The Trouble series was originally published under my "new adult" pen name, Emme Rollins. It was extremely well-received under both names and is a departure for the Selena Kitt brand that expands her horizons quite a bit.

I became an indie author back in 2006, before the term "indie" had even been invented yet!

My publishing company, Excessica, was the very first to partner with Smashwords to sell our catalog of books.

Telling good stories.

They're everything. I love every single one of them.

I've been partnering with director Kay Brandt and Adam & Eve to bring many of my books to film. So far, we have filmed Babysitting the Baumgartners, Adventures with the Baumgartners, Heidi and the Kaiser (The Seduction of Heidi on film), and Unfolding. Kay is filming The Sybian Club (renamed "The Sex Machine Club) and Bluebeard's Wife soon. And they're planning more Baumgartner movies as well as adapting Forbidden Fruit (the cleaner version of Under Mr. Nolan's Bed).

I read horror, thrillers, literary fiction, some women's fiction, and memoir/biography. My all-time favorite author is Stephen King. Followed by his son, Joe Hill.

My bladder. :P

Reading. Surprise! LOL

Word of mouth. Amazon recommendations. Goodreads recommendations from friends.

Yes. It was a total Outsiders ripoff. First you emulate, then you create. LOL

Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. Write. It's pretty simple.

I've always loved stories. Books were my friends from a very young age. I slept with Dr. Seuss (under my pillow!) every night.

I used to do my own, back in the day. I cringe when I think about it. These days, I hire out covers to the professionals and stick to what I'm good at. Which is definitely not cover design!

Pet Sematary (Stephen King)
Heart-Shaped Box (Joe Hill)
20th Century Ghosts (Joe Hill)
Flowers in the Attic (V.C. Andrews)
Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)

The first three are in my favorite genre. I love being scared. 20th Century Ghosts has to be the best contemporary short story collection I've ever read. The last two were highly influential for me, as a youngster. Flowers in the Attic was big when I was a tween. And Gone with the Wind was my mother's favorite and became mine as well. Pride and Prejudice should be on that list, too.

Horror/Thrillers

Kindle

It changes all the time. It used to be newsletters. Then Facebook ads. These days it's Amazon ads. And there's always Bookbub, if you can get one!

I don't have a desk or an office. I work in my living room at a laptop.

I grew up in the midwest, which is usually where my stories are set.

Game of Thrones. Call the Midwife. The Great British Baking Show. Better Call Saul. This is Us. True Detective. The Crown. Victoria.

When I was very young. I hand-wrote my first novel at the age of twelve. By the time I was sixteen and using a typewriter, I'd written 3-4 novels.

The best part? Having an audience for your work. There is nothing more gratifying for a fiction writer than hearing from a reader how much they enjoyed your story, how it took them away from the real world for a while, how it touched or moved them. That makes being a writer the best job in the world.

The worst part? Being your own boss. It’s deceptive, because while it offers a lot of freedom, it also means you actually have to be your own boss – like setting your own deadlines and following them! And of course, you always take your work home with you, because, well, you’re always home!

Erotica will always be a target in the mainstream. We have Puritan roots and, unfortunately, a small but vocal minority like to keep a stranglehold on the culture with their antiquated view of sex. I think most of the retailers have finally settled into a policy (spoken or unspoken) when it comes to erotica and most experienced indies have figured out where the line is. So it’s less volatile than it was back in the day—mostly because authors have learned that they can write as dirty as they want to, as long as they keep nudity off the cover, put the book in romance, and have a couple ride off into the happily-ever-after sunset. But most of the big retailers have pushed erotica out of the mainstream and some payment processors (I'm looking at you, Paypal and Stripe!) still attempt strongarm censorship tactics.

It’s so difficult to gain visibility these days, I get why new authors feel the need to scream about their book from the rooftops. Unfortunately, it becomes a cacophony of noise when everyone is doing it. I’ve even turned off the ability for people to tag me on Facebook because it seemed like every new person who “friended” me wanted to tag me about their book. I’m happy to help other authors out with a little cross-promo, but don’t “friend” me and then immediately post your book on my wall. Not cool. Oh and this new trend of, “Better than X” in ads? Stop that. I don’t mind the “if you like X, you might like Y…” But better than? No. Just don’t.

Most of my books are probably too adult to be made into mainstream movies. It would be fun to see fantasy books like The Real Mother Goose or The Surrender of Persephone brought to life. Fans most want to see Under Mr. Nolan’s Bed made into a movie, but the subject matter is probably too risqué. If we’re really dreaming, as a mainstream film series, I’d probably pick the Under Mr. Nolan’s Bed trilogy. With Mia Wasikowska as Leah. And maybe Michael Fassbender as Mr. Nolan.

Stephen King.

Don’t start in this genre unless you love it. Don’t do it for the money (it’s not there anymore like it used to be anyway, you’d be disappointed.) Do it because you love it. And if you truly love it, then keep at it. You’ll find your readers. And they’ll find you.

No one from The Walking Dead. After six seasons, these people are still clueless. Okay, maybe Carol and Daryl (but I’d make him take a shower!) My apocalypse Dream Team: MacGyver. He could make anything out of paperclips and duct tape. Useful in the apocalypse! Vin Diesel. Muscle – and he’s not too bad to look at. Have to repopulate, ya know… Liam Neeson. He has a particular set of skills! Katniss. Gonna need her aim. And she’s not so bad to look at, either! Sweet Pea from Sucker Punch – she’s badass. Oh, and another good shot – Ygritte from Game of Thrones.

V.C. Andrews. I was just a kid when I read Flowers in the Attic, probably eleven or twelve, and I was blown away by all the taboo romance and family drama. It was incredibly new and shocking to me at the time. I secretly love that sort of thing, to this day!

1. I recently started listening to “new country” and I love it!
2. I grow an organic garden but I’ll still stop at Taco Bell or McDonalds, no matter how much I read about how bad they are for me.
3. My IQ tested at a genius level in high school, but I still can’t figure out which cords connect my computer to my television!