Love is... NOT Arrogant or Rude By Lila Diller Interview

A Christian Romance detailing the life of Morgan Maxwell. This is the first in the "Love Is..." series, based on the description of true love found in 1 Corinthians 13. Just as Morgan's relationship with her boss begins to blossom into a possible romance, a flame from her past bursts back into her life and tries to woo her. Morgan thinks her heart has made her choice, but then tragedy strikes Tony's family. She must choose to help or abandon, but if she helps, she may lose Jason. Which man shows her what true love really looks like? Who will she choose?

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Not-Arrogant-Rude/dp/1520622716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496796779&sr=8-1&keywords=Love+is...+NOT+arrogant+or+rude

I have been married to the only love of my life for almost 15 years now. I am a homeschool mother to two energetic boys, ages 11 and 6. I have been writing at some level ever since grade school and have been published in my high school’s newsletter and the Who’s Who of American High School Students. I do most of writing in my scrapbooking, my main hobby apart from reading fiction. I am organized and love lists, but do NOT like cleaning or cooking. When I'm not reading, writing, or scrapbooking, you will find me binge-watching Netflix and singing.

I have grown up in church, accepted the Lord at a young age—7, I think—and graduated from a Bible college with a 4-year Humanities degree. I love Bible study and am passionate about the importance of filling our minds with quality thoughts and images that point our minds back to Jesus (Philippians 4:8). This is the reason I write Christian Romance books, because I need them. I need to escape from the overwhelming stress of everyday life and relax in a good book, but I also need to be vigilant about what I fill my mind with. I know other Christian women do, too. This is why I am excited about my Christian Romance series, the “Love is…” Series, based on the Bible’s definition of true agape love in 1 Corinthians 13. 

Welcome Lila so happy that you dropped by.

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing for fun at some level ever since grade school. 😊  I was published (anonymously) in our school newspaper with several poems, and I was published in the Who’s Who of American High School Students.  I have been journaling in my scrapbooking ever since my first year of college.  My first novel ever published came out this March 2017.

 

What is the most important thing you hope readers will take away from reading your book?

That every Christian can hope and trust in Jesus Christ no matter what hopeless or confusing situation they’re in, to be encouraged to keep persevering in their faith in Him, and walk away from a relaxing, enjoyable that also filled their mind with Scriptural truths.

 

How does your faith play in your writing?

My faith in Jesus Christ as Lord is everything in my writing!  It’s the main reason I write and is the main purpose I want my readers to have – to live by faith in our everyday lives.

 

What is your favorite Bible verse and why?

It’s so hard to pick just one!  My favorite practical verse right now is Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest [honorable], whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report [worthy to be repeated]; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think [consider, ponder] on these things.”  I need this verse several times every day!  I often tend to drift toward negative things; but that only takes me deeper into hopelessness and melancholy.  I personally need to strive to capture every thought (2 Cor. 10:5) and filter it through this verse.  This is my main reason for writing the kind of Christian Romance that I do. 😊

 

What sparked your decision to journey down the path of writing?

That’s a long and involved story. 😉 The short version is: I wanted to write a novel that I would enjoy reading and that would still also help me fill my mind with Scriptural truths.

The long version is that I have always secretly wanted to publish a book on my bucket list.  I just never had the perseverance to actually follow through with it.  It was just a “pie-in-the-sky” wish.  I was then inspired by a dream I had a couple of years ago to start the storyline about Morgan and Jason and Tony, but I never knew how I wanted to finish it.  In fact, I had never finished a story that wasn’t for a school assignment before!  When my friend and former college roommate, Jennifer Appel, Author, posted on Facebook that she was working on her third novel during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November 2015, I took a look and realized that this was the motivation I needed to finish my story.  I had a family crisis that November, and decided that finishing my fiction story wasn’t important enough to me to continue through that stress. 

I picked it back up again the next July though, during Camp NaNoWriMo in 2016.  It gives you a daily goal to finish in order to accomplish your monthly goal.  Because my goal for the month was to finish a 45,000-word short novel, it gave me a daily goal of 1,500 words for 30 days.   Even though I didn’t write every day, I did finish my goal, finishing the plot to my first story ever!  I put it away for several months and then got it back out and began editing it.

I felt like this was a way that the Lord was showing me that I could share my Bible knowledge with an audience in a relaxing, entertaining way.   I preserved through all the technical stuff and finally published my first book, Love is Not Arrogant or Rude, the first in Morgan’s story called the “Love is…” series, in March 2017!

 

What is your favorite comfort food?

Chocolate anything, especially dark chocolate!!! 😃   I especially love turtle cheesecake!!  My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 😉

 

 I am a dog lover... Do you have any pets?  Tell us about them. I’m a dog lover, too!!  I actually like a lot of different kinds of animals, but my husband is allergic to cats, so we only have one dog at the moment.  He is a rescued animal that we bought for my oldest son four years ago for his big Christmas present.  His mother was a full-blooded Collie, but the father must have been a mutt. 😉  He really looks more like a brown lab than anything else, though he’s slightly smaller than either a Collie or a Lab.  His name is Copper, because that’s what my son wanted to name him after I told him that was the name of my old dog, who was my best friend growing up for 12 years!

Tell readers how to keep up with you?

I would love to connect with readers on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/loveisseries, as well as my blog at https://liladillerauthor.squarespace.com!  You can also email me anytime at dillerdesigns@gmail.com.  😊