During the entire month of May I’m hosting a reverse blog tour. Rather than send y’all to other people’s blogs to read about me, which you already do if you’re a regular here, I’m introducing you to some amazing and talented authors from all walks of life and genres.

Today I have the honor of interviewing the delightful and brilliant Dy Loveday. Dy has a fantastic imagination, with lots of sexiness thrown in on top, and writes brilliant stories. I could go on about it for a bit, but she was kind enough to answer my questions, so I’ll let her tell you all about it instead ^_^

Allyson, thanks so much for hosting me on your blog today. Here’s a few words to describe my writing and personal world.

Describe your ideal writing environment

Organized chaos works best for me. I like to have my large plot boards up behind the computer with index cards telling me what I’m meant to focus on in each scene. Then I promptly ignore the card and follow my character through the ups and downs of life in their setting.

We live in an open plan house, which sounded great on the house plans but it’s the bane of my writing existence. On weekends the family want to chat even when they know Mum is mumbling away to herself and banging at the keyboard. One day I’ll put a door on my study, but hey, then I wouldn’t get to hear all the arguments about who ate the ice cream.

I write best at night when it’s quiet, the world is still and anything is possible. Many of my short stories are horror while the novels are fantasy/science fiction with romantic elements or a strong romantic plot line. Mornings are also a good time to write, but afternoons, gah, that’s when the endless phone calls buzz me out of dreamland.

My mini iPad is nearby while books lean in haphazard piles all over my desk, on the shelves and the floor. Every now and then I’ll clean up and then go nuts because I can’t find the special writing resource I need right now. Then books go tumbling to the floor, papers fly and the parrot shrieks in excitement. So I’d have to say my study is the ideal writing environment because despite the disruptions, I know where I can locate stuff. I’m part of the house and tucked well enough away for some nefarious plotting.

Spring or fall?

Either will do. Fall in Australia is often warm while Spring still carries the bite of winter. So I’d probably lean toward Fall.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever won?

Good question! I won Editors Choice on the Online Writers Workshop (Science Fiction Fantasy) twice and that was a great feeling. I also won a KISS concert ticket when I was 14 and that felt w o n d e r f u l. But probably the best win was a gold medal for swimming (State), because I had to work my butt off to get it.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

My girlfriends and I rode motorbikes across Indonesia. We’d never ridden before and hired dodgy bikes from some guys off the street. We rode for 10 hours through a smog-filled city, into isolated villages, up winding roads, steep mountain ranges and across rickety bridges. It was all in search of the Mother Temple, which we eventually found and loved. But it was crazy and risky and if my daughter did anything like that I’d have a heart attack.

What question do you always wish someone would ask (you or someone else) in an interview, but no one ever does?
If you could be any writer, who would it be?

I’d say Sylvia Plath but she died young and I have no intentions of doing that.

I think Dy is the first person to answer their own question, and I love your response, Dy! If anyone else wants to know anything about this talented author, ask away.

And after an interview like that, I know you’re anxious to find out more about this author’s book. So here’s a blurb for Illusion
Maya McAdam has never quite fit in, even on Earth where the magical elite sells alchemy on the black market. She has wild visions of conveyer belts turning into snakes and draws surrealistic pictures of places she’s never been. Partying and tossing back spells seems like a good way of avoiding her problems.

A week before her twenty-fifth birthday, her surrealist paintings finally sell. When a scarred stranger watches her from behind one of her sketches, she knows life is going to hell.

Maya would never have imagined she’s the daughter of a cursed king, and a bargaining tool for magical guilds. Will she fight demons and give up a desire for spells so she can find love with a warlock? Or will she leave her friends and become the nightmare the magical elite fears?

And just a taste from the novel itself, to whet your palate
Resheph pulled off his shirt to reveal a back striped with deep gashes. Reaching behind, he smeared a cut with black paste. His face remained remote and uncaring, as if he couldn’t feel the pain.

“Do you need help?” she asked.

His muscles twitched. “I can manage.”

“Perhaps you should go to a hospital. It looks like it needs stitches.”

“There’s no need. I heal quickly.” Gray smoke swirled down his back, and the tendrils licked at the wound, seeping into his skin. His muscles rippled as he slapped a bandage over a broad shoulder. She flinched, knowing if he put his mind to it, she’d be dead in seconds.

The blood glistened, continuing to trail a gruesome line to his trousers.

“The bed is yours for the night. I don’t need sleep much. Please, use the facilities.” He indicated a room leading off the bedroom.

She jumped. “Thanks. I’ll change after a nap.”

She moved to the king-size bed and collapsed on the springs, watching him sort through powders on the table. The warlock made her all fidgety. She studied his hard body and the magic coiling from him in sleek waves. Toned muscles moved under taut skin as he unpacked herbs. His movements were sure and precise. Apart from the flash of anger earlier, he controlled his words and movements. Everything was contained as if he planned every action and suppressed every wayward emotion. He’d seemed angry with himself for his outburst earlier. Or maybe he just didn’t like humans? Or her?

She dropped her bag by the bed and thumped the pillow, pushing it into shape. They were so different. He was cold and rational while she was rebellious and took chances. Despite his size he was graceful and glided with an economy of movement while she tripped over her own feet. Even from here his beautiful scent caught at her throat. She sighed. No doubt she stank of residual fear.

Just as well there was so much going on or she might have made an idiot of herself. And what the hell was she doing thinking of him when Khereb were destroying the city? Exhaustion weighed heavily, her body feeling like a boulder had dropped on it.

She’d rest for a moment. Once Resheph left she’d pick up her bag and hightail it out of here, because she couldn’t afford to stick around. He might be handy with a sword, but he was one hot cauldron of grief. She didn’t need a hard-faced aphrodisiac kicking her libido into high gear anytime in the future, and especially right now.

Because when the demons had whispered in their heinous language, for a moment, just a second mind, she’d thought she’d understood them.

And you know you want to pick up a copy. You can find it at:
Liquid Silver Books
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

And you can find Dy at
Website
Facebook
Twitter
GoodReads

Who is Dy Loveday?
Dy lives and writes in Adelaide, South Australia. Her partner is a great cook and doesn’t mind when she forgets to eat dinner (much). She has a 10 year old daughter who inhales chocolate and looks like Twiggy; shares a house with two dogs, two cats, a naughty but loveable parrot and several fish.

Her background is in classics, anthropology and social work and she spent much of her childhood travelling throughout south-east Asia and the south Pacific, learning about other cultures.

Her days are spent writing, spending time with family and friends, freelance editing and chatting with crit buddies. If she’s not on the computer you can find her reading, daydreaming, drawing, haunting antiquarian bookshops or researching her latest novel.

Dy has a MA in Creative Writing from Adelaide University and is a graduate of the Odyssey Science Fiction Fantasy Workshop 2012.