My Cousin Author SJ Tilly and Mr. Sin
My cousin Author SJ Tilly (Sarah) is published and rocking the romance literary world!
oops… Gotta do business…. I think you all know I am trying to make a living one day at this so if you click a link on this blog there is always a chance I will make a little cash. All opinions are mine and mine alone
Tripping Vittles
This starts with a bit of Jealousy. My cousin Author SJ Tilly is officially a published writer. I personally have been writing a book for 10 years now… It has 5 maybe 6 chapters. I am jealous! She did it!
Have I read the book?
Nope! Full disclosure I have not read the book. But today is payday, and I am ordering it! You can too.. Book In a perfect world I would have read the book and been able to rap on about how outstanding it is. I have heard from multiple people its great and that is good enough for me.
For years I have dreamed of telling peoples stories. I fantasize of having a podcast where I sit with people and we have a fun discussion while hitting some questions that would give cause to more and more conversation. My cousin author SJ Tilly (Sarah) has agreed to be my first interview.
Its not a Podcast but it is still fun
I am no where near financially ready to set in motion a podcast. But I am dreaming about it so one day it will come. until then I have decided to tell a story through a brief interview.
The Explanation
I should disclose that I feel a bit more like an Aunt to Sarah than a cousin. Our family has a past… nothing sordid like I hope takes place in the Mr. Sin book.
My mom and her sister had their babies many years apart. My first memories of Sarahs mom Karen were this super cool chick with long flowing hair and bell bottom jeans. she was an adult by the time I was forming memories. I was going off to college when Sarah and her sister were forming memories. So we were not cousins that played in the sandbox together.
I have stood in amazement at what an amazing young woman my cousin Sarah has become and with that I present to you our interview.
The Interview
Hi, Sarah this is your cousin. I am so thrilled about your book can we talk? I want to know a little more about SJ Tilly the author and her character Mr. Sin without giving anything away.
Thankfully she agreed to this interview or I would have just written the above for no good reason!
Question 1
How and when did you decide to write, and then how did you become published?
Maybe this will help me get past the 6th chapter in my book!
I’ve always loved writing, and I’ve always had an overactive imagination. If we want to go way back, my fourth grade teacher (shout out to Mrs. Woxland) would excuse me from English class so I could go write short stories in the library. That probably started my obsession.
Being raised in a family that loves to read also helped to stoke my creativity. Flashing forward – I’ve always been the type of person who daydreams. And over the past few years those daydreams turned into full on sagas. Every book I’ve written (currently a total of 5) all start with one scene. One moment. One interaction, confrontation, spark of passion… and from there the story builds. I wait until I have an outline done (or mostly done) before I start typing out my book. So far, each book has taken about a month and half to two months to write.
I love the insight she gives to her experience of getting published!
It’s the editing and the re-reads that kill me! So that process started almost 2 years ago. (Two years this summer since I started my first manuscript.) But then there I was, with 5 completed books and no idea what the freak to do with them. I tried going the traditional route of reaching out to literary agents. I had a few reply. A few of those that requested more of my book. And ultimately no takers.
(A side note that will become important to my story – I’m in all sorts of reader groups on Facebook. All for different authors or subsets of romance. And all full of amazingly fun people.)
Then this past Thanksgiving I was on Facebook and saw that a group of my favorite authors were putting on an auction with all proceeds going to a charity. And one of the items up for bid was a “mini-mentorship” with one of my favorite authors. Jaymin Eve
. Long story short, I stressed the F out. I drank too much wine. I did a last minute asshole bid and won the auction. #noregrets It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time. Jaymin is not only one of my favorite authors to read, she’s also one of the nicest people ever. (She’s also in Australia so it’s super entertaining to listen to her talk!) She helped convince me that self-publishing as an indie (independent) author is the way to go. And when I told her I had 5 books, she cheered and told me “launch them all”.
Cut to Jan, and I set the date for Mr. Sin to launch March 1st. And every day since then has been a blur. Mr. Sin is now out. By March 3rd I’d sold over 120 books. And I’m quickly counting down to my April 1st launch of Sin Too. Then May, June, July I’m launching my Sleet series. So the entire first half of 2021 I’m going to be a goddamn hot mess.
Question 2
Does author SJ Tilly lead a different life than my cousin Sarah? Does Ms Tilly have a favorite food or cocktail?
It is Tripping Vittles after all gotta talk food and drink!
Author S.J. Tilly gets to publicly say all the shit that Sarah can’t. S.J. is also more fun because she doesn’t have a real job. When I’m S.J. I’m all in. If I’m going to write a scene where the characters are drunk, I’m going to get a little drunk. And if I have the ability to drink what they’re drinking, I will. Margarita, wine, beer, coffee, I’ll try to match. Call it method writing. Or call it weird. But it helps. I want to feel what my characters feel. Both physically and emotionally. Books are supposed to pull you in to their world. And if I can’t make myself laugh or cry then how can I expect anyone else to.
Question 3
Does Mr. Sin cook? What is his favorite food?
I wanted to ask about the book but I did not want anything given away
Mr. Sin knows his way around the kitchen. About halfway through the book you’ll find out why. But the man is Italian and his mama passed on her best recipes. Her lasagna is his favorite meal. And it’s not a stereotype when it’s that’s damn delicious. He’s also good at breakfast. ????
Here is the nitty Gritty of the interview. The Tripping Vittles 4 Questions. I hope to make these the corners of the interviews moving forward. They may need some fine tuning but I think you get where I am going.
The following are 4 questions I will ask all my interviews. You can answer these as Mr. Sin or as SJ Tilly or as my cousin Sarah!
This is a work in progress send me your thoughts on questions or questions you would like to see asked.
Cousin Sarah is answering as S.J. Tilly Author
This thrills me
Nitty Gritty 1
If you could travel anywhere in the whole world where would you go?
I day dream everyday about this question
In 2023 there is a romance conference called BABE (Books and Ballgowns Event) and it’s in Sydney, Australia. I currently have my name on a list to try to attend as an author. A lot of my favorite authors live in Australia so not only would it be amazing to be an author at a large event, it would be absolutely mind-blowing to be an author at an event beside those legends. But even if I don’t get selected as a an author, I do plan to go. I can attend as a reader and that will be nearly as awesome. Plus… Australia!
Nitty Gritty 2
If you could take a plus one and attend any event in history who would your plus one be and what event would you go?
I wish we would normalize taking people other than our husbands, wives or partners to events.
Jesus woman, you don’t ask easy questions! Ahahahah Okay – I’ve always been a bit obsessed with Egypt and the pyramids and the pharaohs and just that whole period of time. I don’t know my history well enough to name a particular moment, but I would just love to witness that opulence in person. It was a brutal time. And awful for so many of the people. But I find it all very fascinating. And a little bit terrifying. Which is why I’d bring my husband. He’s a giant in modern times, so he’d be a monster in ancient times. He can come with as my bodyguard.
I did not know that was a hard question and then she throws the wrench and picks her husband as her plus one and yet he is a giant so it seems perfect!
I still wish we would normalize not having a plus one or that one being something other than the person you sleep with.
Nitty Gritty 3
If money were no object what would you buy yourself and why?
I think this can be a very telling question about someones heart and soul!
A house in the mountains. Like right in the middle of the mountains. With giant windows and no neighbors. I can’t think of a more wonderful place to live peacefully and to write my stories.
This is where our whole family seems to be in agreement. Mountains good! Open spaces good! places to read and write ESSENTIAL!
Its in our blood
Nitty Gritty 4
If for one night you could trade places with someone who would that someone be and would it be on a specific night?
I did not specify Real or Fictional and I love she gave both!
Real person – Jeff Bezos. And while I’m him, I’d give away 90% of his money. He’d still be super rich, so he can’t get that mad.
Fictional person – Kit Davenport. Girl has magical powers. And a harem.
Thank You
I cannot thank Sarah/ author S.J. Tilly enough for being my first interview. She has 5 books in this series and I cannot wait to share them all with you! You can follow Author S.J Tilly on Facebook to keep up on all her amazing writing.
