Yesterday I posted about a new anthology due to be released on Feb 1st, Another Beautiful Nightmare. On my blog this week I will be interviewing some of the authors who contributed to the collection. First up, today, is Lily Luchesi - woman in horror.
Lily Luchesi is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of the Paranormal Detectives Series, published by Vamptasy Publishing.
She also has short stories included in multiple bestselling anthologies, and a successful dark erotica retelling of Dracula.
Her Coven Series has successfully topped Amazon's Hot New Releases list consecutively.
She is also the editor, curator and contributing author of Vamptasy Publishing's Damsels of Distress anthology, which celebrates strong female characters in horror and paranormal fiction.
She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and now resides in Los Angeles, California. Ever since she was a toddler her mother noticed her tendency for being interested in all things "dark". At two she became infatuated with vampires and ghosts, and that infatuation turned into a lifestyle. She is also an out member of the LGBT+ community. When she's not writing, she's going to rock concerts, getting tattooed, watching the CW, or reading manga. And drinking copious amounts of coffee.
Welcome Lily. What story did you write for Another Beautiful Nightmare?
Lily -
I wrote an urban fantasy/Greek mythos tale called “Mercury Falling”.“Mercury Falling” features characters from my bestselling Paranormal Detectives Series. I was inspired to write it in 2016 after watching the MLB World Series. It features two of my favorite mythological gods, Hecate and Hermes, in a modern setting (Chicago).
The story begins when Hermes, moonlighting as a human baseball player, is nearly outed as an immortal after winning the World Series. Hecate is fuming, and begins to send magical warning signals that could possibly level the entire city of Chicago.
Hermes, in need of protection, turns to the Empress of Vampires, Angelica Cross, who stands up to the Mother of Witches. When these two legendary women clash, there is bound to be some bloodshed.
Were you also part of Beautiful Nightmares and if so what did you learn for that and how well the collection was received?
I was. I was honored to be chosen from many submissions with my modern noir story “Criminally Undead”, which told the tale of a New York City police liaison who caught a vampire serial killer.
It was my second anthology contribution and I was pleasantly surprised that a collection of horror stories penned by female authors was so well received.
Why is Women in Horror Month important?
It’s important because, when I was young, people told me I only read Anne Rice for her romance novels (under a pen name). It’s important because in classic horror, most girls were hypersexualized and usually murdered. It’s important because women used to have to write under male or androgynous pen names if they wanted to write anything BUT romance. It’s important to women like me, who grew up seeing women like Lily Munster and Morticia Addams on TV, wanting to be them. We need this more than ever. We need positive female representation in all genres, but especially horror. Female creators are talented, and during this month they get to showcase those talents more than usual.
Who are your favourite women in Horror?
I grew up reading Mary Shelley and Shirley Jackson. They wrote amazing, thought-provoking horror that didn’t rely on sexualization, gore, or jump scares to intrigue and frighten the audience. To me, they are the epitome of great female horror scribes.
What is your favourite book/story that you’ve written so far?
My favorite book so far is Never Again. It’s a standalone spinoff of the Paranormal Detectives Series and my first historical book as well. It stars male siren Sean Wireman and details his long, bloodshed-filled life. From his early years in 15th Century Israel, where he was stoned and then put in the gallows, to World War Two, where he faced down Nazis and demons they called up to do their bidding, to the modern day, where he is forced to relive his past horror, only able to make one promise, never again.
Who is the favourite character that you created and why?
Angelica Cross. I love all my characters (well, almost all; there were a few that I cheered when I got to kill them off). Angelica, to me, is the woman we should all aspire to be. Refusing to be limited by her gender or species, she fights every day of her life to save humanity, right the wrongs of her species, and make the world safe for every creature. She’s always a surprise to write. With every book and story she features in, I learn something new about her. Now that I have finished writing the Paranormal Detectives Series, I’m really going to miss her.
What do you do when you aren’t writing?
I have a few hobbies. I love to cook; I’ve apprenticed under my mom and nonna since I could stand up straight. I love listening to music and going to concerts (when my anxiety permits), as well as getting tattoos. I probably spend too much time watching shows on the CW Network, and I collect Funko Pops and comic books, especially Silver Age era DC titles.
What is the strangest or spookiest experience you’ve had in real life?
How much time do you have? I have lived in many haunted areas, including the building I live in now. Sometimes I see ghosts outside in the courtyard dressed in their 1920s garb, no clue they’re dead. When I was 14 we lived across the alley from a cemetery. I’d see the ghost all the time, particularly a young boy on a bicycle and a pizza delivery man, who kept trying to deliver a pizza to an apartment building down the street almost every night.
I was also once stalked by one of the Shadow People, who, when he was alive, murdered his girlfriend and died by suicide in the apartment next door to my family’s.
If you want to keep up to date with Lily and her projects you can find her in the following places.
Full bibliography -
The Paranormal Detectives Series:
Stake-Out
Miranda’s Rights
Life Sentence
Right To Silence
Last Rites
Skin Deep
Day of Execution
The Coven Series (YA):
The Coven Princess
The Coven Heir
The Femdomme Duology (18+, LGBT+)
A Bloody Legacy (novella)
The Hunger Within
Standalones:
Bloodspell (novella, 18+, LGBT+)
Soul Syndicate (co-written with Faith Marlow)
Never Again
Bad Reputation (novella)