Writing Wherever You Are: Author Interview with Lisa Harris

You’ve now written over 40 books, which is a great achievement. However, your bio says you’ve done that writing while your family works as missionaries in Africa. From discussions with family and friends who’ve worked as missionaries in Africa, I understand it’s common to have electric blackouts. Has that been your experience?
Yes, we have a lot of power outages and view them as the norm now. J We have some solar power for our house, that we use to supplement the city power.

Do you write long hand or use a computer?
I use a computer to write my stories, though when brainstorming, I write long hand. For some reason, that helps the process.

Since life is Africa is so different from the plot locations of your books, where do you find the inspiration for your storylines?
I’ve actually written over a dozen books set in Africa, and love using that setting. We’ve been able to travel a lot as well, so every place I visit is a potential setting for a new story. J Outside the US and Africa, I’ve set books in Italy, France, Brazil, and Istanbul and more. I love bringing in other cultures and interesting places.

How long does it take to write your “messy” first draft?
Usually about two to three months, and yes, they are messy!

How did you go about finding an agent / publisher? Did you go to conferences? Send out queries?
I’ve been with my agent for about twenty years. I did both, going to conferences early on and sending out many, many queries. She first read a query I wrote and eventually agreed to be my agent.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Action scenes. I have to block them out in my head, step by step, like a movie scene. It takes a lot of time for me to get it right, unlike dialogue that comes much easier for me.

What does your editor remind you to do most often?
I’m very repetitive! Which is why I’m so thankful for my editors. I am so close to the story that I don’t see a lot of the issues.

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
Winning awards is always encouraging, and I’ve won several, but I really love the personal feedback from readers.

We have all experienced rejection. How have you learned to write past it? 
When I first started writing, I went to a critique group. I was so nervous the first time I went, even though I was convinced I had a stellar story. I was wrong. Everyone was nice and encouraging, they but told me to go home and rewrite my chapter. 

The characters were cardboard characters that needed some life infused in them. That was hard for me to take, but I embraced the criticism, something I’ve always tried to do. Learning from the rejections and criticism will in the end, help you grow in your craft!

What has surprised or frustrated you the most in writing/publishing? 
It’s a long journey with ups and downs. It’s a learning process and one you have to keep writing and growing in. I always imagined myself sitting in some cabin somewhere, churning out bestsellers. It’s not that way. It’s hard work that you have to stick to and never stop learning, no matter how many books you’ve written.

You’re involved with “The Echo Project” in Africa. Tell my readers about it and how they might be able to help.
While we are primarily involved in church planting, we have a small non-profit, The ECHO Project, where we help with people’s physical needs. This includes monthly food packets to those in need, paying for school fees and uniforms, small business loans, healthcare needs, and more.

It’s been a blessing to be involved in making a small difference in this way, and we are so grateful to those who help fund this ministry.

Are there any other points about writing you would like to add?
Don’t give up! It’s a long and sometimes lonely road, but the people you meet along the way are such a blessing!

What is the next book coming out? Can you give me a short synopsis?
The Escape, book one in my US Marshal series just released! Here’s the short blurb.

US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn are thrust into a high-profile case when they are called on to transport two prisoners across the country on a private plane. But when the plane experiences engine trouble en route from the Pacific Northwest to Colorado, the pilots crash-land the aircraft deep in the heart of the sprawling Salmon-Challis National Forest.

When Madison and Jonas regain consciousness, they find both pilots and one prisoner dead--and one fugitive on the run. They'll have to negotiate the rugged and remote backcountry through Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado while tracking a murderer who is desperate to disappear--and will do anything to stop them.

That’s all for today’s interview. If you’d like to learn more about Lisa’s writing, here are a couple of links to get you started.

www.lisaharriswrites.com
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLisaHarris

Writing a Series: Author Interview with Lisa Harris

My interview today is with Lisa Harris who is a prolific writer. She has over thirty novels and novella collections in print. She is a Christy Award finalist for Blood Ransom and Vendetta, a Christy Award winner for Dangerous Passage, and the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 (Blood Covenant) and 2015 (Vendetta) from Romantic Times. 

What drew you to the idea of writing your first novel? 

I always wanted to write a book. Even in junior high I wrote chapters of Nancy Drew-type mysteries and planned to write a gothic romance one day like Victoria Holt. But it wasn’t until I was in my late twenties that I actually sat down and wrote my first book. My husband and I had just adopted our oldest son, and I was a stay at home mom without a car. So while he slept, I wrote my first novel. 

How long did it take for you to write the first book? Was it harder or easier to write your second book?

It took me about six months and was never published, but I’d taken the first step, loved it, and had no intentions of stopping even though I honestly had no idea what I was doing. My second book was a Gothic romance and once again, it was never published. I continued to study the craft on the side, learned as much as I could, and tried to improve with each book I wrote.

What makes for a good mystery? 
Several years ago, I wrote three cozy mysteries and found it both fun and challenging. A cozy mystery needs both a great whodunit as well as an interesting cast of characters. It’s usually a puzzle that’s solved by an amateur sleuth who usually didn’t intend to get involved. Today I write romantic suspense instead of mysteries, but there is always a puzzle (or case) to be solved, and a number of red herrings (twists) woven into the plot. Most of the time I discover these red herrings or twists as I write. I figure if it’s a surprise to me, it will be a surprise to my reader as well. 

As for the process, instead of writing straight through the story, I usually write in threads. For example, I’ll go through and write the romance scenes and the main interactions between the hero and heroine.This helps give me get to know the characters as I write. I’ll later then go add details that were left out the first time through. I also research everything, from mountain climbing to felony laws in various states. And yes,I love doing the research and admit to getting distracted too often.

You’ve written numerous series with one to five titles. What makes you move

on from a series?
I really enjoy series writing because it allows you to dig deeper into the characters over the course of several books. Because I write for traditional publishers, they are the ones who decide how many books are in each series. And while it’s always hard to move on, I’m usually ready for something new to jump into.

Besides writing mysteries, you have written contemporary romance suspense ,and historical. Do you have a favorite?
I was able to write a two book contemporary series set in Africa (Blood Ransom and Blood Covenant) as well as a historical set partly in Northern Rhodesia and New York City. (An Ocean Away) I found the research for all three of these books fascinating, whether it was the modern day slave trade or cultural anthropology books of the early nineteen hundreds that I used as a reverence. Weaving in the setting and culture always interests me.


You live in Africa, but you’ve written books about different states in the U.S. How did you do the research? 
I spend hours doing research, especially if it’s a place where I’ve never been before. Thankfully, the internet is a great resource with blogs, photos, and google maps that can take you to a specific setting and let you see things up close. For the first book for my Nikki Boyd series, Vendetta, I decided on the area around the Smoky Mountains as a setting. I read stories by people who’d walked the Appalachian Trail, studied maps, photographs, and travel guides. I later was able to visit the setting of the story and was amazed at how I felt as if I’d really been there simply because of all the research I’d done.

I see you written a few novellas. What is different about putting them together - besides word count? How do you novellas sell in comparison to full length novels?
I haven’t written novellas for quite a while, but when I did, I always did them with other authors on a related theme. Sometimes the stories tied together tightly like with the To Catch a Thief collection, I worked very closely with the other three authors in the group. With Cowboy Christmas, it was simply a theme that we all wrote on but the stories weren’t linked. While I did enjoy the tightly connected novella projects, it does take a lot of time and cooperation with the other authors. 

How do you novellas sell in comparison to full length novels? 

I would also say that my full length novels sell better, but I do know that there are a lot of novella collections out there that are doing well.

What do you know now about writing/publishing now that you wished you had known sooner?
I had no idea how much work it was going to be, but on the other hand, I’m so glad I stuck with it!

What is the best advice you’ve been given about writing or that you've learned that you would like to pass along?
As with any craft, writing takes time to learn. When I wrote my first book, I thought it was perfect and ready to be published. In reality, it was far from that perfect. After twenty years, I’m still learning and growing and try to improve with every book I write.

What other works do you have in the process?
Right now I’m working on book four of my Nikki Boyd Files series as well as a romantic suspense for Love Inspired Suspense set in Italy.

Any last words you'd like to share on writing?

Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog! I appreciate it. If you enjoy romantic suspense, I’m super excited to share that my latest novel, Missing, has just been released! (It’s best to read book one, Vendetta, first.)

That's all for today's interviews. If you'd like to learn more about Lisa's past, present and upcoming books, here's the link to her website... www.lisaharriswrites.com