at recess one day, I asked my teacher if she wanted to hear them. She said she didn’t have time, but I sat atop a desk and just started reading them aloud anyway. That piqued the interest of some kids who’d been inside for recess, as well as my teacher, who encouraged me to keep at it and gave me a flowered planner to write more stories in. In that I wrote about two friends, Bird and Kitty, and my teacher would let me read these stories in front of the class if there was some free time, and everyone would applaud and I got such a kick out of it. I admired the chutzpah I had then!

Janice: That’s wonderful to get such encouragement at such an early age.

How do you go about your writing? Do your prefer pencils to pens or is it all straight computer work?

Lux: I mostly work on a computer; it’s easier to organize my thoughts that way and make corrections. Plus, my handwriting is an abomination. But there’s something very effective about scribbling down the basic framework for a story by hand. That’s how I write scenes I have trouble writing on the computer, which can be intimidating in suggesting that whatever’s on screen must be polished and perfect. Writing by hand just gets those words out of my system once and for all.

Janice: What influences you in your writing? Music, movies, reading, or straight research?

Lux: Anything can provide inspiration. Sometimes I’ll just be wandering along and a sentence will spring into my head. I have to bring a notebook when I hang out with my friends because they’re so quotable. The way other writers phrase certain things in their own works can be very inspiring. Mostly, I think the all-encompassing answer of “living” is the best way to gain inspiration.

Janice: So true.

When do you write morning or evening, or are you a late into the wee hours of the morning person?

Lux: A few weeks ago, I started writing a story skeleton on the back of a receipt when I was at a park, awaiting my turn to suck at tennis. That’s an example of how I sneak writing in whenever and wherever I can, but I usually have to be away from home to do it—too many distractions.

Janice: Lol, I suck at tennis too.

Who’s in charge: you or your muse?

Lux: We work together; we need each other. But my muse is awesome at making me feel guilty if I’m not writing or at least doing something creative.

Janice: What do you want your readers to take away from your writing?

Lux: That happy endings and brighter futures are possible, no matter how flawed people are.

Janice: What other books have you written?

Lux: Coercion is my first novel, but I have several projects in the works. I’ve just finished revising a new novel—a racy, unconventional love story about a self-absorbed, hedonistic ex-celebrity who, upon the death of her former lover, learns she’ s been inexplicably named the guardian of his three children. Being herded into the parental role forces the protagonist to finally face the truth about the cruel decisions of her wild past, her now uncertain future and her secret, turbulent relationship with a man who, even in death, continues to upend her world. Here’s hoping the story has a successful future!

Janice: What influenced your recent book, the one you are promoting here today?

I actually wrote a blog post called “How to Write Coercion” (http://luxzakari.com/2010/10/20/how-to-write-coercion/), which is a tongue-in-cheek look at the ideas and circumstances that went into me creating that story. But the concise answer is that Coercion is the result of just too many dirty thoughts!

Buy Link: http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_12&products_id=315

Blurb:

Introverted and insecure Valerie Mercer was promised that during her senior year of college she would finally attract attention from boys…but never dreamed that would include Michael Vartanian.

Good looking, troubled and every parent’s nightmare, Michael is adamant on introducing Valerie to a world of both pleasure and, inadvertently, heartbreak. His interest in Valerie is dependent upon the mood and fidelity of his on-and-off-again girlfriend, Breeze.

Nevertheless, Valerie lets her hope and desire override common sense and soon finds she can’ t deny Michael anything…no matter what’ s at stake.

Excerpt:

Valerie refused to entertain thoughts Michael might ever be interested in her, especially since she didn’t know what she’ d do if she had him. She knew of Kim Breza—better known as Breeze—and couldn’t think of two people more different than her and the popular, talkative blonde, whose sexual appetite was no secret. She had heard Breeze broadcast her erotic escapades in the women’ s bathroom, the hallway and just about everywhere else. Thus, Valerie knew Michael and his girlfriend had done practically everything under the sun during their on-again, off-again yet somehow enduring relationship.

That knowledge both excited and terrified her. Virginity, which was something her peers had outgrown long ago, was not something she wanted to give to just anyone. Therefore, she could never keep up with Michael.

But a little part of her wanted to try. A little part of her wanted to have the courage to find out how those lips of his tasted. A little part of her wanted to slide her hands down his broad back and into the back pockets of his jeans.

A little part of her wanted to do a whole lot to Michael Vartanian.

A racier excerpt can be found at http://www.theeroticwoman.com/erotica/coercion.

For details about Lux Zakari, visit www.luxzakari.com.