Spotlight Interview with Lisa Kumar

                                                           Bio: 

Lisa Kumar is a wife, mother, and romance writer who grew up in small-town Indiana. She now resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and son, who are used to sharing her attention with her not-so-trusty computer. When not spinning tales of romance and fantasy, she can be found with her nose buried in a book, or more accurately, her e-reader. Her scholastic background is in psychology, which enabled her to get low-paying jobs in the human services sector. Needless to say, she's now writing full-time.

I am so pleased to have Lisa Kumar as my guest spotlight author. Lisa writes fantasy and currently has two published works to her credit. Captive, is a short story, and her most recent is a novella called Through the Rabbit Hole. It's been my pleasure to read both stories. I enjoyed both, and was impressed with the quality of Lisa's writing. I also feel Through the Rabbit Hole has an additional structural depth and I loved the way in which the mystery and the truth was revealed slowly. Playing with time is always tricky, and Lisa handled that aspect with finese. Below is a short excerpt from Through the Rabbit Hole.

Lisa will be giving away a FREE digital copy of Through the Rabbit Hole to a commenter. All you need to do for your chance to win is to leave a comment and include your email address. Entries will be open all week through Saturday, June 25th at 11:45 PM CDT.  The winner will be selected from all eligible entries using Random.org and notified via email on June 26th.  I will also announce the winner here.

WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED VIA RANDOM.ORG AND It IS {DRUMROLL, PLEASE}

          

Spades High

Short Excerpt: Shifting, Natalie suddenly became aware she was sprawled across his lap—a lap she didn’t know and couldn’t quite reconcile as being real. And never mind the lightly tanned hand that touched one of her ears as if it were a novelty. Her thoughts finally sank in and propelled her into motion, causing her to roll rather ungracefully off his person. Thankfully, he didn’t move to either help or restrain her. Once she was a more comfortable foot or two away from him, a bewildered fright ran riot through her veins. She couldn’t have moved any more than she already had. Her numb body refused any commands demanding movement. Before she fully realized it, he stood above her and extended a hand. “Come.” “Come?” she echoed. Something didn’t add up, but she couldn’t quite place a finger on it. She glanced from his hand to his face, back to his hand. Then clarity struck. This moment seemed familiar, as if she’d lived it before. Without Natalie consciously deciding, her hand sought out his. “To my home, to my city. You have three weeks, after all.” Her reaching hand halted. “Three weeks?” Grasping her hand, he pulled her up, not answering. She trailed behind him, and when she had all but given up on him responding, he spoke. “Three weeks to decide where your dreams rest. If they don’t lie here with me, you will go back to your world with no remembrance of this one or the people in it.”

Interview Questions:

Tell us about a favorite character from a book.
In my current WIP, Mists of Eria, Talion, the hero’s father, is a character that I delight in writing, maybe a little too much.  Even though he’s older than dirt, he’s a fascinating character.  He’s charismatic, handsome, has a few mysteries up his sleeve, and he’s king of the Erian Elves.  What’s not to love?

Tell us about your current release.

Though I don’t want to give too much away, I think Through the Rabbit Hole has a unique storyline.  The hero, Lorh, is a fey male who has gone to great trouble to secure the presence of Natalie, the heroine, in his land.  Natalie’s a human woman who’s lived a normal life until she meets Lorh and his family.

 
Do you have critique partners or beta readers? 
Yes.  You don’t want to write without a critique partner--or two or three.  Writers are too close to their own work to catch a lot of errors--both small scale issues like grammar and far larger ones like plot, structure, and characterization.  Beta readers are important for the final draft of your manuscript.  Since they often read through the work in a couple of sittings, they can catch continuity issues your critique partners might not notice.  That’s the only downside of critiquing--it’s usually done chapter-by-chapter, so it’s hard to remember every detail when you’ve been reading the story for months.  

What was one of the most surprising things you learned while writing your books?
That writing isn’t easy.  Too many people sit down thinking they’re going to write the book.  More than likely, they never finish their first manuscript.  I believe writing is hard, even bad writing, because there are so many distractions to tempt us.  But even if a writer can finish their first manuscript, that’s only the beginning of the work.  Revision, revision, revision needs to become a part of every author’s life. 
 
What do you think makes a good story?
Believable characters I can identify with.  Now that doesn’t mean I can’t suspend disbelief, but the characters have to make me believe whatever it is they’re selling. They have to have authentic characterization appropriate to his/her appointed role.  If you deviate from that, you’d better give them the proper motivation, or I won’t believe it.  A good character, whether human or supernatural, acts within their goals and motivations. 

Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers? If so, what are they?
Study the craft and write--keep doing these two things until you’re successful.  Persistence is key.

Morning Person? Or Night Person? How do you know?
Night person.  Sometimes I think I’m not fully awake until early evening.  I tend to have the most energy then, so writing comes to me the easiest at that time.

What would we find under your bed? 

Books, dust balls, books, dust balls…and the odd spare box or two.  Do I see a pattern here?  I think I need to clean under my bed!

Tell us where to find you:

Website |  Twitter  |  Escape into Fantasy Blog

Goodreads  |  Amazon Author Page |  Facebook Page

Thank you so much Lisa for taking this time today to chat and letting us find out a little more about you and your books. It's been great talking with you!

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | All Romance | Astraea Press

Lisa's Books