A few weeks ago, I read and reviewed a story called Fairy Tale Flirts! by Lisa Scott and absolutely fell in love with it; like I've said before, "anyone who knows me, knows that I love my fairy tales." Well, today I had the privilege to interview Lisa Scott. Now, you can get to know the talented woman behind all the Flirts! collections too!!
Q. With using only one word, describe the books that you write. Fun!
Q. Which story in the Fairy Tale Flirts! collection is your favorite? Was there a character that you favored more over the others?
Oh, that's hard. I really enjoyed writing the prince's character in "Belle" (my take on Beauty and the Beast) because he had so much personal growth to achieve. That story was very rewarding, but I thought "Red" was quite funny. I laughed like an idiot writing that one. It's hard to choose!
Q. What inspired the idea of turning childhood fairy tales into a collection of chick lit novellas?
When I was brainstorming possible Flirts! themes, I thought it would be a fun challenge to see if I could create modern characters and situations that mirrored fairy tales--without the magic. Coming up with the poisoned apple scene for "Snow" was a lot of fun.
Q. Out of all the Flirts! collections, which one has been your most favorite one to work on?
Hard to say. The first one was a lot of fun, because I didn't originally plan to connect the stories and have characters pop up throughout the volume and meet up at the end. But when I ended one story at a charity event, and started the next story at a charity event, I thought, "Oops. Can't do that." Then lightbulb! "Oh, yes I can!" So that was really exciting to come up with the idea of linking the stories so the whole volume can read as individual shorts, but also feels like a longer piece of work, too.
Q. What is your writing routine that you usually go through?
I spend a lot of time walking around with the stories in my head. It's hard to start writing until I've got my characters cast and I know their back stories, and how their stories interconnect etc. Then I usually write the one story at a time, and when all five are written, I send off the first draft to beta readers, make changes based on their feedback and send it to an editor.
Q. Who or what has influenced you as an author?
I love the imagery and descriptions in Jodi Picoult's books. I also love romance writers like Jenny Crusie, Jill Mansell, and Jennifer Weiner.
Q. At what age did you know that writing was something you wanted to pursue?
I've always loved writing. Even way back in second grade when our teacher gave us a topic to write about and I thought, hmm, I want to make this really different. But I suppose I knew for sure in college when I took several creative writing classes.
Q. If you weren't an author, what do you think your occupation would be today?
Tough one. I can't imagine not writing. I worked in TV news for 20 years and now do voice work along with the writing. I'm not sure what else I'd be interested in. I love gardening, so I suppose something in that field.
Q. What is your advice to aspiring authors?
Read and write a lot. Write what you enjoy reading.
Q. My sister, Rosa, is a huge fan of yours and she would probably disown me if I did not ask you this question: What can Lisa Scott fans expect next; are you going to continue writing more Flirts! collections or are you going to be working on a complete novel?
I've got lots of stuff on the way! Wedding Flirts! will be out in May (which will feature some characters from Flirts! and Beach Flirts!.) Fans have demanded More Fairy Tale Flirts! (coming this summer.) This fall I hope to release Magic Flirts! (think ghosts, witches, psychics, and other fun paranormal stuff.) Down the road, I hope to also release additional Flirts! volumes, including Reunion Flirts! I have so much fun writing them. I do have a novel completed which will be released by Belle Bridge Books in November. No Foolin' is the first novel in my Willowdale Romance series (romantic comedy set in the south.) Novel #2, Man of the Month will be out in Spring 2013. In the meantime, I'm releasing short stories in the Willowdale series. I just put out "A Fine How-De-Do" introducing readers to the characters in Willowdale. And finally, I also write middle grade fiction (think shorter novels for the middle school set.) My agent recently sold my debut middle grade novel Tomboy Beauty Queen to Harpercollins for publication in 2014, and I'm sure I'll be writing more middle grade stuff. So yeah, I'm kind of busy. :)
Click here to visit Lisa Scott's website.
Click here to purchase Lisa Scott's books from Amazon.
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