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I stumbled across Liz Craven
completely by accident. I was looking for something to read
and found Prophesied, the first in her Interplantary League.
I could not believe how quickly she had me hooked. I love
good science fiction and add romance to the that and you
can’t pry me away. So I knew that I had to talk to Liz about
this series and what she had coming out. I’m glad to say
that she was happy to talk to me and answer my questions!
Tell us a bit about your
recent Series from Samhain, Interplanetary League.
The Interplanetary League Series
results from a lifetime of nerdiness. I wore glasses in
kindergarten, I’ve been to a Star Trek convention,
and I’ve attended comic book conventions. (My mother is so
proud.) I suppose years of movies and shows that deal with
human engineering had me feeling sorry for the creation, be
it Frankenstein or Kahless. (For the few who get the
reference: Yes, that’s how you spell it. I was surprised,
too.)
The first in the series,
Prophesied, focuses on a woman conceived to be the
fulfillment of a prophecy which ends the millennia long war
between two houses. To unite all factions, she’s wed to the
son of the rebellion leader mere hours after her birth. A
lonely childhood punctuated by assassination attempts has
Lia seizing the first opportunity to escape. Talon spends
years searching for his missing bride and is stunned to find
her less than willing to be “rescued” and returned to her
rightful place.
I had intended
Prophesied to be a stand-alone novel, but the
imaginary people in my head had other ideas. Immersed
follows Talon’s sister, who joins an interplanetary medical
exchange program. Her brother pulls some strings and Ilexa
finds herself ensconced on a tribal world under the watchful
eye of his best friend, Thane. In attempting to adapt to
their traditional lifestyle, she manages to turn the entire
tribe upside down. Her actions make her enemies, and Thane
finds himself having to choose between her and his people.
Do you have a special story in mind
for Vardin? Because I'm really intrigued LOL!
I had not
initially planned to write Vardin's story. In fact, I had
not intended him to play anything other than a minor role in
Prophesied. He's one of those characters that wrote
his own way into the story and is probably the most popular
character of the series. I do plan to write his story (I
don't think he'd let me not), but it will be a while yet.
He still has his work cut out for him with Talon's family.
Is there a character that has just
made you want to do a story for him/her?
Funny you
should ask that. I've been toying with the idea of writing
a short story about Mauri, a minor character from
Prophesied. Something about her really intrigues me,
even though I know very little about her (so far). I'm
hoping she becomes a bit more forthcoming.
When you start writing, do you
already have the story plotted out or do you let the
characters dictate what will happen?
I wish I could
have the story plotted out perfectly in outline form. I
know a number of authors who do that and I hate—I mean
admire—them. When I write, I know how the story begins,
ends, and a few things that happen along the way. The more
I try to actually sit down and draft a plan, the more my
characters rebel. Thane and Ilexa were particularly
difficult. No matter what I wanted they did as they
pleased. I spent hours screeching at pads of paper and my
computer screen. (My characters are not real people…My
characters are not real people…My characters are not real
people…)
Do you draw inspiration for your
characters from real life? Any fun stories you could share?
I don’t draw
inspiration from people for my characters. People confuse
and baffle me. I do however use the things that happen to
my friends in my contemporary writings. Be warned! The
more humiliating the better! For those who read my first
book, Carjacked, Lily has a particularly embarrassing
moment in a barbeque restaurant. That actually happened to
a friend of mine who worked for a State Attorney General’s
office. She was in the rural part of her state and they
stopped for lunch. The place was packed with mostly men.
Her investigator (a man) picked the restaurant for the very
reason that embarrassed my character – and my friend!
Name one thing that your readers
would be surprised to know about you.
Sadly, I’m not
interesting enough to have secrets. (See, question 1,
supra.)
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Tuesdays.
Every Tuesday, I go to a local restaurant here on St. Croix
and spend four or five hours sitting at the bar writing.
They have two-dollar margaritas and have gotten to know me
so well, when I show up, they plug my laptop into the coffee
pot. I don’t have to place an order. My chicken skewers
and drinks show up by magic. (Thanks, Penny!)
What do you need before you start
writing? Anything that is just a must have or the creative
juice don’t flow?
I have some
Miquelrius notebooks I picked up in Spain. They are A4 grid
paper, which is much smaller than US graph paper. As
someone who writes in pencil and has tiny handwriting, these
notebooks are a must. I find that I’m much more creative
when I write by hand. (I wrote Immersed completely
by hand.) Also, I have to be out of the house. If I sit at
home, I turn on the TV or surf the net…I don’t do anything
important like clean or cook.
Does music influence your writing?
If so, do any of your stories have a theme song?
Not really.
I’m a metalhead. If I turn on music I love, I find myself
headbanging and singing along, which is not conducive to
writing and irritates the neighbors. No, I’m not talking
about my musical preferences. As a child in church, my
mother would lean over and suggest I just mouth the words to
the hymns…when your mother thinks you can’t sing, you really
can’t sing. On the rare occasion I listen to music as I
write, I lean heavily on classical, Celtic, and Dead Can
Dance.
If your story was optioned for a
movie, who would play your characters?
Honestly, I’ve
never thought about it. I know some people cut out pictures
of models and keep a notebook with the pictures to describe
their characters, but not me. I’m not a visual person.
Words convey sensation, emotion and sound to me, not
images. To tell the truth, I’d probably want unknowns. The
idea of anyone I’ve actually seen playing my characters is
disturbing. (Except Johnny Depp. That man can act!)
Where were you when you got your
first contract? Who did you tell first?
I was living
in North Carolina when Carjacked was contracted. I
was so excited I almost peed myself. (I mentioned my
mother’s pride in me, right?) I immediately called one of
my dearest friends, the poor soul who had been stuck reading
and rereading the manuscript. After her, I told anyone who
would stand still long enough to listen.
What are you currently working on?
Right now, I’m
working on the third Interplanetary League book, tentatively
titled Escaped. It’s Bastian’s story. I’m also
working on a contemporary fantasy that takes place on my
beautiful island.
Where can readers find your books?
Amazon.com
(currently for Kindle—in print in May),
Samhainpublishing.com, Newconceptspublishing.com,
Fictionwise.com, Allromanceebooks.com, and eReader.com,
among others.
Any other tidbits about other books
you have published you would like to share?
Hmmm…Carjacked
is probably the book that best shows my dry voice. Also,
I have a short story series about shape shifters that
I’m often asked about. I have recently finished the third
in the series and hope to submit it to publishers soon.
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