Today I’m excited to tell you about a new book called Elephant and Pinky Moon by author Lilac Mills. I’m also sharing an exclusive interview with the author!
Interview with Author Lilac Mills
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I just want to entertain, to take people out of their own lives for a few hours and drop them into the lives of the characters. If they enjoy my story, and it hopefully made them smile, that’s all I ask. Oh, wait, I want them to cry too – when reading Under the Cherry Tree, that is… not when they’re reading Elephant and Pinky Moon (if they cry when they’re reading that story, I’m hanging up my writer’s pen and taking up origami instead).
What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
Being able to do it any time, anywhere, and with the most basic of equipment (yes, I know you need to type your words up, but that can come later, after the writing bit is done). I’ve learned to carry a note pad and pen everywhere, and to snatch time when I can. Anyway, you never know when inspiration will strike.
I also like living in my own head and talking to imaginary people – but I have a horrible feeling I don’t have to be a writer to do that!
What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
In five years’ time, will it matter?
A friend used to ask me that, whenever I got into a tizzy about something, which was usually something very un-tizzy-worthy. If the answer was “no”, then let it go, she used to say, because it’s not worth fretting over.
She was right. I can’t remember most of the things I was upset or annoyed over, so they obviously weren’t that important.
She also used to ask me “can you change it/stop it from happening”, if I was worrying about something, and again, the answer was very often “no”. Ergo, stop worrying.
This advice doesn’t work so well with the big stuff, the life-changing stuff, but it frees your mind from the little things that you can’t alter or prevent, leaving you more mentally robust to be able to deal with the real issues going on in your life.
I use this method when faced with a mountain of housework – my theory being, that in five years’ time I’m not going to care if I didn’t vacuum the living room today. Unfortunately, this devil-may-care attitude is blown out of the water when the mother-in-law drops in unexpectedly, and then I wish I’d adopted the Scout’s motto of “be prepared”!
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
I worked for a bank in their “special accounts department” dealing with customers whose income was over a certain level, and my job was to book appointments with the allocated financial advisor and track anything sold. It took me about an hour a day. That was it. This was in the days before smart phones, and the only thing I could access on the bank’s internet was solitaire. I have never been so bored in all my life. I resorted to writing ditties, rewriting famous poems (badly, I must add), and the irony is that if I’d started my writing career then, I would have had my dream job, because I could have used the in-between time to write (and there were lots and lots of in-between time!). C’est la vie!
What would we find if we looked in your handbag right now?
Are you really sure you want to look in there? Yes? Okay then, here goes, in no particular order…
- A tape measure (the metal variety which winds up by itself – it weighs a tonne, and I’ve no idea how long it’s been in there, or why)
- A small piece of wood from the wooden floor in the living room (just in case I want to match it to a piece of furniture I have no intention of buying)
- Highlighters (you never know when you might need one)
- A tea bag (ditto)
- The usual assorted female stuff, like hairbrush, lipstick (I never wear any), hairpins, moisturiser
- Rubber gloves (don’t ask)
- Purse, diary, and first aid kit
- A really, really tiny screwdriver (nope, no idea why)
- A compact mirror (never use that either)
- Nappy sacks – otherwise known as poo bags. Used to always carry them before my dog died and I haven’t taken them out yet.
- A pair of reading glasses (in case my eyesight suddenly overnight)
See – bet you wished you hadn’t asked…
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
WHAT FREE TIME?? I’M A WRITER!!
Okay, yes, I admit it, I do have free time, but not a fraction of the time I had before I started writing. The thing which annoys my poor husband most, is that when I’m not writing I’m thinking about writing. Apparently I have a “writing face”. He says I wear it most of the time. I don’t believe him!
A few of your favorites
Animal – dog
Author – oh no you don’t! You’re not pinning me down on this – there are too many to list
Scent – vanilla (chocolate of course!)
Color – lilac? (lol)
Food – Italian
Curse Word – bloody
Book – See above – the pinning me down comment!!
Location – anywhere hot and sunny with a beach
Dogs or cats? – Dogs, though I like cats too.
Red or white wine? – neither – I like pina colada
Coffee or tea? – depends on my mood
Summer or Winter? – summer
Sleep in or get up early? – early
About the Author
Author Links: Website |
Lilac spends all her time writing, or reading, or thinking about writing or reading, often to the detriment of her day job, her family, and the housework. She apologises to her employer and her loved ones, but the house will simply have to deal with it!
She calls Worcester home, though she would prefer to call somewhere hot and sunny home, somewhere with a beach and cocktails and endless opportunities for snoozing in the sun…
When she isn’t hunched over a computer or dreaming about foreign shores, she enjoys creating strange, inedible dishes in the kitchen, accusing her daughter of stealing (she meant to say “borrowing”) her clothes, and fighting with her husband over whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher.
About the Book
Title: Elephant and Pinky Moon
Author: Lilac Mills
Book Blurb: Twenty-eight-year-old Nina lives a quiet, unassuming life, happy (ish) with her job, maybe not quite as happy with her non-existent love-life (but no one can have everything, right?) and content to trundle along with her nice, predictable daily routine.
That is, until Nina is persuaded to accompany her octogenarian grandmother on a beach holiday to Turkey.
Nina envisages sedate walks along the promenade, afternoon naps by the pool, and bingo in the evening. What she actually gets is too much vodka, adult games of “pin the tail on the donkey” and dancing on a bar whilst flaunting her knickers – and that’s just her gran!
Book Links: Amazon US ebook
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