1.)
Do you use pictures as inspiration at the start of a
book?
It depends. Sometimes I see a face or a location and an idea for a book comes to me. Other times the idea comes first and I’m often half way through before an image appears. For my current book, I have a picture of a location but no photos of my characters. So, yes, an image of some sort does provide inspiration, though not always at the start of a book
2.)
What is your favourite period drama?
I have to say I really like Sanditon at the moment for its quirky fresh take, and also for its delicious villain in Edward Denham (Jack Fox). I’m also re-watching Upstairs, Downstairs on I-player. I’d enjoyed that first time around in the 1970s – which gives away my age completely! – but didn’t pick up then on the gritty life topics it explores as well as the ‘them’ and ‘us’ inequality of the class system of Edwardian England.
3.)
Are the titles of your books important?
Very! I write for Harlequin Mills & Boon and, even though they ultimately choose the title, I always have a title in mind and down on the page when I start a book. It helps put my story in a context and makes it feel more real somehow. It also helps to keep the theme of the story in focus, as it’s all too easy to stray down tempting but possibly irrelevant avenues as the story develops!
4.)
If you’re struggling with a scene or difficult
character, what methods help you through it?
Sometimes ust staring at the page works wonders! Usually, I’ll set a half-hour timer and hearing that ticking away is enough to get the words going. If I’m really stuck, I’ll write out a scene in just dialogue between the characters. Or I’ll go back to my character worksheets – which I tend to sketch out at the start and layer in as I learn more about my characters. If all else fails, I’ll leave the computer altogether and go for a long walk and just think the problem through. I’m a linear writer and can’t move on to another scene until I’ve got it down, even if I go back afterwards and change or edit it.
5.)
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Definitely an early bird. I used to get up around 6am when I went out to work, in order to do a couple of hours before going into the office. Now I’m lucky enough to work from home most of the time, but I still write in the mornings, never at night.
6.)
Who’s your favourite author? Why?
Ooh, it’s so difficult to pick just one! I like Anya Seton for the historical detail in her books and her skill at weaving sweeping novels without making those details heavy or detracting from the story. I re-read her masterpiece, Katherine, on average every few years and never fail to be swept away. And I like Mary Stewart for her feisty heroines and dashing, modern-day heroes. In many ways, her books read as fresh today as they did when they were written, in the mid-20th century.
7.)
Can you tell me a little about your next project?
I was contracted last October for two Harlequin
Mills & Boon historical novels, so I’ve just submitted the second and am
awaiting revisions on that. It’s an ‘enemy to lovers’ story called An Alliance
with his Enemy Princess and is another medieval, set in my native Wales in the
early years of the Norman Conquest. I’ve got some ideas brewing in my head for
my next book, and even the one after that, but nothing concrete down on paper
yet.
‘The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride’ blurb
A wedding between enemies. A marriage to heal their scars...
Wales 1294. Hiding
a disfigurement, Eleanor de Vraille already lacks confidence when she arrives
at her future husband’s cheerless Welsh castle. And Rhun ab Owain’s cold welcome does nothing
to make her feel at ease. Their union is
to seal peace between their families, nothing more. But, as revolt becomes a
war against the Crown, Eleanor’s heart rebels too. Is she a fool to hope for
affection from this strong-willed nobleman who is hiding scars of his own?
www.amazon.com/Welsh-Lords-Convenient-Bride/dp/1335407901/
Amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.co.uk/Welsh-Lords-Convenient-Bride-Historical-ebook/dp/B09M8P78DR/
M&B
www.millsandboon.co.uk/collections/pre-orders/products/hqnsingle-07246601
Harlequin
www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9780369711908_the-welsh-lords-convenient-bride.html
Lissa Morgan hails from Wales but has travelled far and wide
over the years, usually in pursuit of the next new job. A history graduate and former archivist, she
has always pursued her love of the past too and once worked as a costume tour
guide at Hampton Court Palace where she donned her sumptuous Tudor gowns -
replicas, of course - in Catherine of Aragon’s chambers! Now back home, Lissa
lives between the mountains and the sea in rugged north-west Wales surrounded
by medieval castles that provide the perfect inspiration for her writing.
Website: www.lissamorgan.com
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