FAQ

General

Where do you live? In the Houston area

Where were you born? New Orleans

What area of New Orleans did you live? We lived in the 7^th Ward, where Leslie grew up. Shirley grew up in the same area but it was called “Backatown” and “Paillet Land” during those days.

How long have you been writing? Shirley has been writing since she was 16. Leslie attempted to write her first “novel” at 12. They’ve been writing together since 1990.

How did you begin writing together? Leslie asked her mother to pen a book set in Antebellum New Orleans. Shirley agreed with the stipulation Leslie do the research. Two years and 782 pages later, they decided to become official writing partners.

What year was your first novel published? 1998. It was a time-travel called A Time For Us.

Are all your titles independently published? No. At this point, only the Wicked Allure Series are indie books.

 
Are you agented? Yes.

What romance genres do you write in? Erotic, Contemporary, Historical, and Paranormal.

Are all your characters African-American? No. Why? We believe love is universal and shouldn’t have to be defined by color.

Where do your ideas come from? A variety of places.

Do you write full time? Shirley has been retired for 16 years and does write full time. Leslie homeschool two of her daughter and also is Author Liaison at BTSeMag

 

Wicked Allure FAQ

Have you ever visited a sex club? No, neither of us. Leslie has been invited to several. She got vivid details about sex clubs from the people who invited her to include in Wicked Allure.

Why wasn’t more scenes set in the club? It didn’t come into play in Wicked Allure as much as we thought it would. However, it will have a play in upcoming books, especially Pure Allure, Dakota’s book, since he will end up managing it.

What are the books in the series? Wicked Allure (book 1), Wicked Addiction (book 1.5), Scandalous Allure (book 2), Decadent Allure (book 3), and Pure Allure (book 4)

Have all of them been released yet? No.

When will the next book release? Wicked Addiction is scheduled for release the first week of July. The release dates of the other books will be announced.

What formats is Wicked Allure available in? Print, ePub, PDF, PDB, LIT, RB, MOBI, and Audio.

Will all five books explore Madi’s and Zach’s relationship? Yes and no. Book 2 is Kelly’s and Beau’s story. Book 3 is Brianna and Scott’s story. Book 4 is Dakota’s story. However, Madigan and Zachary’s story will continue in the other books.

Who will Dakota have as a love interest? Originally, it was going to be Lane Bradford. However, that is still up in the air. Who do you think he should have as a heroine?

Are the DeLeons modeled after the Kardashians? No.

Karolyn DeLeon has been described as the mother from hell and a little over-the-top in her hatred towards Madi. Why did you write her as she is? She’s based on a real person and their relationship is based on that person and her daughter. In Wicked Addiction, the reasons for her attitude towards Madigan will be explored a little further.

 

Why write Wicked Addiction: Zach's and Madigan's relationship is complex and we couldn't explore their past further in the other books in the series if we want to do justice by the featured H/h. Wicked Addiction isn't for the squeamish. While it will answer some questions, it will also contain one certain scene between the two of them that shows what happened to drive them apart.

 

 

Picture Perfect

Where did you come up with the idea for Alex’s and Elliot’s characters?

Alex’s character is based on Leslie’s childhood. She watched her own dad drive away after he'd visit. To her, it was as if he was driving off into the unknown.  As a child, she couldn't wrap her head around the fact he visited after leaving work and he could only stay ten or fifteen minutes then because my mother still had murder on her mind after he left for another woman. Until her dad died, Leslie watched him drive away. A counselor once told her she always chose the wrong type of men because she wanted to see if they would stay when her father always left.

Why was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina chosen as a story arc? Leslie and Shirley are from New Orleans and lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. They were going to write a nonfiction book called Dancing with Katrina, then decided a romance would work better or as well to write about the storm. It hurt them to have to revisit the trauma of their evacuation and the aftermath of the storm. With fiction, they could write in a happy ending. A lot of what they knew and experienced had been put in Picture Perfect. The book was huge! A couple scenes had to be edited out. One in particular where Alex’s pastor’s decision to flee when he went to Walmart and found it closed was based on Shirley’s brother. Two brothers and their wives intended to stay behind and went to Walmart for supplies, only to find the store closed. They decided anytime Walmart closed, something bad had to be coming.

Will any secondary characters from Picture Perfect get their own stories? We don’t ever say never.

Do you have the recipes for the dishes mentioned in Picture Perfect? Yes. We will add them here soon.

Why are the matriarchs in your stories always so controlling? We have been writing beastly mothers, haven’t we? In Scandalous Allure, Beau’s father will be the problem. Pitted against Karolyn Crosby DeLeon, however, he isn’t going to stand a chance. Believe it or not, she will help save the day on Kelly's behalf. Writing as Christine Holden, we had a father (Dearest Beloved), a great grandfather, several times removed (A Hitch In Time), and an uncle (Patterns of Love) who were family members with bad, or rather questionable, behavior.

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