Q&A with Lisa Berne
Describe yourself in five words or less.
Curious, creative; reader, writer, dreamer.
If you had a theme song, what would it be?
“Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky. Because
perseverance is an important quality for a writer.
Name one thing you won’t leave home without.
Besides the necessary cellphone, wallet, and lip gloss? A
little notebook and pen. (I know you said one thing, but this is plainly a
writer’s indivisible unit of oneness.) Inspiration can strike at any time, and
for me paper’s better than apps for jotting down notes about my writing.
Name three things on your desk right now.
A thesaurus. A couple of houseplants, which I’m sneakily
categorizing as “greenery,” because I also want to mention my stack of Post-it
Notes, without which I am considerably less productive.
What types of scenes are your most favorite to write?
I love writing scenes in which characters are talking and
there are all kinds of things they can’t — or won’t — say embedded within their
words, whether it’s because they’re wrestling with their emotions, unaware of
their deep true feelings, constricted by the etiquette of the time, other
people are around, and so on. Which means that in what seems like a simple
conversation, the subtext can be deliciously complicated.
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
I’m not the first to suggest that reading —
widely and voraciously across multiple genres, both for pleasure and with an
analytic eye — is a necessary component for someone wanting to become a writer.
There are also a lot of great, insightful books and blogs on the subject; I
particularly like Stephen King’s On Writing, Elizabeth
Gilbert’s Big Magic, Gwen Hayes’ Romancing the Beat,
and Chuck Wendig’s bracing, blisteringly unsentimental approach to the writing
life.
Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
With pleasure! Coming this summer is the second book in the
Penhallow Dynasty series: The Laird Takes a Bride, featuring
Scotsman Alasdair Penhallow, who’s forced by an arcane decree to marry and ends
up with spirited Fiona Douglass. They’re both very resentful of the situation,
and don’t find each other particularly attractive or appealing . . . which is,
of course, a highly inauspicious way to begin a marriage. But it’s a very fun
way to set a love story in motion.
In an
unforgettable debut, Lisa Berne introduces you to
the Penhallow
Dynasty—men
destined
to marry, but hesitant to
love.
YOU MAY KISS THE
BRIDE
The Penhallow Dynasty
#1
Lisa
Berne
Releasing March
28, 2017
Avon Books
In an unforgettable
debut, Lisa Berne introduces you to the Penhallow Dynasty—men
destined
to marry, but hesitant to love.
he
must do is follow “The Penhallow way”—find a biddable bride, produce an heir
and
a spare, and then live separate lives. It’s worked so well for generations,
certainly
one kiss with the delectable Livia Stuart isn’t going to change
things.
Society dictates he marry her, and one chit is as good as another as
long
as she’s from a decent family.
But Livia’s transformation
from an original to a mundane diamond of the first water makes
Gabriel
realize he desperately wants the woman who somehow provoked him into
that
kiss. And for all the ladies who’ve thrown themselves at him, it’s the one
who
wants to flee whom he now wants. But how will he keep this independent miss
from
flying away?
Lisa Berne read
her first Georgette Heyer book at fourteen, and
was
instantly captivated. Later, she was a graduate student, a grantwriter, and
an
investment banker, but is thrilled to be returning to her roots and writing
her
own historical-romance novels! She lives with her family in the Pacific
Northwest
No comments
Post a Comment