Welcome, Lisa Shafer, to the blog. She is the author of Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire.
Lisa, how long did it take you from idea to publishing your novel?
The
basic idea of Eric, the half-vampire who can't handle sunlight, began as a joke
one day in a ninth grade class with a boy who had an odd sunburn due to a golf
glove he'd been wearing. During an
explanation on reflexive pronouns, I made a joke about the boy not being able
to see himself in a mirror because he might be a vampire. The class laughed hard, and the idea for the
book came right there and then. That was
early October of 2003, and I finally self-published the book (after many, many
edits) in August of 2011.
That's such a cool way to create a novel idea. Are you a plotter or pantser?
I
am most definitely a plotter, but I change things as I go, and sometimes the
plot gets switched around a great deal by the time I get to the end.
I think it's great to plot but be open to change too. What are you writing now or have forthcoming?
A
sequel to Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire is ready for a final revision
and should be ready (I hope) by summer.
I also have a completely different book called Becoming Brigid (based on
Celtic mythology) which is just back from my editor and is ready for my final
version to be finished and sent out for copy editing.
I'm
also working on a rough draft of a novella about a girl who accidentally turns
herself invisible. It's called The
(Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay.
(For
more info about any of these, you can visit my blog at lisashafer.blogspot.com.)
I'm looking forward to reading more from you. I always find it interesting to learn what other authors are reading. If you
could recommend a book—not your own—what book would that be?
I'm
an English teacher, so I love the classics.
I'm a Shakespeare freak, and I love Poe, Twain, Washington Irving, Conan
Doyle, and many more. Naturally, I love
Bram Stoker's Dracula.
My
20th Century favorites are Tolkien's works and Rowling's. Of really current YA fiction, I loved Kenneth
Oppel's This Dark Endeavor (a prequel to Shelley's Frankenstein), and I'm nuts
about Alan Bradley's Flavia DeLuce series.
My favorite contemporary books for adults include Ian Rankin's John
Rebus series (Tartan Noir!! Yea!) and Steve Hockensmith's Holmes On The Range
series (very funny stuff).
Wow! Lots of books to recommend there. *grins* I wish you the best on your future endeavors.
