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Lisa Brunette<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Hi, Cheryl! Thanks for hosting me on your blog, and hello to your readers! It\u2019s an honor to be chosen as your Author of the Month. I also want to thank you for all you do for writers. So many of us depend on the time and talent of book bloggers like you, and we know you do this out of a love for the written word.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my official bio, by way of formal introduction to your readers: <\/p>\n

Lisa Brunette is a novelist, game writer, and journalist. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from University of Miami, where she was a Michener Fellow. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in Bellingham Review, The Comstock Review, Icarus International, and elsewhere. She\u2019s also received a major grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission, the William Stafford Award, and the Associated Writing Programs Intro Journals Project Award. Her Dreamslippers Series has been praised by Kirkus Reviews, Midwest Book Review, Readers Lane, BestThrillers.com, and others, and the first two books won the indieBRAG medallion. Framed and Burning was also a finalist for the Nancy Pearl Book Award and a nominee for the RONE Award. <\/p>\n

Brunette\u2019s journalistic work has appeared in major daily newspapers and magazines, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Woman, and Poets & Writers. She\u2019s interviewed a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a sex expert, homeless women, and the designer of the Batmobile, among others. <\/p>\n

She also has story design credits in hundreds of bestselling mystery-themed video games. A seasoned educator and public speaker, she\u2019s won several teaching excellence awards, and her 2012 headlining talk at the Game Developers Conference was covered by Gamasutra.com. Brunette is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and the Lewis County Writers Guild.<\/p>\n

Now on to your excellent questions.<\/p>\n

Writing:
\nDo you draw from personal experiences and\/or current events?<\/strong>
\nYes, all of the above. But I wouldn\u2019t call my books autobiographical. It\u2019s surprising to me that I have to explain this, but I don\u2019t actually have the ability to psychically pick up other people\u2019s dreams. Still, this question comes up often when I read my work publicly!<\/p>\n

What was the inspiration for this book?<\/strong>
\nThis book was inspired in part by my rekindled love of genre fiction. Back in 2008, I interviewed top mystery writers for a Seattle Woman cover story. Reading their work reminded me of when I first fell in love with reading as a child, and that was genre fiction like Nancy Drew. Academia had beat this out of me, unfortunately, so it was wonderful to be drawn back to it as an adult. After all, being an adult means you\u2019re allowed to read whatever you want! After the Seattle Woman cover story, by 2009, I\u2019d joined the game industry as a writer full-time, and by 2011, I was working on the story design for primarily mystery games. That led to a pent-up need to create my own plot and characters, since a lot of game writing happens by committee.<\/p>\n

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?<\/strong>
\nI plot the entire novel out in a very rough format, with questions and multiple possibilities noted, writing this in marker directly on my wall, which I\u2019ve painted in whiteboard paint. Then I begin to write, and I give myself permission to explore questions, try different paths, and deviate when necessary. So I guess I\u2019m a hybrid writer. Several times I didn\u2019t know a character would appear and act that way in a scene until I was in the midst of writing it.<\/p>\n

Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t have a routine. I probably should, but I have to flex my novel-writing time around game-writing projects, and those have harder deadlines. The only thing I really need besides uninterrupted time and quiet is to make use of my laptop\u2019s \u201cwifi off\u201d function, which is a lifesaver.<\/p>\n

If you could co-author a book, who would that writer be?<\/strong>
\nSince so much of my game-writing work is collaborative, I don\u2019t know that I\u2019d co-author a novel. Perhaps something non-fiction, especially in the area of health and wellness. I\u2019m a great generalist and a writing craft expert, so it would be wonderful to team up with a subject matter expert in a wellness field.<\/p>\n

Characters:
\nAre any of your characters based on you or people that you know?<\/strong>
\nThe character Amazing Grace is named after and inspired by my late mother-in-law. She wanted to legally change her name to just \u201cGrace,\u201d like Cher is known as Cher alone. But the authorities said she had to at least have another initial, so she picked \u201cA.\u201d When asked what the A stood for, she would answer, \u201cAmazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?<\/strong>
\nMeryl Streep as Amazing Grace. Jennifer Lawrence as Cat. Jeff Bridges as Mick. There\u2019s also a character I love in book three, Bound to the Truth, who would be perfect for my friend Cammie Middleton-Helmsing to play. She\u2019s an actress for whom there aren\u2019t enough roles as an African-American woman, and she\u2019d be a perfect Cecily Johnson. <\/p>\n

What’s next:
\nAre you working on your next novel?<\/strong>
\nRight now I\u2019m on deadline for a text-based game I\u2019m both designing and writing for a Russian woman I\u2019ve worked with before. She\u2019s owner of a studio called Daily Magic and smart as a whip. I\u2019m also writing and designing for another game studio, Magic Tavern, and collaborating with the creative director on that game, which will be really fun and casual. <\/p>\n

Around those projects, I\u2019m working on a standalone novel that really excites me, but I\u2019m still in the beginning stages, working on the first third. <\/p>\n

Can you tell us a bit about it? Title?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t have a title yet; it\u2019s too early. But it\u2019s based on an actual news report for an alleged murder committed in a neighboring town. A woman called 911 to report that she shot her husband in self-defense. At first, it looked like the evidence supported her claim, since both spouses\u2019 guns were out. But then things began to look fishy. The husband was shot in the back, and someone cleaned the crime scene, even going so far as to spackle over a bullet hole in the wall. I\u2019m riveted by this. How does a woman with no priors or history of mental illness get to this point? That\u2019s the question I\u2019m attempting to answer in the novel.<\/p>\n

When can we look for it? Approximate publication date?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s in the beginning stages, so this hasn\u2019t been set yet. Since self-publishing the Dreamslippers Series over the last two years, I\u2019ve had interest in my work from both Hollywood producers and literary agents. So rather than set a self-publishing date on this new manuscript, I\u2019ll be exploring traditional options. But first I have to finish it!<\/p>\n

Reading:
\nTell us why we should read this book.<\/strong>
\nMy goal with the entire Dreamslippers Series was to marry rich character development and an emphasis on human relationships to a brisk plot. I think on the whole I\u2019ve accomplished that. Once the foundation for the psychic ability and the family tree is established in Cat in the Flock, readers say the books are real page-turners that keep them rapt and wondering whodunit to the very end. <\/p>\n

Who are some of your favorite authors?<\/strong>
\nThe best book I read in 2016 was Tana French\u2019s Faithful Place. I liked it better than Girl on the Train, which I also enjoyed. I\u2019ve read all of Gillian Flynn\u2019s work and actually liked Dark Places the best, over Gone Girl. I\u2019ve been influenced by cozy writer Mary Daheim and paranormal queen Jayne Ann Krentz, too, and I like my Jack Reacher novels. But having a BA in English and coming up through the MFA degree, I\u2019ve been shaped by the academy, so a lot of my favorites tend to be literary writers like Elizabeth Strout and Colm Toibin. Then there are the classic writers I\u2019ve both studied and taught, such as Shakespeare, the Romantic poets, the Harlem greats and those who arrived out of that tradition, like Toni Morrison and Gloria Naylor.<\/p>\n

What are you reading now?<\/strong>
\nOddly enough, I\u2019m slowly making my way through The 48 Laws of Power, because it was referenced in the Luke Cage Marvel series. And I\u2019m about to raid my local library for more Tana French.<\/p>\n

Fun Questions:
\nFavorite leisure activity\/hobby?<\/strong>
\nI practice a holistic barefoot dance called Nia. It\u2019s the perfect antidote to a vocation that involves way too much sitting and typing at a keyboard.<\/p>\n

Favorite meal?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m on a diet of what one friend of mine who\u2019s a chef calls \u201cmeat and leaves.\u201d So my favorite meal these days is a good grass-fed, organic steak with loads of vegetables not as the side but taking up most of the plate. I haven\u2019t met a vegetable I can\u2019t love, but broccoli is my favorite. I eat it like it\u2019s candy!<\/p>\n

Thank you for stopping by and visiting us!<\/p>\n

Lisa publishes a bimonthly newsletter. Sign up and receive a free book!<\/h3>\n

You can also visit Lisa on her Website 🔗<\/a>, on Twitter 🔗<\/a>, & at Facebook 🔗<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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AUTHOR OF THE MONTH ~ GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA<\/h2>\n

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Entry link is located on the sidebar<\/strong>.<\/center><\/p>\n

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THE DREAMSLIPPERS SERIES<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Click on titles below for synopsis via GR:
\nCAT IN THE FLOCK<\/a> (Dreamslippers #1)<\/em><\/strong> Check out my review here<\/a><\/strong>.
\nFRAMED AND BURNING<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Dreamslippers #2)
\nBOUND TO THE TRUTH<\/a><\/em><\/strong>(Dreamslippers #3)<\/p>\n

Lisa will be returning to CMash Reads March 15th….Mark your calendar. Hope to see you then!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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