Hi, readers! I am pleased to announce a very special post today on ILRB. We’re doing something a little different. This is our twelfth official author interview on this romance blog! I know in the past, we did character interviews then switched over to the author’s take on it, but this approach is a bit unusual.
We have a real treat for you, readers. Today we get to speak one-on-one with a talented author. Please join me in welcoming Isabelle Moss to ILRB! 🙂
Marie Lavender: Hello, Isabelle. Please have a seat.
Author Isabelle Moss: Hi, Marie!
Marie: Hey, such a pleasure to have you here!
I’m going to throw in some standard questions first.
Obviously, we know your occupation as an author, but some writers have other jobs as well. Do you have another occupation? Do you believe you’re any good at it? Do you like what you do?
I know I’m overloading you with questions, but we’re really interested in finding out more about you…
Isabelle: I am a Tantric Transformation and Empowerment Coach for individuals and couples. I love my work. I am very happy doing what I do and helping people live richer and fuller lives. I am also a writer, and am creative all round. I make art in my spare time.
Marie: Nice!
So, tell us…what is your family like?
Isabelle: I am part of a huge family of women – I am one of five daughters, I have four daughters, and I am an aunt to five nieces. My daughters are lively, confident companions and we have loads of fun together. The smell of cake welcomes guests as does the chat around the kitchen table.
Marie: That’s wonderful!
Let’s try something else, okay?
If it doesn’t bother you at all, can you let us know what your childhood home looked like?
Isabelle: I moved and moved as a child. Every two years I had a new home, but finally we settled in an old stone walled cottage which is as romantic as any house could be. My stepfather was a fantastic gardener so the house greeted us with flowers and plants when we came and went.
Marie: Lovely! 🙂
Do you have any hobbies, Isabelle? What do you enjoy doing?
Isabelle: I walk in the woods every day. I love being outside whatever the weather. I do yoga and pilates, and I make art. Collages are my thing at the moment. I also cook and garden. I adore rituals and celebrate life whenever I can. I have just made Beltane wreaths.
Cool!
And what is your greatest dream?
Isabelle: My dream is that my book goes out into the world as a vehicle of love. I have three or four others to publish in the series. I think that I am living the dream already. It hasn’t always been so, but I am very happy with where my life is right now.
Marie: Good! 😀
Let’s try another question.
What kind of person do you wish you could be? What is stopping you?
Isabelle: I don’t wish to be anybody than who I am right now, sitting here at my computer with the black bird in the garden and the sun coming in the window. Now is what I have.
Marie: Okay.
Not to pry too much, but who was your first love?
Isabelle: My first love was gorgeous. I met him on a school trip to Russia and I remember walking in the Red Square in the snow, eating chocolate and my heart aching with the intensity of my feelings.
Marie: (Sighs.) I love romance… ♥♥♥
Tell us something else. What’s the most terrible thing that ever happened to you?
Isabelle: I feel grateful that life always changes with this question. I had a long and protracted divorce which wasn’t pleasant in any way.
Marie: Oh, no, sorry to hear that! 😥
Let’s move on to another topic, shall we?
[Isabelle nods.]
What was your dream growing up? Did you achieve that dream? If so, in what ways was it not what you expected? If you never achieved the dream, why not?
Isabelle: I did want four children and am lucky to have them. I remember wanting to be independent, but I imagined that would come earlier. I also wanted to travel and before I married, I worked for an airline and traveled all over the world.
Marie: All right.
So, who is your role model, Isabelle?
Isabelle: Do I have to have only one? That seems brutal, but I love the heroines from further back. As a teen I gorged myself on old movies and fell in love with Katherine Hepburn.
Marie: Is there someone you pretend to like but really dislike?
Isabelle: No! I don’t know the people I dislike!
Marie: And what is your deepest desire?
Isabelle: To not be limited by fear.
Marie: Sounds like a plan!
Let’s try a different question.
What is your greatest fear?
Isabelle: That I will never truly fly like a bird.
Marie: Okay…
Let’s do something else.
If you were trapped on a deserted island, what five essentials would you need with you? They don’t have to be practical.
Isabelle:
- I’d need a stack of magazines with glue and a scalpel to make pictures, paint and pencils
- Purple ink and unlined notebooks
- A carrot cake that never went away and always had a slice left in it
- A crown and a pair of wings
- Music, so that I could dance on the beach
Marie: Nice!
Readers, let’s shift somewhat and get the author’s perspective on one of her characters. 🙂
We’ve heard rumors about the heroine of your story, the girl. Quite an interesting character. Can you tell us a little about her?
Isabelle: She is in the throes of first love and is overwhelmed. Sometimes she is yes, other times she is no. There is a dance between her and the Magician. She is tempestuous and he is steady.
Marie: And what are her greatest strengths?
Isabelle: Her greatest strength is her vulnerability. She allows herself to feel everything and is at one with nature.
Marie: Great! 😀
And her weaknesses?
Isabelle: She is full of fear and taboos. She is so terrified that she will be consumed by the intensity of the love that she constantly rejects it.
Marie: I’m sure some readers would be able to relate to that. Sometimes as humans, we run from the things we don’t fully understand.
Let’s try something fun, shall we?
What are her favorite foods?
Isabelle: Cake, I imagine, and fruit.
Marie: How about another question?
What’s a positive quality that your character is unaware that he or she has?
Isabelle: She is a child of nature with an imagination to go along with it.
Marie: All right.
Will readers like or dislike this character, and why?
Isabelle: Some will like her, some won’t. It depends on what level the book speaks to them.
Marie: Okay. Now that we have a real taste of the girl, we have a few questions for you as well as the author, about the writing process of your book.
What first gave you the idea for Eros and the Magician?
Isabelle: It sprung from a deep longing inside me to be unconditionally loved in a romantic relationship.
Marie: And there’s nothing wrong with wanting that! 😉
Let’s try something else.
What is your writing style like, Isabelle? Are you a pantster or a plotter?
Isabelle: I am not a plotter. Margaret Atwood said there were two types of writers – plotters and kittens batting a ball of wool across the floor. I am a kitten.
Marie: (Laughs.) I know just what you mean! I often don’t know where my writing projects are headed at first.
I’m throwing this one in for our aspiring writers. Did you come across any specific challenges in writing Eros and the Magician or publishing it? What would you do differently the next time?
Isabelle: This book flowed out of me. I started with one story one day, and then wrote another the next until the days merged and stories were written. I decided to self-publish. I’m not sure why, but it might be because I wanted everything inside my control. Next time I will leave a longer lead in! I didn’t fully realize how much there would be to do around the marketing. Next time I’ll give myself time.
Marie: Oh, yes. Spreading the world about a book is challenging.
It was a such a pleasure having you here on the I Love Romance Blog! Thank you for visiting!
And how apropos is that, considering what a great story Eros and the Magician appears to be… ♥
Here is the blurb:
Eros and the Magician is an erotic love story which unfolds in verse. It is set in lush and dreamy landscapes while the girl and the Magician lead us through the yes-no-yes at the heart of our most intimate love affairs. It is a story of vulnerability and the risk we all need to take to be truly loved. The girl and the Magician could be humans, immortals, Gods – we do not know. The story blends eroticism with complex and nuanced personal development.
Release Date: May 4, 2019
Genre: Erotic Romance, Adult Literary Romance, Poetry, Fantasy
Here’s a peek at the story…
Prophecy
I am wearing my purple dress,
long to the ground,
heavy rose quartz rests on my chest.
I am walking towards you,
limber, graceful, a Goddess –
a woman who belongs to herself.
I am wearing my purple dress,
long to the ground,
beribboned amethyst adorns my neck.
I am walking towards you,
ripped from the ground –
I am screaming and tearing my hair.
I am dressed in my skin,
bruised and battered,
but resplendent in glory.
I am walking towards you.
You gather me in,
home at last, you say.
I
The sun sends tendrils of light through
the canopy of leaves.
The song birds chatter,
the crows chase the hawk into the hedgerow.
The Magician sits on the ground,
his back against the trunk of the oak tree,
soaking up its wealth of knowing.
The air smells of resin and freshness.
The girl hums a tune,
starts to dance,
feet on the grass,
dappled with light;
removes her clothing
piece by piece,
as she does truths fall like fruit from her mouth.
When she is naked
she kneels in front of him,
slices the fruit, feeds it to him.
He tastes the sweetness of the fruit,
the saltiness of her fingers:
his c*** thrums,
he hears the pulse of his heart.
Sounds intriguing and sexy! Can’t wait to find out what happens. 😀
Purchase Links:
Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/ba28Jx
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45415613-eros-and-the-magician
What are people saying about Eros and the Magician?
“He’s the Magician, but she is holding the love for them in her heart.” – Emily
“Riveting to watch the dance between the girl and the Magician.” – Christina
“Isabelle Moss with her vivid, skillful, playful, whimsical, yet deep and heart and gut-wrenching writing creates a timeless piece of a magic puzzle. I absolutely adore it!
Every time I read a few pieces, I just melt into the story and feel like I am part of it. This rich piece is equally highly entertaining for your fairy loving inner child and for your dark shadow within.” – Inna August (Love, Sex and Relationship Transformation coach)
“These are like I have never read before. Sensual and full.
Your voice
Your vision
Your senses
So good.” – Gina
“Luxurious and succulent – Isabelle Moss writes timeless poetry, you cannot help but feel the allure of her intimate heart that seems to link back to an era of time we remember on a soul level. She draws from the depths of life and portrays all the mysteries of love and longing in her work, and it’s provocative! She makes me question all the roles and empowers me to find my own voice in the dance of love. And this is just the beginning, her words seem to spill forth, I know there will be so much more poetry in the future! And I’m excited to read it!” – Lady D, Amazon
“Unique, original, dazzling…This tells a story that is spell-binding, in that the reader is quickly bound up in a spell of enchanted words. There is a magic to this story of transformations told from a female point of view. The images are striking and vivid and sensual in this story that reminds me of “Psyche and Eros”. A good Jungian could explore these images and themes for quite a while, but it is a modern story about the need to surrender to the deepest desires of the heart.” – Jim Malloy, Amazon
“Riveting, magical, accessible poetry full of feeling and mystery. Moss writes clearly and lyrically about the chemistry underlying the mutual seduction between the Magician and the girl, and captures the power dance between them beautifully. She creates a vivid natural world unto itself, a welcome, exotic and wild escape from our everyday environment. Highly recommend!” – Meg Escobosa, Amazon
We’ll be sure to get a copy of this adult literary romance with erotic poetry and fantasy! ♥♥♥
About Isabelle Moss
Isabelle Moss is a lover of fairytales and myths and lives in a land that is steeped in them. She writes poetry, short stories and novels. She is lucky enough to live beside ancient woodland, in Scotland, where she walks her dog, Oona. She reads and writes everywhere she goes and is a deep romantic never having lost her belief in the redemptive power of love. She has a weakness for afternoon tea and cake which she indulges in when her children come home. She is a Tantra Coach and loves her work helping couples create more connected relationships. Eros and the Magician is the first in a series of three books and she is looking forward to narrating them as audio books in the near future.
Book:
And, if you want to know how to connect with the fascinating Isabelle Moss, here are some author links…
Once again, I want to thank Isabelle Moss, the brilliant author of this steamy literary fantasy romance, for stopping by! It was a pleasure to have you here! Readers, check out her work! ♥
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Wrath and I can go make cute little imaginary Marie/Wrath babies in my dreams… 😉
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