So glad you stopped by! Welcome on in, and it won't cost you a nickel to discover most everything about Lisa Lickel! (Welllllll . . . .maybe not quite everything, wink) But I couldn't resist rhyming her name, because it sure will give you a tickle to meet Lisa Lickel. Maybe it might be best to grab a pickle while you read more about Lisa Lickel! (Last one I promise!)
And like always, the Diamond Mine has talked Lisa into giving away one copy of
Everything about you!
PT: Pardon all the silliness, Lisa. The readers can't wait to find out everything about you. So we'll start right off with where you hail from. And while you're at it, tell us something special about your home.
LL: I grew up in a dying multi-racial integrated industrial
community—home of Johnson Wax, if anyone is familiar with any of those
products, and many other world renowned businesses. Racine, Wisconsin is on the
southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and I’ve always loved visiting the
lighthouse.
I currently live on the east side of the state in a cream city
brick home built in 1852 by a Great Lakes ship captain. I love the history of
it, but soon we’ll head “west” to where my husband’s family now lives on the
other side of the state, and not too far from where my parents relocated, to
build a new home of our own. Our neighbors are Amish.
PT: Wow. I'm a sucker for a house with a history. Now I've noticed you do a plethora of different types of writing: children’s
stories, mystery, romance, short stories, radio, radio theater even editing. Give us the inside story. Tell us everything. Which do you enjoy most?
LL: I like to write stories that talk about relationships,
whether it’s genre romance, cozy mystery, or something with more depth, such as
what happens after the whirlwind courtship and fairy-tale wedding in The Last Detail. Even Christians who are
as hooked into God as possible have to deal with reality.
Everything About You is a little campy, and I combine my tiny experience
of writing for theater to form the novella into a little bit of backstage
romance. History plays into a little of everything I do—we all have to come from
somewhere.
I won’t write any more children’s books. Too hard to find the right language and illustrators. First Children of Farmington was a labor of love.
If
I had a choice I’d write literary fiction ala Jody Picoult, Khaled Hosseini, or
Jackie Mitchard—alas, if only I could. Great drama and tragedy…NYT best sellers
list. Movie deals…
Anyway, my upcoming novel in November, UnderStory, is romantic, technically a romance, but is framed by
dealing with prejudices within and without, a mysterious organization running a
sex trade operation and a cold case murder threatening the appointment of a supreme
court justice.
Last summer, 2015, I did my first work for hire project in
writing the biography of a prominent man and his roots—his father was the
founder of the West Bend Company, maker of pots and pans and small appliances
like the first slow cookers, popcorn poppers and so forth. It was an amazing
experience and I produced the book on my own with some help from friends. Lots
of learning.
PT: I'm always interested in how authors get started. Tell us everything about where the writing bug bit you.
LL: I’ve always enjoyed writing but I never thought about
writing professionally until about 2001 when I took Jerry Jenkins’ Writer’s
Guild course and did pretty well, netting some early magazine article sales, a
good standing in the first Operation: First Novel contest, eventually an agent
and first contracts in 2007. I started writing reports about our local
historical society for the newspaper, and then moved into regular reporting and
feature writing, novels and so on.
PT: So let's cover everything about your new release. Tell us a little about your new Novella, Everything About You.
LL: Everything About You
is about a movie shoot in western Wisconsin gone horribly wrong when the lead
actor is fired. The publicity manager, Shelley, is in a bind and when the
company owner decides to hire a complete unknown and untried local resident on
the spot to take his place. She is given the opportunity to turn Danny Winston
into America’s next heartthrob in five days or potentially lose her job.
PT: This is a great intro for a wee little excerpt from Everything About You. :)
By the time Fred corralled Shelly for her final blog entry, it was dark on the outdoor set, mosquitoes overcame the aerial spray, and Shelly had not eaten since mid-morning. Winston was safely ensconced in Roma’s quarters, a canvas tent she insisted on so vocal distortion was kept to a minimum.
“You got Winston on film today, right?” Shelly twisted her neck to loosen up and swung her shoulders.
“Oh, yeah, I did that, sweetheart.”
“How’d he do? Sound okay?”
“He’ll need some work with Roma, but he handled himself well.” Fred wore a strange grin.
“What? He have good angles? He looks all right?”
“That he does. Okay, I’m going to run film, so pretend I’m not here and talk like the camera is your best friend. Spill your guts, doll, and mean it.”
Shelly swallowed a few times and put the long, long, long day to the back of her mind. The light kept her from seeing Fred. She blinked at the red light and…
“Tommy set me up for this. I am a good publicist and he knows it. Tommy Lord became what he is because of me. Wait. I take that back. He’s a rat fink, but I didn’t make him that way.
You hear me?” Shelly laughed from the back of her throat. “For dropping me, I’m going ride tracks all down your back on the way to taking Jovian Productions to number one. You don’t deserve to be second in the industry, either. Everything about you and your joke of a distribution company is second-rate.”
Cripes, now she was repeating herself. Shelly stared at her hands, trying to think of stuff to say that sounded good. People loved at that juicy dirt talk. Even if she was over Tommy. She had her pride, after all, and none of the gossip in the tabloids was true. Talk about her day. Yeah.
“Since the moment Mr. Pettibone kicked Seth Taylor off the set and Winston Daniels stepped into the spotlight, I knew I could do something with him. Such great bones and good physique to work with. I guarantee you that within five days, I make every woman in the world drool over him and every man admire him. With his naturally thick hair, romantic build, and dreamy eyes, we’ll create a publicity campaign that puts his picture on billboards in every city, ads in all major publications, and do an online drive in everyone’s face and ear. The world will fall in love with him, the new lead in Everything About You, a movie that will make Love Story look like a postcard.”
PT: Sounds terrific! Last but not least, tell us everything about where you go from here.
LL: I look forward to my upcoming releases this year. A book
called Innocents Pray releases in September
about a Catholic brother trench-deep in human stem cell experiments going on at
the hospice where he serves. UnderStory hits the shelves in
November, and a sequel to my non-cougar older woman-younger man love story Meander Scar called Centrifugal Force will release some time in 2017. I’m also working on sequels to
my cozy Meow mystery series and continue to work with writers as coach and
editor.
PT: And that's nearly everything about Lisa Lickel. Thanks for being with us, Lisa!
Need to know more about Lisa and her writing? Start here:
PT: And that's nearly everything about Lisa Lickel. Thanks for being with us, Lisa!
Need to know more about Lisa and her writing? Start here:
http://www.twitter.com/lisajlickel
- @lisajlickel
http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-J.-Lickel/e/B002D66ECC
Win a free ebook of
Everything About You!
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OR
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you can pre-order right here:
http://amzn.com/B01BYIUBKA
(Only $2.99!)
1 comment:
Great interview with Lisa. I would love to win a copy of Everything About You.
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