Interview with Lee Piper
The room only feels small because it’s crowded with people in darkness. Only the stage is lit, red and white lights flashing on the enthusiastic drummer, while the rest of the band leaps and swirls their heads and hips at the crowd screaming and hopping along with them.Somewhere in the throng of sweat and excitement is Lee Piper.
L.J.: How the Hell am I going to find a romance writer in this mob. Now if this was a nice quiet folk concert…well, everyone would be a writer.
The music quiet slightly as is the singers whisper with burning intensity into their microphones. Panties drop around the room as they croon, but a snatch conversation drifts from the edge of the crowd.
Lee Piper: Oh yeah, I was a massive Chris Cornell fan, circa 1990’s. The frontman of Soundgarden was everything my mother warned me against—probably why I liked him so much.
L.J.: There she is!
Muttering polite ‘sorry’, ‘excuse me’, and ‘why are you jumping up and down like that at a concert? And aren’t you worried about concussions?’, L.J. crawls though the mob to lean against the wall besides Lee. Trying desperately to be casual.
L.J.: So… it’s bit loud in here!
Lee: Oh no. I love, love, love heavy rock music. Especially kick-ass Aussie bands. Like Tabula Rasa.
L.J. nods.
Lee: That’s my husband. Isn’t he hot?
L.J.: The one with the curly long hair swinging his guitar like a battle axe?
Lee: No, the drummer.
Lee stares longingly at the stage a moment.
L.J.: Right. I wanted to talk to you about your art actually.
Lee: No. I’m here for research purposes! I swear, I’m not just ogling. Really. I write about rock stars.
L.J.: Can we go somewhere quieter?
Lee: What? Oh! Are you the interviewer? Let’s go somewhere quieter.
Then we are in a beautiful part of the world the clear blue skies, calm oceans, and suburban houses as are only found in South Australia. A White Pointer Shark swims over the neatly groomed lawns and over the rows ATVs and jeeps dotting the street.
Lee: Uh, you’ve never been to Australia, have you?
L.J.: Nope! So tell me about Rock and Roll and writing and what inspired The Mondez Series.
Lee: I was going through a difficult time and decided to check-out of reality for a bit and immerse myself in the world of Kylie Scott’s, Stage Dive series. Interest soon turned to obsession and I couldn’t get enough of her writing style, epic characterisation skills, and overall awesomeness.
Lee leans in confidentially.
Lee: Not gonna lie, I fangirl like you wouldn’t believe over Kylie Scott. If I actually meet her in person one day there are gonna be tears, high-pitched squeals, and the very real possibility of a restraining order. Just kidding. Kind of.
Uncomfortable silence as something obvious deadly in the mailbox rattles and squeaks.
Lee: Just the dog. Don’t mind it. Anyways, reading Stage Dive and being a groupie… I mean being married to a musician inspired me to put pen to paper and give the whole writing gig a red hot go. Five months later, Rock My World was written.
L.J.: Just like that. Wow. So how did you get into writing romance.
Lee: My mother is partly to blame for my foray into the romance genre. She used to read Mills and Boon.
L.J. googles for you. * Australia has its own Harlequin phase, complete with pulp covers, titles like Glass Slippers and Unicorns, and ripping bodices.
Lee: You know, the really cheesy ones from the 80’s where the heroine is in PR and the guy is a bonafied douche-canoe. Mum would share them with me when I was a teenager and I would snigger at the way the authors wrote things like, “trembling thighs,” and “manhood.” Cracked me up.
L.J.: For years, I thought euphemisms were the difference between erotica and porn, because of ‘manhoods’ and ‘trembling thighs’. Does your mom like your books?
Lee: she hated the first one, loved the second and the jury is still out on the third. If nothing else, she’s brutally honest with my writing.
They laugh. Kangaroos, startled by the sound, fly out of the nearby bushes.
Lee: Really, you should google Australia.
L.J.: T.V. wouldn’t lie to me. So the Mondez Series are all based on one of the four men from the band, Mondez.
Lee: Written from the perspective of the women who ultimately bring them to their knees. Gotta love women who can tame alphas.
L.J. inches away from the decorative pond and the koala swimming around clearly thirsting for the blood of the two writers.
Lee: Are you okay? You look unsettled.
L.J.: Koalas are very unsettling. Anyways, while we’re on the subject…
Lee: Of koalas?
L.J.: Of anxiety. I saw in the book trailer for Rock My Body that the main character suffers from anxiety. What made you think of writing a rock star’s love interest with this disorder?
Lee: I’ve been diagnosed with it myself. It’s been a part of my life for a few years now.
L.J.: I know a surprising number of writers with anxiety disorders. I myself can’t even have a fiction conversation with another person without imaging bizarre things going on.
Lee: It sucks hairy yack balls. I find writing about it super helpful, if for no other reason than to raise awareness about what a challenge it is.
L.J.: Well, let’s scroll down and read some of this writing.
About Rock My Body
Thundering drum beats? Check. Swoon-worthy vocals? Check. Panty-obliterating lead guitarist? Check. Looks like you’re all set for Rock My Body, Book Two in the Mondez series by Lee Piper!
Riley Sears promises herself never to fall in love unless it’s going to end in an engagement ring and a white picket fence—her medically diagnosed anxiety skyrockets otherwise.
Enter Dominic Mondez, the hottest guy ever to grace pecs and abs. He propositions Riley with a cocky yet tempting offer of the best sex of her life—his words. However, after learning he’s a manwhore who never sleeps with the same woman twice, Riley’s decision becomes remarkably simple.
No. Way. In. Hell.
He is a commitment phobe; she needs commitment. End of story.
Sadly, traversing the murky waters of friends without benefits isn’t simple, especially when he’s lead guitarist of local rock band, Mondez. Riley is also cautious of his tempestuous nature, womanising ways and—even worse—inexplicable jealousy. He is bad for her in every possible way.
Bad, bad, bad.
If only her body would listen.
Excerpt from Rock My Body:
He was watching me, I could feel it. My body sensed him long before my head did and started tingling. Everywhere.
Oh, holy mother.
Just the thought of him made my heart pound. Traitorous thing. It merrily rammed against my ribcage as soon as I pictured his tall, muscular body and dishevelled, russet hair. My fingers itched to reach out and delve through the soft strands—they remembered what it felt like to tug down on them as he groaned into my open mouth—but I shifted in my seat and sat on them instead. I wasn’t going down that road again, hell no. I was done. D.O.N.E.
A low chuckle cut through the muted sounds of heavy rock music emanating from inside, its gravely sound resonating with my downstairs department, causing a deep blush to stain my cheeks.
Clearly, I wasn’t fooling anyone.
What in the name of sweet baby Jesus is he even doing here?
I tried so hard to focus on what Sebastian was saying. Thankfully, he held up his end of the conversation despite my unexpected inability to formulate any words. We’d been sitting together for a while without a single awkward pause so I nodded, smiled, and even laughed when required. To be fair, it was a pretty decent pick-up attempt. Well, until he showed up.
Blue eyes burned my skin.
You don’t own me, you don’t own me, you don’t—
I swallowed, steeled myself and then glanced across the beer garden.
Own me.
Dominic was leaning against the wall, his black, button-down shirt almost bursting at the seams. I blamed those insanely strong pecs and biceps. Honestly, they were huge. And the way his dark blue jeans hung enticingly low off narrow hips… Well. It should be illegal. He was going to give someone—aka me—a cardiac arrest if he wasn’t careful.
I shook my head. With a bottle of beer in one hand and a buxom blonde in the other— this one looked nastier than most—the guy was the physical embodiment of everything I despised. Truly.
If only my body would listen.
Raising the drink to full, kissable lips, he tipped his head back, piercing gaze still locked on me. He then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a flicker of emotions I couldn’t identify crossing his face when he noticed my breath catch.
The girl must have registered his distraction too because she started rubbing herself up against him like an overly aroused limpet. Gross. He broke contact with me and looked down at her, a dark smile tugging his lips. After murmuring something in her ear and slapping her on the behind, she giggled. I looked away, that familiar painful knot forming in my stomach once more.
Damn you, Dominic Mondez. Damn you to hell.
Holy Cow Readers Love Rock My World:
I loved this story. I couldn’t put it down! –Rabid Readers Book Blog on Rock My World
From start to finish I could not put this book down! I highly recommend reading it, a truly amazing writer!!! –Kindle Customer on Rock My World
Lee Piper showed us the strength it takes to love someone who is broken and the mental struggle a person battles to just let it all go and live again. Not an easy task, as a real person or as an author writing about imaginary people. To have a reader actually feel a character’s emotions, feel their pain as your own is a challenging feat BUT Lee conquered this task. –Kameron Brook on Rock My World
This book had me from start to finish. Cannot wait for the next one in the series!!! –Kindle Customer on Rock My World
Graceful Indecency 