Lisa, I appreciate your taking time to visit with us.

Readers, Lisa Haselton is one busy writer. She’s a freelance writer, the author of various short stories, and is working on two novels, one of which is a paranormal thriller that has agent interest. She’s also editing a mystery about five people whose lives intersect in one city on one day over one crime. To learn more about Lisa, visit her website, her My Space site, or her blog.

Important Details

Lisa Haselton, Inspired to Write
Website: http://www.lisahaselton.tripod.com
My Space: www.myspace.com/lisahaselton
Blog: http://lisahaselton.tripod.com/ReviewsandInterviews.

Now, let’s get some questions answered.

Joan: How many years from first manuscript to first sale?

Lisa: I started submitting short stories back in the early 90s and received promising rejections -
those types that say this isn’t right, but send us something else. I never pursued them. In 2007, I was part of a writing group that worked purely off prompts, and I was in an online flash fiction writing group. Those two groups combined gave me the courage to submit a flash tale to a contest, and I took 1st place. So it took over 10 years for me to get published in
fiction from when I first started submitting. I wasn’t writing and submitting at all during those 10+ years. It took me that long to pursue
what was in my heart and take the leap to submit. I hope the manuscript with agent interest gets published, of course.

Joan: What has been your best experience as a published author?

Lisa: Receiving useful critiques and comments on how I can make my writing stronger. Having someone say wow, I never knew you were so creative. Connecting with other writers, published and unpublished, who write because they ‘have’ to.

Joan: What has been your worst experience as a published author?

Lisa: Receiving feedback that hasn’t been helpful at all. It’s nice to hear great story and nice job but those comments, and the fear of people being able to tell me what they really think about my work has sometimes brought me to a
standstill. When I ask for feedback and get generic responses, it’s more discouraging than a rejection.

Joan: What has surprised you most as a professional writer?

Lisa: I’ve always known that I have loved to write. What surprises me most as a professional writer is knowing that I can write whatever I need to whether the muse is present or not. Once I sit down to a blank page or a blank screen, I may start with gobbledy-gook (yes, that’s a professional term, hee hee) I will eventually
find the story that needs to be told.

Joan: If you could write any story, without regard to it selling or any of those other business issues, what would you write?

Lisa: I feel I’m already living this. I write whatever I want now. Writing is like breathing to me – I have to do it, it’s part of who I am. I just hope I have enough time to get to all the stories I have inside me!

Joan: What do you love about your career?

Lisa: The freedom I have to pick projects I want to do and the stories I want to write. The freedom to write anywhere. The freedom to write whatever I want. And I absolutely love meeting other writers.

Joan: What do you hate about your career?

Lisa: Nothing. It’s all up to me to make it what I want it to be. I write because it’s a passion. Publication is a bonus each and every time.

Joan: If you got a big 6-figure advance for a book, what’s the first thing you’d buy for yourself?

Lisa: Nothing for myself since I’m used to living frugally. Ah, the life of a writer! I’d add money to the college fund I have for my Little Sister (I’m part of Big Brothers Big Sisters and have been matched with my Little Sis since Oct 2004. We see each other every week, and she’s a beacon in my life.) I’d love to know that she’s all set for her entire college education.

Joan: What is the best advice you can give beginning writers?

Lisa: Follow your heart and if writing is your passion, follow it as far as it takes you. There’s no greater high than starting with a blank page and finishing with a unique story that no one else could ever write.

Joan: What would you like readers to know?

Lisa: Some people feel it’s important to have a niche. And try as I might, I have finally accepted that it won’t happen for me. I love mysteries and suspense, but I also love horror, romance, YA and Christian. I enjoy short flash fiction, novellas and novels. I will always accept feedback, and would enjoy meeting or chatting with anyone interested in writing. I hope
to start a project that allows me to work with pre-teens, teens, and adults of all ages who need to get their story on paper, but don’t feel they can write. Our imaginations are vast, and we owe it to ourselves, at any age, to get our words out so we can see them and touch them and realize they are part of us – and that it’s okay to dream.

(This interview previously appeared in Reading, The Website of Joan Reeves in January 2009

Takeaway Truth

Each month, there is a new Author Interview on my website. Visit and gain insight into the lives of working writers.