Saturday, July 19, 2014

Author Spotlight: Lisa Medley on Zombies

I want you to meet a good friend of mine and fellow Ozarks Romance Author, Lisa Medley. Lisa writes about zombies. Zombies! She is such a fun-loving person, married, with a beautiful daughter, Grace, who sent my very first fan letter. She's also hilarious and positive, yet she writes about zombies. Let's find out how this came about.

Welcome, Lisa. Tell us about your new release—the inspiration, genre, characters or anything you want us to know.

Reap & Repent is the first of my urban fantasy series about reapers. The grim kind. I started writing about reapers because the field wasn’t quite as saturated with that particular monster. After a few visits to local graveyards, the story began to fall together.

 You visit graveyards? I guess that would be good inspiration for zombies!


Q. How long have you been writing? What is your typical writing day like?

I started writing fiction in 2010. I had written newspaper articles and columns off and on through the years but never fiction. After finding and falling in love with the paranormal romance genre, I read more than a hundred books in the field and finally decided I could do that too. So I did. My first attempt stunk. Vampires. Nothing new there. Then I stumbled onto the idea for a series about reapers and I’ve already begun the fourth book in the series. The first three will come out this year.

I don’t really have a typical day. I have a full-time day job, a husband, a child, pets and farm animals. I stay up late after everyone has gone to bed to peck out a few pages. I can usually write 1-2K in two or three hours depending on how things are flowing.

 I'm impressed that you get so much writing done with a full-time job and family. Not to mention your critters!

Q. How many books have you written or is this your debut?

Three books in the reaper series are completed. Reap & Repent (#1) is out now at all online book retailers. Currently, they are all e-books but Repent will publish in print on Harlequin.com sometime in December. Reap & Redeem (#2) comes out Oct. 6 and Reap & Reveal (#3) will come out in January. Currently I’m working on a ghost romance called Haunt My Heart (unrelated to the reaper series) and will be finishing the first draft within the month. Reap & Reckon (#4) insisted on starting without me so I do have the first ten pages started on it as well.

 Wow! You're making me look like a real slacker. I love your Harlequin story. Maybe you can discuss it more in the comment section. Also, I love how you incorporated "Reap" into your four titles. Great branding!

Q. Any suggestions on balancing writing and social media?

It’s hard to do both. I’m not going to lie. But without the writing, you have no need to work on building your social media platform. Definitely spend more time on the writing than on social media. The way social media is changing so rapidly, I hate wasting too much effort there. Building the relationships is the most important thing. So far, I can’t tell that I have sold one book as a direct result of Twitter. I have sold books during and after my online Facebook Launch Party, otherwise it’s all about talking to people and making contacts with other authors and readers.

Direct promotion, organic or paid, has not yet proven fruitful in my situation. Still, the more your name is out there and in front of people, the more likely that they will eventually track you down.

 Yes, name recognition and building relationships are both important. It does take time.

Lisa was in a Zombie Parade in Lebanon, MO, recently.
She really gets into her characters!
Q. Tell us something quirky about you that we may not know.

I keep bees. Or more, I have a beehive in which bees live. They occasionally produce honey for me, which I eat with joyful glee. I have a suit and everything. I’m legit.

Interesting. You are legit--and, I'd add, courageous!
 
Q. What is your favorite marketing tip/promotional advice?

Be assertive but not aggressive. I skim over social media, buy me tweets and shares 95% of the time. If I see something interesting about YOU that catches my eye, I’ll drill down to see what you are all about. I’ve bought books because of WHO people are not necessarily because of WHAT they were screaming.

I agree. Some people overdo it. Way overdo it and I can't scroll past fast enough.
 
Q. What’s your next project?

Finishing Haunt My Heart is my first priority. I’m at 60k on it and should wrap it up in another 5-10K. Then it’s back to my reapers. I have a soft spot for monsters. And monsters in love? Well…mmmmm.

You're a nut. But a funny, likeable nut who is a good writer.

Q. I love first lines. Post your first sentence. Hook us.

 What does a guy have to do around here to get some service? Deacon Walker marveled as he glared at the undulating queue of grotesque reapers in front of him.

Reap & Repent blurb
They see death. Can they share a life?
Ruth Scott can read the energy of every person she meets. Then she meets Deacon Walker. She can see his ice-blue eyes, his black hair, and his gorgeous face. But this beautiful stranger has no aura.
Deacon is just as unsettled by Ruth—and, having spent more than two hundred years ushering souls to Purgatory, Deacon is seldom shocked by anything. As he helps Ruth to understand her true nature, she awakens desires that he decided long ago a Reaper can’t afford.
A demon invasion forces Deacon to confront the darkness in his own past even as he fights to save the human souls he’s charged to protect. When he’s taken captive, his first concern is for Ruth. But Ruth just might be able to save herself—and the Reaper she can’t live without—if she can learn to wield her newfound power.

 
Want to read more?  AMAZON | B&N  | KOBO 
BIO:
Lisa has always enjoyed reading about monsters in love and now she writes about them. Reapers. The grim kind.
She adores beasties of all sorts, fictional as well as real, and has a farm full of them in her Southwest Missouri home, including: one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees, and a guinea pig.
She may or may not keep a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times, including a machete. Just. In. Case.

Connect with Lisa Medley here:

Now, tell us what you think about zombies in love?


27 comments:

  1. This was interesting! Thanks. I especially liked your thoughts about balancing social media and writing - such a feat. There is so much noise from the twittersphere that it's difficult to know where to focus your time. Also, with the bee keeping thing? You have to incorporate zom-bees in a future story. Even Daryl Dixon couldn't defeat the stinging undead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zombees. Perfect, Terri. You're right. She should incorporate them.

      Delete
    2. Ahhhh, Daryl! No actual zombies in the reaper series but there are some soulless wanderers, Terri :D

      Delete
  2. You do an amazing job of balancing the many demands on your time. Go, Lisa!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. She's obviously much more disciplined then me.

      Delete
    2. Glad I have you two fooled, ha!

      Delete
  3. A nice interview. I like reading new things about authors I've been following. This interview held some surprises for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! Glad you discovered some new things about Lisa.

      Delete
    2. Oh, Tierney, I've got moves you haven't even seen yet :D

      Delete
  4. Lisa, you're such an interesting person. I knew that the first time I met you. So full of life. Can't wait for Haunt My Heart. I've been hearing about that on FB. It sounds awesome. Loved your first book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's cool and so full of life, I agree. I'm excited to read Haunt My Heart, too.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Shirley. I am full of it...erm...yeah. :D Thanks for being such a great cheerleader!

      Delete
  5. Congrats on all your success Lisa. I wish I could stay up late to write, but alas, my bed seems to be more important these days. I am looking forward to Haunt My Heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's hard for me to write late at night, too, Wanda--unless I'm doing a writing challenge and am in a good place.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Wanda. The only time the house is quiet is after the family has gone to bed, ha!

      Delete
  6. It's so hard to find time to write when you have a day job. I'm glad to hear you have found a way to do it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, Chuck. Lisa does an amazing job of working full time, writing, and still having a full family life. She has achieved a great balance. Somehow.

      Delete
    2. Makes for some long days, Chuck. We do what we gotta do :D

      Delete
  7. Super interview. LIsa Congrats-Just read on FB that you wrote THE END on Haunt My Heart today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for coming by, Jan!

      Delete
    2. I did, Janet! It's much lighter than the reaper series. Only one death, ha!

      Delete
  8. NIce interview. I tweeted it. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fantastic. Thanks for tweeting it, Christine!

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the share, Christine! Much appreciated!

      Delete
  9. Great interview. Congrats Lisa on all your success! You are one busy woman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't she?! Very impressive. Thanks for stopping by, Samantha.

      Delete
    2. No busier than you, Samantha! You've been a writing machine too :D

      Delete