Emma Lai, author of Twice is Not Enough

A preview of my interview questions, with me as the guinea pig, for upcoming guests.

How are your story ideas born?

My inspiration comes from many sources: dreams, media moments, daily occurrences, picture and song lyrics. Dreams are fun because they’re open to interpretation. Media moments are those moments when you see a movie or read a story and an image or idea captures your attention and makes you wonder “what if.” What’s interesting about media moments for me is how they spin off wildly different story ideas than the media from which they arose.

How many works in progress do you have?

At least a dozen. I was concentrating on a couple of contemporary, but yesterday a fairy-tale I’d been working on demanded attention. And, speaking of dreams, the heroine from my young adult sci-fi/fantasy paid me a visit last night to ask why I hadn’t given her any attention lately. *Sigh.*

What is your writing process?

Write whenever I can. My toddler keeps me chasing him most of the day. Hubby attempts to give me two mornings a week. During that time, I escape the house and go to my local bookstore, buy a coffee and settle into my routine. I check my emails and visit blogs for the first thirty minutes or so and then I pick a story and write until hunger or guilt gnaws at me.

What writing mechanic challenges you?

I have problems with modifying clauses: how to do them properly, where to put them, how to punctuate them.

What’s your favorite part of the writing process?

Getting into a character’s head. Sometimes when I’m writing, I become my hero or heroine. It’s pretty cool. Of course, I become so involved that I later have to go back to flesh out the other character’s reactions/thoughts/actions/dialogue.

What’s your least favorite part of the writing process?

Like many other writers, I’d have to say editing. Though, there are valuable lessons to be learned from a good editor.

How long did it take to write your latest release?

The initial story for Twice is Not Enough took something like 10 hours. Then I submitted it to Harlequin Spice, but they said it wasn’t quite right. So, I added another 2,500 words (about 10 hours) and submitted it to The Wild Rose Press. Add in edits and long periods of time of thinking about the story and the time grows to around 40 hours. Keep in mind the story went from 5,000 words to 21K.

Do you have a favorite line or scene from your story?

My favorite scene isn’t the library scene--which is a major portion of the story--where Lady Minerva becomes a voyeur secreted away with a tempting stranger. It’s actually the scene, where she realizes her own happiness is just as important as the happiness of those she loves.


Twice is Not Enough blurb:
After several disastrous engagements, Lady Minerva Peters is an expert at suppressing her own needs. Only in the darkness of night does she give in to her wanton desires with a fantasy lover.

In the middle of a crowded ballroom, she learns her father is not yet ready to let her fade into spinsterhood. Humiliated, she ducks into a dark alcove only to find out she's not alone. Her hiding spot is occupied by a captivating stranger. Before she can escape, the two become voyeurs to another couple’s sexual rendezvous. The atmosphere heats up and so does her body, especially with the tempting offers whispered in her ear.

Will Minerva deny her needs once again or will she embrace the anonymity of their seclusion and finally explore her basic impulses and the startling attraction to the compelling mystery man?


Click here to buy.