Tell us about the Up In The Air series.
Up In The Air is an erotic romance series about a flight attendant, Bianca, and a billionaire hotel owner, James, who meet and begin an intense affair that involves BDSM.  I love the idea that having sexual preferences that aren’t the norm doesn’t have to be something that keeps you from finding a fulfilling monogamous relationship.

What genre did you say it is?
Erotic romance.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Romance and erotica readers who aren’t that easily shocked, or at least don’t mind love stories with some very kinky sex, and BDSM.

Complete this sentence for us: If you like _________, you’ll love the Up In The Air series
Love stories with a heavy dose of kink.  Or, if we’re talking other books- Bared to You, Fifty Shades, The Blackstone Affair by Raine Miller.

Tell us a bit more about Bianca and James Cavendish. What is it about them that you think has made them such attractive characters to so many readers?
I think they’re relatable.  Their sexual preferences maybe aren’t, but they’re very real characters.   They’re both complicated in interesting and, in my opinion, endearing ways.

What can you tell us about (final book in the series) Grounded?
It is a very definitive conclusion for James and Bianca.  I’ll quote my mom, who always gets a peek at my rough drafts.  “I cried at least four times (happy and sad) and I wanted to throw my IPad at your head for that one part.”  She points at me.  “You know which part I’m talking about.”  I didn’t.  She continues, “I wouldn’t change one thing.  I loved it.”

Your mum reads all your books?! Don’t you feel weird because of all the kinky sex?
I love this question because people seem surprised that my mom reads my books.  You’d think I’d be embarrassed, but she’s very supportive, and I never had any doubts that she would be.  She’s been an avid romance reader since I can remember, and I always just want her honest opinion, because I value it.  A few of the things I’ve written have genuinely shocked her, and I guess it’s just my personality, but shocking her just makes me laugh.

Fair enough. You mentioned Fifty Shades earlier. Comparisons are bound to be made. How are the trilogies similar, and in what ways are they different?
I think every book that contains BDSM for the next decade will probably get that comparison, but BDSM didn’t just pop up in the last year, though I think Fifty Shades was an introduction into that scene for a lot of people, and it brought a lot of mainstream attention to what was previously on the fringe, which is a great thing.  It was not my introduction into that world.  I wrote a love story that contains BDSM elements, because it’s something that has always fascinated me.

Bianca is a virgin at the start of the series, and James is a billionaire.  Those are the big similarities to Fifty Shades.  The differences are my characters and the story.  This is a story about Bianca’s development as a person, her journey away from her detachment to most of the people in her life.  It’s not a story that focuses only on the interesting male lead.  Bianca has her own issues to deal with.  She’s no blank slate.  It’s also from the point of view of a flight attendant, which I think adds some interesting aspects to the story.

You also write under a different name, don’t you?
Yes, I write urban fantasy under the pseudonym Rebecca K. Lilley.  Breathing Fire is the first book in my Heretic Daughters series.  The second book is tentatively scheduled to release in late summer.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’ve been an avid reader since I can remember.  I started reading every fantasy novel I could get my hands on when I was about eight.  It all started with Anne McCaffrey… I fell in love with the romance genre when I was about twelve.  That obsession started with Julie Garwood.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t enjoy reading.  And I’ve wanted to be a writer since people started asking what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I actually had a conversation with one of my brothers the other day where he brought up a conversation we had when I was about ten, and he was making fun of me for writing a fantasy novel.  He thought the names I was using were silly.  I wasn’t really offended at the time.  “You don’t get it,” I’d told him, because he just didn’t enjoy reading.  Fast-forward twenty three years, and finally he says, “I guess the joke was on me.”  We had a good laugh about that.

Have you got a blog or website  where readers can keep up with your work? How can we follow you on Facebook and/or Twitter?
My website is www.rklilley.com
Friend me Facebook.com/authorrklilley or like me Facebook.com/rklilley
You can follow me on Twitter @authorrklilley.

What’s next? Are the rumours of a spin-off series true? How much can you tell us?
Yes!  Your sources are good.  Grounded will be released on Amazon on February 12.  Sometime in March, I will be releasing a novella about Lana, a character from the series.  After that I will be working on a spin-off series about two characters that are introduced in Grounded, tentatively titled Bad Things.  It will be an erotic romance with some heavy subject matter.

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Enjoyed the Up In The Air series? Then check out June Gray’s DISARM series.