Author Interview: Lisa M Stasse

 Hello Bookish Lovlies,  

   Make sure you all welcome the newest addition to my stash of bookish mothers.  Please welcome Author Lisa M Stasse, debut author of The Forsaken.  I did enjoy interviewing her.  And loves, I am going to try to drag Nicole Williams, the writer of Clash and Crush here for the next interview.   (Okay, I am going to get on my knees and beg her saying, she must come and donate Jude to the Courtney's Basement home for the miscared for boyfriends.   If she doesn't I will be kidnapping him personally.  Along with Tony.))

 

1) So, do you consider your self a writer that lives for writing or is it a something fun to do on the side?

At this point, I pretty much live for it. I always loved to write, but it's only in the past few years that I figured out how to write books (I was writing short stories before that). I absolutely love it. My dream is to just be able to write a couple great books a year!

2)  The Forsaken sounds A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  What can you tell the readers to be expecting?

Expect something with a lot of thrills, and action, adventure and passion! There is romance (naturally!), but it's not the sole focus of the story. This is basically a story about a good girl who inexplicably gets sent to the harshest, worse place on earth (a prison island for subversive individuals called "the wheel") and has to use her wits to make friends and figure out how to escape. Along the way she falls in love, but even that gets tested pretty fast.

3)  Where was the place that you first thought of the plot for The Forsaken?

It started as a creepy nightmare I had about being chased by guys with knives through a forest. And somehow that merged with a conversation that I just had with a friend whose sister was worried about taking the SATs. I thought, "I wonder what it would be like if the government invented a personality test, that if you failed it, you lost everything and got banished to a prison island forever." So that was the beginning of it all. I think I was actually at Starbucks when the idea came together in my head (I'm a coffee fiend, so I'm often at Starbucks!)

4) The road to publication. Tell us about it. 

The road has treated me well so far. I got my dream agent (Mollie Glick at Foundry--hi Mollie!)  from sending her a query letter via email. And then Simon & Schuster bought The Forsaken trilogy in a pre-empt, pretty much right away. Then I saw the cover art (which I had been obsessing and worrying about) and I really loved it. And I've been lucky with foreign rights selling too. Of course there have been a few speed bumps along the way. My original editor Courtney left S&S partway through the process (to join the FBI! For real! How badass is that?) but luckily I got a new awesome editor Zareen (hi Zareen!) who is absolutely fantastic to work with. We have big plans!

5)  So, any obsessed stalker fans yet?  If not I can send some of my Jamie McGuire cult to you.......

Hee hee! So far, I love all my readers and fans! And I probably always will. But I look forward to getting my first stalker! :) I mean, it would be scary, but I guess it would be a sign of success (in a twisted way). I would LOVE you to send some of Jamie's cult my way! ;)

6)  Speaking of Jamie McGuire, have you read her book, Beautiful Disaster?

I haven't read the book, but I've heard good things about it. Some of my friends say it's a total blast to read. I'll add it to my TBR pile.

7)  Is it okay if I kidnap you and hold you captive in my basement?  I already have a nice collection of book boyfriends and their mothers. ;) 

YES! I was hoping you would ask this question! :) Bring on the basement! As long as there's a coffee machine down there and an internet connection, then I'm happy to move in anytime! :) Is Jamie down there too?? We could all have a party or something!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME ON YOUR BLOG!!!! :)

Here are all my links if you need 'em!!! Thanks again!!!!

Website: www.lisamstasse.com

Official Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtIwks26SZU

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12987192-the-forsaken

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisamstasse

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisamstasse