Where do you hail from and what do you love most about your hometown?
I am a bit of a nomad, having been born in Nashville, Tennessee, growing up in Florida and Kentucky while parents attended graduate school and taught. I attended college at the University of Louisville in God’s Country (a.k.a. Louisville, Ky) then ended up BACK on Nashville while significant other attended Vandy grad school. After that we were in Indiana and Michigan a bit, and in 1997 moved to Japan, from there to Kansas, from there to Istanbul, Turkey from there to just outside London. Now I’m in Ann Arbor.
There are many things I love about ALL those places but Istanbul and the country of Turkey generally had a HUGE effect on me and it is a place I want to go back to, perhaps to retire.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A veterinarian thanks to James Herriot. I can honestly say I never once said: “I want to own a craft microbrewery, sell beer and write books when I grow up.” But I am glad that I do.
Tell us about your latest book.
I have 2 releases this month from Decadent Publishing: The Diplomat’s Daughter is the prequel to the Turkish Delights Series (a trilogy of 1NightStand stories from that publisher) and Flower Passage: Tarkan’s Return is the final novella of the same series. It brings the whole family full circle around a central character who was thought lost, but turns out was not. It’s a very emotional book, with elements of the psychology of kidnapping and PTSD. But at its core is a love story.
What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
Don’t Ever give up. And Never ever ever submit anything to any publisher without having subjected it to critique partners and Beta Readers. Period.
Remember: You are not that good. None of us are. We are just in relative stages of a work in progress and have to be able to take honest criticism from writer partners and editors alike.
How did you deal with rejection letters?
Like most I suppose. I cry, rant, rave, rail at the good luck fairy a while. Then I settle down and try to figure out what is wrong with the story, fix it, and submit it elsewhere.
What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
Alcohol. Barring that, a very thick skin. Barring that, more alcohol.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?
I had a gay friend give me a fairly graphic description of a “positioning problem” I was having with the men in my book.
Great interview Liz. At least you have a gay friend to crit your “positioning”. That is awesome.
Marika
sorry I missed this yesterday. was traveling south to attend RomFest 2012!
thanks for your time You Gotta Read!
Liz