My agent just sent me an article about how creative people do things differently. One psychologist quoted in the piece claimed that imaginative types have messier minds than most. I think my agent was trying to tell me something!
Anyway, I’m always fascinated by other writers’ processes so when I got a chance to pick Lisa Medley‘s brain, I wasn’t shy. Lisa writes extremely inventive urban fantasy for Harlequin. I think you’ll love her!
Mia: Do you have a playlist of songs you listen to when writing?
Lisa: I do! For my day job I spend get a lot of windshield time driving around my five county territory so I put together playlists to listen to while I’m out in the field. Listening to the playlists keeps me in the mood for thinking about my book and its characters. I get a lot of car plotting in this way. Often I’m furiously scribbling notes at stoplights. My dashboard is full of Post-Its.
Mia: Does your playlist change for every book or stay the same through the series? (if you’re writing a series)
Lisa: Yes, each book gets its own playlist. For my first book, Reap & Repent, the playlist was mostly classic rock. You know who I’m talking about: Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear The Reaper, AC/DC, Bad Company, Kansas and more. You can listen to the music that inspired Reap & Repent on a Songza playlist I put together here http://bit.ly/1hA6AFR . My book two playlist for Reap & Redeem consisted almost entirely of The Black Keys and The Wanted, while book three, Reap & Reveal came to life thanks to Band of Skulls, AWOL Nation , The Bravery and Kasabian. I swear some of my characters channeled straight through those songs and onto the page.
Mia: If you had the opportunity to co-write with another author who would you pick and why?
Lisa: I would choose Charlaine Harris. I got the chance to hear her speak in St. Louis about her Sookie Stackhouse series and of course I’ve read all of her books. She’s just so genuinely nice, and I love her voice. I think we’d get along just fine.
Mia: According to that article my agent sent, creative types often work at odd hours. I tend to get more done before the rest of the world wakes up. Do you prefer to write during the day or during the night?
Lisa: I write mostly at night after my family has gone to bed. I need a nice quiet space to think with distractions. I’m lucky enough to have a fantastic writing cave upstairs out of the fray. I usually go to the writing cave from 8:30 until midnight working on writing or writing related miscellany.
And now for our lightning round
- Favorite Food? Chocolate
- Favorite Vacation Spot? The mountains. Any mountains.
- Favorite TV Show? Supernatural
- Favorite Paranormal? (witch, vampire, zombie etc) Ugh! I love them ALL. I can’t pick! Erm, wait…REAPER.
- Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate? Coffee
- Favorite Ice Cream Flavor? Rocky Road
Lisa Medley writes reapers. The grim kind. Her urban fantasy romance, Reap & Repent is available now in a Harlequin E Box Set with three other Harlequin debut authors. A lover of beasties of all sorts, she has a farm full of them in her SW MO home including: one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees and a guinea pig. Not so in love with the guinea pig. She can do ten pushups IN A ROW and may or may not have a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times. Just. In. Case.
They see death. Can they share a life?
Ruth Scott can read the energy of every person she meets. Then she meets Deacon Walker. She can see his ice-blue eyes, his black hair, and his gorgeous face. But this beautiful stranger has no aura.
Deacon is just as unsettled by Ruth—and, having spent more than two hundred years ushering souls to Purgatory, Deacon is seldom shocked by anything. As he helps Ruth to understand her true nature, she awakens desires that he decided long ago a Reaper can’t afford.
A demon invasion forces Deacon to confront the darkness in his own past even as he fights to save the human souls he’s charged to protect. When he’s taken captive, his first concern is for Ruth. But Ruth just might be able to save herself—and the Reaper she can’t live without—if she can learn to wield her newfound powers.
Want to read more?
BUY LINKS: Reap & Repent is available now in a Harlequin E Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance Box Set with the works of three other amazing new Harlequin authors! Reap & Repent will be available for single-title release June 2, 2014.
AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1gF6Q98
B&N: http://bit.ly/1gz4x7M
KOBO: http://bit.ly/1cSZBam
ITUNES: http://bit.ly/1njOngj
HARLEQUIN: http://bit.ly/1gf0Cbs
Follow Lisa on Social Media: Lisa Medley, Author Blog,
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Leave a comment or question for Lisa and you’ll be entered to win a copy of my “How To” series–3 full length historical romances in one romp of a box set–in winner’s choice of either Kindle or Nook format. Another lucky winner will receive Lisa’s boxed set Urban Fantasy & Paranormal from HarlequinE!
Here’s a question to get the discussion started:
Everyone needs an outlet. What do you do to satisfy your need to be creative?
