This month, I’m chatting with author, Lisa J. Lickel about her new book, Everything About You.

Lisa, it’s a pleasure to have you back!
Thanks, Deborah, it’s so kind of you to invite me.

Starting right in, Lisa, how did you become involved with the Love Is… theme of your book?
The theme of Everything About You is pride, and while I’d like to say I chose it carefully and specifically, I really didn’t. When the project first came about, there was some initial confusion about which Scripture version to use, as they all have different words to convey the meanings. Authors were jumping in, grabbing topics left and right, and I put my big toe in and came out with this one.

You did a fantastic job of showing the details and nuances of behind-the-scenes publicity maneuvers and strategies. Have you ever worked in that field in any aspect?
Thank you. Remember, I write fiction. I haven’t worked in the film industry at all, though I’ve done a tiny bit on Radio Theater. I like to watch or listen to the “behind the scenes” documentaries or commentaries that go on behind movies, and read interviews with the various people who are involved with all aspects of a production. I’ve visited a movie set by accident once, being filmed at a park we were visiting.

What did you enjoy most about writing this novel?
I had a good time thinking about what it would have been like for a helicopter to land in the specific area I had in mind. It’s atop of ridge on rural southwestern Wisconsin, on a highway I travel occasionally now going from my home in eastern Wisconsin to visit family on the other side of the state. It’s a small community, just a few homes and a feed mill and county garage, but charming. Little scenarios from some of my favorite movies flashed at me while writing, as well as dredging up a memory of wanting to seriously fish farm a long time ago, so it was fun to write something light-hearted and campy and sometimes silly and tongue-in-cheek after working on three darker and dramatic novels.

What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about your subject that isn’t so?
Ooh—pride, yes, that’s a big issue. Pride goeth before a fall from Scripture wars with be proud of yourself and your work, doesn’t it? When I hear the word pride, I associate it with conceit. That was the way I was raised. Everyone probably has his or her own characteristic association. Even the dictionary has oppositional definitions—inordinate self-esteem and reasonable self-respect—among many others. I’ve come to think of pride as a response based on how a person feels about his or her accomplishments. If I’m panicky or find myself looking for others to stroke my ego, I’m out of alignment with God and His call. If I’m pleased with the results of my work based on the response of others, I’ve reached a comfortable place to be where I can turn and share my blessings. All of the “Not” parts of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 are like the “Not” parts of the Ten Commandments. We are called to battle the part of our freewill which begs us to be better, take more, desire what another has, no matter the cost. The “is” parts—love is…love always…love never fails—are like the “do”s of the Commandments—all acts meant to uplift each other and honor God. Pride, envy, boasting are all individual actions and results of choices we make based on how we feel about others, and so they generally can’t uplift another.

Lisa, what are some day jobs that you have held? If any of them have impacted your writing, please share an example.
I’ve been eclectic in my work experience. I’ve held a lot of jobs in the secretarial field, and spent ten years cleaning houses. Some of my temporary work included driving cars for auto dealers, cold call phone bank, department store remodeler, school cafeteria cook, newspaper reporter, and playground monitor. All of these things impact my work by adding another memory, a tidbit of information or character trait, scene and setting detail, even dialog coaching. One of the biggest impacts is the lesson on writing tight from newspaper reporting—in ten inches of printed space, make your story count!—but also learning interview techniques.

What do you like to read in your free time?
Favorites are the Anne and Todd McCaffrey Dragonriders of Pern series, and some good sci fi or fantasy. I don’t write those genres, at least, not on purpose though it sort of got stuck in one of my short stories once, so those topics make for good entertainment for me. I also belong to a couple of book clubs which force me out of my penchant for literary or romantic fiction.

What projects are you working on at present?
I’m getting back to a series I began a few years ago, fancy cat mysteries featuring a thirties/forties-something couple who meet because of their pets, Egyptian Maus. The first book had a brief outing with Whimsical Publications, Meow Mayhem, now off the market until I can finish and offer more stories. The second book is Meow Matrimony, where the hero and heroine, Adam and Ivy, attempt to get married. They should hopefully be re-released/released in 2017. I’m also looking forward to a busy fall with the release of a long-time favorite novel called Innocents Pray about a family dissolving around recurrent cancer and unethical medical research, and in November, my next novel with Prism is scheduled to come out November 11. It’s titled UnderStory and takes place in the Great North Woods of Wisconsin during a blizzard. A woman gets lost while running from organized sex traffickers, and is found by a former literature professor who has reasons of his own for hiding out while writing a biography of his Civil Rights-era activist grandparents. It’s about prejudice and trust and doing the right thing. I’m also excited about a sequel to my award-winning romance, Meander Scar, coming from my Canadian publisher in late summer 2017 called Centrifugal Force, which features lost treasures, a decades-old secret, and the fate of the European Union.

Lisa, please share links to where you and your books can be found on the internet.
Web: www.lisalickel.com
Blog: http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/lisalickel
Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/author/lisalickel
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lisajlickel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisalickelauthor/
Buy Everything About You on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PSSuk6

It was a pleasure to have you back, Lisa. I wish you all the best with this and all future projects!
Thank you, Deborah. I sure enjoy your work as well.

If you’d like to win a copy of Everything About You, use my Contact page and type “drawing” in the comments box. The deadline to enter is July 24th.