Lisa: Yes, it was an original composition entitled "Love Becomes My Wings". I sing all the time, mostly for my children, and certainly to enliven my housework! I love to play the guitar, although I haven't picked it up in a while, mostly because my spare time has disappeared since I had my daughter Lindsay 20 months ago. And yes, I had two dreams when I was a teenager, one to become an author and the other to be a singer-songwriter. But the writing won out quickly, for many reasons. To me, writing is a deeper, more intimate experience, because when you speak to someone that way, it is shared between the two of you, as compared to the public performances that singing necessitates. And I love writing romance novels especially because it is largely a woman's genre. The thought that I might be able to provide a few hours of reading enjoyment for other women is absolutely thrilling, and I never take my job for granted.

Beaty: You've been on best seller lists, and received writer awards and musical talent awards as well as crowns for beauty pageants. We won't tell! *VBG* What was your favorite?

Lisa: I will confess that I have the most gorgeous sparkly, heavy rhinestone crown in my office - the official Miss America crown that each state winner receives. And just looking at it makes me feel like a princess! LOL. However, the best moment in my professional life was last year, when my editor Lucia at Avon called and told me that SUDDENLY YOU was the number one mass-market paperback at Waldenbooks and Borders. I have never been number one at anything before, and I literally just rolled on the floor giggling like a lunatic after I hung up the phone. (Should I be admitting this? *G*)

Beaty: I've read that your first story sold when you were young. To what do you attribute this early start?

Lisa: I was a nerd. LOL. My life has been one of dizzying contrasts. For my entire adolescence, I had big brown-framed glasses and braces, and I had no clue about style. All I cared about was books, books, books. I read anything and everything; Austen, Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, and Nancy Drew. This love of reading eventually translated into an enjoyment of writing, and I began to write a novel every summer from the time I was sixteen to the age of 21. I was too young to be overwhelmed by the process, thank God, because looking back, it is unbelievable to me that I knew so little. I never gave a thought to point-of-view, competent historical research, or trivial things such as plotting and character development. *G* But when I was about to graduate from college with a political science degree, I decided to give my writing one last shot, and I poured my heart and soul into a novel that eventually became WHERE PASSION LEADS. So I sold my first book at 21, and have kept on publishing since then. I have had various ups and downs in my career, much of them because I was trying to gain some much-needed life experiences along the way. Now, at 37, I have finally gotten a sense of who I am as a person, and what I want to say as a writer.

Beaty: When you picked your life's work and decided on writing, why did you choose romance? And why historical romance?

Lisa: I have always felt that there is nothing more beautiful and meaningful than a well- written romance. Is there another subject more important than love? I truly wanted to contribute something to the genre, and I have always been humbled and inspired by the excellence of writers like Laura Kinsale, Mary Jo Putney, Connie Brockway ... just to name a few. There are some personal opinions that I've always tried to convey in my novels ... most of all, my uncompromising belief that there has to be respect between a man and a woman who love each other. Any book in which the hero ridicules, hurts, or betrays the heroine is an instant wall-banger for me. And I also try (although I don't always succeed) to show that spark of magic that two people feel when they are first falling in love, and also the desperate feeling that if things don't work out between them, life won't be worth living.

I have focused on historical romance because for me the escape is easier. I like to slip away into a much slower, more gracious time ... I think the range of romantic possibilities is much greater.

Beaty: It always fascinates me to find out from the authors what their writing habits are. Very disillusioning! *G* The answers are as varied as the number of authors I've asked. Can you just sit and write? The story is there and you just have to get it on paper? Do all the characters from all the other stories in your mind leave you alone long enough for you to finish the story you're working on?

Lisa: LOL ... I can't do two stories at once for that reason. Only one set of characters can inhabit my mind at one time. And I am horribly absent-minded because I am always pondering motivations and potential discoveries and characters' past histories. I lose my keys, I never remember where I've parked my car, and I have piles of unfinished things all over the house. Because I have two young children (Griffin, age 6, and Lindsay), I have learned to write through lots of background noise and distraction. For the same reason, I now write during the day, with babysitters helping, instead of at night when I naturally think and write better.

The story always starts with a couple of goals ... for example, when I started SUDDENLY YOU, I knew that I wanted to try an older woman/younger man story without making it too "Oedipal", if you know what I mean. And I also had an interest in researching the Victorian publishing industry, which very few romance authors have done. By the way, have you noticed how few heroes ever read or admit to enjoying books? Why is this? I also wanted to put a twist on a standard romance convention, and instead of having the hero mistake the heroine for a prostitute, to have her think that he's the one for sale! Once I start thinking about these goals and how to achieve them, the plot slowly develops. But my finished novel is usually radically different from the one I describe in my synopsis.

Beaty: It may be just me, but your more recent novels seem to be "spicier." (wiggling eyebrows) I love it! Was it a natural progression in your writing? Was it requested by publishers, editors, or readers?

Lisa: Heh, heh, heh ... thank you for noticing. I believe it is a direct consequence of my age. It's so strange about getting older, that even though you know your body isn't as good as it was in your twenties, and you start needing to use gallons of hair color and eye cream ... you also feel sexier by virtue of your maturity! You know so much more about what you like and want, and you are more comfortable with yourself. I used to scoff when people would say that French women are just reaching their prime in their forties, but yes, yes, I believe it now. I have also learned to trust my readers more. I used to fear that readers would feel that turning up the heat in the love scenes would somehow diminish the sense of romance in the story. You know how we tend to define one writer as "romantic" and another as "hot", as if the qualities are mutually exclusive ... but I believe it's possible to have both romanticism and eroticism in the same book. At least, that's what I aim for.

Beaty: Speaking of "spice" - is it hard for you to write the beautiful sexy scenes in your stories? Do they ever make you feel self-conscious?

Lisa: Shamelessly, no, I don't feel a bit self-conscious, although I suppose when I started out, I must have. I guess I have finally come to the realization that if I want to depict an intimate relationship between two people, the sexual details are as important as every other feature of the story, and I should not be embarrassed to show them. The progress of my writing tends to slow down dramatically when I'm writing a love scene, because I have to put a lot of thought into what I'm trying to accomplish with the scene, and how this particular experience will affect the relationship between the h/h.

Beaty: Many of your heroes are from the working class. Their struggle gives us hope and allows us to share in their triumphs. Was it a conscious decision to write about them instead of the "upper" class? Or did the stories just come to you that way?

Lisa: I started writing about working-class heroes because of a minor character in THEN CAME YOU, Derek Craven. I never intended for him to have his own story, I just created him to enhance the romantic tension between my heroine, Lily, and my hero, Lord Raiford. Generally, there is a lot more freedom in creating a minor character than a hero - you aren't bound by as many "rules". Derek is everything a romance hero should never be ... he is low class, he speaks with a cockney accent, he is illiterate ... and he even has a few "snaggly teeth". On top of that, in his past, he was a grave robber, a blackmailer, and a gigolo! Not your usual hero material. But I think there is something endearing about the fact that he knows how flawed he is, and he cares enough about Lily to push her into another, better man's arms.

After I finished writing THEN CAME YOU, I couldn't stop thinking about Derek, and I speculated on what it would be like for him to fall in love with his polar opposite - someone who is sheltered, innocent, and kind. When I told my editor at the time, Ellen Edwards, that I wanted to write a book with such an unusual hero, she was willing to take a chance on my idea. For that she will have my everlasting gratitude! I wrote DREAMING OF YOU, Derek's story, exactly the way I wanted to. Ironically, at the time it was published, DREAMING OF YOU didn't do all that well, either in terms of sales or critical acclaim. I think no one knew what to make of it. It didn't get past the first level of judging at the Ritas, and someone told me on the sly that a story that featured such common characters wasn't considered "romantic enough". So despite my personal satisfaction with the story, at the time it was considered as a kind of failed experiment. My next few books all featured aristocratic heroes, but my heart was no longer in those stories. When I eventually returned to the idea of my working-class guys, I found new excitement in my writing, and it really came together for me with SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, which featured a Bow Street Runner, Grant Morgan.

Beaty: Your heroines are strong and don't mind pushing the boundaries (such as Amanda hiring a man for her birthday present or Sara's wonderings in her research). Is it hard to contain them - making you a mother figure? *G* Or do you have to "push" them to misbehave in order to cause the conflicts in the story?

Lisa: As I think over my heroines of the past few years, I think that most of them have a quiet strength that balances my more charismatic, troubled heroes. They each help the hero to come to terms with his past, and they have an ability to love him unconditionally. If any of my heroines do misbehave, then yes, I have had to push them into it, because my own natural tendency is to be a "rule-follower". I like to cross the street at the crosswalk, I never park in handicapped places, and I floss my teeth every night. *G* Occasionally, however, I'll work up to a moment of boldness, inspiring behavior that I usually come to regret later. LOL.

The heroine most unlike me is Lily Lawson, who is daring and troubled and flamboyant. I think I am somewhere in-between Sara and Amanda. I am not nearly so sweet and good as Sara, but think I have her patience and her enjoyment of all kinds of people ... and I am not quite as prickly and insecure as Amanda, but I do have her strong sense of independence. And like the two of them, I have spent a lot of my time dreaming and imagining, and I tend to be an "observer".

Beaty: The depth of emotion you bring to the stories moves me. (The scene in the ashes of the fire in DREAMING OF YOU - WOW!!) Stories of a big, strong man in the grip of his emotions have always turned me to mush. Is it hard to put those emotions on paper? Do the heroes fight you on it?

Lisa: Well, thank you so much! Actually, of any scene I've ever written, that one is mentioned the most to me. Again, Derek was a groundbreaking hero for me, because until then I had never let any of my heroes show so much emotion. I was always afraid of compromising my hero's sense of manliness by letting him cry or lose his self-control. But in that scene, there was no choice of what Derek's reaction should be, and I don't think it detracted at all from his strength. God, yes, some of my heroes fight me on how much emotion they reveal ... the most difficult case was Grant Morgan, the Bow Street Runner. I just couldn't free myself - or him - to show as much inner vulnerability as I would have liked. He was just so tough ... it seemed that every time I tried to show his softer side, it rang a false note. Probably the most satisfying hero to me personally, aside from Derek, was Zachary Bronson from WHERE DREAMS BEGIN. Zachary is a big, arrogant brute, but every time he's around my heroine, Holly, he turns into a marshmallow. I think one of my best scenes ever is when she finally confesses that she loves him, and it literally brings him to his knees.

Beaty: Just for fun - what is the funniest fan moment you've had? Is there one, maybe from a fan letter, that sticks out in your mind?

Lisa: It was at a booksigning for my second novel, FOREVER MY LOVE, a sequel to the first. This tiny little old blue-haired lady came up to me, looking very grim as she asked me to sign the book for her. As I obliged, and tried to make some friendly chit-chat, she said dourly, "I read your first book."

Brightening, I said, "Well, I guess that means you must have liked it, if you're buying the sequel."

"No," she said tersely.

"No? Well then, why are you getting this one?"

And then came her glum reply, "Someone said it was better."

Beaty: I understand cooking is one of your hobbies. What's your favorite "quick meal"? Hey - I'll take any help I can get!?!?! *G*

Lisa: Okay, this is a great one-dish meal that is something I'll call "Emergency Lasagna" - I always have the ingredients on hand, and it is so quick and easy if you have unexpected company (which for me, would be my husband, since he is in sales and travels all the time *G*).

1 jar (about 10 oz.) spaghetti sauce
about three cups slightly undercooked cheese ravioli (frozen ones work great)
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 small box frozen chopped spinach (you'll only need about half of it)
about a 1/4 c. parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Thaw and drain spinach, and boil ravioli. Put a spoonful of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 2 � quart casserole dish (round or square, doesn't matter). This spoonful of sauce keeps the pasta from sticking to the bottom. Layer one cup of ravioli, a third of the mozzarella cheese, a sprinkling of spinach, and a third of the sauce. Repeat until all ingredients are gone, ending with the parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Cover the dish, and bake in the oven until it is hot and bubbly (15-20 minutes).

Beaty: What's next? Is there anything you can tell us about what's coming in the future?

Lisa: In February 2003, my third and last book in my Bow Street Runner series will be out. It's entitled WORTH ANY PRICE, and it features Nick Gentry, a former criminal and underworld lord who has become a Bow Street Runner. He is hired to track down another man's runaway bride ... and when he finds her, he decides to keep her for himself! I think the prologue is one of the most unusual ones you'll ever read - it details the circumstances of how he lost his virginity, and there are some interesting surprises in store!

Also, in August 2003, I have a short story coming out in Avon's "Lost Heroes" anthology, and it tells the story of Derek Craven's daughter, Lydia, falling in love with a man who was a minor character in three of my previous novels! I'll let everyone guess who he is ... heh, heh, heh.

Beaty: Derek is a favorite character of mine. Would you care if I asked him a question? Sooo ... Derek, how do you manage to keep Sara out of trouble while she's doing her "research"?

Lisa: I conveyed your question to Derek, and he gave me permission to tell you that Sara's research is not causing nearly as much trouble as it once did. Unfortunately, now that their four children are getting older, she has decided to make certain that each of them finds true love, just as she did. And this is leading to quite a bit of plotting and scheming, which promises to give Derek any number of headaches. He assures me, however, that he has his own ways of keeping Sara in line. *G*