We love Lisa Marie Rice around here. She writes seriously steamy stuff with good plots and excellent character development. And she doesn’t take herself too seriously! I mean, how serious can a nom de plume be, after all. The mystery behind who this woman is shall remain unrevealed, at least, by us here on this post.
So without further ado, everyone, please meet Lisa Marie Rice. Author of the recently released Dangerous Lover and user of the Marilyn Monroe avatar. She answers some of our questions and will be around a couple of days to answer yours in the comments.
You have one of the best “male” voices in romancelandia today. How do you prepare yourself to speak from the male perspective? And is it a jolt to go back to a woman’s voice?
I prepare myself by putting myself into the ‘me’ that is not a writer but a professional, used to hard things, totally reality-based. As a writer, I can allow myself to sort of put Vaseline on the lens of life to make it … gauzier and prettier, but as a professional, travelling and working hard, I can’t. my men are like that. No BS, no false optimism, just a tough analysis of life’s parameters.
What are you working on next?
Right now, I’m finishing up the second Avon Red novel, DANGEROUS SECRETS, and finishing up a bit of a departure – an erotic romantic comedy for Ellora’s Cave, A FINE SPECIMEN.
Do you have a favorite genre or time period for what you write? How about what you read?
Contemporary, contemporary, contemporary. I used to read lots of history and science fiction, but for some reason, i’ve lost my taste for alternate worlds over the past ten years. I read exclusively about this world, warts and all.
What’s in your TBR pile?
Just went into the bedroom to check:
NO SAFE PLACE by Joann Ross
ROBERTS RIDGE by Malcolm McPherson
A THOUSAND DAYS IN TUSCANY by Marlena de Blasi
LOST LIGHT by Michael Connelly
WAR DOG by Al J. Ventner
THE BOYS FROM BAGHDAD by Simon Low
BRAVE NEW WAR by John Robb
NOT A GOOD DAY TO DIE by Sean Naylor
CITIZEN GIRL by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
NOTHING TO FEAR by Karen Rose
Several Italian novels
And a partridge in a pear tree
What are your favorite books of all time?
WAY too many to list. In romance, I sometimes return to old Linda Howards or Nora Roberts for comfort. Stephen Hunter… nope, can’t go on, the list would be endless.
What are you looking forward to reading that hasn’t come out yet?
PATIENCE, by Lisa Valdez. I LOVED Passion and like everyone else, am looking forward to the second one.
Plus am looking forward to the new Thomas Perry.
What one piece of writing-as-a-business advice would you most want to give other would-be authors?
Make sure you have a solid financial base before giving up the day job. It’s a volatile business.
Who is your favorite fictional hero and heroine of all time and why?
Well, as a fictional hero, Lee Child’s JACK REACHER is hard to beat, though of course he’s not a romance hero, though he is a romantic hero, sort of like a contemporary Shane. And I think Stephanie Plum is adorable.
What do you value most in a relationship, and is it the same to you for professional relationships as well as personal?
Loyalty and smarts, both in private and professional life.
If you could script the basic plot of a dream you will have tonight, how would it read?
Oh God, I would want the suspense plot of the next novel to come to me complete and whole. Please.
Five hundred years from now, only one book which exists today will still be available. Which book do you think it should be?
Well, I’m not too sure about our chances of survival in the next 50 years, let alone the next 500. So to the miserable mutant creatures huddling in caves 500 years from now, I would bequeath either a Merck Manual or an engineering text. And, just to remind them that once, many years ago, softer emotions were allowed, a Jane Austen.
If a movie were made about your life, what would the theme song be?
I WILL SURVIVE. Corny, but true.
Thanks again, Lisa Marie!
Have a question for Lisa Marie Rice? Have at it! Due to the time difference I am not sure when she will be on to answer but I do know she will be checking in! You can find all of Lisa Marie’s post here, which are excellent. There is so much good stuff I hate to put up more posts! And I had wanted to do at least two others!
So we will announce the contest here! We will be giving away three (unsigned) copies of Dangerous Lover. To enter comment on any Lisa Marie Rice post by midnight (CST) August 23, 2007.
