Wednesday Writer's Spotlight: Interview with T. Michelle Nelson

Today we get to hear from T. Michelle Nelson who is the author of The Life and Death of Lily Drake. Lily Drake is a new vampire and also a mom but her toughest choice is which man is right for her! Two hunky guys fighting over your heart is almost every girl's dream come true!

When did you first start writing? What made you want to be a writer? I think I started writing from the time I could read.  I wrote songs, poems, music and little stories.  I always enjoyed writing.  My favorite classes in school were always the English, Literature and Creative Writing classes.

What inspired you to write your book? I wanted to write a book with an unconventional heroine.  Lily Drake isn’t an eighteen-year old beauty queen.  She’s thirty-five, a single-mom, and sometimes goofy.  I wanted to write a book with a main character that I could relate to.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?  Total pantser.  I think I have an idea or outline of where I’m going, and it never turns out that way!

Do you have any writing rituals or special processes you complete before sitting down to write? I make a big mug of coffee, have pen and pad to one side, and laptop in front of me.  In bed.  Sitting at a desk is torture for me.  Almost the entire novel was written from my bed with three dogs curled up around me.

What authors inspire you? I admire so many, but for Lily Drake, definitely Margaret Mitchell.  I remember reading “Gone with the Wind” and loving how Scarlett O’Hara was so imperfect.  Mitchell wrote the go-to book on unconventional heroines.

If you could only write in one genre for the rest of your career, what genre would you choose? Why?  I’ll go with the blanket answer of Romance.  Most of the things I’ve written have started off as something else, but they wind up becoming a romance. 

Which of the characters in your current release is your favorite? Why? I’m not sure I can pick one of my three main characters, but lately I’ve really been loving Burchard.  Someday I want to tell his story.

Are any of your characters modeled after real people?  If so, which ones? Not really.  All of my characters have certain traits like people I know, but none were written with any particular person in mind as the model.

What music was on your playlist while writing your novel? Foo Fighters is always on my playlist, other than them, I have really eclectic tastes.  At the time I was listening to Tool, Otis Redding, Nina Simone, Beethoven and Alice in Chains to name a few.  I never listen to music while I’m actually writing though.  I find it distracting.

Morning person or grumpy bear? Grumpy Bear.  I despise mornings.

Tell us one thing it would surprise us to know about you? I’ve been a vegetarian for almost twenty-six years.

What is next for you? I’m currently working on the second installment of the Lily Drake series.

Do you have any unique skills or talents? If so, what? I play almost every instrument a little, with the exception of horns.  Piano, Drums, Guitar, Bass, but none of them very well. 

If I were to look in your closet right now, would I find frills and lace or denim and tees? Denim and vintage rock tees.  I do like to dress up on occasion though, but when I do it’s never frills and lace.
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Thank you T. Michelle for stopping by. We loved hearing about your book and life. Don't forget that Lily Drake is up for sale now. You can get it in print or ebook today!


For Lily Drake, slaying vampires is easy...Dating 
them is the hard part.

Lily Drake is your everyday hard-working single mom…until a gorgeous vampire shows up on her front door who she mistakenly assumes is her blind date for the evening. As one crazy scenario after another unfolds, Lily finds herself falling in love with two vampires, slaying the evil ones, and being prophesied as the savior of the entire undead race.  Deciding between pizza and Chinese take-out will no longer be one of the hard decisions facing Lily Drake once she is immersed into vampire society. 

Humanity or immortality? That doesn't hold a candle against this question - 
which of the two handsome vampire cousins?

The Life and Death of Lily Drake is not your typical vampire love story. It’s a tale about the humorous mistakes a woman makes simply trying to survive not only life, but the dating scene.  How will Lily manage working full-time, taking care of her young son and fighting the undead at every turn?

Lily will have to figure it out, but who better to save the world than a mom?

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