Hi! I'm Lisa

Hey there. I'm super excited to be joining the girls on this blog :O)  I've answered some interview questions below. Feel free to guess which is my lie at the bottom.

If you could be any item on Mexican restaurant menu, what would you be and why? 

Cheese dip. Because I’m pretty sure even the lactose intolerant would love that if they could eat it.

If you were an item of clothing what would you be and why? 

A really great hat. Like maybe one of those crazy ones the Royals wear, because 1) no one would sweat or step on you and 2) you’d get to do some serious people watching.

Seriously. Who wouldn't want to be this?

When's your birthday? 

September 1^st. I’m a Virgo! I love lists!

What quote inspires you most? 

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.”

--Ernest Hemmingway

Because it’s true. You don’t have to write a book. You just have to write one sentence. And then, when you can, you write one more.

What's a pet peeve you have? 

I hate when people drive slowly in the speed lane. (I’m looking at you Ohio.) I mean, I might have a itty-bitty little problem with liking to drive a wee bit over the speed limit, but the speed limit is more of a recommendation, isn’t it?.

This was the first car I bought myself. It was my baby before I had babies. Did I mention I like to drive fast?  

Something about you that no one would know just by looking at you? 

I LOVE rock. Punk, metal, anything driving with screaming guitars. My favorite feeling ever is that thrumming feel from the sheer volume of the bass at a concert.

Who's your favorite princess and why? 

I love Rapunzel. I think it’s the frying pan. Maybe it’s the little lizard.

Maybe it's Flynn

Why do you want to write within the YA genre? 

I originally started writing by trying adult romance, but those stories tended to bore me after a while. There’s something about the teen years that really intrigues me. Teens feel so totally grown up. They know they’re adults. They can see that independent person they’re about to become just there, right out of reach. And there are these roadblocks called parents in the way. There’s something about that age—all the possibilities and the limitations—that I find really interesting and compelling.

It’s not at all because I was terrible at being a teenager and want a do over. Really. It’s not. Promise.

Which YA book character are you most like? Explain. 

I don’t think I’m really like any YA characters that I’ve read. I don’t think I’d want to read a book about me—that would be too familiar and…boring. (Fuzzy-haired girl is awkward at band practice… total snooze fest.) What I love about reading is that you get to experience someone else’s life.

Yeah. I know it’s a copout. Sue me :O)

Plotter or Pantser? 

Plotter. Virgo, remember?

What do you like to do when you get stuck while writing to help work through it? 

I keep writing. Usually I open up a new file and just start typing. Usually, it’s a bunch of word vomit, but something about the physicality of composing usually will rattle an idea or two lose. If that doesn’t work, I take a shower. Something about having no way to write something down usually inspires great ideas.

Was there a specific book you read that inspired you to start writing? 

There wasn’t really any specific book. It was more the situation I was in.

I’d only ever really written stuffy academic stuff. I liked it and was pretty good at it (three articles! No one will ever read them!). But then I moved to Alabama and didn’t know a soul and didn’t have a teaching career (like I’d expected to have) and I needed something to fill my days.

I’d never thought about writing fiction, because when you spend your days reading Great Literature, you feel a little inferior. (Or maybe that’s just me.) Plus, so much of that is almost poetry, and I am no poet. But toward the end of my PhD program, I had some extra time on my hands and I started reading YA and Romance, and I realized that there are amazing books built around wonderful characters and page-turning plots. Compelling books that made you feel all satisfied and happy, instead of unbearably depressed.

That’s the kind of writing I wanted to try…So I did. And apparently it worked! *throws confetti*

What is your single most favorite thing (feel free to be as vague as you like) about your current WIP? 

My single favorite thing about my current WIP is the main character that I’m playing with right now. She’s starting to come into focus, and the more I see, the harder it looks like she’s going to be to capture in a way that won’t turn readers off. But I do love me a challenge.

What book from childhood do you most wish you had written? What book from the past year? 

I don’t have one from my childhood, but I’d have to say the book from the last year that I wish I’d thought of is ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE by Kate Kayrus Quinn. It has this really fantastic twist and is amazingly creepy. I loved it.

Two truths and one lie about yourself.

I lived in Italy for a while.

I love dogs.

I am not a nature girl.

So there you have it!