Thank you so much do agreeing to do this interview. I will warn you that some of my questions are a bit unconventional. I must apologize in advance that you won’t like at least 3 of them.

Let’s start simple with a few simple get to know you questions . . .

1. What type of liquor do you drink when you’re writing? Do you drink it straight or with a mixer?

I’m a fan of rum or vodka. I mix both with different things, depending on the day.

2. What are you top 3 books of all time?

I plead the fifth. Whatever I say, I’ll feel guilty for not saying the others.

3. When do you feel the most confident and why?

I’m the most confident when I have balance in my life. With a career, husband, and four little boys, that’s not easy. When I do manage to strike that sweet balance, I feel like I’m kicking ass.

4. What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in life?

That I can’t control other people’s actions, but I can control my reaction.

5. What do you wish you knew more of?

I wish I knew foreign languages. That’s a bucket list item for me. I also wish I knew more ways to get my kids to listen that don’t require me flipping out like a banshee. shrugs

Now, let’s talk book, your books. I started my “all things Adriana Locke” love affair with The Exception Series. I feel in love with Cane Alexander! You are a very talented writer and you have a fan for life in me. My all time favorite book of yours is Sacrifice. It was so different and very raw. I want to chat about it a wee bit.

6. What made you write this book considering it was so different from your others?

I was sitting at my oldest son’s first wrestling match and a kid got carted off the mats by emergency personnel. He went off in a neck brace, on a stretcher, and I couldn’t shake that image for a very long time.

One thing led to another and I found myself thinking, ‘What if that kid HAD to fight again?’ Sacrifice’s concept came from that.

I like to write stories that give the readers a take-away. I think Sacrifice has a very poignant message hidden in the words.

I’m not a fan of books that have the main character dating two siblings. In Sacrifice the heroine, Julia, goes between 2 brothers and I was surprised why that didn’t bother me.

7. Why do you think Julia’s relationship with the brothers didn’t bother your readers?

It was something I tried to handle very carefully because although Gage isn’t alive during this story, he’s incredibly important to it. He had such an impact on Julia and Crew and it was important to me to honor the love he had for both of them and not take away from that as Crew and Julia rekindled their love. So I love that it didn’t bother you!

I hope readers could see that Julia wasn’t choosing between them. More so, she was clear that she loved Gage. I think the fact that she didn’t brush it off made it more palpable to those reading their story.

I must say that I loved seeing this side of you and I hope to see more in the future.

Stories like Sacrifice and Written in the Scars are the stories I love to write. They’re my favorite. But they’re something I can realistically only do once a year, maybe twice. They take a lot out of me emotionally.

I want to discuss the Landry Family Series, your latest series.

8. Where did the Landry brothers come from? Every brother seems to be so well thought out.

I wanted to write a series and they say to write what you know—I know boys. LOL I have four sons of my own, so I think writing four brothers (and the two sisters) was pretty organic for me.

I’m glad you feel they’re different! As the mother of four boys from the same two people, I know just how different they can be. I worked hard to try to make them sound and feel different. So I’m happy that came through.

I’m going to be honest here. I didn’t really enjoy Switch or Swear; they seemed to be lacking the special something that Sway and Swing had. I actually didn’t finish Switch; it never drew me in like the others.

Well, that’s a bummer to hear. You can’t please everyone—that’s something I’ve learned in my years of publishing.

It’s funny—Switch is my best-selling book of all time. So I’m sad you couldn’t manage to finish. I guess that’s just a part of the job.

9. Is it hard to keep up with the expectations of your readers when writing a series?

Not really. I mean, I guess it would be stressful if I thought about it, but I don’t. I just write the story that I feel those characters have to tell and if readers don’t like it, then they don’t. I’m not telling MY story. I’m telling theirs. If I tried to force a storyline, it would fail.

I was really looking forward to Ford’s story from the moment you introduced him in Sway. My favorite brother is Lincoln but Ford had me intrigued with his story.

They all have their own personality and view of life and Landry. Lincoln was the easiest for me to write. Ford was the hardest. Graham was the one I wanted to write from the beginning.

10. Which Landry brother has stood out most with your readers?

Lincoln wins every. Single. Time. LOL! He destroys his brothers when I poll my Facebook group. Yet, his book is the least popular sales-wise, so go figure. 😉

I see the Landry sisters are next up in the series and I look forward to them. They’ve been fun to get to know.

11. What can your readers expect with the Landry sisters?

Camilla’s book, Swink, comes out on July 21^st and I’m wrapping it this week. Let me tell you, her man just might be my favorite Landry (even though he’s not technically a Landry!). He’s so swoony, kind of a dick, and totally making me blush.

Sienna will kick off a brand new series this fall. It’ll be a more blue-collar family series that I’m stoked to get to sit down and write.

12. Are series more of the bread and butter in books? Is that why so many authors are doing that these days? Not that I have a problem with that. I love series!

I think every author has his or her own reason for doing the things they do. I’d written standalones up to the point I wrote Sway and I really wanted a good, solid series. I’m not sure why everyone else is doing them.

13. What is your inspiration when righting sex scenes? You have some pretty good ones, BTW!

Thanks. Blushes I really loathe writing them, to be honest. I usually wait and write them last.

You have a new novella that was released on June 4^th, ! Yay!!!! Congrats are in order!!! It’s called Imperfect Love: Battle of the Sexes. I haven’t read it but it is on my TBR.

14. What can we expect from your Imperfect Love?

Battle of the Sexes is an enemies-to-lovers, office romance novella. It’s fun. It’s fast. And it’s sexy. I absolutely loved writing it!

These next set of questions are just for fun and only require a one or two word answer. . .

15. If you were on a reality TV show, which one would it be. . . The Real Housewives of New York, Atlanta or Beverly Hills?

I have no idea. I’ve never seen them. o.O

16. What are you most afraid of?

People

17. Do you Google yourself?

No.

18. Favorite body part of a man?

Shoulders or back.

19. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Introvert.

20. Sex toys? Yes or no?

Sure.

As we wrap things up, I’m curious about how you feel about bloggers/reviewers.

21. Do you think bloggers/reviewers have made a difference in the book world?

Of course! They help us get the word out. I do think the blogging world is changing though from what it was even a few years ago. There are so many bloggers, so many books, so many readers. What worked before isn’t working now. Bloggers are getting more creative to get their reviews seen and really changing the landscape of the blog world. It’ll be interesting to see where it lands … but one thing is for certain—authors will always need and love bloggers! 😀

22. How do you feel about negative reviews?

It’s all a part of the game. I read all reviews and some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten are from not-so-great reviews. That being said, I don’t appreciate being tagged on bad reviews or having someone message me to tell me they think my work sucked. I mean, people are entitled to their opinions, I just wish readers and bloggers understood that authors are people too. We have feelings. A lot of love, sweat, and tears have gone into our stories and to have to see someone saying something negative – it hurts. So unless that’s the goal, to inflict pain, maybe leave the tag off.

I’m going to throw it out there, I always tag the authors in my reviews, good or bad. I do it so the readers can check out the author. No matter what my review says, readers have a mind of their own and will read whatever they want. I have NEVER and will NEVER message an author to say they suck, that’s not cool. I will continue to tag authors in my reviews and it’s not to inflict pain, I’m not an evil bitch.

23. Why did you agree to this interview?

I’m all about supporting the bloggers that support me! You’ve read my books, given me a chance. The least I can do is give you a few minutes to answer some questions, right? J

Thank you so much for answering all of my questions. I really means a lot to me! I find you to be a talented writer and I look forward to reading more and more of your books. Maybe even a grittier one. I know you have it in you!!!!

I hope to have one called More Than I Could out this winter. 😉

Thanks for taking the time to virtually sit down with me. Happy reading!

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Let’s not forget about a giveaway! You can’t have an author interview without spreading their work with the world. Click here for a chance to win a signed copy of Sway by Adriana Locke and a $20 Amazon gift card.