The Writing Nut

My friendship with author Lissa Price began a year and a half ago, when joined CBW-LA), and attended one of our meetups.

After the session, we found ourselves chatting as we wandered the aisles at Borders. We bonded over common interests and shared philosophies and became fast friends. We kept in touch, emailing each other writing tips and publishing news.

I knew her, then, as a fellow writer on the same journey to publication as myself. A few months later, when we attended an event together, she broke the amazing news of the publishing success of STARTERS. (Check out this link for a review of the book)

From then on, I’ve seen her success rise to meteoric proportions. I often tell her how grateful I am that I met her before she became Lissa Price, star author.

And now, I am proud to present my dear friend, amazing author Lissa Price.

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Authors Bio from her website, LissaPrice.com:

Lissa studied with Caroline Leavitt, Donald Maass and Janet Fitch, and read at the Iowa Summer Workshop. She’s a member of SCBWI, SFWA, ITW, as well as one of the Apocalypsies, a group of 2012 debut YA authors. In 2012 she joined Beth Revis and the talented gang of ten YA dystopian and science fiction authors at The League of Extraordinary Writers . Lissa is hard at work finishing the sequel, ENDERS, due out in December.

The Amazing Lissa Price, author of STARTERS

(photo by Paul Gregory Photography)

1. What were some of your favorite books growing up?

My favorite was THE HOBBIT. I also read a lot of fairy tales, myths and folklore.

2. What do you think makes a good story?

When a writer has listened to the truth of the story and has let that be the driving force, rather than some external motives, the result is going to move the reader.  I know right away if a story moves me, pretty much the way most people know within a few minutes if they’re going to like a movie. I want to feel transported, I want fresh writing.

3. What inspired you to write STARTERS?

I tried to get a flu shot and found that they were only giving them to the very young, the very old and the infirm, due to a shortage. I thought – what if this was a killer flu?  Then the only remaining people would be the very young, the very old and the infirm. What would that world look like?  And I built it from there.

4. How long did you work on this book? How many rewrites did you do before you finally felt it was ready?

It took about a year total. I got the draft down so it was pretty solid in nine months. Then I rewrote for about three months. I don’t know the exact number of rewrites but it wasn’t that many.  But when you’re unpublished, you take much longer to write than when you’re published and you have deadlines. You learn to write faster.

5. Tell us about your path to publication.

Do you have all night? The short version is that my agent offered in less than one day and the manuscript was sold in six days, with a pre-emptive bid that came in from Random House at 8:30 pm, the night before the auction between ten houses. It was so fast and the speed didn’t let up. Random House launched it within 10 months and will publish the sequel, ENDERS, nine months after that. Also part of the plan was three e-shorts set in the world of STARTERS, of which one is already published (Portrait of a Starter, from Michael’s POV).

6. Starters is such a thrilling, heart-pounding, action-packed story. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

Thank you!  I suppose being in the African bush walking with elephants for four hours. I had a team of guides with rifles in case of an emergency (being attacked). On another trip, in a different African country, I was in a vehicle and was charged by a line of elephants.

7. What’s your typical day as a writer like? Do you have any writing-related rituals or quirks?

Every minute is accounted for now that I have so much to do. I try to do the bulk of my social media in the morning – tweeting for my fellow Apocalypsies and author friends as well as myself, updating my fb page (LissaPriceAuthor), my website (www.LissaPrice.com) and answering email which consists of invitations to appear or be interviewed, email from fans. Then I try to start writing as early as I can and go until late at night. I like to have some charms around my desk, things that make me happy, actual charm bracelets or things that relate to my current project.

8. What genre do you love to write (fantasy, historical fiction, romance, etc) Why?

My publisher calls my genre “futuristic thriller.” It also could be called science fiction. But when some people hear that term, they think of spaceships or heavy machinery, special jargon, etc. I’ve spoken now on several panels on YA dystopian fiction and that does apply to STARTERS. But some people have said they have certain associations with dystopian, that it’s sometimes slow, so the term “dystopian thriller” has been applied to my book.

Whatever you call it, I love working this way where I can create a vision of a world that is specific to my story. I personally prefer to read the kind of stories that I write.

9. Are you currently working on any other projects?

Right now I am working on the second draft of ENDERS as well as writing the second e-short set in the world of STARTERS. I don’t have time to do anything else, but as soon as I do, I have an idea that has been nagging at me.

10. Why do you think YA is so popular?

For some reason, and maybe it all goes back to J.K. Rowling, YA allows the writer to explore a wide range of fantasy and science fiction. The main character is in that crucial period where what happens will affect the rest of their lives. This situation makes for great drama. I found myself most interested in reading YA because the most exciting writing was taking place there – THE HUNGER GAMES, UGLIES, INCARCERON, SKINNED, THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, and many more.

11. What advice would you give writers who are writing YA?

Write smart and write from the heart. Do your homework – this is a time when all the information is there on the internet. Read a lot, write a lot, join an in-person writer’s group, if you cannot, then find an online group. Take classes and workshops and attend conferences. Be patient with yourself because the process takes time. And the more you live and have a variety of experiences, the more it will deepen your writing.

12. What would you like to say to your young readers? Is there any advice that you would like to give them?

Be kind to others because then you’ll be kind to yourself. Always have dreams and reach for them. Whatever it is that you want to do, someone is doing it.

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Thank you, Lissa for sharing your wisdom with us

Tune in Friday, May 25th, as we end our Spotlight Week with a STARTERS GIVEAWAY!

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