The Author Spotlight of Noir column has officially moved from Monday to Thursday and they’ll take place every week. My first Thursday guest is one of the loveliest, smartest and most free-spirited women I’ve ever had the pleasure to associate with. Ms. Naya Free. She is a Wicked Pen Writer and author of series of short stories. Naya combines a wonderful blend of touristic fun, hot, steamy sex, character development and exploration of contemporary women’s sexuality. Her novel Leone Nor: Five Girls is coming out on June 18th so why not make yourself acquainted with both Leone and Naya before that? 

Lilah: It’s a pleasure to meet such a free spirit at my Author Spotlight. Tell us more about Naya Free, how you created her, is she different from your daily self?

Naya: Naya Free is the real me. She writes. Writing is in my soul. I have nothing to hide as Naya since she is free to explore everything I could ever imagine. Indeed, I am a free spirit.

Lilah: When did you start writing and how did you decide to share your work with the world?

Naya: It was at the age of ten that I started exploring the world as a writer, putting together plots and little storylines that made me laugh. But it was probably earlier, maybe when I was only five or six that characters would pop into my head. And it was much later, only by the age of 16 that I started viewing the entire world as writing prompt. Nothing was out of reach with my imagination turned on. It took me twenty years though to gather up enough courage and resolve to share my writing with the world, just started self-publishing in 2015.

Lilah: Many of your stories involve tourist girls having fun in sunny, exotic countries. Are those stories based entirely on fantasies?

Naya: The concept of tourist girls having fun in the sun and looking to meet gorgeous men with whom to fall in love or have some sex, is not at all a fantasy of mine. It’s laughable. When I go on vacation, I enjoy nature, walking, looking at architecture, tasting exotic food, going swimming, hiking, and discovering new worlds. Maybe also enjoying the comforts a luxury hotel has to offer. But I imagine myself doing that with close friends and family. When I travel, I’m not looking to meet new exciting people, I shy away.

So the concept of tourist girls is no fantasy of mine, and it’s a bit more than a fun dream, rather I believe it’s a symbol, or representation, of a woman’s right to choose her lifestyle, to be free, a sort of emancipation from traditional roles we women take on, being a good daughter, wife, mother, teacher, caregiver, doctor, saviour, etc. Tourist Girls are free to be sexual, or not, to ask for what they want, to grab it, or not. They assert themselves as sexual beings, just like men do, they can have all the fun they want, without needing an excuse, and definitely with no apologies for being themselves. As the song says: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! It’s a great way to escape from unrealistic, or outdated, gender-roles. In my books, women have sex because they enjoy it.

Lilah: Would you describe your work as a lighthearted erotic romance meant for escapism or is there more depth to it than this first layer?

Naya: There is no limit to what you can find in my romance novels. You want depth of emotion and serious connections, you can find it. You want an easy going love story, it’s there. You want drama, I don’t shy away from writing it too, because ultimately I write about life, and sex is part of life. It is not all of life, so I don’t restrict myself to pre-conceived, well-structured love stories, boy meets girl, girl falls in love, boy avoids commitment, girl sticks with boy through thick and thin, etc. I find that these types of stories have been done to death, and sophisticated readers are looking for more than the same-old love affair that ends in HEA. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I’m a romantic at heart, my favourite type of movies happen to be romantic-comedies. So believe me, I’m not judging.

Lilah: Your novel Leone Nor: Five Girls will be released on 18/06/2016. It’s available in separate parts and some female readers are already swooning over Leone. How did you get the idea of his story and character?

Naya: Leone came to me and he awaits recognition. (Laugh) I’m hoping I did his uniqueness justice. He is attractive, sexy, but also honest, gentle, funny, smart, friendly, open, and supportive. If he were real, he’d give you the shirt off his back, and help you through your pain, ignoring his own. He has had somewhat of a difficult past, although his family is wonderful, stable, loving, and caring. But being adopted, there’s always that strangeness about him, he doesn’t know where he truly comes from, though he’s never tried to look for his biological parents, as he was told he’s an orphan. But no one really knows. I will explore his past in a more in-depth way in sequels to Leone Nor: Five Girls, LN: Americano. But for now, as the book is released and people read all about Leone, I want readers to experience a new type of alpha-male hero, one who is vulnerable yet remains strong. 

Leone goes through the five stages of grief, mourning the death of his wife and son, whom he had lost in the 2012 earthquakes in Northern Italy. The story is a little sad because Julia, Leone’s wife, who was also living in the orphanage with him, is travelling with their son to meet her newly found biological family. But it is never meant to be. Fate plays a big role in my stories.

Lilah: Are there any events planned for your book launch where fans can meet you?

Naya: I have been invited to be a guest at a fellow author’s upcoming Facebook party to launch one of her own books. Stay-tuned for details to be revealed soon. I will have a few giveaways for the fans.

Lilah: What are your future plans after Leone Nor and the five girls’ tale run its natural course? Do you have any upcoming writing projects?

Naya: Oh, I have many, but the one that I will focus on is the story of Melanie Holt, Leone’s first love affair in Leone Nor: Five Girls. Melanie explores her own promiscuous sexuality as a way to survive a terrible heartbreak. It will be interesting because there is no judgment, rather a look into how a modern woman makes a conscious decision to exploit sex in a liberating journey.

Lilah: And as we’re about to say goodbye, tell us a secret about you that nobody suspects of.

Naya: Oh, contrary to what my erotic books elude to, in real life, I am extremely shy, though not-so-quiet anymore 😉

And now after you have met Naya it is time to make acquaintance with Leone and the Tourist girls. Pick up some of those hot summer reads, you won’t regret it.

Tourist Girls

Tourist Girls: Olivia and Shelly

Blurb: From the hot New Adult author Naya Free comes the most irresistible short stories of island sex, with Tourist Girls, full of sensuality and eroticism. U.K. tourist girls, Olivia and Shelly, along with their girlfriend, Kim, meet the Nor boys, two Italian hunks, Marco and Leone. Both Nor boys work for the Italian navy, as officers with The Guard. As Kim gets lucky with Leone, Olivia and Shelly let go of their inhibitions and decide to join Marco for a night of seductive, yet sinful, passion for three. Will the girls ever have enough of the Nor boys?