Interview with Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde
Welcome to Under the Covers, ladies! First off, I’m interested in knowing how you decided to start writing together? Can you share your writing process with us? How do you go from brainstorming to having a completed book with two authors?
Carly: Thanks for having us! We have been working together for years as critique partners and always wanted to do a story together but the timing was never right. We finally reached a point where we could make our schedules work and we decided to jump in. Erika writes the first draft, sending chapters to me as she finishes, I edit and put my spin on it. We have such a natural compatibility and flow that it just works. I’m not sure I can explain the process!
When coming up with new ideas or working out a problem in a book, how do you usually tackle a problem together?
Carly: I usually call Erika when I have a problem or want to flesh out an idea. It doesn’t usually take long to go from there to a solution, although sometimes a lot of head banging on my part is involved!
Erika: We brainstorm. A lot. Until we come up with something that works for whoever is having the issue/problem. We’ve been doing this for so many years, that we can pretty much nail the problem pretty quickly.
Tell us a bit about the Dirty Sexy series. What can readers expect from DIRTY SEXY INKED?
Erika: A lot of sexy romance! We had a great time writing Mason and Katrina’s story. They’ve had a lot of history together, and we loved sharing all that with readers.
What is your favourite part of writing a friends to lovers story?
Carly: I love that the “fall” is so much easier because they already know each other, flaws and all. On the other hand that’s what makes it harder to write. There is less held back and less to reveal.
Erika: My favorite part is watching them finally give into temptation–then try and figure out how they’re going to make that transition from friends, to something deeper and more intimate.
How would you describe Mason is 3 words?
Carly: Dirty, Sexy, Inked. LOLOL. I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist — Stubborn, Alpha, (shockingly) Caring.
Erika: Loyal, Manwhore (who is reformed by the end, of course!), and dominant in a completely sexy way!
What would you say is the greatest strength of the other writer? Out of the two of you, who writes the dirtiest sex scenes?
Carly: Erika’s greatest strength is her ability to make the reader feel the emotions of the characters. She makes you experience their ups and downs along with them. 🙂 Erika writes the (longest) dirtiest scenes by far!
Erika: Yes, I do love writing those dirty love scenes! LOL. Carly’s greatest strength is characterization, and emotion as well. What one of us might miss, the other one will add in terms of emotion and characterization. We’re very in sync that way!
Who is most likely to cry during edits?
Carly: I LOVE edits/revisions. I love to dive into a book and make it meatier. Erika is the most likely to cry. She doesn’t have a love of revision like I do.
Erika: Me. Totally. I hate edits, but they are a necessary evil, LOL!
Who is most likely to get details wrong in a book?
Carly: ME! I can’t remember a thing and have the worst memory. I can get eye color wrong from one page to the next, call a hero by the last hero/book’s name … yeah. Me.
Erika: So Carly! I’m pretty good at remembering stuff, but yeah, Carly forgets from one book to the next. Sometimes from one chapter to the next!
And finally, what is the best thing about getting to work with your best friend?
Carly: EVERYTHING! I think, if possible, we’ve grown even closer through this process. I love co-writing with her.
Erika: I second that “everything”. We’ve always been close, but writing the Dirty Sexy Series with Carly has been one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on!
Available Now!
[new-release title=”Dirty Sexy Inked” author=”Carly Phillips”]
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EXCERPT
“We’re off to Las Vegas, Kitty-Kat,” Mason Kincaid said as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Sin City is the perfect place to get down and dirty and have some fun. What kind of trouble do you think we can get into while we’re there?”
Katrina Sands buckled her seat belt and settled more comfortably in the first-class leather seat next to Mason—her best friend since they were fourteen and freshmen in high school. She wasn’t at all surprised that he was already making a mental list of all the wild and reckless adventures that awaited him in a no-holds-barred place like Las Vegas. Mason Kincaid was a rule breaker, a thrill seeker, and a self-indulgent bad boy who was all about pleasure and instant gratification. From everything she’d heard about the city that never slept, he’d be right in his element.
Oh, joy, she thought with a resigned sigh. It wasn’t as though she was a prude. Far from it. She just wasn’t thrilled about watching her best friend’s man-whoring ways in action in Vegas. She spent enough time seeing it up close and personal on a day-to-day basis.
She turned her head and met Mason’s bright blue gaze. “You do realize that this trip isn’t all about you and your dick, right? That we’re heading to Vegas because your brother Clay is marrying Samantha?” she asked, reminding him of that one important detail.
The corners of his mouth curved with an indulgent grin. “Of course I realize my brother is strapping on the old ball and chain tomorrow afternoon. But that doesn’t mean the entire weekend is going to be all wedding, all the time. In fact, tonight Levi and I plan to take Clay out to make sure he spends his last evening as a bachelor in style.”
Which gave Mason the perfect opportunity to carouse for a willing female to take back to his hotel room for the night. It’s what Mason did. For as long as she’d known him, he’d had a hit-it-and-quit-it motto when it came to women, and he always made sure they knew the score up front. He didn’t make promises or do commitment or anything longer than a one-time fling.
And each time Katrina watched it happen, a little bit of hope died inside of her. The hope that one day Mason would see her as more than just a best friend and the woman who managed to keep his personal and professional shit together. But the man was oblivious to her deeper feelings for him, and she wasn’t willing to tell him and risk certain painful rejection. It was much easier, and safer, keeping them both squarely in the friend zone.
She’d known him for twelve years, and had truly come to believe that Mason Kincaid didn’t have the ability to commit to any single woman. And it really wasn’t hard for her to figure out why considering the kind of childhood he’d had—no father figure to speak of and a mother who cared more about her next fix than her own kids. Mason might be a master at giving off a carefree, I-don’t-give-a-crap attitude, but Katrina was one of the few people who knew just how much pain and resentment that laid-back demeanor really masked.
The commercial plane they were taking to Las Vegas finished the boarding process, and one of the cabin crew started closing the overhead luggage bins, while another made an announcement to set all electronic devices to airplane mode. A pretty brunette flight attendant stopped next to Mason’s aisle seat and set her hand on his shoulder.
He glanced up at her, and the woman smiled, her complexion flushing a bit as he turned all that potent male sex appeal her way. Yeah, Mason had that kind of breathtaking effect on women. Between his gorgeous features, that sexy, panty-dropping smile, and his sleeves of bad boy tattoos that wrapped around both muscled arms, he was an irresistible force to the female gender.
And the jerk knew it, too, and didn’t hesitate to use that charm to his advantage.
About Carly Phillips
New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips tossed away her legal briefs and a career as an attorney to become a stay at home mom. Within the year, she turned her love of reading into an obsession with writing. Over 30 published novels later, Carly writes sexy contemporary small town romances, striking a balance between entertainment, humor and the emotion her readers have come to expect and enjoy.
Carly is a New York Times bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, Publisher’s Weekly bestseller and as of 2012, a Romance Writer’s of America RITA Nominee. In 2002, Carly’s novel, The Bachelor, became Kelly Ripa’s “Reading with Ripa” pick on Live with Regis and Kelly, making it the first romance ever chosen on a nationally televised book club.
Carly received her undergraduate degree from Brandeis University and is a graduate of Boston University School of Law (J.D.). To date, Carly has over thirty novels to her credit, all available wherever books are sold.
When not writing or playing online, Carly loves to read, occasionally to knit, and to spend time with her family. She lives in Purchase, New York with her husband, two daughters and her dogs, a soft coated wheaten terrier and a Havanese. Her dogs are prominently featured on her website and Facebook page.
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Fun interview!…thanks for the excerpt
Pretty interesting interview especially your writing process
Thanks so much for this interview…what fun! And good writers! Powerhouse together!
Thanks for the post, it’s always interesting to know how each writing team works together.