Author Interview: Alicia Stills

About the author:
Alicia Stills is a busy wife and mother who has always wanted to get into writing stories. Most of her writings are focused in the romance and erotica genres, and she has a particular affinity for men and women who find themselves attracted to sexual situations involving one woman and two (or more) men. Being able to put the dirty thoughts that exist inside her head into written form to share with the world has been both exciting and challenging.

Most of the stories she writes are purely of her own imagination, although many are inspired to some degree by her own experiences. She feels lucky to have had her husband by her side for so long and willing to share in the good, the bad, and the weird. After growing up in an environment where sex was seen as immoral and too taboo to even think about, being given the support to express herself via writing has felt very freeing.

It took Alicia several years after finishing grad school to start writing on a part-time basis. Even then, she only began putting pen-to-paper after receiving encouragement from her husband. Perhaps he really believed in her. Perhaps he was turned on by the sight of her furiously pecking away on her keyboard. Or perhaps he just wanted her to have some other outlet after finding himself unable to keep up with her pitching her various stories as roleplay activities. The world may never know.

For more about Alicia, please check out her blog: https://aliciastillsauthor.design.blog/

What inspires you to write romantic fiction?
I've been writing about various encounters for several years as something fun to do for myself and as a break from school and focusing so much on work. I enjoyed the process and crafting the stories, mirroring some of them loosely with my own experiences.

I've always been interested in MFM and other group scenarios, but I found myself not being terribly drawn to a lot of the work I was finding out there. After talking it over with my husband for quite some time, I decided to take the leap and start putting together more complete works and working on self-publishing.

Tell us about how you write.
I take a small idea and make that the initial focal point of the story in my head before unwrapping that small situation and expanding upon it. The "how" and the "why" always seem to overtake the "what" once I dig into a story. It results in my writing coming out in spurts after I've had a chance to connect the mental dots as far as how one character would have arrived at the point that they're at.

I also strive to create stories that are relatable and somewhat practical. I want the readers to be able to picture themselves in the shoes of my characters, rather than focus on an unbelievable fantasy.

Do you listen to or talk to to your characters?
I've always been more of a listener. I want them to tell me where they've been and where they want to go.

What advice would you give other romance writers?
Especially if you are going to go the self-publishing route, writing romance is a lot more work than it may seem at the outset. Really, the writing is only a fraction of the work. I proofread my work and re-write constantly, but I've found that I've spent as much time getting the works ready for publication, designing covers, advertising, putting together a blog, etc.

My books are available in the following formats:
eBook, Print