Interview with Fiona Zedde and giveaway |

Today Fiona Zedde is here for a chat. Her latest, Insatiable Appetites will be released on January 30th.

Fiona is giving away 3 e-copies of Insatiable Appetites to 3 lucky winners. More details are below.

Please welcome Fiona Zedde.

Before we begin, thanks so much for stopping by today for a chat.

Thanks for having me over! I appreciate you making the time for me.

You’re from Jamaica, but now live in the US. How old were you when you moved to the US and was it difficult to make the transition?

Yes, I am from that beautiful island! I moved from there when I was twelve or thirteen. Those are usually difficult years anyway and I remember being a big ball of tension most of the time. It was a bit of a challenge dealing with a changing body, awareness of a “different” type of sexuality while doing my best to dodge the kids intent on bullying me because of my accent.

The transition was definitely a hard one.

Do you visit Jamaica often? What do you miss the most?

Not often. My last visit was about three or four years ago (I think). That was the first time I went there as a tourist instead of just visiting to see my family and friends.

Honestly, I miss the food a lot (I LOVE to eat). But I also miss the relationships I lost when I moved away. Connections break with distance. Which sucks.

When were you first struck by the writing bug and how long did it take you to publish?

That crazy bug bit me in the butt when I was kid, maybe at five or six years old.
But I didn’t think seriously about publishing until I was in high school. There, I put my work out there and got third place in a county-wide competition. My first international publication was five years later when my short story “Tattoo” (about a girl I briefly dated, of course) was published in Best Lesbian Erotica. I got my first book deal about five more years after that.

You write novels about love and desire. How do you balance developing characters, the storyline, and desire?

Sometimes it can be a difficult balancing act. In the beginning, I just wrote the stories as they came and didn’t worry about whether or not I was being ‘too much.’ It all fell together well – I think. These days, though, I’m more conscious of creating the “right” balance. More story, more conflict, and sex that moves toward advancing those things instead of just being there simply for sex’s sake.

For me, the story ultimately feels right and complete when I’ve fleshed out the women and their stories enough so that the reader is interested in their evolution as people or part of a couple versus flipping the pages for the next time they end up naked together.

You and Lee Winter have penned an installment for the Superheroine series. How did this collaboration come about and will other authors join in?

The “collaboration” was purely accidental. When Lee’s publisher (Ylva) put out a call for writers to contribute a novella, I jumped on it right away. I love super heroes and had always wanted to write a queer super human’s story.

More Superheroines will definitely be coming soon. Look out for Alex K. Thorne’s Chasing Stars next.

Is it difficult to craft stories in different genres? Is there a genre you haven’t tackled yet, but want to?

The only difficult part for me has been dealing with the uncertainty of how the readers will react to something new. I love stretching my writing into new genres, but I know not all my readers will follow me on the journey, no matter how much they enjoy my previous book.

So far, I’ve written contemporary erotic romance, paranormal romance (with vampires), historical paranormal, superhero paranormal, and a semi-literary novel exploring the relationship of a bi-sexual triad. There’s still a ton I haven’t tried, but if you twisted my arm, I’d say that I’d love to write a gangster novel next.

Which authors have influenced you the most and why?

My most powerful influence is Michelle Cliff. She was the first Jamaican, lesbian writer I ever heard of. Finding out about her and her work made me realize it was possible for me to not only write but to write about being Jamaican and queer. She was an amazing woman.

Tell us about your latest release?

Of course! I thought you’d never ask :).

My latest novel is called Insatiable Appetites. It’s the 3^rd full length novel of my How Sweet It Is series featuring lesbians and bi-girls in Miami. In the book, kinky and polyamorous lovers, Sage and Phil, swear they’ll be together forever, but a shattering secret threatens to implode the life they’ve carefully created.

Open up the book and take a peek. These wild and crazy girls will take you on a ride you’ll never forget.

What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m working on a novel tentatively called Femme for Femme. It’s a sort of sequel to my short story “Magical Femme” and was reader requested. The novel is all about girly love in Atlanta and the troubles that can come with it.

If you were planning a romantic getaway, where would you go and why?

I would go to the south of Spain. The Arab-influenced small towns near the coast are absolutely beautiful and the water is swimmable practically year round.

Thanks so much for chatting today.

You are very welcome! Thank YOU for inviting me to come gab a bit with you. Have a fabulous and love-filled 2018.

INSATIABLE APPETITES
How Sweet It Is Series

E-book $4.99
Release date: January 30, 2018
Romance

Every woman has secrets. But Sage never thought the lover she’d shared her life with for years had one big enough to blow their entire world apart.

With one shocking revelation, the pleasures she’d taken for granted—decadent threesomes under the Miami moonlight, lazy afternoons with the woman who knew her best, complete and safe surrender to her deepest desires—are taken away. Left adrift and in pain, Sage begins to rebuild her life one piece at a time.

As she struggles to make sense of things again, her parents arrive from Jamaica for an unexpected visit and her own secrets threaten to destroy the little she has left. Can Sage find redemption in the one woman she turned her back on, or will she allow pride and her own self-destructive nature to ruin any chance at future happiness?

Number 4 in the How Sweet It Is series by the Lambda Literary Award finalist author of Bliss and Every Dark Desire.

Start from the beginning with A Taste of Sin, Hungry for It, then Return to Me (a short sequel to Hungry for It). All (except for Return to Me) are standalone, full-length novels featuring different couples in the group of Miami-based friends.

Preorder your copy now:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AUS

MEET THE AUTHOR

Jamaican-born Fiona Zedde is the author of several novels, including the Lambda Literary Award finalists, Bliss and Every Dark Desire. She loves French pastries, English cars, Jamaican food, and writes a lot. Find out more at http://www.FionaZedde.com.