Meet Author Linzi Basset

Slyce: Brothers and Sistah’s, please welcome our sistah, Author Linzi Basset to “The Interrogation Room”!! Welcome my sistah :-). Are you ready?

Slyce: What inspired you to become an author?Author Linzi Basset

LB: I’ve always said that I wanted to write, but never really tried. It was my Dad that pushed me to pick up the pen…yes, I was one of many, who started writing before computers landed in South Africa first. I began creative writing in school. My first two books were published in South Africa in the early 1990’s. After that, life interfered and I didn’t write again until 2014. Now, it’s something I have to do to feed the passions of my soul. I come alive within every story.

The first book published as Linzi Basset was His FBI Sub, which was recently nominated for an Indie Book Award. Ruark Greer is the King of BDSM in their community and all my readers drool over him.

See for yourself! And remember, it’s free on KU.

Slyce: What is the name of your publishing company?

LB: I am an Indie Author – all my work to date has been self-published. However, I have started a publishing company with my co-writer I & J Publishing which we’ll get off the ground early 2018.

And lemme tell you, it’s hard. Not just the hours I have to put in to produce the books I need to make a living, but to self-publish.

Slyce: In what genre do you write?

LB: I’m a multi-genre Author. The main genre I enjoy writing is suspense. I write romance, historical romance, BDSM, Paranormal, erotica and also published a poetry bundle a couple of months ago.

Slyce: Have you penned under another name?

LB: When I started writing, it was as Sabel Simmons but stopped using it when Linzi Basset soared and am in the process of republishing some of those books still.
I also write under nom de plume, Isabel James, with a co-writer and best mentor ever. The day we met, we discovered we had a writing chemistry. Our minds sparred and we converted our passion for words into a journey of discovery that happened without any conscious decision.
Our writing is intense, it’s intimate and no holds barred. We openly explore the sensual and erotic emotions that rule the human body and mind. We’re each other’s yin and yang, challenging our minds and emotions to constantly explode in the stories we write. It’s an anthology of colorful, winding words that more than tell a story, it draws you inside, inviting you to feel each and every touch, see every emotion and experience the explosive sensations for yourself as they guide you through a maze of emotional discovery.
Be prepared for intense spiritual experiences. Find us here.

Slyce: You wrote a book titled, “Decadent: Kent’s Desire”. What was this book about?

LB: I am very excited about this book AND it was just released today. Even more exciting is that it already ranks #12 on Amazon bestseller!

Decadent, is the story about Kent Gibson, who knows the anatomy of scars. As a celebrated plastic surgeon, he knows that some scars are skin deep, while some are embedded in our souls. Since losing his wife ten years ago, he has filled the void in his life by playing a Dominant Master at Club Wicked Cove. Life is good; he’s got the looks and money’s aplenty, good friends and subs galore. What more could he ask for?

Sharon Watts has lived through sheer hell and survived to tell the tale. She carries her scars like a roadmap of her torturous past. Try as she might, she can’t jerk off the baggage of her nightmarish experience. Until, an impromptu scene with Kent brings her back to life.
As soon as he touches Sharon, Kent knows he’s in for it. When through a twist of fate, Kent wins Sharon as his slave in an auction, it’s time to throw caution to the winds and take a leap of faith. As a healer, Kent knows he has the most exquisitely fragile woman in his hands who needs careful mending, inside and out. She is gorgeous to him and makes his blood boil with a mere look. Kent and Sharon are falling hard and fast for each other.

But the evil is reaching its crescendo. The Occhipinti family is poised on a precarious juncture. What looks like an impenetrable castle, may very well turn out to be a house of cards. One way or another, Colt and his friends have had enough.
It’s time to hunt. It’s time to kill.

It has come full circle. It ends now.

Slyce: Is this book a stand alone or a series?

LB: Decadent is the finale in the bestselling series, Club Wicked Cove. The end of the Occhipinti Crime family saga.

CLUB WICKED COVE SERIES
Welcome to the elite, underground, BDSM escape named Club Wicked Cove.
Club Wicked Cove is a very exclusive, underground BDSM club on a farm located thirty miles outside of Jacksonville, Texas, on the banks of Lake Jacksonville. It’s a place where people go to escape and lose themselves in their own kinks and pleasure. In such a small, close-knit community, people treasure their privacy, therefore they wear masks, wigs and even colored contacts to ensure their identities remain intact.
Colt Fargo is the owner of Fargo Produce, one of the most successful farms in Texas. He is also the owner of the club, which stands on the outskirts of his farm on a separate plot of land. No one associates him with the club, which suites his need for plausible deniability.
Club Wicked Cove is a series woven around Colt, his best friend and co-owner of the club, Nolan Shaffer, along with four of their friends, Parnell, Seth, Kent and Raul.
Colt’s dark past and the Occiphinti family wove an evil web around the club and it’s Masters. Each to be challenged in a different way as violence, sex and death scattered their paths to happiness.

Read it now AND it’s free on KU
AmazonCom
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Slyce: How important are interviews?

LB: Exposure is something all Indie Authors need. We don’t have the backing of a Publishing house with their wide footprint, therefore interviews that spread the word about us as an independent author are extremely important.

Slyce: How important are reviews?

LB: When I started, every review excited me and hurt when it was bad. They are important, especially for ranking on Amazon but I’ve learned not to take all of them to heart. Those that are constructive criticism I use to improve on my writing and future books.

In general, reviews seems to be a cursed word but it shouldn’t be. All we need is one sentence, a few words that’ll take a minute of your time. You don’t realize how much it means to us to see reviews from our readers.

Slyce: What does the term, “Building a Brand” mean?

LB: Simply put, in my view as an author it means your brand is your promise to your readers.

It tells them what they can expect from me and my work, and it differentiates what I have to offer from that of other authors. My brand stems from who I am, how I want to be known and who people perceive me to be. Branding as an author is how we market ourselves to others, and I believe the best way to do so is by discovering and revealing who we are on the inside.

Slyce: What steps are you taking to build your brand?

LB: Oh dear…another question Indie Authors cringe to answer!

I am sad to say that I haven’t done much as far as publicity is concerned. I have a very demanding writing schedule, therefore to find the time to properly market and promote my books is a challenge. I do make use of Twitter and Instagram to promote my work and I’ve developed a more “social” profile, author page and my own group on Facebook to connect with followers. Most of the promotional marketing aspects of my work is generated by its very own popularity and that’s the best kind there is. Word of mouth. You can’t buy that. I’m amazed at the number of readers that tell me that someone told them about me which got them interested in reading my books.

I’m doing book trailers which I post on YouTube and that has generated a good number of interest. I do teasers, which I constantly refresh and recreate. Most of my followers connect with me via my website. I do direct mail shots and newsletters to them and the responses I receive are a clear indication of how much the personal connection I make means to them. I personally respond to every email I receive from fans. I also write the odd blogs but someone needs to tell me how to stretch time to slot it in with everything else!

This advice is not just for others, but for myself as well. You have to create a ‘presence’ in your work, of yourself as an author. Decide in advance what that presence and profile should be and make sure it’s the right one for you and for the type of books that you write. When you market and promote your work, mix it up, don’t get caught in a rut by doing the same thing over and over. It’s something we all tend to forget and I have to admit that I have, too, on occasion forgotten to take my own advice. Join other groups of authors who share the same interest and love of the genre that inspires you. Do guest blogs, interviews and be honest about mistakes you’ve made. Help others and mentor them by way of short articles that might address their concerns. Above all else, never harbor doubt in your ability to write and never give you power away to negativity.

Slyce: What goals would you like to achieve as an author?

LB: Well, that’s easy. I believe it’s the same goal most Indie Authors out there have. To publish that one bestseller that’s going to catapult me to the #1 on the New York Bestsellers list! A Pulitzer, of course, wouldn’t be scoffed at either!

Having achieved bestseller with my 1st series was a major achievement in itself and it resulted in 2 books nominated for The Golden Flogger award with one as a Finalist. My second series is also a bestseller and had 2 nominees again this year in this award.

Slyce: What advice would you like to share with aspiring authors?

LB: I believe that telling stories in my own voice, driven by my own passion is what motivates me and that is the very essence that gets insinuated into each and every one of my stories. It’s a distillation of who and what inhabits my being. I truly experience and live each and every scene. I feel every touch, every kiss, every harsh word uttered and that to me is the key. I write from the inside out. My stories are me. I live them. I couldn’t imagine writing a story looking in from the outside to try to describe something that I cannot see or feel. When I feel myself laboring unnecessarily to write a scene that I can’t connect to, I know it’s going to come out wrong. My editor always tells me to leave some things to the reader’s imagination, because I become so involved with describing what I see and feel.

It may be that my advice to the writer in you, whoever you are, might sound overly simplistic, but it’s essentially the discovery over time of listening to your own singular voice and the application of it, through hard work and passion to speak through the medium of the written word. Be comfortable within yourself. Write every story as if it’s your own, your dirty little secrets that you’re telling…and yes…maybe some of them are mine…lol! Find your voice with the words that truly express what you think and what you feel and it will flow into your story, make each one stand out, make each chapter shine and make each scene come alive in every reader’s mind. Let your passion come through and connect and your words will have the power to transport the reader into the story as a voyeur, or better yet, as a participant. You really want them to read your romance and erotica books with just one hand….wink*wink!

Slyce: Is there anything else cooking in the lab for Author Linzi Basset?

LB: Many, many things! I currently have 8 WIPs. Yeah, frightening isn’t it! I listened to a talk show the other day with John Grisham and he said an author should write 1 page a day . . . hmm, with this schedule and as an Indie Author who doesn’t get a million $ the minute I type the title, I’m afraid I have a much tighter schedule. 😀
The next series I already started writing is Club Devil’s Cove. A spin-off from the very first bestselling series I published, Club Alpha Cove. My fans have been driving me crazy to start with this one. And I love that they’re so passionate to read Rhone and Keon’s series.

Then there is the novella series that I’ve started recently. Their Sub Series, of which the final book, For This, is in editing and should be released in 10 days. After that Their Command Series and then Their Love Series will follow. Each a trilogy on its own.

There is also the continuance of The Alastor Chronicles, The Rebel Angels, The Tycoon Series, The Caught Series, The Madam Series, The Guthrie Sister and one which I’ve been hounded for but haven’t had the time to get to, The Dragon Shifter series.

I have a project I want to start working on which will be classified as a suspense drama. I’m very excited about it but it’s going to take much longer to write than any of my current books.

As you can see, there are lots of writing to be done! I need more hours in a day!!

Slyce: Do you write for the passion or the profit?

LB: As a fulltime author, profit is important. It is my livelihood after all. But the real reason I write? This is the question we always have to think about, isn’t it? For me, it boils down to what Vincent Van Gogh once expressed: “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”

That’s why I write. To express the deep well of passion that lives in my soul which is the part of me that I keep secreted away from my day to day existence. It’s a part of me that had been suppressed for a long time primarily due to a very conservative upbringing. It was part of my familial and cultural heritage and what was expected of me.

Now, I’ve reached a point in my life where I’ve been able to liberate myself and share my passion with others – blossoming out of what once was the genesis of my own confined existence. Passion is what drives my creativity. Passion is what allows me to ‘see’ and express my own sensuality through the medium of the written word; to be able to draw from that deep well to define the beauty of eroticism and all that it encompasses. I want to share what I feel with others.

Isn’t it a universal truth that it is our singular experiences and our passion, for whatever thing or things that it may be, that molds us all into the individuals that we become? Whether it’s hidden in the depths of our soul or exposed for all to see?

Slyce: Name three authors you’d love to work with.

LB: I have so many authors I admire but if I have to pick three, it would have to be John Grisham because I love suspense and thrillers and Johanna Lindsey who has been one of the first erotica authors I read. I love the humor she brings into her stories.
The third one is my co-author, James Calderaro writing under nom de plume, Isabel James. He has been a tremendous mentor to me as a writer.

Slyce: Where can our viewers purchase your book?

LB: It is available on Amazon. Free on KU

Slyce: Is your book an eBook and/or paperback?

LB: It’s available in as an eBook and paperback. Free on KU on Amazon.

Slyce: How can our viewers contact you?

LB: Well, if you’d like to go and look me up, I need to remind you that I―and my nom de plume, Isabel James―are completely stalkable or as someone said, intensely researchable! Don’t be shy, follow any of these links!
While you’re enjoying some of my articles, interviews and poems on my website, why not subscribe to my Newsletter and be the first to know about new releases and win free books. You’ll also receive a freebie of The Interview!

Don’t be shy, pay me a visit, anytime!

Slyce: I’d like to thank guest, Author Linzi Basset for joining us in “The Interrogation Room”!! Thank you my sistah. You were wonderful!!

Everyone, please go purchase, “Decadent: Kent’s Desire” by Author Linzi Basset. Also, remember to check out her page on Facebook at: facebook icon.

Books:

Decadent: Kent’s Desire