An Interview with Author Lisa Suzanne

          

In celebration of Lisa Suzanne's latest book release, The Literary Connoisseur being Lisa's "Blog of the Week" this week, and...well, just because interviews are always fun, I had the immense honor of sitting down with her and asking her questions about her writing, books, and future work. Please join us in this Q&A, and don't be afraid to ask some questions yourself! 

(Oh, and there's a giveaway down at the bottom. You won't want to miss that!)

The Literary Connoisseur: Hello, Ms Suzanne! Thank you so much for stopping by and answering some questions about your work, your writing, and your authoring altogether. If you're ready, let's begin. 

Lisa Suzanne: Thank you so much for having me!

TLC: I'll start with some questions about you, first! Do you enjoy reading as well as writing? If so, who do you like to read? Are you a fan of romance? 

LS: I love to read, but I have always loved writing first. I’m an English teacher, and I even love teaching writing more than I love teaching reading. The problem with that is that it means I have to read what my students write. I am a HUGE fan of romance, and it’s become a problem because it’s all I want to read in my spare time… even when students recommend other novels for me to read. I can’t fit everything in, so I tend to go with romance!

TLC: Do you relate to your main character, Jules, at all? Does she reflect your personality? 

LS: I think I relate to her in that I created her, but she doesn’t reflect my personality. She’s just a normal girl who thinks with her heart and her emotions, and I’m the opposite. I’m logical and make decisions based on common sense, but Jules doesn’t always do that – she makes snap decisions in the moment. She has a major crush on her boss, and I’ve never had that experience.

TLC: If you could say anything to your fans, what would you say?

LS: Thank you for leaving me reviews! I read every single one, and if you haven’t left one yet, what are you waiting for?

TLC: Did you get emotional writing any of the scenes in How He Really Feels?

LS: Not emotional, exactly, but I did get butterflies a few times. I like writing the emotional scenes because it gives me something meaty to explore.

TLC: How He Really Feels had me chuckling quite a bit! (Along with crying, whining, sighing, and smiling.) Do you feel that comic relief and humor are key in a romantic book?

LS: I love this question because I always wonder if readers find the humor I tried to interject. I love humor and I think it’s important to incorporate it to diffuse tense situations – both in real life and in fiction. I don't think I could write a book that had nothing funny in it at all. I laugh all day long - it's just me. I don't know if I'm "funny" but I am one sarcastic lady.

TLC: Are you currently working on any new projects? 

LS: Lots! I am working on book 3, Since He Really Feels. I’ve got about 65,000 unedited words written. I’m also working on a spin-off that focuses on one of the secondary characters in Separation Anxiety, my new standalone releasing February 4. And I have an entire new series already written, but I have lots of editing work to do on it before it’s ready for you! And I’ve got a few other items planned for after that, too.

TLC: Many authors say that their characters "speak" to them. Do Jules, Nick, and Travis speak to you? 

LS: My characters do speak to me, but of the three of them, I think Travis speaks to me the most. That was why I had to give him his own book (What He Really Feels).

TLC: The covers for How He Really Feels and What He Really Feels are gorgeous! Who created them? 

LS: Thank you! They were created by humblenations.com. Book 1 was a premade cover that I found on his page that I loved, and I requested the background color; book 2 was also a premade cover but I had the cover designer silhouette the couple and change the background color; book 3, which hasn’t been revealed yet, is a silhouette stock image set on a different color background. I love it!

TLC: I'm sure all of your fans are dying to know this...who was your model for your love interest, Nick? Who would you like to see play him if How He Really Feels became a movie? 

LS: Nick used to have blue eyes and dark hair, and I changed his eye color because I realized that the male lead in my next series had the same eyes and hair. I first wrote his character probably fifteen years ago, so I don’t know exactly who inspired him. Just an image of some gorgeous man! If it became a movie, I think James Scott (EJ Dimera from Days of our Lives) would make a very sexy Nick.

TLC: You have a new novel coming out, very soon actually, called Separation Anxiety. Would you like to tell us all about that? 

LS: I was in the middle of writing book 3 (Since He Really Feels) on November 1. I saw author friends posting about this thing called NaNoWriMo, so I looked into it. November is National Novel Writing Month, and the challenge is to write 50,000 words in a month. I wrote something like 78,000, which became 82,000 words after editing, and Separation Anxiety was born from that project. I was literally obsessed with Jesse Drake for the entire month of November, and I loved every second of writing this book. It comes out February 4, and I cannot wait for you to meet Jesse!

Here’s the synopsis:

Separation.

We all get one true love in our lives, and it’s up to us to find it. Fate will act and try to push us together, but ultimately it’s up to us to recognize who that one person is when he’s standing in front of us.

It turns out that I recognized who my one person was when I was separated from my husband.

Anxiety.

On the same day I determined that I was finally going to file for divorce, I confessed my secret to Jesse Drake, my swoon-worthy colleague known for his womanizing ways. Jesse invited me to crash with him, and with each new piece of the enigmatic Jesse puzzle that I started to fit into place, I found myself wondering if Fate had pushed us together for a reason.

If only my husband would stop getting in the way of the man with whom I was meant to be. 


TLC: And finally, how did you come up with the plot for How He Really Feels? 


LS: I wanted to write a story based on the inspiration I found in a song by my favorite band, Matchbox Twenty. It’s one tiny part of the book and I built the rest of the story around that scene. When I start writing, it’s like magic… stuff just comes to me!

TLC: Lisa, thank you again for stopping by! I, and your fans, look forward to hearing your answers!

More about Lisa Suzanne...

Lisa Suzanne is a high school English teacher who lives at home in Arizona with her amazing husband and adorable yellow lab. She loves summer more than her students do. She has loved to write for as long as she can remember. 

  To read more about Lisa Suzanne, 

visit her website here!

Her Facebook page here! 

Her blog here!

And her Goodreads account here!

Lisa's books:

How He Really Feels



Book                                   ebook
           




What He Really Feels



Book                                  ebook
          




Coming February 4: SEPARATION ANXIETY 




Coming Soon: SINCE HE REALLY FEELS (He Feels, Book 3) 





Giveaway for a Naughty Celt candle from Book Scents Candles, a Highland Heather soap and lotion from Skinsations Soap, an ecopy of How He Really Feels, a signed copy of Susanna Kearsley's The Firebird, and five TLC bookmarks! 

Enter HERE!




I hope you enjoyed our little array of shenanigans for today! Please don't forget to enter the giveaway and don't forget to stop by Lisa Suzanne's page and tell her how much fun you had! 


Big hugs and HAPPY READING, my Lit-Wits!!!!