Author Spotlight – Milli Gilbert

It’s time once again to welcome a fellow author to my blog. This month I’m very please to introduce my good friend and writing buddy, Milli Gilbert. Milli’s writing process is about as opposite mine as you can get, which is why we get along so well. So let’s get to it.

Welcome Milli, thanks for sitting down with me for this, or rather taking time out of our usual writing bouts.

You’re welcome. This should be fun.

So let’s jump right in. Did you come across any specific challenges in writing Nerdgasm? What would you do differently next time?

There are a few challenges – Max is British, and I’m constantly asking a couple of my resources for “how would he say this?!”. And one of his best friends is German. I can say thank you and you’re welcome. So more language research. Just hints. I don’t want it over-done.
Another challenge is the fact that I have a number of other projects going on right now – a couple of which are massive – so trying to stay focused on it has been a real trick. Also, I’m not science smart. I mean, I can get bits and pieces here and there, but I’m no expert.
What would I do differently next time? Go with my gut. This was originally planned as a short story for an anthology, but every time I tried to cram everything into the 8K (or so) word-limit, it just wasn’t working because my brain kept saying, “this is too big for 8K.” If I’d listened sooner, I possibly could have had it out last year.

Yeah, you do have to listen to the story. It knows more about what it is than you do, most of the time. When you get it finished, how will you publishing this book and why?

I publish independently – it saves me a lot of time and rejection, and also allows me to write my stories the way I want them written – not the way someone else wants it written. It’s my story, after all, right?

Exactly, it’s your story, well yours and the characters. Do you work to an outline, or do you prefer to see where an idea or character takes you?

My first draft is my outline? I tend to start with a partial idea – a scene or over-all idea – or a character, and then I need to find the character that fits in that world or find the world that character would inhabit. But I’m a pantser by nature, so I tend to let them tell me their story.

Well we do have that pantser thing in common. And the Romance. Do your friends and family know you write romance?

They know. I don’t think any of my family have read any of my published stuff, but that’s okay too.

I understand. Family isn’t always your audience. OK, last question… Is being a writer a gift or a curse?

Yes! It’s a bit of both, actually. It’s a gift because it’s something I can share with the world, and I love playing with words, and putting them together in their own, unique way. I love to see the way the same old story pans out with a new arrangement. But at the same time, it’s a bit of a curse because you’re on call 24/7, and at your muse’s whim. When he wants you to write, you write. When he’s taking a vacation, so are you (but really, you could just switch to editor mode until Muse returns)

Milli Gilbert is a stay-at-home mom who loves to play with words almost as much as she loves to play with her kids. All of her stories involve romance, and maybe a little bit of mystery. Milli loves to write about cowboys and shifters. And smut. Don’t forget the smut. And can usually be found trying to find interesting ways to combine them. She has several short stories published, and hopes to have her first full length novel out in late Summer 2017. She just took off after one of her couples to follow them around for a few months – but don’t worry, she’ll be back. Or, you can find her on her blog, Hairballs of Genius, and follow her on Twitter, Her books are available on Amazon.