Piper Vaughn

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's Author Spotlight. Today, we have the beautiful and very talented Piper Vaughn!

Piper Vaughn wrote her first love story at eleven and never looked back. Since then, she’s known that writing in some form was exactly what she wanted to do. A reader at the core, Piper loves nothing more than getting lost in a great book—fantasy, young adult, romance, she loves them all (and has a thousand book library to prove it!). She grew up in Chicago, in an ethnically diverse neighborhood, and loves to put faces and characters of every ethnicity in her stories, so her fictional worlds are as colorful as the real one. Above all, she believes that everyone needs a little true love in their life…even if it’s only in a book. 

What's a typical working day like for you? When and where do you write? Do you set a daily writing goal?

Well, my working days tend to vary. Typically, I don’t set a writing goal, though I have in the past. I normally write in the evenings or at night. Depending on the time, either on my desktop, which I prefer (it’s in my bedroom, though, so when my husband goes to bed, I have to shut it down), or my laptop. When I’m on the laptop, I either write down in the den or in my basement lair. ;)

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Fighting through blocks, or as Missy Welsh called it in her BiB guest post earlier this month, “unmotivation.” On top of that I would say the second hardest thing is when I have an idea for some really great scene in my head and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to convey it onto paper (or my Word doc) the way I want to.

What’s the best thing about being an author? The worst?

For me, the best part is getting to tell stories, which I have always done and love to do, and seeing that there are people out there who actually want to read them. That’s a blessing, you know? To think that I have fans that look forward to my work? It kind of blows my mind. The worst? I guess it’s that when you put a story out, you put a little bit of yourself out there too, and you want for people to love it. When they don’t or when you get a really harsh review, it can sometimes hurt or be upsetting. But it’s par for the course. If you want to be an author and put your work out there, you have to expect that there will be people who love it (hopefully) and people who hate it. The reading experience is incredibly subjective, and my style of storytelling doesn’t work for everyone. And you know what? That’s okay.

If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?

I think I’d call it “Sitting Loud in Silence.” In person, I’ve always been very introverted, the type of kid you’d have in your science class who might never say a word if it wasn’t in response to a teacher. I’ve gotten a lot better over the years in real life, but I’m still kind of shy. I’ve been told, though, that my online presence is kind of out there, loud, lively, personable. When people tell me these things, I’m always shocked. The truth is while I make friends online fairly easily, it’s a lot harder for me to put myself out there in everyday, face to face situations. So…yeah. That’s what I’d call it.

How do you choice a publisher to submit to?

Really it depends on the story. Some of them have a certain type of “feel,” if you will, and I usually decide based on where I think a given story will fit best. XXX and I were both fortunate enough to be invited to submit to Amber Allure at GRL last year, and our librarian story will be submitted to them once it’s finished. We’re hoping they’ll like it and want to publish it. 

Promise with a Kiss comes out soon. Can you tell us a little bit about it? **Comes out March 7th by LT3**

 Promise in a Kiss is just a sweet little short. Truth is, I wrote this story years and years ago (I’d say maybe around 10, and it was under a different name), but I’d always liked it, so I revised it last year so I could send it to LT3. I’m really happy they liked it and offered me a contract for it. This story is unlike all of my others in that not only is there no sex at all, but the characters also spend very little page time together. I could have easily made this into a much longer story, and I actually might revisit these two characters in the future, but I do think it works for what I intended, which was a little story with a serendipitous sort of feel.  

If you’d like to check out an excerpt for it, you can check it out on the LT3 website at the following link: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/excerpt-promise-in-a-kiss

The second book in the Lucky Moon series comes out at the end of March. What can we expect for Nick and Luka? Do you have a favorite character in this series?

Ah, Nick and Luka. Well, with them you can expect sparks to fly, for sure. Lots of sexual tension and Nick being Nick and creating stumbling blocks along the way. And, speaking of him, Nick actually is my favorite character in this series. He’s probably the most non-PC, abrasive, foul-mouthed character we’ve ever created, but underneath all of that, he’s really just a wounded little a boy. It’s hard, for us at least, not to love him because we understand him so well.

You co-wrote this series with MJ O'Shea, can we expect more from this powerhouse duo?

You betcha! We have plans to write “Moonstruck” together, which is the third and final book in the “Lucky Moon” series. We also have a sequel planned for “One Small Thing” (coming from DSP in May) called “One True Thing,” which you can expect in the late fall/early winter. An addition to those, we have several other ideas on the backburner. We’ll see if/when they come to fruition. :)

What are you working on right now? (I have read a little of the Library story.....it is my favorite of your work so far. LOVE IT!!)

Well, as you mentioned, I am working on the library story at the moment. This one is being coauthored with Xara X. Xanakas. I’m also working on “Tangled,” which is due from LT3 in June, and I’ll soon be working on “An Oral Fixation,” which I am writing for the Goodreads’ M/M Romance Group’s “Love is Always Write” event. :)

 **Favorites**

Band- Muse

Junk Food- Pizza or cheeseburgers (tough call)

Author- Jane Austen, Juliet Marillier, Kresley Cole, Sharon Shinn, Robin McKinley, Jo Beverley. In M/M, Amy Lane.

Book- “Pride and Prejudice” (Since the day I read it (and promptly reread it), it has been my absolute favorite novel.)

Movie- Hard to say. I love so many. In my youth my faves were “Cry-Baby,” “Dirty Dancing,” “The Princess Bride,” “The Matrix,” and “Tombstone.” They’re still up there. More recent favorites are “Hot Fuzz,” “Kill Bill,” “Inception,” and “No Country For Old Men.”

Children's Book- Depends on what age group you’re referring to. Age 5-6, I’d say “The Hundred Dresses” by Eleanor Estes. If you’re talking 9+, I’d say “Harry Potter.” I’m also a big fan of Dr. Seuss. We have a bunch of his books for my son.

Time of day- Night. :)

Drink- Non-alcoholic: Coke, Alcoholic: amaretto sours and screwdrivers. 

Can you tell us one memory as an author you wish you could put in a Bell Jar and save forever?

I would have to say the one memory I’d always like to keep is when I read my first acceptance email. It was the moment I felt validated as an author. I mean, I have always written and will always write. I already considered myself a writer. I guess this just validated the idea that I could create something a publisher saw as worthy enough to go out into the world under their brand label. I was very honored.

I want to thank Piper for stopping by! I love getting to know more about the authors we each love.