I was lucky to snag Lissa before her interview, and here's what she had to say about herself, her writing, and her latest title.
YOU
We can read all about your life from yourbio in the jacket flap of your book. And let me tell our readers--you have led quite an interesting life! You have walked with elephants in Botswana, swum with penguins in the Galapagos, danced in India, and had tea in Kyoto. Wow!So, what's a completely random fact aboutyou that most people don't know?
Maybe this one – I collect charm bracelets, especially ones with three-dimensionalmoving parts. The English ones are my favorites, but I have some from a fewdifferent countries and different decades. Guess that’s why Callie gets a charmbracelet in the book…
As a kid, what was your favorite book?Have your tastes changed since growing up?
The Hobbit. I tend to preferless full fantasy now, where there’s not a long list of strange names to learn.I love all the YA dystopian novels. The writing there is so exciting and it’sgreat that science fiction has found a home in the YA section of the bookstore.
In your book,STARTERS, the old can temporarily take the place of the young. It’s dangerousfor the young, and I can definitely see why Callie wouldn’t want to do it. Butif you were old, would you consider signing up to take a young person’s body temporarily?
Gosh, no! I joke about being in Shaun White’s body but seriously,I try to show how wrong it is. One of the nice Enders who thought it was okayturns around by the end.
YOUR BOOK
It's the inevitable question: whatinspired STARTERS? I was trying to get a flu shot a few years ago and they didn’tmake enough vaccine. I think one of the batches turned out spoiled. Anyway, thegovernment set up a triage system where it was only for the very young and theelderly (and the infirm). I thought what if this was a killer disease? The onlyones left would be the most fragile members of society.
One of the greatthings about STARTERS is how you present moral issues—questions of what isright and what is wrong—without being preachy. How did you find the balance ofshowing morality without being didactic?
Thanks. I get into the characters pretty deeply, so Callie tellsme what she thinks and believes and I try not to shut her out. I think whenit’s coming from a character, it helps.
Can you tell usa little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing &publishing STARTERS?
I wrote Starters in about nine months, with a couple more monthsof polishing. I got my agent in 24 hours, via an email query. I had met her inNew York in a casual setting a couple of years before that. She got the fullmanuscript by 11 east coast time and emailed me at 6 her time saying she wascanceling her dinner appointment to finish my manuscript. She called the nextday and offered representation. I thought about it overnight (I had otheroffers).
She wanted to go out with it immediately but I wanted to tweak itso I did a polish over the next two weeks. Then she took it out and sold it in6 days over a holiday weekend, when my publishers were not in their offices.They had moved floors at the time and didn’t expect to do any business over theholiday. An auction was set up between a group of publishers but Random Housepre-empted.
So ten months later, today, it is being published. Book 2, the endto the series, Enders, will come out approximately 8 months after today (Dec 42012). This is very fast in publishing terms and I think I’m a little dizzyfrom it all – but in a good way!
If your readercould only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from STARTERS, what would youwant it to be?
That you’re so much more than what you appear to be on theoutside.
YOUR WRITING
What's the most surprising thing you'velearned since becoming a writer?How much time would be devoted to the business of writing –publicity, social networking, which I like doing – and how much overlap therewould be. You’re writing something new while you’re doing edits on the firstbook and then also writing a short story. Sometimes, especially with tightdeadlines, it can feel like this is all you do.
But the biggest thrill is when a reader tweets late at night thatthey stayed up to finish your book, and it brings back the joy in writing.
What do youthink are your strongest and weakest points in writing?
I’m too new to know my weakest points but I’m sure I’ll discoverthem. Beta readers have told me they love the twists and turns in the storythat they never saw coming. And that they felt they were experiencing a freshworld.
Beyond thetypical--never give up, believe in yourself--what would be the single bestadvice you'd like to give another writer?
Be smart but write from the heart.
And because Lissa is awesome, she's donated a super-cool prize for one commenter on today's post. Leave any comment below to be entered to win a very neat Starters Light-Up necklace!
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Here it is all lit up!
So--get to it! Leave a comment here to be entered!!
Details: US addresses only, winners announced this weekend.
Details: US addresses only, winners announced this weekend.
